Potential Head Coaches

[Seattle Eagle]

I’m not going to wait until the season’s progressed to voice that I agree with mostly everything I’ve read in this thread. I’ve seen enough. It’s time to get back to our winning ways. EWU has never been a perenial cellar-dwellar in the Big Sky until Coach AB. You can say that college football has changed markedly in the past 5 years and that’d be true, but it’s up to the leadership to figure it out. I’d like to see something new for sure.

 

[EagInTexas]

I’m not going to wait until the season’s progressed to voice that I agree with mostly everything I’ve read in this thread. I’ve seen enough. It’s time to get back to our winning ways. EWU has never been a perenial cellar-dwellar in the Big Sky until Coach AB. You can say that college football has changed markedly in the past 5 years and that’d be true, but it’s up to the leadership to figure it out. I’d like to see something new for sure.

Bingo. If there was a season to get out of the funk we've been in since 2021, it would have been last season. But we decided to F around and lose to Drake.

 

[Hambone]

Lots of speculation here, but do we even know if Best is on the hot seat? My concern is that he isn’t, and we’re fated to be another Portland St. who has a “great guy” as a coach who will never be fired because the admin doesn’t care.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

Lots of speculation here, but do we even know if Best is on the hot seat? My concern is that he isn’t, and we’re fated to be another Portland St. who has a “great guy” as a coach who will never be fired because the admin doesn’t care.

What I said is straight from a former player who is still friends with current players and boosters/alums. Its about as facts based as you can get.

Oh we won't be Portland State. I wish being like Portland State is all we had to worry about. It will be much worse than that. There were calls to get rid of football or drop down to D2 or get rid of the football team WHEN WE WERE WINNING. When donor and alumni support dries up and athletics become an bigger anchor and an already budget constrained school it will just add fuel to the fire of people asking to drop a division or get rid of athletics altogether. Eastern will end up D2 like CWU or getting rid of the football program like WWU did in 2008.

No, keeping Best will cause irreparable damage to Eastern football and athletics as a whole if it hasn't already. I hope the new AD isn't that dumb and doesn't want a permanent black mark on his resume of having destroyed an athletic department he was put in charge of but who knows.

 

[Bloodeagle]

Recruiting has changed so much in the last 5 years, I’m not sure if even a coaching change could fix the program. Think of it as an inverted pyramid, It starts at the top with the admin and donors ($), and without that , it will be a death of a thousand cuts to what was once a storied program.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Recruiting has changed so much in the last 5 years, I’m not sure if even a coaching change could fix the program. Think of it as an inverted pyramid, It starts at the top with the admin and donors ($), and without that , it will be a death of a thousand cuts to what was once a storied program.

This is my thought as well. Firing Best and going a different direction may help, but the problems facing Eastern are so much bigger than that. The school is in arrears with enrollment, fundraising, and leadership. The meltdown started well before the football program started sliding. I’m not sure hiring Nick Saban would help resurrect the program without massive structural changes to the university as a whole.

I almost think the best scenario for Eastern would be doing what Coastal Carolina did several years ago and hire a wildly successful businessman to run the program and sink his own money into it. I realize that was a one-in-a-million scenario, but without the fundraising and budget, it’s hard to imagine how the program rises.

 

[Kuttaak]

Recruiting has changed so much in the last 5 years, I’m not sure if even a coaching change could fix the program. Think of it as an inverted pyramid, It starts at the top with the admin and donors ($), and without that , it will be a death of a thousand cuts to what was once a storied program.

