I’m surprised that I’m going to say this, but…the State Press nails it. It was the lack of fan and booster support that killed Koetter’s tenure. It was probably at or near an unsalvagible position, and Lisa Love may not have had much of a choice anymore. Koetter was moving us forward, albeit a bit slower than we wanted. But it was progress, and—as the article mentions—we could count on him to be a Sun Devil.
But, the decision has been made, and Koetter will not be our coach. I was supportive of a change only if Lisa had managed to line up an all-star, big time coach that would lend instant credibility and excitement to the program. I figured that she wouldn’t have made a change without having seriously analyzed the coaching landscape and made some initial contacts. If that was the case, you’d figure that she would have had landed someone by now. With each passing day, it seems more and more unlikely that was the case, and more like we’re struggling to find a worthy replacement for Koetter.
I sincerely hope that’s not the case, because Love needs to hit a home run with this hire. Or she might find herself in Koetter’s position in the not-too-distant future.
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:18 pm
True. But, why did Koetter lose booster and fan support? He could have been the biggest a-hole around the boosters,if he had a better record.He could have told the media to go jerkoff and few ASU fans would have mentioned it, if he wasn’t 2-19 against ranked opponets. He could have ignored much of the heat on his perceived “lack of personality.”, if he was better than 0-12 in Calif. yes, the Press got it right, but ignored the bigger problem: lack of success.
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Sure, had he won more of those games, there wouldn’t be quite the outcry that there was. But frankly, the venom that was directed at Koetter and Carpenter was uncalled for and not justified by performance on or off the field. I haven’t heard Cardinals players—professional athletes bumbling in one of the worst franchises in sports history—degraded the way those two were this season.
At the Oregon game, for the first time in my 19 years as a season ticke4t holder, I was ashamed to be a Sun Devil. But it wasn’t because of the 34 passing yards; it was the viciousness of the hatred—yes, outright hatred—that spewed from “fans” throats.
As far as Koetter’s performance, I wasn’t satisfied either. I don’t think you can legitimately argue that he did not improve the program while he was here. But that progress was inconsistent on the field. I was inspired by Lisa Love’s declaration that we aspire to be better than a consistent bowl team, and I think it takes balls to fire a winning coach when he’s improved the program, faced some daunting adversity in his tenure, and finally seems to be on track to win. Consistency is always the last thing to gel in a program that’s growing, and I think that we weren’t far off.
But now that LL has made the decision, she’d better bring in someone that can win—and now. I was initial confident that she would, but I’m now growing ever more nervous. We can’t afford to gamble on a hire in a situation like this.
December 5th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Totally agree about the booing. The only people who deserve to be booed,wear stripes and carry whistles.
Lisa Love has her job and reputation on the line. she made a few nice hires with Clint Meyers and Herb Sendek. Nevertheless, this hire is so much more important for ASU. Expectations are going to be high,no matter who she hires. I think here statements have been very clear regarding what she expects the next coach to accomplish. As such, this makes her job and whomever this new coach might be that more difficult.