365 day contract extension says all we need to know...

[PlayerRep]

His return at least lends a degree of stability to those who are currently being recruited. It is not a perfect situation by any means but stability is critical for 2014. We also have to realize that anytime a HC change is made there is going to be a period of instability so we need to be ready for that in 2015. Just my opinion here and you can chose to disagree and it won't hurt my feelings. The real issue to me is still leadership at the top and lack of real interest in athletics on his part--similar to what we experienced back in the dark ages when I was a student at UM 62- 66. I personally think we will continue to struggle with football at the level we all want until the change is made at the top

I line up completely with what you've said in your several posts.

 

[PlayerRep]

I guess I am kind of confused about the theory that keeping MD is good for recruiting. I am saying that with all good intent and am looking for a reasonable response that is not tainted by personal feelings for a very good man.

Theoretically, we played this season with Pflu's recruits, for the most part,that were picked for a quick run spread offense. MD changed the scheme to a more pro-set because he prefers that scheme. We saw the outcome which was good but we want and expect more. His recruits (with some exceptions) sat in the stands during the games while they learned his techniques and developed skill sets for his type of game.

So now MD will pick recruits for a second year that have the skill sets that he wants. The new recruits will come in next fall and sit in the stands while they wait their opportunity to play in MD's offense/defense.

Then, if the decision is made to not give MD a fourth year, we will look for another coach who will arrive with his own idea of an offense and defense scheme. He will bring new assistants to teach his coaching techniques for the style of play he prefers. However, he has MD's recruits arriving on the practice field with different skill sets. So now he has to adapt his schemes or put square pegs in round holes with the hope that he can get the player's skill sets to be acceptable for his schemes.

If MD gets a fourth season then his recruits will then begin to see the field. If the results of season are good then we are happy and he coaches for as long as he wants, retires or is terminated.

A coaching change takes two or three seasons, if not more, to really reap the intended results that he disires. There are exceptions as we have seen in the BCS. They have lots of talent and are smart enough to adapt skill sets and players. Not to say FCS coaches are totally incapable but the number of players with the talent necessary to make huge changes just isn't there, in my opinion.

So it appears to me that if you are truly happy with the job MD and his staff are doing then he should have been given an extended contract with the opportunity to really recruit and develope his style of game. If you are on the fence about his abilities then it appears to me that you (the decision makers) are afraid to make a decision in which case you are not really doing your job the way a leader is supposed to do it. As someone said, you are kicking the can down the road, and keeping your fingers crossed.

I fail to see how a one year extension is good for the process. I am hoping someone will have a sensible response and show me where I am wrong.

Several comments. As 66 has said, the program is still unstable, and having Delaney and the assistants here for at least another year will add to the stability. Making a coaching change when a program is more stable is more likely to be smoother than making a coach during instability.

I don't believe UM is recruiting for a particular offense or scheme. For the most part, UM is recruiting the best players it can find, as well as trying to fill certain holes. Sure, there may be a particular type of qb or whatever sometime, but generally the players UM has and are recruiting could fit into almost any offense.

 

[grizindabox]

PR is always right.....except when he isn't

 

[grizfan47]

PR, I understand your point about stability in terms of the program as a whole and chosing a long term coach. Who wants to step into a very unstable program and gamble their professional futures on it. However, I was talking more in terms of recruiting.

There have been many arguements that JJ would have been more successful if the schemes were directed more at his skill set. The same arguement has even been made for the offensive line. Whether I agree or disagree doesn't really matter. I'm not sure that I can buy into the statement that MD is only going to recruit athletes that are capable of playing any scheme. Wouldn't it make sense that he would want athletes that have more the skill sets that he desires to give him a better chance at success? I do believe that most coaches will adapt to the talent they have and I would hope that they would.

My point is; in terms of "recruiting", I don't know that "stability" is aquired by failing to give MD an extended contract. It would seem to me that if you back MD and he is taking UM where you want it to be then you give him an extended contract and announce your loyalty and confidence in him. A one year extension just seems very wishy washy to me and gives me the feeling that you can't make a decision and don't want to take responsibility for your decisions.

 

[Griz66]

i agree that at UM tradiitonally recruiting is not done for a particular offesnive or defensive scheme but rather to get the best athlete available and having a HC in place will assit in keeping current recruits and likely getting others. No this is notperfect and not sure it is truly the best long term but it is what it is and we need to make the best of it and keep things as stable as we can. It would be nice to get a coach in waiting early on in 2014 but not sure that is the best long term and also not sure it wll get the best person avaialble for the salary we can afford to pay. I would love to have a strong leader in place at the top (President that is) like they do at MSU and I think much would be different both athletically and academically

 

[Proud Griz Man]

...about UM's administrative brain trust. To wit:
Until there's a change at the top just kick back... and expect more of the same...

