We are not talking about something you can get at your local DQ but, rather, where the Dilly bar, in terms of elevation, our new coach can take the Sun Devils football program...
We have pretty much hit rock bottom this past season in terms of wins compared to losses so the bar is pretty low these days...
And, ever since Larry Marmie, who went 22-21-1 while at ASU, things have pretty much stayed around 5-6-7-8 wins most of the time, under subsequent coaches, that include Bruce Snyder, who went 17-18 after the Devils Rose Bowl season, followed by Dirk Koetter, who went 21-28 in the PAC, and Dennis Erickson, who broke even at 31-31 during his Devil tenure, followed by Todd Graham, who went 18-20 his last three seasons at ASU, and then we have Herm Edwards, who blew a hole in the bottom of the Sparky ship of war...
They all ended up getting fired for their Sun Devil efforts and now the Devils have finished near the bottom of the PAC where they may stay for awhile or will they..??
Will Dilly be able to transition the current Sun Devil disaster back into the middle of the PAC anytime soon, much less elevating it to a championship level program..??
Both Oregon St and Wazzu are now way ahead of where the Devils are positioned these days, in the conference, which leaves us with Colorado, Stanford, and AU, if I'm not mistaken...
That leaves us somewhere in the bottom third of the PAC, where before this season, the Mildcats finished last three straight years in the PAC, before elevating themselves up a couple of notches this past season...
Since our Rose Bowl year, we've won at least nine games on five occasions, while Wazzu has won at least nine games seven times, and the Beavers have done it six times...
Will hiring a coach who was from the Valley and really wanted the ASU job despite the NCAA investigation, etc, be the answer to the Sun Devil woes, the way Terry Donahue, a LA hometown boy, was for UCLA, when he was hired at age 32, by the Bruins to coach their football team...
Donahue coached the Bruins for 20 years where he was 151-74 and took the Bruins to four Rose Bowls...
Or, will he be more like former CU coach, Jon Embree, who was a Denver native and hometown boy, who went 4-21 before being fired by the Buffs...
Hiring coaches, as I think we all know by now, is a high stakes gamble with nothing in the way of subsequent success guaranteed...
But, did ASU make a worthwhile gamble in this case..??
Time will tell but Dilly really wanted the job and wasn't concerned about the NCAA investigation and other Sun Devil issues that may have inhibited other candidates from seeking the job...
And, will he hire enough veteran coaches that can add their football wisdom to the equation so that it doesn't dissolve into a 30 something free for all..??
It seems that he is off to a good start with the retention of Shaun Aguano and the hiring of Charlie Ragle and Vince Amey...
We all know, I hope, that Talent Is Destiny but you also need to develop whatever talent is on hand and scheme to their best abilities, as opposed to making them fit into an unrealistic football scheme, that doesn't line up with what they can do best...
Football is also a young man's game and one that requires your coaches to be in tune with the electronic media universe and the realities associated with the transfer portal and NIL phenomena...
The sources for my post today are Greg Hansen and Jon Wilner who have weighed in recently on Dilly's bar located within the PAC conference and beyond...
Will it be like what happened with Terry Donahue at UCLA or more like Jon Embree at Colorado..??
Or, will it end up residing, where it's always resided at ASU, since our last Rose Bowl appearance..??
I don't know but I'm sure looking forward to finding out and pretty sure that things will finally turn out well for our Sun Devils...
How about you..??
Go Dilly and Go Devils!!!
We have pretty much hit rock bottom this past season in terms of wins compared to losses so the bar is pretty low these days...
And, ever since Larry Marmie, who went 22-21-1 while at ASU, things have pretty much stayed around 5-6-7-8 wins most of the time, under subsequent coaches, that include Bruce Snyder, who went 17-18 after the Devils Rose Bowl season, followed by Dirk Koetter, who went 21-28 in the PAC, and Dennis Erickson, who broke even at 31-31 during his Devil tenure, followed by Todd Graham, who went 18-20 his last three seasons at ASU, and then we have Herm Edwards, who blew a hole in the bottom of the Sparky ship of war...
They all ended up getting fired for their Sun Devil efforts and now the Devils have finished near the bottom of the PAC where they may stay for awhile or will they..??
Will Dilly be able to transition the current Sun Devil disaster back into the middle of the PAC anytime soon, much less elevating it to a championship level program..??
Both Oregon St and Wazzu are now way ahead of where the Devils are positioned these days, in the conference, which leaves us with Colorado, Stanford, and AU, if I'm not mistaken...
That leaves us somewhere in the bottom third of the PAC, where before this season, the Mildcats finished last three straight years in the PAC, before elevating themselves up a couple of notches this past season...
Since our Rose Bowl year, we've won at least nine games on five occasions, while Wazzu has won at least nine games seven times, and the Beavers have done it six times...
Will hiring a coach who was from the Valley and really wanted the ASU job despite the NCAA investigation, etc, be the answer to the Sun Devil woes, the way Terry Donahue, a LA hometown boy, was for UCLA, when he was hired at age 32, by the Bruins to coach their football team...
Donahue coached the Bruins for 20 years where he was 151-74 and took the Bruins to four Rose Bowls...
Or, will he be more like former CU coach, Jon Embree, who was a Denver native and hometown boy, who went 4-21 before being fired by the Buffs...
Hiring coaches, as I think we all know by now, is a high stakes gamble with nothing in the way of subsequent success guaranteed...
But, did ASU make a worthwhile gamble in this case..??
Time will tell but Dilly really wanted the job and wasn't concerned about the NCAA investigation and other Sun Devil issues that may have inhibited other candidates from seeking the job...
And, will he hire enough veteran coaches that can add their football wisdom to the equation so that it doesn't dissolve into a 30 something free for all..??
It seems that he is off to a good start with the retention of Shaun Aguano and the hiring of Charlie Ragle and Vince Amey...
We all know, I hope, that Talent Is Destiny but you also need to develop whatever talent is on hand and scheme to their best abilities, as opposed to making them fit into an unrealistic football scheme, that doesn't line up with what they can do best...
Football is also a young man's game and one that requires your coaches to be in tune with the electronic media universe and the realities associated with the transfer portal and NIL phenomena...
The sources for my post today are Greg Hansen and Jon Wilner who have weighed in recently on Dilly's bar located within the PAC conference and beyond...
Will it be like what happened with Terry Donahue at UCLA or more like Jon Embree at Colorado..??
Or, will it end up residing, where it's always resided at ASU, since our last Rose Bowl appearance..??
I don't know but I'm sure looking forward to finding out and pretty sure that things will finally turn out well for our Sun Devils...
How about you..??
Go Dilly and Go Devils!!!