They need to stop the bleeding, I don't see a new coach instantly turning it around and making the playoffs year one but give someone a couple of years and could get there. There are a ton of players in Washington every year that aren't offered by Washington or Washington State but are good enough to win Big Sky games. The cost of attendance (tuition, room and board) at EWU is more affordable for those on partial scholarships than most Big Sky schools. Last season we had a relatively easy non-conference schedule but wasted the opportunity by losing to a non-scholarship team. With the recruiting, schedule etc we should have been a lot better than 4-8 last season. I would have liked to see a new coach at the end of last season. Obviously that didn't happen. I don't think fall camp is the time to discuss firing him but Coach Best needs to win games early this season.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

This is my thought as well. Firing Best and going a different direction may help, but the problems facing Eastern are so much bigger than that. The school is in arrears with enrollment, fundraising, and leadership. The meltdown started well before the football program started sliding. I’m not sure hiring Nick Saban would help resurrect the program without massive structural changes to the university as a whole.

To say firing Best may help a some is ridiculous. Bringing in someone new and exciting with a record of winning is exactly what we need for donors and recruits alike. Boosters and businesses don't want to invest in a shitty product. Good recruits don't want to play for a loser team. The product Best is putting on the field is increasingly getting worse and worse. I think we need some success before the money will come not the other way around. And like I said in my post, there are guys, especially in the NFL who will not donate with Best as head coach. They think he is a dickhead which from what I've heard he kind of is.

Recruiting has changed so much in the last 5 years, I’m not sure if even a coaching change could fix the program. Think of it as an inverted pyramid, It starts at the top with the admin and donors ($), and without that , it will be a death of a thousand cuts to what was once a storied program.

Eastern has always done more with less. We've always picked up and developed under recruited guys. Vernon Adams thought to be too small, Cooper Kupp who developed late and only had offers from Idaho State and EWU. Gage Gubrud was a walk on and ended up being as good as any QB who as played at Eastern. We just need to find a guy who is good at identifying diamonds in the rough or bring the guy back who did it before ie Beau Baldwin. This is what Eastern has always done, I don't see why we need to compete with top FCS schools for top talent. If they want to come to Eastern cool, if they don't we'll find a hard working, tough guy who does.

They need to stop the bleeding, I don't see a new coach instantly turning it around and making the playoffs year one but give someone a couple of years and could get there. There are a ton of players in Washington every year that aren't offered by Washington or Washington State but are good enough to win Big Sky games. The cost of attendance (tuition, room and board) at EWU is more affordable for those on partial scholarships than most Big Sky schools. Last season we had a relatively easy non-conference schedule but wasted the opportunity by losing to a non-scholarship team. With the recruiting, schedule etc we should have been a lot better than 4-8 last season. I would have liked to see a new coach at the end of last season. Obviously that didn't happen. I don't think fall camp is the time to discuss firing him but Coach Best needs to win games early this season.

Exactly, they do need to stop the bleeding. Even if it means going to into debt to buy Best out, especially if at the end of the season we can find a good HC candidate to come in or even get Baldwin back.

EWU is unique in that its is the only FCS school in the state. Even thought WSU has been downgraded quite a bit but trying to get back to P5 status again. We picked up guys who could have easily played at UW or WSU.

That last part I disagree with. From what I and others have seen from spring and fall camp it has just gotten worse, not better. There is zero reason to be hopeful or give Best the benefit of the doubt. Although I agree nothing will happen until the end of the season unless shit gets really bad. Which it might since we play in Missoula this year. Montana may put in the local high school team at half-time.

 

[Bloodeagle]

To say firing Best may help a some is ridiculous. Bringing in someone new and exciting with a record of winning is exactly what we need for donors and recruits alike. Boosters and businesses don't want to invest in a shitty product. Good recruits don't want to play for a loser team. The product Best is putting on the field is increasingly getting worse and worse. I think we need some success before the money will come not the other way around. And like I said in my post, there are guys, especially in the NFL who will not donate with Best as head coach. They think he is a dickhead which from what I've heard he kind of is.



Eastern has always done more with less. We've always picked up and developed under recruited guys. Vernon Adams thought to be too small, Cooper Kupp who developed late and only had offers from Idaho State and EWU. Gage Gubrud was a walk on and ended up being as good as any QB who as played at Eastern. We just need to find a guy who is good at identifying diamonds in the rough or bring the guy back who did it before ie Beau Baldwin. This is what Eastern has always done, I don't see why we need to compete with top FCS schools for top talent. If they want to come to Eastern cool, if they don't we'll find a hard working, tough guy who does.