More interesting stuff from the Tipper. :loser:

 

[Spanky]

66....certainly true that we don't have a strong leader at UM. With Engstrom in place, I am concerned about the type of football coach we will select when Mick steps down.

 

[grizfan47]

Griz66, you make some very good points and I really respect your point of view and discussion.
I certainlly agree with your comments about leadership which is why I am reviving this thread after another day of thinking about it.

If leadership was truly intent on stability and they are happy with the direction this staff is headed then why not sign MD to a long term contract? That would indicate long term stability and support of your staff would it not?

The impression I get from a one year extenstion is this;

1. Thank you MD for being a good guy and keeping the ship from sinking farther then it could have. This is our way of thanking you.

2. Leadership is unwilling to put their name and reputation on the results of next years campaign. If the Griz struggle and don't make the playoffs then they can say, "see, we just weren't real confident we had the staff for the job" even though we hoped we did.

3. They can put off the real stability issue for another season which may be good for them personally but delay the rebuilding or remaking of a future national caliber team by another whole season.

4. MD and his staff are still on probation which again does not really add to the stability of the program.

So in summary, and it is only my opinion that a one year extension does little for stability for any longer than one year. And that is a trade off at the expense of two years of recruits that may not play for MD for more then one season. At some point the decision has to be made to give MD the position and live with it or go in another direction all together. The third option is the grooming of a current staff member which is a possibility I guess.

 

[Griz66]

in response i would hope that MD has the good sense to not to want to keep coaching past next year--at his age i would hope he has better things to do in life. As I have said before the ideal solution is that he announces his retirement early in the 2014 season so that everyone knows we will be seaching for a new HC for 2015 and ideally that comes via a national search with some increased $'s thrown in to get the best possible candidate. Yes this will result in some instability for a year or so but with JJ back and some great receivers and RB's better in 2015 than 2014. Either situation is not ideal but to me it is better than MD for a long term deal since to me he is definitely not the long term solution--he is average at best and got by this year on some great talent and some not real great competition in many of the wins. I still have concerns with RE in command that he will not want to go after a truly great up and coming coach since he is obviously not a real pro-FB type of President.

 

[kemajic]

Not taking sides but just curios. Who here thinks we could win a national championship under the exact staff we have now? Something to ponder......

I do. Almost no one wins a national championship, but these coaches could.

Let's examine your evidence, Mr. Mouthpiece. It appears this staff has been in charge for 24 games, winning 15 and losing 9. More telling is how they fared against the tougher competition. Hmmm, only two wins (one per year) against teams with a winning record (Liberty 6-5 and MSU 7-5). Not too impressive; when they play good teams, they lose far more often than they win. Please explain how this evidence extrapolates to a National Championship. You are short.

 

[horribilisfan8184]

Say what you want about healing the program. My concern is that we saw all year and in this game in particular, how outcoached this staff was on multiple fronts. For our retuning players, I want a head coach who can overrule his macho players and make them wear appropriate gear for the weather. I want a coach who insists only the players who have mastered fundamentals like tackling and angles hit the field. I want a coach who sees successive calls end zone throws on 3rd and 4th and 4-6 yds from inside the 30, make sure his OC(s) call plays to get the first down in two plays. I want a coach who knows how to play chess, not checkers. I want assistants who can make adjustments on the fly in the 1st and 2nd quarters during the game. I want coordinators who can get offensive plays in so we don't waste precious timeouts, and on defense so the team is set before the ball is snapped. I want a coach who can do accurate self-reflection and analysis of his game performance. I want a coach who knows when he's in over his head, to hire assistants who are better in the areas of his weaknesses. I want a coach who knows his players deserve all of this from him and his assistants. I've wanted to see maturation from this staff for two years and the changes we've seen are too slow and not fully effective. For the fans and players I want a coach who will be so successful in two years he has FBS teams all over him for his services. Those coaches are out there now, and I don't want our current players to have to weather an "adequate" HC until MD decides he's ready to retire again. We saw preseason "bush league" mistakes in the playoffs. That's what makes me unhappy, and a 10-2 record before that doesn't excuse these failures when they matter the most. Playoffs is when the players and coaches have to be their best in preparation and execution. With two weeks to prepare this was a colossal failure which tastes so bad none of the apologists' sugar coating can make it palatable. With the current staff we will likely see this repeated next year.

