NAR: Chris Petersen steps down

bluegrouse · Post by **bluegrouse** » December 2nd, 2019, 1:14 pm

This is a pretty big shocker!

Post by **Aglicious** » December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm

I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.

oleblu111 · Post by **oleblu111** » December 2nd, 2019, 2:12 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.

OMG what a response. Who did we lose to that did not have much better players ? Wake Forest, LSU. BSU. AFA, BYU. Everyone one of those schools had better players, more money etc. Everyone of those school had good seasons.

Perhaps we as fans ought to offer our coach's a level playing field before making changes. We can not even afford to hire the 10 coach's allowed by the NCAA. We are getting more than what we are paying for.

AgMac · Post by **AgMac** » December 2nd, 2019, 2:27 pm

oleblu111 wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:12 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.
OMG what a response. Who did we lose to that did not have much better players ? Wake Forest, LSU. BSU. AFA, BYU. Everyone one of those schools had better players, more money etc. Everyone of those school had good seasons.

Perhaps we as fans ought to offer our coach's a level playing field before making changes. We can not even afford to hire the 10 coach's allowed by the NCAA. We are getting more than what we are paying for.

Are you saying we can't beat teams that have much better players? Because if that's the case, SDSU does not have much better players than we do. Yet, they were able to beat a BYU team that, by your admission, has much better players than we do.

It's almost like player talent level isn't the only factor in determining who wins.

This was actually the primary reason I REALLY wanted GA back. He was always able to get players to play above their normal talent level. Smaller, slower, yet playing harder than hell can make up a lot of talent discrepancy. Think of a Kyle Gallagher or McKade Brady.

Hope to see a little more of that next year. Still have some faith in GA.

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » December 2nd, 2019, 2:33 pm

AgMac wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:27 pm

oleblu111 wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:12 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.
OMG what a response. Who did we lose to that did not have much better players ? Wake Forest, LSU. BSU. AFA, BYU. Everyone one of those schools had better players, more money etc. Everyone of those school had good seasons.

Perhaps we as fans ought to offer our coach's a level playing field before making changes. We can not even afford to hire the 10 coach's allowed by the NCAA. We are getting more than what we are paying for.
Are you saying we can't beat teams that have much better players? Because if that's the case, SDSU does not have much better players than we do. Yet, they were able to beat a BYU team that, by your admission, has much better players than we do.

It's almost like player talent level isn't the only factor in deciding who wins.

I don't know recruiting rankings, but it seems as though SDSU is typically higher than us in terms of recruiting. They are in a fertile recruiting post and have been successful for the past ~10 years.

bluegrouse · Post by **bluegrouse** » December 2nd, 2019, 2:37 pm

It may not be the ONLY factor but it is the biggest one by far. By far.

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » December 2nd, 2019, 2:42 pm

Its like people expected the same old GA that was here the first time. That was 8 years ago, a lot of people change during that time frame. I look at myself in my career, 8 years ago I was working hard and trying to prove myself to get promoted. Now that I was promoted to a higher level, I am quite content with the job I have and am not looking for more responsibility. I still do my job, but I for sure am not putting forth the zeal and energy I once was. Not saying that is happening with GA I am just saying that people change. GA took us to 6-2 conference record and 7-5 overall record. If we are able to sustain something similar with that for the next several years I am satisfied with that. Let's give GA a chance, this was a new team with all new coaches minus Maile/Collins.

oleblu111 · Post by **oleblu111** » December 2nd, 2019, 2:59 pm

One of the major factors in winning college football games is money, of course match ups, injuries and superior coaching does have a effect, but if you can not or will not pay your coach's what others do it makes the road to victory much more difficult. With superior coach's harder to find and nearly impossible to get them to stay.

I know it bothers folks on here when I talk about the lack of revenue that fans and boosters put into a program, because it is us that is a big part of what goes on, of course it is easier to blame coach's A.D.'s etc. However all considered USU football overachieved again this season. So we are in good hands.

We have a chance at a 8 win season which is a very good year when one consider's location, schedule, revenue etc.

AGNUMPI · Post by **AGNUMPI** » December 2nd, 2019, 3:01 pm

AgMac wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:27 pm

oleblu111 wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:12 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.
OMG what a response. Who did we lose to that did not have much better players ? Wake Forest, LSU. BSU. AFA, BYU. Everyone one of those schools had better players, more money etc. Everyone of those school had good seasons.

Perhaps we as fans ought to offer our coach's a level playing field before making changes. We can not even afford to hire the 10 coach's allowed by the NCAA. We are getting more than what we are paying for.
Are you saying we can't beat teams that have much better players? Because if that's the case, SDSU does not have much better players than we do. Yet, they were able to beat a BYU team that, by your admission, has much better players than we do.

