The Official Mike Stoops Unemployment Thread

[MaoTosiFanClub]

"Those people don't know anything"

Thanks Jim, for sealing your own fate with this comment. The guy that ruined a football program by first falling behind in the facilities races followed by hiring John Mackovic and arguably the worst coach in college football in Mike Stoops is telling us we don't know anything. Please, just go. It's going to be a "great day to be a Wildcat" when the university finally cans your sorry ass.

And no, for the first time since I was in college I will not have tickets to Arizona Football next year if Livengood and Stoops are in their current capacities. There's much better things I can do with my weekends and my money than spend it on a terrible product with no hope for the future. I can just hit a couple extra basketball games a year, at least Lute cares about winning and losing.

 

[Renz]

The worst thing that can happen to a fan base is apathy, and that is what Livengood and Stoops have wrought on the U of A faithful. Personally, I don't even care any more.

Sure, I want the team to win, but I don't expect it and I don't get upset any more when they lose. If Stoops come back or doesn't, it doesn't make any difference to me. As long as Livengood is the A.D. I see mediocrity (at best) in the football program's future.

 

[boondockdrunk]

The worst thing that can happen to a fan base is apathy, and that is what Livengood and Stoops have wrought on the U of A faithful. Personally, I don't even care any more.

You could not be more right. All my friends here just do not care about the football team anymore... and I can say that I am done. I cheered for this team for three years, only to see my hopes dashed year after year. The only people who still go to the games down here are the freshmen who don't know any better.

Arizona, under Stoops, consistently do not do the little things to win (i.e. tackling... this team probably leads the nation in missed tackles the last four years). Not to mention the play calling... UGH... atleast try and throw the ball down field, instead of playing this panzy dump it off to the running back for two yards a play because Tuitama is afraid of being picked.

 

[Lefty]

You could not be more right. All my friends here just do not care about the football team anymore... and I can say that I am done. I cheered for this team for three years, only to see my hopes dashed year after year. The only people who still go to the games down here are the freshmen who don't know any better.

Arizona, under Stoops, consistently do not do the little things to win (i.e. tackling... this team probably leads the nation in missed tackles the last four years). Not to mention the play calling... UGH... atleast try and throw the ball down field, instead of playing this panzy dump it off to the running back for two yards a play because Tuitama is afraid of being picked.

Being an alum, win or lose I cheer for the Cats, period!

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Being an alum, win or lose I cheer for the Cats, period!

I quit on the Mackovic era (or error) because I would not support a hopeless cause.

I don't see that with Stoops. Mao seems to have jumped off the band wagon but I am unsure. I can't really put my head around why we have not been better this year and how we always seem to follow up "program changing" wins with catastrophic losses. To me the football team has the "we are the s-t" UA mentality that the basketball team pulls off so well. Problem is the football program has had no such success to act like that.

And the regression of the defense is even more perplexing. I can't blame G robinson for decomitting because who knows what the hell this program is going to do the next couple years.

Stoops needs to right the ship and fast.

I'm just not ready to throw him over board just yet though.

 

[Gaddabout]

I can see UA firing Livengood and giving a new AD a year to evaluate Stoops. Just hope Stoops doesn't have one decent year, get another extension, then drive the program deeper into debt. That's how we do it at ASU. It's not a good economic model for college athletics.

 

[boondockdrunk]

Being an alum, win or lose I cheer for the Cats, period!

It's not the fact that they lose... it is how they lose... the USC game was a disgrace... and they showed it again at the end of the Stanford game too. They are afraid to play football. Tuitama (Kovalchuck?) is too much of a panzy to throw the ball farther than 10 yards (if even that). But at the end of the game, when we NEED a score... they dump it off... dump it off... dump it off. I am sorry, but show some freaking backbone and throw the ball down field.

There was one only one long pass attempt today, which ended in a passer interference call... why not try more? Sure it could be picked off, but atleast come to play football. It is hard to root for a team that just shows week after week no desire to play.

If fans do not believe Stoops needs to be fired, then I do not know what to say to them.

 

[Lefty]

It's hard to stay positive after yesterday but I still will be pulling and thinking the Cats are going to beat Washington.

From reading this morning's paper, it looks like Stoops is history and Livengood's job is in jeopardy. My question, what coaches are out there that they could realistically try and get? I have heard of Pat Hill, Terry Bowden and Mike Price.

 

[Gaddabout]

From reading this morning's paper, it looks like Stoops is history and Livengood's job is in jeopardy. My question, what coaches are out there that they could realistically try and get? I have heard of Pat Hill, Terry Bowden and Mike Price.

I would almost put BIG money on Mike Price if Livengood remains. You might have to scratch his name if Liv is fired.