 

[griz4life]

Say what you want about healing the program. My concern is that we saw all year and in this game in particular, how outcoached this staff was on multiple fronts. For our retuning players, I want a head coach who can overrule his macho players and make them wear appropriate gear for the weather. I want a coach who insists only the players who have mastered fundamentals like tackling and angles hit the field. I want a coach who sees successive calls end zone throws on 3rd and 4th and 4-6 yds from inside the 30, make sure his OC(s) call plays to get the first down in two plays. I want a coach who knows how to play chess, not checkers. I want assistants who can make adjustments on the fly in the 1st and 2nd quarters during the game. I want coordinators who can get offensive plays in so we don't waste precious timeouts, and on defense so the team is set before the ball is snapped. I want a coach who can do accurate self-reflection and analysis of his game performance. I want a coach who knows when he's in over his head, to hire assistants who are better in the areas of his weaknesses. I want a coach who knows his players deserve all of this from him and his assistants. I've wanted to see maturation from this staff for two years and the changes we've seen are too slow and not fully effective. For the fans and players I want a coach who will be so successful in two years he has FBS teams all over him for his services. Those coaches are out there now, and I don't want our current players to have to weather an "adequate" HC until MD decides he's ready to retire again. We saw preseason "bush league" mistakes in the playoffs. That's what makes me unhappy, and a 10-2 record before that doesn't excuse these failures when they matter the most. Playoffs is when the players and coaches have to be their best in preparation and execution. With two weeks to prepare this was a colossal failure which tastes so bad none of the apologists' sugar coating can make it palatable. With the current staff we will likely see this repeated next year.

Don't forget the short skirt and the loooooong jacket

 

[montana_jack]

Mick Dennehy losing the 1996 Chipper=You're fired!
Joe Glenn losing to Hofstra=You're fired!
Bobby Hauck losing to the Cats=You're fired!
Robin Pflugrad having a 7-4 record=You're double fired!

You get the idea. I could never coach because I wouldn't be able to handle all the idiot "fans".

What we have is a two year old staff that is still getting their feet under them. Chill out boys and girls and let the good stuff happen. What I like about this staff is that they aren't relying on smoke and mirrors to make a good football team. Delaney has been around the block a time or ten and the fact of the matter is that Mick's OC and DC are young coaches. They're good coaches. You just have to give them a little bit of time and I think we're going to back to the top in a year or two.

January's winter conditioning is just around the corner and I'm willing to bet the team is gonna get fed double rations of creatine and spinach.

 

[mikegriz]

Mick Dennehy losing the 1996 Chipper=You're fired!
Joe Glenn losing to Hofstra=You're fired!
Bobby Hauck losing to the Cats=You're fired!
Robin Pflugrad having a 7-4 record=You're double fired!

You get the idea. I could never coach because I wouldn't be able to handle all the idiot "fans".

What we have is a two year old staff that is still getting their feet under them. Chill out boys and girls and let the good stuff happen. What I like about this staff is that they aren't relying on smoke and mirrors to make a good football team. Delaney has been around the block a time or ten and the fact of the matter is that Mick's OC and DC are young coaches. They're good coaches. You just have to give them a little bit of time and I think we're going to back to the top in a year or two.

January's winter conditioning is just around the corner and I'm willing to bet the team is gonna get fed double rations of creatine and spinach.

Cracks me up that people on this board forget ripping Robin Pflugrad to shreds his first year. Now everybody's a Pflu fan. One less bad call or blown pass last Saturday, and people would be talking about the Hollywood ending and singing Mick's praises. You could see people on here turning positive on Mick the last couple weeks. Hell, people practically wet themselves over the picture of Coach D. jumping into the water. Then the Griz lost to CC and the knives came back out. He's the HC and will be for at least another season. I'm behind the guy because his success is Griz success.

 

[horribilisfan8184]

Mick Dennehy losing the 1996 Chipper=You're fired!
Joe Glenn losing to Hofstra=You're fired!
Bobby Hauck losing to the Cats=You're fired!
Robin Pflugrad having a 7-4 record=You're double fired!

You get the idea. I could never coach because I wouldn't be able to handle all the idiot "fans".

With the exception of possibly the first MD, each of these coaches learned from their mistakes. Current MD, not so much. Good coaches get their teams to play to their potential, and great coaches get them to exceed their potential. This team did well but still underachieved. I get your mantra there is nothing wrong with less than excellence, I just don't accept that position is a virtue, and I believe the kids deserve better.