It's almost like player talent level isn't the only factor in determining who wins. This was actually the primary reason I REALLY wanted GA back. He was always able to get players to play above their normal talent level. Smaller, slower, yet playing harder than hell can make up a lot of talent discrepancy. Think of a Kyle Gallagher or McKade Brady.

Hope to see a little more of that next year. Still have some faith in GA.

Of course we can, and have. But it is weird that we have to or everyone is firing the coach.

Post by **Aglicious** » December 2nd, 2019, 3:54 pm

oleblu111 wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:12 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.
OMG what a response. Who did we lose to that did not have much better players ? Wake Forest, LSU. BSU. AFA, BYU. Everyone one of those schools had better players, more money etc. Everyone of those school had good seasons.

Perhaps we as fans ought to offer our coach's a level playing field before making changes. We can not even afford to hire the 10 coach's allowed by the NCAA. We are getting more than what we are paying for.

Sorry, I've heard it all before about the lack of $$ being generated and paid and lack of support from fans being the reason our team can't win. If the money being generated or paid out = wins then we should cancel the FB program right now because the sheer raw numbers will never outmatch a large portion of our opponents unless USU somehow picks up campus and moves out of Logan Utah. I thought we were past using that as a crutch or excuse for poor performances but apparently we should all just be happy if we get to 6 wins because hey, we only get 20k to a home game.

These numbers get repeated over and over without context to population base or any other metric based in reality. I don't mean it to sound as if there is not room for improvement and maybe even a lot of improvement from fan support but every stadium is built with a population base in mind. If we are filling ours at 85% capacity that is showing a far better community support than nearly everyone in the MWC yet all we keep hearing are the drums being beat that our attendance numbers are so low. No, they really aren't. There's a reason a 60k seat stadium wasn't built in Logan. As it exists it requires 1 in every 4.5 people in the valley to show up to sell out a game - a far higher requirement than any other MWC school. Meanwhile SDSU sits in a county of over 3M people, doesn't even have a stadium of their own, and can't get 1 in every 120 people to show up to watch them.

As for the teams with "more talent", I think you would be hard pressed to convince anyone that AFA and BYU had more talent than us. AFA is simply a scheme to fit their personnel (a novel idea) and they happen to be running it really well this year with a lot of experience returning for them but more talent? I don't think so. BYU? a team that is largely the same one we wrecked the last two years is all of a sudden more talented than us because we lost this year? It's funny what that head-to-head match up does to perspective. They had a "good" season at 7-5 and extended their coach's contract but we under-performed with the same 7-5. They do have more money than us so we may never win again.

Full · Post by **Full** » December 2nd, 2019, 4:00 pm

We play Washington week three next season. I’m excited that this will not be a Petersen lead team. I actually think coaching changes makes teams more susceptible to an underachieving year.

NavyBlueAggie · Post by **NavyBlueAggie** » December 2nd, 2019, 5:47 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.

Think of Wisconsin Athletic Director BARRY ALVAREZ before you put G A into such a deep black hole.

oleblu111 · Post by **oleblu111** » December 2nd, 2019, 5:56 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 3:54 pm

oleblu111 wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:12 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.
OMG what a response. Who did we lose to that did not have much better players ? Wake Forest, LSU. BSU. AFA, BYU. Everyone one of those schools had better players, more money etc. Everyone of those school had good seasons.

Perhaps we as fans ought to offer our coach's a level playing field before making changes. We can not even afford to hire the 10 coach's allowed by the NCAA. We are getting more than what we are paying for.
Sorry, I've heard it all before about the lack of $$ being generated and paid and lack of support from fans being the reason for our team can't win. If the money being generated or paid out = wins then we should cancel the FB program right now because the sheer raw numbers will never outmatch a large portion of our opponents unless USU somehow picks up campus and moves out of Logan Utah. I thought we were past using that as a crutch or excuse for poor performances but apparently we should all just be happy if we get to 6 wins because hey, we only get 20k to a home game.

These numbers get repeated over and over without context to population base or any other metric based in reality. I don't mean it to sound as if there is not room for improvement and maybe even a lot of improvement from fan support but every stadium is built with a population base in mind. If we are filling ours at 85% capacity that is showing a far better community support than nearly everyone in the MWC yet all we keep hearing are the drums being beat that our attendance numbers are so low. No, they really aren't. There's a reason a 60k seat stadium wasn't built in Logan. As it exists it requires 1 in every 4.5 people in the valley to show up to sell out a game - a far higher requirement than any other MWC school. Meanwhile SDSU sits in a county of over 3M people, doesn't even have a stadium of their own, and can't get 1 in every 120 people to show up to watch them.

