Monday, November 26, 2007

Doba Out at WSU

The dramatic 42-35 victory over Washington in Saturday's Apple Cup wasn't enough to save Bill Doba's job as he was fired today. The official announcement was scheduled at a 4:30 p.m. news conference. Doba, 67, had a 30-29 record in five years as head coach and was 3-2 against Washington. His only winning season was his inaugural 10-3 campaign in 2003 that concluded with an upset over Texas in the Holiday Bowl. The following years the Cougars were 5-6, 4-7, 6-6 and 5-7. He was 17-25 in Pac-10 games.

I would have bet that the Cougars would have kept him after the Apple Cup win but they have decided to part ways on a high note. Don't worry about Bill Doba, he leaves with more than enough money to have a great retirement. I always thought Doba was a class act, but the bottomline in college football is winning, and the Cougars haven't been doing much of that lately.

Before we get to all the blather, first and foremost, a big thank you and shout out to Ole Bill. Without question, the guy put his heart and soul into the program. Moreover, when you think about how he handled his wife's illness during a gut-wrenching 4-7 campain (that was ssssssooo close to a 9-2 season), and you have to tip your hat to the man. He really is a class act.

The WSU blog thinks Mike Price will be named head coach by the end of the week. WSU by the way fired all their assistants too which means they already have a good idea of who is going to be the next head man.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know if Levenseller was fired too? Interesting to know. I thought Levenseller and Mike Price were close (if Price is the next head coach).

John Berkowitz said...

All the coaches were fired which means the new head man will have the freedom to hire anyone he wants.

Anonymous said...

JohnB, who do you see the cougs going after. Many have already anointed MIKE Price 2, but names I have heard are Bobby Hauck, Gregory DC at Cal, and a longshot possibly Akee at Idaho.
For us, my dream lineup I know you hate ex HC as assts, but Orgeron as DC, or DeWayne Walker of UCLA, and how about Norm Chow as OC and QB coach. Locker is where Isaiah was in his Jr/St year, he needs someone to teach him touch and also not put him in horrible situations, 3rd and 2 and not a single WR shorter than 15- 20 yards.
One of my many complaints from WSU game was after the 1st KOR for a TD, it was obvious WSU was going to short kick and dribble the ball to either shortbacks, Kravitz, Homer, Gottlieb or Kirton. Why didn't we try to sneak in Russo or shaw into a short back position and catch WSU sleeping. On the final KOR with 31 secs left, we ran Rankin up into short slot just before WSU kicked. It worked, but why did it take 5 KOR before we decided to do something.
Another point, 28- 20 WSU and we scored, everyone knows we are going for two, yet I see 2 guys on PAT team out there having to run off field , of course one was Kirton so thats probably his fault, what a disappointment. No self drive. I am sure you also saw the UW timeout to help WSU plan their TD play too in 1st half. The game day management is just not there, and that is why I believe I am on the "its time" crowd. Of course, I don't give enough for them to ask me, so this is moot. I am not pushing Mora, but if Ty is let go,I would like a true search to get the right choice this time. Our last 4 HC have been either predesignated or were thrust into the role. We need to do a Jim Owens/ Don James type search, and remember that those two weren't the first choices of those committees.

John Berkowitz said...

I think Price has a great shot if the fences can be mended. The Cougars don't want to make the mistake of hiring an upwardly mobile head coach because it is too tough to keep someone such as Hauck in Pullman if they win.

Don't count on Ty to make any changes if he stays. He hasn't done it in the past, anothing indicates he would do it in the future.

A true search would take a month, and with 28 spaces to fill in this recruiting class we don't have the luxury to do it. They either keep Ty, or hire someone else right away.

Anonymous said...

