GO TO the head of the class if you know this: Who is the dean of Conference USA head football coaches?
GO TO the head of the class if you know this: Who is the dean of Conference USA head football coaches?
nn
It must be June and school must be out. As my two boys sleep in well past 6:30, the memories of the 2007-08 sports year are clanging around my head.
For some reason, a snippet of a colleague's column stands out after all these months. It was Da Boss, Mitch Vingle, and he was actually taking one of his occasional jabs at C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky.
But forget about that. This is Vingle's point that sticks with me: Marshall lacks a legitimate rivalry since fleeing the Mid-American Conference for C-USA.
Yes, but only for the moment. Thundering Herd fans, at least the 40-and-over variety, have traveled this road before.
Wayyyyy back, about the last time horses were sturdy enough to win Triple Crowns, Marshall joined the Southern Conference and its fans were scratching their heads over a list a strange schools. That league was a mixture of off-the-beaten-path state schools, private schools and military academies. Before 1977, the Herd played those schools a combined three times.
It took awhile for anything to develop. It didn't help that the Herd started its new conference affiliation with an 0-26-1 skid, with the tie coming on a Barry Childers 59-yard field goal at Western Carolina.
(I love the story about ol' B.C., as flaky a kicker as there ever was, wanting to line up a yard farther back to make it an even 60. Needless to say, coach Sonny Randle didn't take it well.)
Eventually, starting with the Herd's 1981 victory at Appalachian State, the rivalries flared. Marshall-Appalachian was never boring, as the teams traded insults, upsets and unexpected routs.
It took the Herd seemingly forever to beat Western Carolina, Furman and Tennessee-Chattanooga. Furman was the last to fall, doing so in 1988 but returning the favor in a bitter, disputed playoff contest at Fairfield Stadium. MU and FU developed a healthy disrespect for each other - not as bad as Marshall-Miami (Ohio), but fun nonetheless.
Marshall is three years into its C-USA existence, and some patterns have emerged. While the Herd hasn't suffered a long losing streak - it is 10-14 in the league over three years - it is a combined 1-8 against Central Florida, East Carolina and Southern Mississippi.
Those were the three schools I identified a few years back as great division rivals. ECU is the closest school to the most Herd fans and I find Southern Miss to be frighteningly similar to Marshall - same type of quiet small town, same size fan base, same enthusiasm, etc.
And then there's UCF, who rose from 0-11 to champions in three seasons under coach George O'Leary. The Knights have the largest (and rowdiest) student body in the league, a new on-campus stadium and easy access to top recruits. It would be nice to see them play South Florida a little better, but the ingredients are in place for a C-USA dynasty.
Sort of like Furman in the Southern Conference, back in the day.
Coach Skip Holtz' ECU team is in the best position to break it all up. At least one preseason magazine, Phil Steele's College Football Preview, says it will happen.
I'm not sure about that, but the Pirates do have their two-quarterback rotation back, most of the offensive linemen and much of their defense. They lost running back Chris Johnson and UCF lost 2,000-yard runner Kevin Smith, so that's sort of a wash.
Remember this about ECU: It saddled UCF with its only conference loss, hanging 52 points in the process. The Pirates, not the Knights, would have been the home team for the Conference USA title game, had it not been for one piddly detail - a worse-than-the-score-indicated 26-7 loss to ...
Marshall. And by the way, Phil Steele picks the Herd third behind ECU and UCF, which many Herd fans will consider pleasant, a surprise, or both. But the Herd will have to travel to Southern Miss in September, and tangle with a revenge-minded ECU on the road and UCF at home in consecutive November games.
Here's another little surprise for you: With a new coaching regime and only 10 starters back, Steele picks Southern Miss to fall to fifth in the East Division, behind Marshall and Memphis. I'll believe that when I see it, but it does make the Herd-USM game a little more interesting, right?
So don't worry. If the Herd improves as much as the coaches expect, the plot will thicken. And the rivalries will develop.
We've seen it before.
nn
Answer to above question: Tommy West of Memphis, if you can believe it. He became the league's longest-serving coach at his current school after Jeff Bower left Southern Miss.
You can look it up. West was elevated from defensive coordinator in 2001 and has stuck around despite a rather ordinary 41-44 record. He did, however, snap the Tigers' 32-year bowl drought in 2003, and has played in three other bowls. Last year, the Tigers improved from 2-10 to 7-6.
We have a new dean of men's basketball coaches, as well, after Rice let Willis Wilson go. Kirk Speraw will enter his 16th year at UCF.
To contact staff writer Doug Smock, send e-mail to dougsm...@wvgazette.com or call 348-5130.
