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Pat Dye Field => War Damn Eagle => Topic started by: ssgaufan on October 11, 2011, 10:17:30 AM
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No, not Bob. The other Stoops
Arizona coach Mike Stoops had been lauded for turning the program around, leading the Wildcats to three straight bowls after a decade of mediocrity.
But even as Arizona was making its run to last year's Alamo Bowl, there were signs that the program had taken a step back.
Miller: Zona's Stoops Axed; Next In Line?
Whatever the explanation for Mike Stoops' sudden firing, one thing is clear: His successor's hiring hinges on how much Arizona is willing to pay, Ted Miller writes. Story
• Blogs: Pac 12 | College Football
Combined with a lackluster start to this season, athletic director Greg Byrne had seen enough.
Byrne announced Monday that Arizona had fired Stoops halfway through his eighth season, ending a run that had quickly deteriorated in the desert.
"I was concerned about the direction of the program and where we were going, and felt that needed to be addressed," Byrne said. "We felt this would give everybody a fresh start for the remainder of the season."
Stoops joins New Mexico's Mike Locksley as the only coaches of major college football programs to be fired since this season started.
Defensive coordinator Tim Kish will serve as the interim head coach the rest of the season while the school searches for a new coach.
Known for his emotional sideline behavior, Stoops was the co-defensive coordinator on his brother Bob's staff at Oklahoma when he was hired as Arizona's head coach in 2004.
After five seasons of building the program, Stoops seemed to have the Wildcats back among the top teams in the Pac-10, leading them to a pair of eight-win seasons and trips to the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl and the Holiday Bowl the next year.
Arizona seemed poised to become one of the nation's elite teams by cracking the top 10 and opening 7-1 last season, igniting hope that the Wildcats could end their run as the only Pac-10 school to not play in the Rose Bowl.
Then things started to fall apart.
Jim Z. Rider/US Presswire
Mike Stoops paid the price for Arizona's feeble 2011 start as he was canned as the Pac-12 team's head coach on Monday.
The Wildcats lost their last five games, including a 36-10 blowout by Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl that came on the heels of a 35-0 rout by Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl the year before.
Arizona opened up this season, the first as the reconfigured Pac-12, with a win over FCS Northern Arizona, then went into a slide, losing five straight.
The latest was the big blow for Stoops; unable to stop Oregon State's offense, the Wildcats (1-5, 0-4 Pac-12) lost to the previously winless Beavers 37-27 for their 10th straight loss to an FBS school.
Stoops, 49, had 41-50 record at Arizona, including 27-38 in conference games.
"When I took this job, I was hoping to be the first coach to lead this program to a Rose Bowl," Stoops said in a statement issued by his agent, Neil Cornrich. "Although we fell short of that goal, we made significant progress, and our organization continues to strive for excellence. I wish the entire Wildcat football program the best of luck going forward, and I thank the University of Arizona for the opportunity to be a part of the successes we have achieved over the past eight seasons."
Stoops' contract ran through 2013 under an extension granted in 2008, and Byrne said the buyout for the remainder of it will be about $1.4 million.
A national search for his replacement will be conducted while the team is run by Kish, but Byrne said any decisions aren't expected to come until after the regular season. Arizona doesn't play again until Oct. 20 against UCLA.
University President Dr. Eugene Sander said by firing Stoops now, it would avoid speculation about the coach's future that would have dogged the team the remainder of the season had he stayed on.
Sander also said he consulted with the Arizona Board of Regents, and its chairman Fred DuVal "is fully in agreement with this decision."
"Decisions like this are never easy to make," Sander said. "There's always a great deal of heartache that goes along with these things, however I do believe that on behalf of university of Arizona football, this decision is absolutely necessary at this time."
Stoops' volatile sideline behavior became an issue last year, as fans started to complain about the coach's routine raging at officials, players and other coaches. But Arizona stuck by Stoops heading into 2011, only to see the bottom fall out.
The timing of the move will draw some criticism, but part of the reason for doing it now was to give Arizona a chance to reach bowl eligibility. The schedule becomes easier, with only Washington and Arizona State as opponents that should be heavily favored against the Wildcats.