As for the teams with "more talent", I think you would be hard pressed to convince anyone that AFA and BYU had more talent than us. AFA is simply a scheme to fit their personnel (a novel idea) and they happen to be running it really well this year with a lot of experience returning for them but more talent? I don't think so. BYU? a team that is largely the same one we wrecked the last two years is all of a sudden more talented than us because we lost this year? It's funny what that head-to-head match up does to perspective. They had a "good" season at 7-5 and extended their coach's contract but we under-performed with the same 7-5. They do have more money than us so we may never win again.

AFA and BYU have more overall talent than what USU had. This Aggie team did not have the talent that last season did, O line, plus NFL R.B. Dax Raymond at tight end etc. You do know that people graduate and move on. all teams are not the same this season as last we sure were not. There are 140,000 people in the cache metro area.

How often have you beaten BYU in the last 20 years ?

USU does have more money than what you had in the past Largely because the school is now spending $16 million up nearly $10 million to support moving to the MWC while fans are spending about the same for tickets, by the way students are spending nearly 2 to 1 as what fans are to watch games.

There are no points awarded for low population, and even Wyoming folks spend double for tickets than what USU fans do. In fact only SJS fans do less than what USU does

. Can not alums from SLC attend games ?

So given those facts a 7 win season is very good,

dyedblue · Post by **dyedblue** » December 2nd, 2019, 6:01 pm

NavyBlueAggie wrote:
Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.

Think of Wisconsin Athletic Director BARRY ALVAREZ before you put G A into such a deep black hole.

This is the role GA originally wanted at Utah State and Wells wisely said screw that and GA went to Utah instead. This would be a terrible idea for us.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Post by **Aglicious** » December 2nd, 2019, 10:04 pm

NavyBlueAggie wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 5:47 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.

Think of Wisconsin Athletic Director BARRY ALVAREZ before you put G A into such a deep black hole.

I had that very experience in mind. I would hope that if GA were to be involved in that capacity that he would learn from that situation and remember how he wanted to be treated as the HC. Alvarez was sort of the "what not to do" example.

swordsman1989 · Post by **swordsman1989** » December 3rd, 2019, 8:22 am

Aggie84025 wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 2:42 pm
Its like people expected the same old GA that was here the first time. That was 8 years ago, a lot of people change during that time frame. I look at myself in my career, 8 years ago I was working hard and trying to prove myself to get promoted. Now that I was promoted to a higher level, I am quite content with the job I have and am not looking for more responsibility. I still do my job, but I for sure am not putting forth the zeal and energy I once was. Not saying that is happening with GA I am just saying that people change. GA took us to 6-2 conference record and 7-5 overall record. If we are able to sustain something similar with that for the next several years I am satisfied with that. Let's give GA a chance, this was a new team with all new coaches minus Maile/Collins.

For the 2010s, an average USU football season is a 7-6 record. During the decade, prior to this season, USU had five winning seasons and four losing seasons. This year the team secured more winning seasons than losing seasons for the decade. At the absolute worst, USU will have an average season for the 2010s. If the bowl game is a win, USU will have had a better than average season. An average or better winning season, with a trip to a bowl game is what Gary brought us in his first season back. I will take it, given all the new faces on the offense.

Aggieiester · Post by **Aggieiester** » December 3rd, 2019, 9:36 am

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 10:04 pm

NavyBlueAggie wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 5:47 pm

Aglicious wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 1:47 pm
I think this "administrative role working with leadership development for coaches and players" sounds exactly like something that GA is suited for and would perhaps fill his need/desire to be around the program?

Then Hartwell could hire an energetic coach looking for an opportunity to make his name in a program that has some recent success with the backing of admin. dedicated to taking the next step.

Think of Wisconsin Athletic Director BARRY ALVAREZ before you put G A into such a deep black hole.
I had that very experience in mind. I would hope that if GA were to be involved in that capacity that he would learn from that situation and remember how he wanted to be treated as the HC. Alvarez was sort of the "what not to do" example.

Fantastic idea

JSHarvey · Post by **JSHarvey** » December 3rd, 2019, 1:44 pm

As one of many on this board who has lived thru a lot of losing Aggie seasons (I started at USU in 1979) I've come to the realization that coaches make a huge difference. Gary Andersen turned our program around and made it relevant. As has been mentioned he got players to play above their nominal talent level. Absent the success achieved during Gary Andersen's first stint at USU we might not even be a D1 program (or whatever they call it now) any more.

Given the population, location, and financial realities facing USU football we've got to have a coach like Gary Andersen V1 at least every two or three hires in order to maintain success (defined as going to bowls the vast majority of the time and at least seriously contending for the conference championship on occasion - so long as Boise remains "Boise" we aren't likely to win a conference championship unless the stars align).

All that said I think there is at least a chance that Gary Andersen V2 turns out to be pretty good at motivating players. I'm very interested to see what happens next year with respect to the players' attitudes, coaching decisions, and overall strategy.

My take-away is that it's a lot more fun to now be debating just how good the team can be rather then trying to justify its very existence (as was often the case in the bleakest years).

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