GO TO the head of the class if you know this: Who is the dean of Conference USA head football coaches?
nn
It must be June and school must be out. As my two boys sleep in well past 6:30, the memories of the 2007-08 sports year are clanging around my head.
For some reason, a snippet of a colleague's column stands out after all these months. It was Da Boss, Mitch Vingle, and he was actually taking one of his occasional jabs at C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky.
But forget about that. This is Vingle's point that sticks with me: Marshall lacks a legitimate rivalry since fleeing the Mid-American Conference for C-USA.
Yes, but only for the moment. Thundering Herd fans, at least the 40-and-over variety, have traveled this road before.
Wayyyyy back, about the last time horses were sturdy enough to win Triple Crowns, Marshall joined the Southern Conference and its fans were scratching their heads over a list a strange schools. That league was a mixture of off-the-beaten-path state schools, private schools and military academies. Before 1977, the Herd played those schools a combined three times.
It took awhile for anything to develop. It didn't help that the Herd started its new conference affiliation with an 0-26-1 skid, with the tie coming on a Barry Childers 59-yard field goal at Western Carolina.
(I love the story about ol' B.C., as flaky a kicker as there ever was, wanting to line up a yard farther back to make it an even 60. Needless to say, coach Sonny Randle didn't take it well.)
Eventually, starting with the Herd's 1981 victory at Appalachian State, the rivalries flared. Marshall-Appalachian was never boring, as the teams traded insults, upsets and unexpected routs.
It took the Herd seemingly forever to beat Western Carolina, Furman and Tennessee-Chattanooga. Furman was the last to fall, doing so in 1988 but returning the favor in a bitter, disputed playoff contest at Fairfield Stadium. MU and FU developed a healthy disrespect for each other - not as bad as Marshall-Miami (Ohio), but fun nonetheless.
Marshall is three years into its C-USA existence, and some patterns have emerged. While the Herd hasn't suffered a long losing streak - it is 10-14 in the league over three years - it is a combined 1-8 against Central Florida, East Carolina and Southern Mississippi.
Those were the three schools I identified a few years back as great division rivals. ECU is the closest school to the most Herd fans and I find Southern Miss to be frighteningly similar to Marshall - same type of quiet small town, same size fan base, same enthusiasm, etc.
And then there's UCF, who rose from 0-11 to champions in three seasons under coach George O'Leary. The Knights have the largest (and rowdiest) student body in the league, a new on-campus stadium and easy access to top recruits. It would be nice to see them play South Florida a little better, but the ingredients are in place for a C-USA dynasty.
Sort of like Furman in the Southern Conference, back in the day.
Coach Skip Holtz' ECU team is in the best position to break it all up. At least one preseason magazine, Phil Steele's College Football Preview, says it will happen.
I'm not sure about that, but the Pirates do have their two-quarterback rotation back, most of the offensive linemen and much of their defense. They lost running back Chris Johnson and UCF lost 2,000-yard runner Kevin Smith, so that's sort of a wash.
Remember this about ECU: It saddled UCF with its only conference loss, hanging 52 points in the process. The Pirates, not the Knights, would have been the home team for the Conference USA title game, had it not been for one piddly detail - a worse-than-the-score-indicated 26-7 loss to ...
Marshall. And by the way, Phil Steele picks the Herd third behind ECU and UCF, which many Herd fans will consider pleasant, a surprise, or both. But the Herd will have to travel to Southern Miss in September, and tangle with a revenge-minded ECU on the road and UCF at home in consecutive November games.
Here's another little surprise for you: With a new coaching regime and only 10 starters back, Steele picks Southern Miss to fall to fifth in the East Division, behind Marshall and Memphis. I'll believe that when I see it, but it does make the Herd-USM game a little more interesting, right?
So don't worry. If the Herd improves as much as the coaches expect, the plot will thicken. And the rivalries will develop.
We've seen it before.
nn
Answer to above question: Tommy West of Memphis, if you can believe it. He became the league's longest-serving coach at his current school after Jeff Bower left Southern Miss.
You can look it up. West was elevated from defensive coordinator in 2001 and has stuck around despite a rather ordinary 41-44 record. He did, however, snap the Tigers' 32-year bowl drought in 2003, and has played in three other bowls. Last year, the Tigers improved from 2-10 to 7-6.
We have a new dean of men's basketball coaches, as well, after Rice let Willis Wilson go. Kirk Speraw will enter his 16th year at UCF.
To contact staff writer Doug Smock, send e-mail to dougsm...@wvgazette.com or call 348-5130.
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