Among the names that will immediately enter speculation is former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. He had great success turning an Arizona-level program into a consistent winner in the Big 12, despite butting heads with Texas and Oklahoma. Leach is now in his second season out of coaching after being fired at Tech, where he had regular run-ins with the administration and ultimately was forced out after criticism of his handling of receiver Adam James' concussion.
Among assistant coaches, Illinois offensive coordinator Paul Petrino is a rising head-coaching prospect. Petrino, the brother of Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, has helped lead the Illini to a surprising 6-0 start. Last year, Petrino's first at the school, Illinois went 7-6 with freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase learning on the job.
The Wildcats feature one of the best quarterbacks in the country in senior Nick Foles, a projected first-round pick in the NFL draft, and group of talented receivers.
But Arizona had to rebuild its entire offensive line and has struggled to get much of anything going on the ground.
The Wildcats also were hit hard by injuries, even before the season started, and struggled defensively, particularly during a brutal stretch of three consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time -- Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon.
Arizona followed with another big offensive game against Southern California, but couldn't stop the Trojans for its fourth straight loss.
Things then bottomed out with the loss in Corvallis on Saturday, leading to Byrne to tell Stoops on Monday that he had been let go.
"It gives us a head start on the process of finding our new football coach," Byrne said. "I believe strongly that you are, when you have an existing head coach, you need to be committed to that coach, at this point we decided this was an opportunity to start moving forward for the future."
While the decision to fire Stoops was tough, figuring out his interim replacement wasn't.
A 36-year veteran of coaching, Kish had been with Arizona for eight seasons and previously served as defensive coordinator for eight years with two Big Ten schools. The 57-year-old coach had been co-defensive coordinator with Stoops' brother Mark before assuming solo duties at the 2010 Alamo Bowl.
"(He has) the longest stability with our staff, he had the longest tenure with our staff, made sense for a lot of aspects," Byrne said. "He's a good man, cares about the kids; he has strong integrity, is involved in everything we're doing from recruiting and coaching, terminology across the board, (so we) felt he would give us the best stability for the remainder of the season."
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He would be a spectacular Defensive Coordinator...just saying.
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He would be a spectacular Defensive coordinator...just saying.
I agree
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He would be a spectacular Defensive Coordinator...just saying.
It's like I think it and then you type it.
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I wonder what he would think about moving to the southeast?
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I wonder what he would think about moving to the southeast?
Shit, I would think he would love that idea.......and me too; that is if he landed at Auburn.
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Shit, I would think he would love that idea.......and me too; that is if he landed at Auburn.
From what I can tell he was making 1.4 M as a HC.
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From what I can tell he was making 1.4 M as a HC.
...and now he's unemployed.
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From what I can tell he was making 1.4 M as a HC.
Hell we can give him a raise.
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i'm sorry, but mike stoops is a class act asshole. i would never wish auburn to have him...he makes muschamp look like mary poppins.
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i'm sorry, but mike stoops is a class act asshole. i would never wish auburn to have him...he makes muschamp look like mary poppins.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
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Arizona is making a mistake.
(1-5)
Losses;
@Ok State
Stanford
Oregon
@USC
@Oregon State
That's a tough stretch. They could've played UAB after USC and would've gotten beat. That's not to mention all of their injuries.
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i'm sorry, but mike stoops is a class act asshole. i would never wish auburn to have him...he makes muschamp look like mary poppins.
How bad can Mike Stoops be when brother Bob is just a rung or so away from Saban level?
Also have to agree with Prowler. There ain't no patsies among his loses. And the injuries...lawdamighty!
This ain't no football mecca... take back the asshole, give him a raise and call it a clerical error.
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How bad can Mike Stoops be when brother Bob is just a rung or so away from Saban level?
Also have to agree with Prowler. There ain't no patsies among his loses. And the injuries...lawdamighty!
This ain't no football mecca... take back the asshole, give him a raise and call it a clerical error.
Exactly, was this suppose to be Arizona's year? Nope, lol. Something else is in the 'Zona air. That situation ain't through from making headlines.