Forget Pat Hill. He'll never leave Fresno State. Terry Bowden might be a good backup plan. Just wonder what it would take to entice him to come West. He's definitely getting back into coaching.

 

[ajcardfan]

I would almost put BIG money on Mike Price if Livengood remains. You might have to scratch his name if Liv is fired.

Forget Pat Hill. He'll never leave Fresno State. Terry Bowden might be a good backup plan. Just wonder what it would take to entice him to come West. He's definitely getting back into coaching.

How hot is the school president's wife?

 

[HooverDam]

I would almost put BIG money on Mike Price if Livengood remains. You might have to scratch his name if Liv is fired.

Forget Pat Hill. He'll never leave Fresno State. Terry Bowden might be a good backup plan. Just wonder what it would take to entice him to come West. He's definitely getting back into coaching.

Why do you say Hill won't leave Fresno? Has he ever been offered a Pac 10 job before?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I would almost put BIG money on Mike Price if Livengood remains. You might have to scratch his name if Liv is fired.

Absolutely no way they hire Mike Price, his biggest connection to Arizona is Jim Livengood and he won't have much of a say in the decision.

Forget Pat Hill. He'll never leave Fresno State. Terry Bowden might be a good backup plan. Just wonder what it would take to entice him to come West. He's definitely getting back into coaching.

Terry Bowden ain't happening and Pat Hill would leave Fresno for a raise and Pac-10 job. Arizona probably could only provide one of the two. I could see them going the ASU route and hiring Slick Rick Neuheisel.

Personally I'd throw the house at Bronco Mendenhall but that's a long shot.

 

[Gaddabout]

Terry Bowden ain't happening and Pat Hill would leave Fresno for a raise and Pac-10 job. Arizona probably could only provide one of the two. I could see them going the ASU route and hiring Slick Rick Neuheisel.

Personally I'd throw the house at Bronco Mendenhall but that's a long shot.

Mendenhall? Really? Teams are starting to figure out that defense and it's not easy to recruit. Not unlike the Double Eagle Flex. And Pat Hill is dug in. Trust me. He's not available. He has a spiritual connection to that area.

I'm baffled by the Neuheisel/Erickson comparison, but I'll let that go.

There's a real shortage of young, up-and-coming coaches who are clearly ready for the big time. My suggestion is to go looking for the next Urban Meyer. Meyer was a former ND assistant who turned Bowling Green around in a hurry, but he got looked over for a lot of jobs much better than Utah for some reason. When you find guys like that, they stand out, IMO. Last year I thought that guy was Brian Kelly at Central Michigan. Unfortunately Cincinnati snapped him up, so unless you want to raid a school's coach one year into a contract, he's probably unavailable.

A couple of guys who do it slow but do it the right way might be available to you -- Rich Brooks and Mike Mangino. Mangino is younger but that's relative, because the guy's going to have a heart attack on the field sooner rather than later. Rich Brooks ... definitely knows the Pac-10 and would infuse some of that Oregon lifeblood into your program. That's a good thing these days. It would probably cost you more than Brooks is worth to get him, though. Mangino ... who knows what he's making at Kansas, but you have to have more money and, frankly, Arizona still has to be a better opportunity in football.

If you could figure out a way to pry Gary Patterson from TCU, he'd be a great get. OTOH, some of my UA friends have dropped Jim Leavitt's name; if Alabama's riches can get him, he's not leaving South Florida (and they've tried twice now).

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Mendenhall? Really? Teams are starting to figure out that defense and it's not easy to recruit. Not unlike the Double Eagle Flex. And Pat Hill is dug in. Trust me. He's not available. He has a spiritual connection to that area.

Mendenhall took over a BYU program that Crowton nearly torpedoed and is again the class of the MWC. The guy's legit and his teams play hard every down and are very disciplined. If Stoops' team did that they'd win seven games a season.

I'm baffled by the Neuheisel/Erickson comparison, but I'll let that go.

What's baffling? They're both proven winners with baggage.

There's a real shortage of young, up-and-coming coaches who are clearly ready for the big time. My suggestion is to go looking for the next Urban Meyer. Meyer was a former ND assistant who turned Bowling Green around in a hurry, but he got looked over for a lot of jobs much better than Utah for some reason. When you find guys like that, they stand out, IMO. Last year I thought that guy was Brian Kelly at Central Michigan. Unfortunately Cincinnati snapped him up, so unless you want to raid a school's coach one year into a contract, he's probably unavailable.

Brian Kelly would be a coup, but I'm guessing he's waiting on a Big 10 job. I will argue that there's a shortage of good coaches available, Arizona is still a BCS job that pays $1 million a year and those gigs don't grow on trees. Not to mention Arizona has landed their top choice in each of the last coaching searches. But obviously finding the right guy though is the key and that doesn't always require skill (Tim Floyd and Pete Carroll were rumored to be USC's fourth choices respectively), although I'm not ashamed to say I'd take the mediocrity of a Koetter or Tomey right about now.

