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WMU released Bill Cubit today. I have mixed feelings on that decision.

Cubit took over a dead program in 2005 and immediately resurrected it. He made the Bronco players proud to play for WMU and active in the community. He led the team to some big wins over BCS schools, including beating Iowa on its senior day in 2007. As long as Cubit was around, the team was in the news for the right reasons and not in the news for the trouble reasons and always a threat to beat any big team. They just couldn't win the big conference games.

I think the MAC was a better conference with Bill Cubit. He will be missed.

Not surprising. WMU was picked by a good number of people to contend, if not win, the MAC West. They stumbled back to the barn at 4-8.

I dislike the coaching carousel, but it's a reality in the football world. We know the WMU job is open. I gotta think some other jobs might open too. I don't know what the expectations are of Jeff Quinn, but one must wonder if the UB athletic director is happy with his coach or not. I sincerely hope he has enough patience to realize that three years is not enough to build a football program, even if that is all that so many programs are willing to afford these days. I really like Jeff Quinn, I've always liked his attitude and was a huge fan of his offense at Cincinnati, so I really hope he's still the coach next year. Same goes with Ron English at EMU. I like the guy, I've always respected him even when he was a defensive coordinator at Michigan, so I really hope he's still around next year. High character, classy man, and a real asset to the conference.

Flip side of the coin, I think Dave Doren is on borrowed time at NIU. Since Purdue is right down the road and they've gotta be unhappy with the lack of progress under Danny Hope, I wonder if a highly successful head coach with a Big 10 defensive background would be on their radar. I can think of some other head coaches in this conference that have got to be attractive prospects for programs looking for a new head coach. There's some great head coaches in this conference and one of the sad realities that we face is there aren't many Frank Soliches and Joe Novaks out there, that is very successful coaches who are happy to stay in the MAC for a long time. Unfortunately, the norm is to build and run for the money, like Jerry Kill, Brian Kelly, Urban Meyer, and Mike Haywood.

Cubit's teams never met expectations....it was time for a change. There are a number of MAC coaches that could be in line for a nice pay raise and a chace to move up the food chain. Pete Lembo, Darrel Hazell, Doren and unfortunately for us, Dave Clawson could be out of the conference in a year or two

I don't see Clawson as a hot prospect but I don't know much. Most schools seem to want the candidate who will turn the program around immediately, not in 3-4 years. Fans especially at bigger schools have little to no patience beyond 2 years. I don't see him going to a bigger school as a re-builder anyway.

I expect Kent to be looking for a new coach, along with maybe NIU and Ball State because of their success this season. Wouldn't be shocked if EMU and Buffalo joined WMU in firing and making a change. Always a chance we could be looking for a new coach after a (hopefully) 9-4 year, just depends on what jobs become open

Couple of thoughts regarding our coaching staff. Mike Elko and the entire defensive coaching staff and Brandon Hourigan all deserve raises IMO. Those guys will all be targeted for positions as new coaching staffs are assembled.

I would love to see a donor step-up and help make a sizable contribution for the coach's salary. I know people will argue that the money should go to academics, but if you have a successful athletic program the school's name gets out there as well. We may, perhaps, be able to hold onto coaches a little easier if they got paid better. Also, we should be calling Boise State and figuring out how they kept Chris Petersen for all these years.

footballguy51 wrote:Also, we should be calling Boise State and figuring out how they kept Chris Petersen for all these years.

Easy. Your former boss is Dan Hawkins. See what happened to him when he left.

MarkL wrote:

footballguy51 wrote:Also, we should be calling Boise State and figuring out how they kept Chris Petersen for all these years.

Easy. Your former boss is Dan Hawkins. See what happened to him when he left.

.......................................and lots of $$$$$$$$$. He's in the ballpark of $1.5 million now and it increase every year.

At least he won't need an Obama phone in the near future!

Brian Rock, a BGHS and BGSU grad assist. (under Denny Stolz), is the Off. Coor. at Kent. He spent some time at Western in recent and did a nice job. He will probably interview for Bronco job.

I thought for sure Zach Azzani would be a head coach by now. I saw him as the wunderkind that Matt Campbell is playing out to be.