To determine who should be the next football coach at Weber State, one needs an honest assessment of the problems that you have at Weber State's football program. And one has to determine what sacrifices the program has to make to turn the football team around.
Let's first begin by being completely honest about one fact. Weber State relies on the football program to raise revenue for the rest of the athletic department, which according to the US Department of Education, does just a little better than break even. If revenue from the football program were to disappear, then other programs would suffer as well. Therefore, unless Weber State and fill the Dee Event Center for Men's Basketball every single night, you can't cancel football. And Weber State fans, as a result, should count on the program playing 2 FBS program almost every single season.
There are some problems with this kind of scheduling. First, to make the post-season, the football team has to be nearly perfect in conference play. It will be tough to win 8 games when you give yourself at least two guaranteed losses every season. Second, the other two non-conference games have to be winnable and on the cheap, which means that you are likely to see Big Sky Conference games scheduled as non-conference games more often in the future...that is until Long Beach State, CS Northridge, CS Fullerton and Seattle U. return to the gridiron and the Big West Conference returns.
Weber State has two problems that the new football coach and the athletic department must address immediately. First, attendance has been declining in the days since Ron McBride has left. Second, there has been a dearth of Utah talent on the Weber State roster.
The second problem isn't that difficult to solve. Mike Price and Dave Arslenian would both pride themselves on the high numbers of Utah kids on their rosters. It makes marketing the team to local fans a little bit easier. Ron McBride, however, liked recruiting out of Utah. There is a big problem with recruiting Utah kids. Most are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And therefore, most go on missions. It makes managing the roster a little bit more difficult. However, recruiting local hasn't seemed to hurt the Men's basketball program a lot, in fact Randy Rahe has thrived on it. Not all of the stars on the basketball program have come from the Beehive State, but a high percentage of the roster has.
But let's compare Weber State to Southern Utah, who has arguably been more successful in recent years than Weber State has been. Of their freshmen, SUU has 20 from Utah, where Weber State has 7. And many of those freshmen come from towns like Layton, Farmington and Plain City, right from Weber State's back yard.
Southern Utah has done something else, recruiting wise, that Weber State has not done. They have successfully lured in transfers who have given up on Utah and BYU. Many of this kids may be academically ineligible, but others simply left the bigger schools hoping for some playing time, and Ed Lamb has given it to them. In fact, Brad Sorensen left BYU and used SUU as a pathway to the NFL. It a recruiting opportunity that Weber State has simply missed out on.
As far as attendance goes, more locals on the roster and winning seasons will help. But so will improving the facilities. WSU needs, more than anything, more indoor bathrooms and more permanent concessions. Fortunately, the attendance still has not yet fallen to pre-McBride levels. But giving the fans something to cheer about, and making the experience a little better will help a lot.
What are the requirements for Weber State's next head football coach?
1. Utah Ties.
With the sole exception of Mike Price, those who have succeeded at Weber State have come from another Utah school before landing in Ogden. Take a look for yourself.
WSU Coach--Record--Prior Job--Alma Mater
Wally Nadler--.500--BYU Assistant--Utah State
Sark Arslenian--.654--Dixie College Head Coach--???
Dick Gwinn--.238--Weber State Assistant under Arslenian--Oklahoma
Pete Reilman--.349--Chico State--???
Mike Price--.511--Missouri QB Coach--Washington State
Dave Arslenian--.530--Dixie State Head Coach--Weber State/Arizona State
Jerry Greybeal--.410--Eastern Washington Assistant--Idaho State
Ron McBride--.530--Utah Head Coach--San Jose State
(John L. Smith--.000--Arkansas Assistant Coach--Weber State)
Jody Sears--.174--Washington State Assistant--Washington State
2. Resume
Perhaps there was one weakness that Jody Sears had. He didn't have a good resume. He was the cornerback coach at Washington State. He did spend some time as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Washington, and when Weber needed an interim coach, he was the most experienced assistant John L. Smith left behind. However, he wasn't the best choice had he otherwise applied for the job. At EWU, he was demoted from sole defensive coordinator to co-defensive coordinator, the position he held for his last two seasons in Cheney. He did follow his head coach, Paul Wulff from Cheney to Pullman, but the Eagles have been far more successful under Beau Baldwin. And Sears was not chosen as the defensive coordinator at Washington State but he was relegated to coaching cornerbacks. Why? It is likely that Baldwin wasn't going to keep Sears at EWU and he was able to convince Wulff to hire him as a position coach.
3. Mission Program
The new head coach at Weber State doesn't need to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but it will help if he understands how this makes Weber State a unique place to coach. In fact, the only LDS men have coached at Weber State were Nadler and the Arslenians. But Mike Price and Ron McBride respected the wishes of those who wanted to serve LDS missions and worked around it and were successful for it. Sears seems to have recruited around it, like Greybeal did.
***Updated***
According to the Ogden Standard Examiner, here is the short list of candidates:
1. Brandon Doman, Former BYU Offensive Coordinator. Played Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, BYU and Skyline High School. Hometown--Salt Lake City Alma Mater--BYU. LDS?--Yes, current LDS Bishop.
