Beckman Raids BG Staff

gmartin · Post by **gmartin** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:43 am

Beckman raids Falcons' staff
By RYAN AUTULLO
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

BOWLING GREEN - The battle between Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo did not end with the Falcons' 38-10 win at the Glass Bowl on Nov. 28.

The Rockets have since retaliated by delivering two stiff blows to their chief rival.

New UT coach Tim Beckman has hired BG defensive coordinator Mike Ward and co-offensive coordinator Matt Campbell to his staff, The Blade has learned. Ward and Campbell were without guaranteed contracts after BG coach Gregg Brandon was fired Nov. 29.

It is believed Ward, who coached 17 years at BG, will be the Rockets' co-defensive coordinator. Campbell was BG's run game coordinator and was also responsible for coaching the offensive line. Both Ward and Campbell were on staff with Beckman when Beckman was an assistant at BG from 1998-2004.

It was reported in Thursday's Blade that Campbell had accepted a coaching position at Wyoming. It is believed Beckman persuaded Campbell to reconsider his decision upon being announced as the Rockets' coach Thursday afternoon.

Campbell was a graduate assistant at BG from 2003-04. He returned to the program in 2007 as its offensive line coach before assuming the title of co-offensive coordinator this year.

Ward served as BG's strength coach from 1992-99 and then served as the defensive line coach before being appointed the defensive coordinator in 2007.

BG athletic director Greg Christopher has said there is no timeframe in place to hire a new head coach. It is believed Missouri defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack are candidates.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:42 am

Brock Spack?? Given the APR issues, the off field problems and the team's 4th qtr failures, I think the cracks in the program probably need repairs that go beyond a little Spackling....

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:58 am

What a person does to earn a living and support their family is none of my business, to roughly paraphrase Don Corleone. Also, by firing their boss, BG told these two people that the services they were providing were inadequate and forced them to seek employment elsewhere. I know Coach Ward and you won't find a better human being. But Toledo?

Even though the decision is understandable, especially in these times, there's a part of me that appreciates the old school days of college football where such transfers of loyalty would have been unfathomable. What makes college football special are the "us against them/our way against theirs" rivalries: Army/Navy, Auburn/Alabama and even (gulp) Ohio State/Michigan, where Woody Hayes wouldn't even gas up the team busses in the state of Michigan so as not to help their economy. It's coming together with a group of men to achieve a common goal and defeat a common enemy. This noble pursuit, and any conception of a rivalry actually meaning something special, is now lost. And that's unfortunate.

A few years ago, Miami hired a linebackers coach from NIU to be their defensive coordinator. He turned the unit around and was now being courted by larger programs. Miami's head coach at the time, the now deceased Terry Hoeppner, supposedly told him "Anywhere but Cincinnati," the Bearcats being their fiercest regional rival. A few days later, he was announced as the new defensive coordiantor at the University of Cincinnati.

At present, we've supposedly got our sights set on the 1991 captain of the Toledo Rockets, so what the heck do I know?

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:33 am

To be fair we do have an athletic building on our campus named after a former University of Toledo basketball coach. . .

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:47 am

I can't find a link, but there was another story that Campbell also accepted jobs as the linebackers coach at Colorado, the assistant to the assistant defensive coordinator at North Texas, the head waterboy at Cal and a job selling pretzels at Madison Square Garden. He still has applications in at Oklahoma, Florida State, Boston College and a Wendy's in Effingham, Illinois.

NY-BG-FAN · Post by **NY-BG-FAN** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 12:06 pm

JoeFalcon wrote:What a person does to earn a living and support their family is none of my business, to roughly paraphrase Don Corleone. Also, by firing their boss, BG told these two people that the services they were providing were inadequate and forced them to seek employment elsewhere. I know Coach Ward and you won't find a better human being. But Toledo?

Even though the decision is understandable, especially in these times, there's a part of me that appreciates the old school days of college football where such transfers of loyalty would have been unfathomable. What makes college football special are the "us against them/our way against theirs" rivalries: Army/Navy, Auburn/Alabama and even (gulp) Ohio State/Michigan, where Woody Hayes wouldn't even gas up the team busses in the state of Michigan so as not to help their economy. It's coming together with a group of men to achieve a common goal and defeat a common enemy. This noble pursuit, and any conception of a rivalry actually meaning something special, is now lost. And that's unfortunate.

A few years ago, Miami hired a linebackers coach from NIU to be their defensive coordinator. He turned the unit around and was now being courted by larger programs. Miami's head coach at the time, the now deceased Terry Hoeppner, supposedly told him "Anywhere but Cincinnati," the Bearcats being their fiercest regional rival. A few days later, he was announced as the new defensive coordiantor at the University of Cincinnati.

At present, we've supposedly got our sights set on the 1991 captain of the Toledo Rockets, so what the heck do I know?

I was thinking the exact same thing, but just couldn't find the right words. I guess the BG-UT rivalry just means a whole lot more to the players and fans than the professionals involved.

Had a coach that had been with BG for just a couple years had went to UT, that wouldn't be so newsworthy. But 17 years? Wow. I understand you gotta do whatever is necessary to get paid with the uncertainty of a college football coaching change, but man, I have to think it will still be difficult for Coach Ward to put that Toledo hat on for the first time after 17 years as a Falcon.

I, like anyone else want BGSU to hire the best head coach possible, and if that's Eberflus, than it is. But I can't say it doesn't bother me that a former Toledo player could actually lead our team. I don't know, maybe I'm just to much of a "fan" to look at this rationally.

VDub26Falcon · Post by **VDub26Falcon** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 12:26 pm

If Toledo wants to take members of this past years coaching staff, that's fine by me! They are partly to blame for the 6-6 record we had.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 2:19 pm

At this point I'm just happy to see our assistants get guaranteed jobs. I don't care if its at Toledo. I'm all for a total house cleaning. If they had been kept on board, fine, but I'm not going to be crying about their loss either. Losing these assistants WILL very seriously hurt recruiting though. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm not sure that's the end of the world either, since a new coach might have a different recruiting plan than the previous regime.

I just don't think a total house cleaning is the end of the world here.

It should also be noted that I don't think this romantic notion of coaches not going to rivals was ever really true. Hell Bo Schembechler went to OSU and was an assistant there for a couple different stints before becoming the head guy at UM.

factman · Post by **factman** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 2:44 pm

If we should lose the majority of one recruiting class it would ttake 3-4 years to make it up, and I am not that patient!

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 5:35 pm

I am really gonna miss Coach Ward. That dude is a terrific human being and cares about his players like few coaches do. He ALWAYS thanked me for coming to most of the games and the support. I'll never forget standing outside Ladd-Peebles Stadium after the beatdown by Tulsa and Coach Ward came up to me and apologized for the poor showing...having come all the way from Akron. I told him I would have not missed it for anything.

Best of luck to Coaches Ward and Campbell....except for one week a year. Then I want to beat their azzes.

h2oville rocket · Post by **h2oville rocket** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:02 pm

Falconfreak90 wrote: Best of luck to Coaches Ward and Campbell....except for one week a year. Then I want to beat their azzes.

So you're gonna be one of those fair-weather Rocket fans now?

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:06 pm

h2oville rocket wrote:
Falconfreak90 wrote: Best of luck to Coaches Ward and Campbell....except for one week a year. Then I want to beat their azzes.
So you're gonna be one of those fair-weather Rocket fans now?

H20,

I'm sorry my good man, but any kind of Rocket fan, that I shall never be.