And another thing....
The AD stated that the Arizona Football team has slipped and that he thinks a change is need, especially after losing the last 10 of 11 games and the last 8 conference games in a row.
Guess who those last ten teams were (in a row.
2010:
@Stanford
USC
@Oregon
Arizona State
Bowl Game:
Oklahoma State
2111:
@Oklahoma State
Stanford
Oregon
@USC
@Oregon State
Fuck Yeah!!!!! Now that's a tough road with your Coaching Career on the line at the Mighty, Mighty Arizona Wildcats "BEAR DOWN" Mutha Fucka "BEAR DOWN".
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i'm sorry, but mike stoops is a class act asshole. i would never wish auburn to have him...he makes muschamp look like mary poppins.
I'd like to have a fiery DC. Aggressive! He wouldn't be the face of the program.
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Exactly, was this suppose to be Arizona's year? Nope, lol. Something else is in the 'Zona air. That situation ain't through from making headlines.
And another thing....
The AD stated that the Arizona Football team has slipped and that he thinks a change is need, especially after losing the last 10 of 11 games and the last 8 conference games in a row.
Guess who those last ten teams were (in a row.
2010:
@Stanford
USC
@Oregon
Arizona State
Bowl Game:
Oklahoma State
2111:
@Oklahoma State
Stanford
Oregon
@USC
@Oregon State
Fuck Yeah!!!!! Now that's a tough road with your Coaching Career on the line at the Mighty, Mighty Arizona Wildcats "BEAR DOWN" Mutha Fucka "BEAR DOWN".
They've apparently been working to beef up their facilities and program. Taken in lots of cash lately. I suspect that someone influential applied pressure, and has a replacement in mind. That said, losing 10 of 11 over the course of 2 seasons would get just about any SEC coach run, no matter who the losses were too, or what the injury situation.
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Arizona is making a mistake.
(1-5)
Losses;
@Ok State
Stanford
Oregon
@USC
@Oregon State
That's a tough stretch. They could've played UAB after USC and would've gotten beat. That's not to mention all of their injuries.
Oregon State is one of the worst teams in the country. They were beat by Sac State. USC is mediocre at best. Zona has a first round NFL QB with tons of weapons at WR. Sorry, but they were underachieving here. They should have been 3-3 during this stretch.
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Oregon State is one of the worst teams in the country. They were beat by Sac State. USC is mediocre at best. Zona has a first round NFL QB with tons of weapons at WR. Sorry, but they were underachieving here. They should have been 3-3 during this stretch.
In 4 of those 5 losses, they were beaten by 2 or more possessions. A mediocre USC team beat them by 7.
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Well its no secret that M Stoops isn't exactly an offensive guru. He is however a badass DC. I tend to think that Zona doesn't have a very creative OC. We all know a little something about that as Auburn fans.
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In 4 of those 5 losses, they were beaten by 2 or more possessions. A mediocre USC team beat them by 7.
I rest my case Mr. Prosecutor.
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Oregon State is one of the worst teams in the country. They were beat by Sac State. USC is mediocre at best. Zona has a first round NFL QB with tons of weapons at WR. Sorry, but they were underachieving here. They should have been 3-3 during this stretch.
Foles? I'm not sure he's first round material. But I would love to have him at AU right now.
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Foles? I'm not sure he's first round material. But I would love to have him at AU right now.
He WAS. he might not be now.
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honestly, if you put any of the other pac 12 coaches in at corch the wildcats would be 4-2. stoops breakdowns on the field were just...well... :facepalm:.
not sure how many of you saw u of a games, but he was a total mental case. one step away from wearing a postal outfit...armed with a gun.
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honestly, if you put any of the other pac 12 coaches in at corch the wildcats would be 4-2. stoops breakdowns on the field were just...well... :facepalm:.
not sure how many of you saw u of a games, but he was a total mental case. one step away from wearing a postal outfit...armed with a gun.
Like Jim "Chapped Face" Leavitt?
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKifEXas8omYZBzu3DUVwMAaHaF00pOzpGziiqR0gbADdzEKC6Ag)