According to those close to the BYU program when he was coaching there, he wasn't the best X's and O's guy, but he was highly inspirational. I would expect that as a Head Coach, his style would be like his college coach LaVell Edwards. Coach Edwards left most of the dirty work to his assistants and would supervise their work. That may not necessarily be a strength. His strength would be his ability to recruit, especially local kids. He has been out of coaching for a year, but many think that he was a fall-guy in Provo and not given a fair chance to succeed.
2. Nick Howell, Current BYU Defensive Coordinator. Weber State Alum, Ogden Native and Ben Lomond High School graduate. Hometown--Ogden Alma Mater--Weber State LDS?--Yes.
For the past several years, Howell has been tutored under one of the best defensive minds in college football in BYU's Bronco Mendenhall. One of the chief criticisms of Mendenhall's style at BYU is that not enough attention has been paid to the offense, at a school that was once known for being one of the best offensive schools in the country. The concern I have about Howell is that Bronco Mendenhall has been so hands on with the defense, that Howell hasn't really been a coordinator. Howell has been mentioned by some as the likely successor to Bronco Mendenhall when he retires.
3. Kevin McGiven, Current USU Offensive Coordinator. Hometown--Orem Alma Mater--Louisiana Tech LDS--Yes
McGiven is the popular choice on most Weber State comment sites. As the Offensive Coordinator at Montana State in 2012, he helped see the Bobcats to an 11-2 record and a trip to the FCS quarterfinals. Basically with the same offensive personnel on the field in 2013, the Bobcat production dropped off dramatically and there were no playoffs in Bozeman. The one red flag for McGiven is that he has rarely stayed in one place for long.
4. Robb Akey, Former Idaho Coach. Played at Weber State under Mike Price and Coached at Weber State under Dave Arslenian. Hometown--Colorado Springs Alma Mater--Weber State LDS--No
Not really a popular choice, but I counter that with the argument that he did lead Idaho to a bowl game and a bowl victory. Not many coaches who have stopped in Moscow in their ill-advised move to the FBS have been able to say that. That puts him in company with John L. Smith. Actually, Akey should have moved on from Idaho after the bowl game in 2008. He would likely still be coaching. It's a very difficult place to succeed.
5. Eric Price, Current Tulane Offensive Coordinator. Played at Weber State under his father Mike Price. Graduate of Ogden High School. Hometown--Ogden Alma Mater--Weber State LDS--No
Tulane has made a dramatic turn around in 2013, and Price deserves much of the credit. However, it is possible that Weber State can't afford the pay he deserves. He has also never coached in Utah, but that didn't stop his father from succeeding.
6. Ed Lamb, Southern Utah Head Coach. Hometown--Castro Valley, California Alma Mater--BYU LDS-Yes
How did his name end up on this list? Doesn't he have a good thing going in Cedar City? Likely he has family on the Wasatch Front, and Cedar City might be too far removed. Look at the SUU roster and see how many kids are from the SLC CSA, especially from cities at the North End like Layton, Plain City and even Ogden. Yep, he has recruited in Weber State's back yard. The trouble with Lamb is that his defense is usually very good, but the offense, except when Brad Sorensen was under center, hasn't been a strength. He is someone else from the LaVell Edwards Coaching tree and has a similar style. He was a GA under Edwards and Played at BYU.
7. Robin Pflugrad, Current Offensive Coordinator. Former coach at Montana. Hometown--Eugene, Oregon Alma Mater--Portland State LDS--No
Well, let see, the offense didn't exactly light it up, except in the first and last game of the season. The other question about Pflu is if he has been in Utah long enough to understand what makes this place different than Montana. He also has his hat in the ring at North Dakota. He will be a head coach again someday, but Weber State may not be the best fit.
8. Steve Moton--Current Offensive Line Coach and Associate Head Coach. Hometown--Pullman, Washginton??? Alma Mater--Washington State LDS--No
Moton has coached at Washington State, Iowa State, Stanford, USC, Nevada and San Jose State. He has coached since the late 1970s. But he hasn't been associated with a lot of successful programs in his career.
9. Matt Hammer, current coach at Weber High School and former Weber State offensive coordinator. Hometown--Clearfield Alma Mater--Southern Utah LDS--Yes
Not a very popular choice among chat sites either. Hammer was the last offensive coordinator under Ron McBride and many though that his play calling was predictable. Of course, losing Cameron Higgins had a lot to do with that. He is credited for turning Weber High around this season.
10. Dave Peck, current coach at Bingham High School. Hometown--Grace, Idaho Alma Mater--Southern Utah LDS--Yes
Peck is not only one of the most successful high school coaches in Utah, but in the United States. There is no doubt he can coach. But many successful high school coaches don't make the transition to college unless they are willing to first work as an assistant. Unlike Hammer, he has never coached at the college level. Hiring Peck would be a gamble.
Who do I think will get the job?
I saw an exchange of tweets between a couple of Deseret News reporters who thought the choice would be Doman, in fact, one guaranteed it would be Doman. The popular choice among chatters at Weber State's Big Sky Fans site is McGiven. My opinion, it will be one of those two who will get the job.
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