2 Candidates
I was home in IL the week of Thanksgiving. I drove up to Macomb for the Men's BB game. I stuck my head in Coach Nielson's office and chatted with him a little. Interestingly I mentioned that I was surprised Rob Ash was fired at Montana State. Coach Nielson said he was equally surprised. One thing to think about is Ash is used to working with not the best facilities or limited budgets from his years at Drake. Drake is in the Pioneer League which is non scholarship. Dayton won the Pioneer League this year with one loss...to Drake. I agree with others I'd like to see more candidates including one or two with past Leatherneck ties. I did hear today that a former Iowa State Asst was going to throw his name in but he might be too late.
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Leatherneck57
- Posts: 472
- Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:41 am
I have employees ask me to motivate them from time to time...my response is simple. I can do that but what if I didn't come to work today...who then would motivate you to do your job?
I'm not looking for a cheerleader coach but I am looking for more than an X and O's guy! We need someone that is good with students, administration, faculty, alumni and more importantly the community. Let's face it...we need more fans in the stands from all of the above. That's what a successful coach can do! Players need a coach with energy and one they believe in and they can have success with!
If you read the article on the firing of Ash the AD mentions that Montana State was picked to win the conference but went 3-5 and had a losing season. He couldn't help but voice the dejection he had seen in the players eyes and on their faces after a loss. The decline started after the 2012 year and if you think about it...to have that much talent and lose you have to wonder what happened. The only question comes to mind...did they lose faith in their leadership and the direction he was leading them???
I agree and I am so glad the Yelk hiring didn't go down (even though I liked him as a coach) that would have been a huge mistake on Western's part!
Former Neck
I'm not looking for a cheerleader coach but I am looking for more than an X and O's guy! We need someone that is good with students, administration, faculty, alumni and more importantly the community. Let's face it...we need more fans in the stands from all of the above. That's what a successful coach can do! Players need a coach with energy and one they believe in and they can have success with!
If you read the article on the firing of Ash the AD mentions that Montana State was picked to win the conference but went 3-5 and had a losing season. He couldn't help but voice the dejection he had seen in the players eyes and on their faces after a loss. The decline started after the 2012 year and if you think about it...to have that much talent and lose you have to wonder what happened. The only question comes to mind...did they lose faith in their leadership and the direction he was leading them???
I agree and I am so glad the Yelk hiring didn't go down (even though I liked him as a coach) that would have been a huge mistake on Western's part!
Former Neck
I am not looking for a "cheerleader" coach either, but I would like to see someone that is able to become a part of the community as a whole - university, town, neighborhood. If we want to get more people in the stands, he has to be someone that they can relate to - I wasn't crazy about how aloof Nielson was (and I mean this in situations outside the game of football).
I want someone that can help these kids live up to their potential - we've got a good team, they just need more guidance than what they were apparently getting.
I want someone that can help these kids live up to their potential - we've got a good team, they just need more guidance than what they were apparently getting.
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letsgonecks
- Posts: 994
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:19 am
I'm going Ash. Has the FCS HC experience, taken teams to the FCS playoffs, more experience putting together a coaching staff and that will be huge in recruiting. Think Nielson did a great job with his staff recruiting and want as little of a letdown as possible.
He wasn't recruiting in the the greatest region and was the second fiddle state school, but still landed talented kids. One likely being the next QB at Oregon and two winning the Buchanan Award (1 was a walk-on).
Hopefully he could bring in some good staff members and one of them being the next HC in 4 or so years.
Pluses with Fisher would be his experience and connection at FBS schools. Being at different schools gives him more coaching contacts in building his staff. His direct connects at the FBS level could lead to a better chance of landing a transfer to fill a gap here and there. finally, does have success leading offenses and QBs.
Guess I'm ok either way, but leaning towards Ash.
He wasn't recruiting in the the greatest region and was the second fiddle state school, but still landed talented kids. One likely being the next QB at Oregon and two winning the Buchanan Award (1 was a walk-on).
Hopefully he could bring in some good staff members and one of them being the next HC in 4 or so years.
Pluses with Fisher would be his experience and connection at FBS schools. Being at different schools gives him more coaching contacts in building his staff. His direct connects at the FBS level could lead to a better chance of landing a transfer to fill a gap here and there. finally, does have success leading offenses and QBs.
Guess I'm ok either way, but leaning towards Ash.
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sealhall74
- Posts: 5983
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:18 pm
- Location: Wherever, Windblows
Fisher sort of lucked in to that OC/QB position at Richmond. Rocco hired Steed Lobotzke for that slot in Jan 2015. Air Force came calling a month and a half later to steal Steed away. I think it worked out well for Fisher. Not sure how much Fisher had to do with it, but during the year, they changed up their offense to better suit RB Green's abilities (moved away from Pistol/Read Option to QB under center so Green could get a running start to the ball). Two thumbs up from me. Nikko would have done far better if we had done something like this.
http://americansportsnet.com/jacobi-gre ... untaintop/
http://americansportsnet.com/jacobi-gre ... untaintop/
Embrace the pace of the race.