Exactly, they do need to stop the bleeding. Even if it means going to into debt to buy Best out, especially if at the end of the season we can find a good HC candidate to come in or even get Baldwin back.

EWU is unique in that its is the only FCS school in the state. Even thought WSU has been downgraded quite a bit but trying to get back to P5 status again. We picked up guys who could have easily played at UW or WSU.

That last part I disagree with. From what I and others have seen from spring and fall camp it has just gotten worse, not better. There is zero reason to be hopeful or give Best the benefit of the doubt. Although I agree nothing will happen until the end of the season unless shit gets really bad. Which it might since we play in Missoula this year. Montana may put in the local high school team at half-time.

“Eastern has always done more with less. We've always picked up and developed under recruited guys. Vernon Adams thought to be too small, Cooper Kupp who developed late and only had offers from Idaho State and EWU. Gage Gubrud was a walk on and ended up being as good as any QB who as played at Eastern. We just need to find a guy who is good at identifying diamonds in the rough or bring the guy back who did it before ie Beau Baldwin. This is what Eastern has always done, I don't see why we need to compete with top FCS schools for top talent. If they want to come to Eastern cool, if they don't we'll find a hard working, tough guy who does.”

I don’t disagree with the above statement, but those days of recruiting are long gone unless NIL and the Portal rules are changed. Gone are the days of developing a player, and expecting them to stick around without any financial compensation beyond scholarship's. This is where I don’t think a coaching change can necessarily be the immediate fix some think it can be.

Say we brought in some coach who won 10x national championships … think kids will play for the “brand” like they did 10-20 years ago, or win a season or two and go for the bag? If you think the brand has anything to do with a kids loyalty these days to stick around (there are exceptions) we’re chasing the wrong rabbit here. It sucks and it’s unfortunate, but it’s the new landscape. Wish I knew a fix to it

 

[Obzerver]

Well with all the stuff going on and not going on I'm pretty much lost. I feel like what Bloodeagle just said specially bout the NIL and the Portal rules part. Pain man...pain.

Then I read where Dopa said; "The school is in arrears"...I fell apart as my financial skills are weak. Admit I had to look it up and he is right on.

I believe in AD Collins and that he has a plan and he needs EWU to be successful so he can jump up the ladder. I talked to him and and got that vibe that he's a winner.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

I don’t disagree with the above statement, but those days of recruiting are long gone unless NIL and the Portal rules are changed. Gone are the days of developing a player, and expecting them to stick around without any financial compensation beyond scholarship's. This is where I don’t think a coaching change can necessarily be the immediate fix some think it can be.

Say we brought in some coach who won 10x national championships … think kids will play for the “brand” like they did 10-20 years ago, or win a season or two and go for the bag? If you think the brand has anything to do with a kids loyalty these days to stick around (there are exceptions) we’re chasing the wrong rabbit here. It sucks and it’s unfortunate, but it’s the new landscape. Wish I knew a fix to it

I don't get your fucking point man. Our head coach sucks and he is making the team worse every year but we shouldn't try to find a better one because of NIL and the Portal and everything sucks so we should just throw up our hands and do nothing cause getting a new coach won't solve all our problems.

Do you think having a head coach who is an asshole and loses more games than he wins helps retain players? How about we fix the problems we can and then worry about the others later. Do you not think it can get worse? Cause it can definitely get worse. We can lose the support we do have which is happening.

Like Kuttaak said stop the bleeding. Do you think we even have a chance of getting NIL money or good transfers if the team sucks?

I think if the team wins and makes deep playoff runs and develops a sense of camaraderie is better than players transferring to some shitty G6 school where they might get a chance to play in the Cheez-it bowl if they're lucky.

