Arizona coach Mike Stoops on hot seat in 2011?
by uofafanatic on Jan 1, 2011 2:36 PM PST
in Arizona Wildcats Football
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PrintArizona Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops is in a bad situation. Arizona's new athletic director, Greg Byrne, is a motivated individual, that is clearly set on improving all aspects of University of Arizona athletics. The most public demonstration of this was the Alamo Bowl berth. There were numerous reports that A.D. Byrne mobilized former Wildcats on a P.R. campaign, and gave a detailed presentation to the Alamo Bowl committee. Locals of Tucson, Arizona have been witnessing all year long how A.D. Byrne has been implementing changes to improve game day, and the overall culture of Arizona Athletics. From the introduction of the 'Wildcat walk', to a stepped up sportsmanship campaign, to plans for improvements to the football and baseball stadiums being announced, Byrne has been anything but subtle in his desire for an immediate and significant improvement in all aspects of Arizona athletics.
So with all of that being said, it is very difficult to believe that coach Stoops will have a lot of wiggle room this coming season. Yes, coach Stoops has rebuilt the Arizona football program from the steaming pile of garbage that John Mackovic left behind after he completely failed as Arizona's head coach. But coach Stoops has allowed the Wildcats to stagnate for two years now. A third year could cost him his job. It is clear that he must demonstrate that not only is the team improving, but that it will continue to do so.
This is the cost of improving the football program. The Arizona fans will have to be able to say 'thanks, and best of luck' to coach Stoops if he is not ready to immediately improve the football team. If we want Arizona to be one of the 'big boys' of NCAA football one day, we need the coaches that have the ability to not only game plan and call plays, but recruit 4 and 5 star players immediately and on a regular basis. Unfortunately, that has been the major weakness of the Mike Stoops tenure. While coach Stoops has had some good recruiting classes, he hasn't consistently been able to recruit on par with the rest of the Pac-10. A look at the recruiting class rankings over the last five years highlights the recruiting problem. The past five classes, not including this season's incomplete class, show a disturbing trend. Out of the Pac-10, Arizona's recruiting classes were ranked 3rd, 6th, 7th, 7th, and 8th.
Arizona can't move on to the next level, if the recruiting classes are consistently ranked in the bottom half of the conference. I hate to say it, but unless coach Stoops makes an immediate and dramatic improvement to the team in the 2011-12 season, A.D. Byrne needs to find a coach that has the name value to recruit at the highest level immediately.
I am a Mike Stoops fan. I am extraordinarily grateful for what he has done for the University of Arizona, and the Tucson community. But this isn't high school football. This is Pac-10(12) football. Arizona is ready to move forward, and regularly compete for the Pac-12 title. It would be great if coach Stoops were the man to lead them there. But if not, Arizona can't wait on him forever.
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Unfortunately, I have to agree.
I like Stoops and really appreciate that he’s returned the team to a sense of respectability. But, I don’t think anybody wants to settle for a decent team that makes bowls more years than not. Especially when those teams have tanked against admittedly good teams in the last two bowls. As a long-time Wildcat fan, I want them to shut up every Sun Devils fan that, no matter how bad ASU plays, always goes back to the fact that UA does not have a Rose Bowl. I hope Stoops is that person, but if not…
don't wait
Mike Stoops is incapable of making decisions in the heat of battle that define natural leaders. His lack of confidence in himself is evident when he is stumped with the most common situation calls on the field. You feel for the guy because he reached his pinnacle in year 4 and has had 3 years that should have been better. His program is slowly coming undone. Time to move forward with someone with a heart for Arizona.
by nativecat on Jan 1, 2011 6:02 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Wait a minute!
This coach lost both offensive and defensive co-ordinators in the same year. That’s a huge hit all at once.
Were the replacements good enough? Sure doesn’t look that way, but now we know.
Think about Mike Canales being replaced by Sonny Dykes. Big Difference, right? S. Litrell + B. Bidenbaugh does not = S. Dykes. Wrong move. And, Greg Brown!? Jeesh….
The proof is in the pudding. It didn’t work. Period.
Yes, Stoops made the call and the buck stops with him but the next set of hires and the following year will be very telling.
Don’t panic.
UA fans can't remember anything that far back
I completely agree with you about the effect of losing both coordinators.
As for the article I’d like to ask how you’d define the last two years as stagnation, last year we finished second in the conference with wins over good Stanford and USC teams. We tanked in the bowl game that year which was embarrassing, and this year was a bit stagnant but last year was not.
Stoops made the call
Bob Stoops loses coaches all the time. All the top programs do. Obviously that doesn’t effect most programs when they hit the field the next season. The difference between U of A and the other programs is their leader. Two coordinators on both sides of the ball. Give me a break. Created confusion with the players because the “co-coordinators” were not on the same page. That was clear as your pudding when with :07 before halftime against Ok.St. nobody knew to call time out. On all top programs the captain on offense, in this case Foles, automatically calls time after that long completion. Take a shot at the end zone, especially trailing 23-7. NOBODY had a clue. Wasted not one, but two timeouts. How straightforward is that. Again, Mike Stoops lacks leadership qualities. The lack of discipline he displays on the sidelines reflects on how his team plays. When you lose 5 in a row when you have the athletes to win probably 3 of those and maybe 4, it is entirely on the head coach. In game 13 of the year we had how many stupid penalties? Head coach. Can kick in game 1 but gets worse during the season, not better. Head coach. Have 5 senior lineman and can’t run the ball. Head coach. The list is long. Pudding sounds like a good idea right now.
Move on!
I know I’ve posted this before, but I’ll say it again. Coach Dick Tomey had two of the best seasons in UA history and he was pushed out of Tucson for a couple of midiocre seasons after 1998 12-1 season. Now Coach Stoops has not even come close to Tomey! He had his chance and could not produce. There are no more excuses, he’s had plenty of time for recruiting and coaching changes. I said before he has one more year and that’s it, but after another embarrassing loss I can no longer support Stoops. I am gratefull for getting us this far, but we need to find a coach that will get us over this hump. I think Mr Byrne should target Belloti, you can tell he’s itching to get back out on the field.
only thing I have to say
in my first post here…..
An Improving team does not finish the season with 5 straight losses… he has lost this team, and I don’t think this team will go anywhere until a change is made, his antics are getting old… he said it himself that there will need to be major changes for next year, well, here’s ones opinion that it should start at the very top of the football team.
Professional Lurker... if you see this, there may be a problem..
long overdue
Mike Stoops hiring was out of desperation after the Cats were rejected by the desired replacements for JM. Additionally the Karma of the embarrassing manner by which Coach Tomey was dismissed continues to hunt the program.
If you discount the wins against non-conference lower division cupcakes the past three seasons leaves a win record of 5, 6 and 6 including an upset loss to perennial powerhouse New Mexico Lobos. Stoops continues to demonstrate he has not grown as a head coach and leader of a DI program with a temper that is better suited in a nursery for ill-behaved children. He should do the honorable thing and resign but I am certain the only option to rid the program of ineptness is to dismiss him with cause of impersonating a capable head coach. Belloti, Gruden, or someone highly respected and familiar with west coast football would be the ideal candidate.
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