I think either are pretty solid candidates. I think my reasoning for leaning towards Ash is what would likely happen in 3-4 years if we have success with whoever is hired.
With Fisher, if he has success, he might stand a good chance at being picked up for a next level job, which means that there's a good chance he might end up taking quite a bit of his existing staff with him to the new place.
With Ash, if he has success, I think he'd be more likely to just enjoy going out "on top" (or as high as he can get us in 3-4 years) and retire, leaving a whole staff of experience assistant coaches, with likely a solid candidate or two for hiring the next HC internally. If Ash is as good at finding qualified assistant coaches as others have said, then it's likely that a coordinator or top-level assistant coach would be a great option...for continuity of staff, recruiting, interaction with the existing players, etc.
You can't deny what Fisher was able to do offensively against some very good teams this season (59 points against James Madison), especially in the playoffs (48 against William & Mary, 39 against Illinois State). And for people who are interested in high-scoring, exciting offenses to put butts in seats, he might really be able to get it done. Plus he might relish the chance to get another shot at the Bison defense.
I guess, really, I'm ok with either. There's definitely lots of benefits to both of them.
With Fisher, if he has success, he might stand a good chance at being picked up for a next level job, which means that there's a good chance he might end up taking quite a bit of his existing staff with him to the new place.
With Ash, if he has success, I think he'd be more likely to just enjoy going out "on top" (or as high as he can get us in 3-4 years) and retire, leaving a whole staff of experience assistant coaches, with likely a solid candidate or two for hiring the next HC internally. If Ash is as good at finding qualified assistant coaches as others have said, then it's likely that a coordinator or top-level assistant coach would be a great option...for continuity of staff, recruiting, interaction with the existing players, etc.
You can't deny what Fisher was able to do offensively against some very good teams this season (59 points against James Madison), especially in the playoffs (48 against William & Mary, 39 against Illinois State). And for people who are interested in high-scoring, exciting offenses to put butts in seats, he might really be able to get it done. Plus he might relish the chance to get another shot at the Bison defense.
I guess, really, I'm ok with either. There's definitely lots of benefits to both of them.
Scott Lawson - Board AdminWestern Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
Montana State Alum and fan here.....
I'll throw my plug in for hiring Rob Ash.
His strengths:
-Very good with boosters and getting support for the program(MSU built a 5200 seat expansion during his tenure, and has sold out almost every game while he was here. 17,500)
-Great track record for hiring assistant coaches, very well connected. His OC's at MSU moved on to be OC's at Nevada, Oregon State and Florida Atlantic.
-Don't worry that he is not a screamer, he is not scared to hire coaches who are.
-After every signing day, all the new recruits would say they chose MSU because of how much they liked coaching staff
-This guy runs a clean program. He likes high character guys.
-Look at his record he will beat the teams he is supposed to.
What are his weaknesses?
-He was labeled with not winning the big games at MSU. That means beating our rival Montana(2-7 record against griz) and more playoff wins.
He is still the winningest coach in MSU history and loved by most Bobcat Fans.
If it were me, I wouldn't think twice about hiring Rob Ash.
I'll throw my plug in for hiring Rob Ash.
His strengths:
-Very good with boosters and getting support for the program(MSU built a 5200 seat expansion during his tenure, and has sold out almost every game while he was here. 17,500)
-Great track record for hiring assistant coaches, very well connected. His OC's at MSU moved on to be OC's at Nevada, Oregon State and Florida Atlantic.
-Don't worry that he is not a screamer, he is not scared to hire coaches who are.
-After every signing day, all the new recruits would say they chose MSU because of how much they liked coaching staff
-This guy runs a clean program. He likes high character guys.
-Look at his record he will beat the teams he is supposed to.
What are his weaknesses?
-He was labeled with not winning the big games at MSU. That means beating our rival Montana(2-7 record against griz) and more playoff wins.
He is still the winningest coach in MSU history and loved by most Bobcat Fans.
If it were me, I wouldn't think twice about hiring Rob Ash.
I'm thinking I might know the ISU assistant you are talking about.LeatherCy wrote:I was home in IL the week of Thanksgiving. I drove up to Macomb for the Men's BB game. I stuck my head in Coach Nielson's office and chatted with him a little. Interestingly I mentioned that I was surprised Rob Ash was fired at Montana State. Coach Nielson said he was equally surprised. One thing to think about is Ash is used to working with not the best facilities or limited budgets from his years at Drake. Drake is in the Pioneer League which is non scholarship. Dayton won the Pioneer League this year with one loss...to Drake. I agree with others I'd like to see more candidates including one or two with past Leatherneck ties. I did hear today that a former Iowa State Asst was going to throw his name in but he might be too late.