 

[stubbins]

Mick Dennehy losing the 1996 Chipper=You're fired!
Joe Glenn losing to Hofstra=You're fired!
Bobby Hauck losing to the Cats=You're fired!
Robin Pflugrad having a 7-4 record=You're double fired!

You get the idea. I could never coach because I wouldn't be able to handle all the idiot "fans".

What we have is a two year old staff that is still getting their feet under them. Chill out boys and girls and let the good stuff happen. What I like about this staff is that they aren't relying on smoke and mirrors to make a good football team. Delaney has been around the block a time or ten and the fact of the matter is that Mick's OC and DC are young coaches. They're good coaches. You just have to give them a little bit of time and I think we're going to back to the top in a year or two.

January's winter conditioning is just around the corner and I'm willing to bet the team is gonna get fed double rations of creatine and spinach.

Cracks me up that people on this board forget ripping Robin Pflugrad to shreds his first year. Now everybody's a Pflu fan. One less bad call or blown pass last Saturday, and people would be talking about the Hollywood ending and singing Mick's praises. You could see people on here turning positive on Mick the last couple weeks. Hell, people practically wet themselves over the picture of Coach D. jumping into the water. Then the Griz lost to CC and the knives came back out. He's the HC and will be for at least another season. I'm behind the guy because his success is Griz success.

Go back and find the 4 posters who knew he'd succeed...the rest were and are a little.....slow.

 

[statler & waldorf]

...about UM's administrative brain trust. To wit:

(1) If you have a coach who's taking your program in the right direction you offer a lengthy commitment that you hope works for both the coach and the institution.
(2) If you have a program treading water with a coach jerked out of retirement you put him back in retirement.
(3) There is no (3).

To paraphrase BO, if you like your coach you try to keep him. Period...A one year
contract for any self-respecting coach is nothing but a probationary period issued by a wish-washy adminstration whose vision begins and ends with kicking the can down the road.

Until there's a change at the top just kick back... and expect more of the same...

Engstrom continues to keep his boot on the throat of Griz football. The AD is his sock puppet.

 

[mikegriz]

Mick Dennehy losing the 1996 Chipper=You're fired!
Joe Glenn losing to Hofstra=You're fired!
Bobby Hauck losing to the Cats=You're fired!
Robin Pflugrad having a 7-4 record=You're double fired!

You get the idea. I could never coach because I wouldn't be able to handle all the idiot "fans".

What we have is a two year old staff that is still getting their feet under them. Chill out boys and girls and let the good stuff happen. What I like about this staff is that they aren't relying on smoke and mirrors to make a good football team. Delaney has been around the block a time or ten and the fact of the matter is that Mick's OC and DC are young coaches. They're good coaches. You just have to give them a little bit of time and I think we're going to back to the top in a year or two.

January's winter conditioning is just around the corner and I'm willing to bet the team is gonna get fed double rations of creatine and spinach.

Cracks me up that people on this board forget ripping Robin Pflugrad to shreds his first year. Now everybody's a Pflu fan. One less bad call or blown pass last Saturday, and people would be talking about the Hollywood ending and singing Mick's praises. You could see people on here turning positive on Mick the last couple weeks. Hell, people practically wet themselves over the picture of Coach D. jumping into the water. Then the Griz lost to CC and the knives came back out. He's the HC and will be for at least another season. I'm behind the guy because his success is Griz success.

Go back and find the 4 posters who knew he'd succeed...the rest were and are a little.....slow.

No thanks, but I'm guessing you were one of "the four"

 

[kevraid]

So when was the last time a coach went 15-9 in a 2 year span at montana with no playoff wins and trailed by 20+ in 3 home games... and had 3 close calls against bad teams including a block fg to bail em out at home... so people think going 10-3 beating the cats winning no playoff games with 3 tough wins against poor teams is a good year throw in the blowout loss also wow expectations are going way down hill... What is considered a good year next year 8-4 7-5 or maybe 6-6 with no wins over a playoff team... not to mention 5 home losses in 2 years... I guess we can pretend 10-3 is a good year with no quality wins against healthy opponents... now lets pretend cal poly is real good and sac st is tough

 

[mcg]

The problem with firing Coach Delany is that it would be very hard to find a great coach to replace him.

First, candidates will see that a 10-3 year gets the coach fired and become instantly turned off. Second, it seems like the University of Montana wants to pay about 60% of market for a head coach and I'd assume assistant coaches salary are equally low. Third, once all the outside candidates have elected not to pursue the job, we are left with the current assistants as 'inside' candidates, none of whom are qualified to be head coach of a top tier FCS football program.