I hate to say I called it. Saturday before the game and again Sunday after. Montana State University fired head football coach Rob Ash on Monday, ending a nine-year career with the Bobcats. He was the winningest coach in program history. Think about that for a moment. The man with the most wins ever (70) was let go for not winning. MSU captured three Big Sky Conference championships during his tenure. That’s one every three years based on the math. That coach was fired. Rob Ash moved to Bozeman and turned a dumpster-fire into a contender. Since the Sonny Holland glory days in the 1970, MSU football coaches compiled a record of 141-183 before Ash. Only two had a winning record and one of those went only 6-5. Ash was 70-38. The Montana State football program was in shambles after the firing of former head coach Mike Kramer (now with Idaho State). Drugs and murder littered the roster and Kramer had less control than he did wins. That’s a justifiable firing. Rob Ash ran a clean program and stressed academics as much as athletics. Of course, some 45-year-old in his mom’s basement, wearing maroon and silver, can Google some sort of troubles from the MSU program in the past nine years. Just like some jealous fan decked in blue and gold could do the same for Montana. Don’t kid yourselves. It’s happening everywhere. Here in Tucson, University of Arizona head football coach Rich Rodriguez is one of the most intimidating (and yet, funny) men I have ever encountered. But even his players are dumb enough to make mistakes a college-aged kid would make. Let’s be clear: after the downward spiral left behind by Kramer, Ash deserves a medal. Or, at the very least, perhaps a job? I mentioned RichRod, who is one of dozens of high-profile coaches in the rumor-mill this season. His Arizona Wildcats entered 2015 fresh off a Pac-12 South championship and appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Some Wildcat fans want him gone. I have spoken to other fans who say they would love to watch RichRod win eight games each year and earn an invitation to the “insert ridiculous-named bowl game here.” Sounds familiar. Cat-Griz Insider Greg Rachac spoke with an MSU fan who stated, “If (Ash) went 7-4 every year that would be good enough for me.” There lies the dilemma. Do you retain a coach that can win seven or eight games a year, go to the postseason but lose consistently before the championship round? Do you settle for a guy with a 2-7 record against your in-state rival? I’ll be honest. Saturday before the game and Sunday again after, I texted my cousin and my father-in-law that I thought Ash’s time in Bozeman had come to a close. I also texted them that I thought it was probably the right move. I have no horse in this Cat-Griz race (my wife, a Griz fan, believes me a Bobcat supporter while my friends, MSU fans, think the opposite) but from an unbiased view, I felt it was time for Peter Fields, the MSU athletic director, to make a change. I said that under one condition. They damn well better have the right replacement in mind, because Bobcat fans can’t wait another 30 years to be relevant.
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AuthorRichie is a small-town boy chasing big-city dreams. When he's not involved with sports, he's spending time with his wife, Fallon; their yorkie, Tinker; and their Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rosie. Archives
April 2016
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