WSU - NAU rivalry

[mt jack]

NAU's announcer (Mitch Strohman) is talking about the "blood feud" rivalry between WSU and NAU on the NAU coaches radio show right now. This was in the 90's back when Arslanian was Weber's head coach? Supposedly the NAU coaching staff under Axman and WSU had some beef.

Do any of the old school Weber fans here have any ideas why?

 

[oldrunner]

It could have something to do with Axman hiring one of our defensive coaches. It may have taken Arslanian by surprise. That coach, in my opinion, wasn't much of a coach. He ended up as the head coach at Idaho, where he drove that program into the ground. If that is it, it's ancient history now and has no bearing on the rivalry now, if there is one. :twocents:

 

[SWWeatherCat]

It could have something to do with Axman hiring one of our defensive coaches. It may have taken Arslanian by surprise. That coach, in my opinion, wasn't much of a coach. He ended up as the head coach at Idaho, where he drove that program into the ground. If that is it, it's ancient history now and has no bearing on the rivalry now, if there is one. :twocents:

Now that you mention it, I'm vaguely remembering that. I do seem to recall NAU snatching part of Arslanian's staff. It probably didn't matter the overall quality of the coach, Arslanian had a lot to deal with after having some success (or at least high-scoring, entertaining games) and a worthless school President. Sounds like it's tough sledding for NAU to try and drum up something to get motivated for a team who might have to be taught what a win is, if they ever see one again. (Sigh)

 

[mt jack]

It could have something to do with Axman hiring one of our defensive coaches. It may have taken Arslanian by surprise. That coach, in my opinion, wasn't much of a coach. He ended up as the head coach at Idaho, where he drove that program into the ground. If that is it, it's ancient history now and has no bearing on the rivalry now, if there is one. :twocents:

Robb Akey...that has to be who you're thinking of. He didn't have much success at U of Idaho but I don't know if he can accept the blame for all that's gone on in Moscow.

Even though WSU is the second closest school to NAU, I don't think there's a true rivalry in football. Basketball....well, I hope that rivalry resumes in the near future with you guys. The late 90's and early 00's was a good time for NAU-WSU hoops.

 

[mt jack]

Now that you mention it, I'm vaguely remembering that. I do seem to recall NAU snatching part of Arslanian's staff. It probably didn't matter the overall quality of the coach, Arslanian had a lot to deal with after having some success (or at least high-scoring, entertaining games) and a worthless school President. Sounds like it's tough sledding for NAU to try and drum up something to get motivated for a team who might have to be taught what a win is, if they ever see one again. (Sigh)

NAU has played up to better competition and down to struggling competition this year. Saturday will be a battle and NAU could easily lose.

 

[baller]

How about the real story on the dislike between WSU/NAU in the 90's…
Steve Axman, NAU coach, and Dave Arslanian, WSU coach, did not personally like each other. At that time Weber always beat them in Ogden and even beat them a couple of times in Lumberjackoffville. On one occasion Weber players sang the fight song in the middle of the NAU field after a victory. By the way, Bishop Bronco Mendenhall was the Defensive Coordinator at the time of this incident. Arslanian's offense always scored a ton of points on Mendenhall's defense and Axman didn't like that. Arslanian was blind-sided when Akey was hired at NAU and that added fuel to the dislike between coaches and to the intensity of the rivalry.

 

[PURPLEFORLIFE]

Yeah, "Le FEUD" between Axman and Arslanian was epoch! That was the main reason behind the rivalry in the 90s. Mac had one with Bobby Hauck and that dislike for one another really made their games against each other something special. Also, a couple of times, those games meant conference supremacy and a playoff spot. Weber has got to get back to that level.

 

[mt jack]

Baller and Purpleforlife -

Thanks for the insight. I had forgotten that Bronco Mendenhall was at NAU in the '90s.

The basketball rivalry was much more spirited in the late 1990s-early 2000s but it has always seemed to be based on mutual respect.