I personally don't blame kids leaving under these conditions. Chism should have left and got a bag. Most of his catches last year were off shitty screens where he had no blockers and got lit up every throw. Horrible play calling, dude is lucky he didn't get injured. He probably came to Eastern thinking he'd get an high powered spread option offense that throws the ball most of the time and takes shots downfield but ended up with some pro-style bullshit where he has to catch bubble screens all game.

At the moment we're not only losing players to the portal but some are just quitting. Experienced would be seniors like Armani Orange and Kentrell Williams just left cause they don't want to play for Best anymore.

 

[1988eagle]

At the moment we're not only losing players to the portal but some are just quitting. Experienced would be seniors like Armani Orange and Kentrell Williams just left cause they don't want to play for Best anymore. This is so true , guys have left because they don't respect coach AB. Not too mention how many good asst coaches have went elsewhere or retired abruptly. This is a terrible sign of leadership. A B has to go regardless of how the season ends.
The EWU athletic department needs a rainmaker who can get people to donate and have vision. Case in point, how can a university have a national championship, a former nfl all pro player and super bowl mvp. Yet, have a glorified high school stadium.
The potential is there but past and current administrators of the last eight or nine years are like sluggards. No growth just living off the residuals that Beau Baldwin and past president Arevalo created. We need someone who wants to put EWU on the map again I'm an 1988 alumni and no one has ever reached out to me asking for donations. I donate willingly on-line because I like EWU. Like it or not Money has to be generated in some way to be relevant. EWU worked hard to get to national relevance and we let it slip away. As an alumni who lived in so cal it was a great sense of pride to me when people said that EWU was a great football program.

Its real simple, in today's athletic culture either you grow or die on the vine.

 

[LDopaPDX]

They need to stop the bleeding, I don't see a new coach instantly turning it around and making the playoffs year one but give someone a couple of years and could get there. There are a ton of players in Washington every year that aren't offered by Washington or Washington State but are good enough to win Big Sky games. The cost of attendance (tuition, room and board) at EWU is more affordable for those on partial scholarships than most Big Sky schools. Last season we had a relatively easy non-conference schedule but wasted the opportunity by losing to a non-scholarship team. With the recruiting, schedule etc we should have been a lot better than 4-8 last season. I would have liked to see a new coach at the end of last season. Obviously that didn't happen. I don't think fall camp is the time to discuss firing him but Coach Best needs to win games early this season.

There’s no doubt last year was a total
Wasted opportunity. We haven’t had an advantageous schedule like that in decades. Pissing down our legs are as crippling.

That said, recruiting isn’t what it used to be. We used to routinely compete well against other FCs programs and even lesser FBS programs. We’re just not getting the same quality anymore. I marveled last year at how undersized we are. And in the rare case we get a baller, chances are that they leave

I don't get your fucking point man. Our head coach sucks and he is making the team worse every year but we shouldn't try to find a better one because of NIL and the Portal and everything sucks so we should just throw up our hands and do nothing cause getting a new coach won't solve all our problems.

Do you think having a head coach who is an asshole and loses more games than he wins helps retain players? How about we fix the problems we can and then worry about the others later. Do you not think it can get worse? Cause it can definitely get worse. We can lose the support we do have which is happening.

Like Kuttaak said stop the bleeding. Do you think we even have a chance of getting NIL money or good transfers if the team sucks?

I think if the team wins and makes deep playoff runs and develops a sense of camaraderie is better than players transferring to some shitty G6 school where they might get a chance to play in the Cheez-it bowl if they're lucky.

I personally don't blame kids leaving under these conditions. Chism should have left and got a bag. Most of his catches last year were off shitty screens where he had no blockers and got lit up every throw. Horrible play calling, dude is lucky he didn't get injured. He probably came to Eastern thinking he'd get an high powered spread option offense that throws the ball most of the time and takes shots downfield but ended up with some pro-style bullshit where he has to catch bubble screens all game.