A couple of guys who do it slow but do it the right way might be available to you -- Rich Brooks and Mike Mangino. Mangino is younger but that's relative, because the guy's going to have a heart attack on the field sooner rather than later. Rich Brooks ... definitely knows the Pac-10 and would infuse some of that Oregon lifeblood into your program. That's a good thing these days. It would probably cost you more than Brooks is worth to get him, though. Mangino ... who knows what he's making at Kansas, but you have to have more money and, frankly, Arizona still has to be a better opportunity in football.

If you could figure out a way to pry Gary Patterson from TCU, he'd be a great get. OTOH, some of my UA friends have dropped Jim Leavitt's name; if Alabama's riches can get him, he's not leaving South Florida (and they've tried twice now).

Might as well target John Wooden to replace Lute at Arizona, the Wizard will probably live longer than Jabba Mangino. Rich Brooks is an idea and I'd think he'd come to Arizona with Woodson graduating and the natives being perennially restless in Lexington. Age is a concern though. Leavitt ain't coming here. Patterson is overrated, they're 1-3 in the MWC despite having the best facilities in the conference. Then again, pretty much anybody would be an upgrade over Stoops.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

And the hits just keep on coming for the lame duck Stoops regime, their best recruit, a CB named Robert Golden just backed out of his commitment two weeks after saying he wasn't going anywhere as long as Mike Stoops was the coach. Hmmm...

 

[Gaddabout]

And the hits just keep on coming for the lame duck Stoops regime, their best recruit, a CB named Robert Golden just backed out of his commitment two weeks after saying he wasn't going anywhere as long as Mike Stoops was the coach. Hmmm...

I think the president needs to step in an fire Livengood right now. You need to find your next AD ASAP so you're not lingering on the coaching hire into late January. That would REALLY put you behind the 8 ball.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I think the president needs to step in an fire Livengood right now. You need to find your next AD ASAP so you're not lingering on the coaching hire into late January. That would REALLY put you behind the 8 ball.

Doubt it, he'll just fire Stoops without Livengood's approval and hire the next coach without it as well. Livengood will get a graceful exit as he has been a loyal Wildcat for many years and for whatever reason is respected throughout Tucson and by many boosters. It makes too much sense for Presidents not to get involved in some capacity with the two major sports programs considering all the money involved. Michael Crow played a large part in Koetter's dismissal and Erickson's hiring, expect the same from Dr. Shelton.

 

[Lefty]

http://forum.goazcats.com/showthread.php?t=67463&page=3

"I'm still very committed to Arizona, I'm talking 99.9% committed," Golden said. "The only reason I'm taking trips is to just make sure of my decision and also as a backup in case something happens with the coaching staff this year.

"If Coach Stoops is there next year, I'm signing with Arizona, no matter what. Even if we only win a few games this year, it doesn't matter. I'm a Wildcat all the way but only if they keep the current coaching staff together."

 

[azsouthendzone]

I think Stoops deserves a 5 year extension.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think Stoops deserves a 5 year extension.

Where do I donate to that cause?

 

[Renz]

I think Stoops deserves a 5 year extension.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Where do I donate to that cause?

Ah, just save it for the Herb Sendek extension cause. Arizona fans want that guy around as long as possible.

 

[HooverDam]

Ah, just save it for the Herb Sendek extension cause. Arizona fans want that guy around as long as possible.

This attempt at a slam makes zero sense....Herb's done a fantastic job so far, even the biggest UofA supporter would have to admit that.

 

[Renz]

This attempt at a slam makes zero sense....Herb's done a fantastic job so far, even the biggest UofA supporter would have to admit that.

Yeah, Herb's 2-16 conference record last season was the talk of the PAC-10!

At most, the jury is out on Sendek. I don't see that he has done anything "fantastic" to this point.

 

[HooverDam]

Yeah, Herb's 2-16 conference record last season was the talk of the PAC-10!

At most, the jury is out on Sendek. I don't see that he has done anything "fantastic" to this point.

Hm, leading the charge for a new practice facility, landing a top 16 recruiting class (when was the last time that happened at ASU? ever?), and just generating interest in the program is quite an accomplishment considering where it was. Yes, he's done a fantastic job so far. The record was bad of course, but most of the guys on the team last year weren't even D1 (and certainly not Pac 10) level talent.

He's obviously got the team headed in the right direction and has done some very nice things, to try to say otherwise is just blatant UofA homerism.

EDIT: Though this is a UofA- Mike Stoops thread, so I should probably shut up and stop derailing.