Ty Willingham – At times this year the Washington AD, Todd Turner, has talked like it is a given that Willingham will be at Washington for years to come. With the loss to Washington State in the Apple Cup, Willingham’s record in his third season at UW is 11-24 (.314) and if that is good enough for Todd Turner, then Turner is badly out of touch with the alumni, boosters, and fans that are paying the bills at Washington. What is so interesting that Turner has fired other athletic coaches at Washington claiming reasons for firing that almost in direct contradiction to what he is saying about Willingham…



Washington (Turner) has fired Eleanor McElvaine as coach of the women's rowing program after four years. "Our program has not been able to maintain its position for the last several years, and I feel that it is in the best interests of the long-term direction for the Husky women's crew to make a change," UW athletic director Todd Turner said in a statement. However, McElvaine did keep alive UW's streak of being invited to the NCAA championships. The Huskies and Brown are the only two schools to have had crews in all 11 NCAA regattas since women's crew became an NCAA sport.



The Washington Huskies on Sunday fired women's basketball coach June Daugherty, one day after her team lost in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. "We just need to have a positive buzz in our community about our team. And it just wasn't there," athletic director Todd Turner said, after he announced he would not renew the contracts of Daugherty or any of her assistants, including her husband, Mike, following her 11th season at UW. Daugherty's teams made six NCAA Tournaments, but the final one ended Saturday when No. 11 seed Washington lost to sixth-seeded Iowa State 79-60. The Huskies went 18-12 in the regular season finished fourth in the Pac-10 at 11-7.



Now isn’t that interesting, and it seems to us that a clear double-standard is in place in the Washington athletic department.



On top of these obvious contradictions, Turner is having a very hard time raising money for the Husky Stadium remodel as detailed in this article in the Seattle Times…



Shortfall seen for massive Husky Stadium remodel



There could be a lot of reasons for this shortfall, but if our e-mail is an accurate gauge, there are literally thousands of Husky fans that are fed up with the Washington football program, they are tired of losing, and they are just not going to give money for this stadium remodel unless there is a commitment to winning football games and championships. Now we are not saying that Coach Willingham and his staff are not working their rear-ends off, because we know for a fact they are, but rather that hard work must translate to wins on the field, and there is just no excuse to lose to a 4-7 Washington State team that was coming off a game where they were crushed 52-7 by Oregon State.



It will be very interesting to see what UW President Mark Emmert has to say about the Washington football program, and if he is going to allow a very clear double-standard to continue in his athletic department. If so, then that clearly raises questions for the Washington Board of Regents to look into, because a public institution cannot allow employees to be treated differently for the same performance.



Washington travels to play Hawaii this Saturday, and it safe to assume that there are very few players on the Hawaii team that would have turned down a scholarship offer to Washington if it had been offered. Washington has enough talent to handle Hawaii, and it is up to Coach Willingham and his staff to find a way to do just that.

Anonymous said...

Okay, JohnB. Then I am in the Mora must hire now camp based on the 28 days search. I am surprised we or somebody not officiually connected hasn't done some preliminary touchy feely with the prospects. It might look bad, but its time for Tw, Baer, Lappano et al to go. Let whomever is hired make his choices, but ask him to at least consider the incumbents as they might have been loyal minions doing what was dictated by their former incompetent bosses, ie JD Williams, Denbrock, Bagget.
My god, what happens if we somehow beat Hawaii?????

Anonymous said...

Check out this Hawaii Warrior video

http://mfile.akamai.com/12891/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2007/1122/14665485.200k.asx

Sean Hawkins said...

Hey John, keep up the great work.

From a WSU angle, the Price speculation is really just that right now. Personally I think they want to go younger. Former Oregon AD and Cougar great Bill Moos is going to act as a headhunter with Jim Sterk to find the best possible fit. The biggest thing with Moos is that they want to be able to "sniff out" the coaches who have one-and-done on their minds vs. the coaches that are going to be in it for the long haul. Whatever happens, it's going to interesting. That stadium renovation is only halfway done, and serious heavy lifting is needed going forward in fund-raising. This hire is paramount to getting that thing done.

John Berkowitz said...

Sedihawk- I like the idea of going younger. Trying to recreate the magic with Mike Price while attractive may not be the best move. Bobby Hauck would be an interesting choice.