At the moment we're not only losing players to the portal but some are just quitting. Experienced would be seniors like Armani Orange and Kentrell Williams just left cause they don't want to play for Best anymore.

Best is struggling, but he's not an asshole. I don't agree with that at all. Have you met him? He's a good dude and an Eagle through and through.

BTW... you can go back to our pinnacle years of 10-15 years ago and we were still struggling a lot financially. I have no idea what it'll take to get Eastern on par with our peer institutions in terms of support, but no one has ever found a solution to it.

But any assertion that simply having a couple of good seasons will solve our problems is wrong. We're never going to be able to develop a top player and keep them under the current model. Eastern can't go recruit a late-developer and spend the time to build him up and then keep him for 5 years. That world doesn't exist any more. What we can do is find kids that are washing out at bigger programs and rebuild them. There's a lot more risk in doing that, but it's the only way for us to have a volume of impactful juniors and seniors.

The truth is a lot of our FCS comrades are finding ways to give kids $10-20k, and while that's nothing compared to what the power conferences pay, it's still enough to sway young people from one school to another.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

This is so true , guys have left because they don't respect coach AB. Not too mention how many good asst coaches have went elsewhere or retired abruptly. This is a terrible sign of leadership. A B has to go regardless of how the season ends.
The EWU athletic department needs a rainmaker who can get people to donate and have vision. Case in point, how can a university have a national championship, a former nfl all pro player and super bowl mvp. Yet, have a glorified high school stadium.

I just think worrying about NIL and stadium upgrades is rearranging deck chairs on a sinking titanic.

Best Is steering the ship into a giant iceberg and you guys are worrying about wallpaper and tapestries.

I bet Kupp would get more involved in fundraising if Best wasn't around. This is like prime years for Washington fundraising since Kupp literally plays for the Seahawks now.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

Best is struggling, but he's not an asshole. I don't agree with that at all. Have you met him? He's a good dude and an Eagle through and through.

I'm getting this DIRECTLY from players who have played for the dude FOR YEARS. I don't care if he was nice to you once when you saw him and an event or game. Of course he is nice to normal people. Have you talked to former players who have to deal with the dude day in and day out? If he is so great then way are good coaches and players quitting the team early or leaving the first chance they get? We have players forgoing their SENIOR year like the aforementioned Armani Orange and Kentrell Williams. When Derek Ganter left for Boise State Best tried getting Kentrell back and he told Best to fuck off. Do you think the Eastern defense is so good and has so much depth that we can give up two experienced DBs going into their senior years? Why are NFL alums not coming to games or donating? Why did he hire some dude with ZERO playing calling or ZERO experience playing college football at all to be the new offensive coordinator.

Would an Eagle through and through usher in the biggest losing streak since the early 90s and not change a thing? If he was a real Eagle he'd acknowledge he is bad HC and quit before he destroys a program he supposedly loves.

I'm sorry man but if you're ignoring all this cause you talked to him a few times and he was nice you then need to wake the fuck up. You can ignore all this but you can't ignore the W/L column, and its not getting better.

But any assertion that simply having a couple of good seasons will solve our problems is wrong.

I never said that anywhere. I don't think I even implied it. That's so stupid.

We're never going to be able to develop a top player and keep them under the current model. Eastern can't go recruit a late-developer and spend the time to build him up and then keep him for 5 years. That world doesn't exist any more.

We're not going to get any good players with a coach who can't win more than 4 games a season. Better to have a good players for 2 or 3 years than ZERO good players EVER. Chism stayed when he could have gotten millions to transfer. Kupp could have easily transferred to a P5 school. There will be players that leave the assumption that they will all leave is wrong.

The truth is a lot of our FCS comrades are finding ways to give kids $10-20k, and while that's nothing compared to what the power conferences pay, it's still enough to sway young people from one school to another.

They offer $10-20k AND THEY WIN. You left that part out. Montana gave Michael Wortham $10-20k AND HE IS PART OF A BETTER FOOTBALL TEAM THAT WINS.