I'll leave this thread to those who are really into D-II coaches.

As I have posted, I did (do) follow Wayne State and Coach Winters and Joique Bell (I have a WSU degree).

My gut on him is that Winters was doing a nice job turning around the program and he got a god send, Joique Bell, one of the most impressive college runners I've seen in a lot time. He literally destroyed GLIAC defenses. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4735984 Over 2K yards as a senior (2009).

My guess is that Bell literally carried the team on his back. WSU quarterbacking was sub-standard for a good team.

Sometimes a D-II player like Bell or a NFL player like Calvin Johnson can carry a whole team on his back.

I'll let others put in their SVSU, etc. head coaches...

Jim Collins, SVSU

I wouldn't underestimate Collins in the mix for the job.

Bob Bartolomeo http://athletics.uindy.edu/coaches.aspx?...h=football has turned that program into a force. Midwest recruiting ties

Mini thread hi-jack... I think Collins or Winters would be ideal. They are both successful with less. Will that transfer to EMU and the MAC? I don't know but EMU, with its "substandard" football facilities (as Jim Stapleton asserted) is more akin to a Div I-AA or D-II school than a lot of the other MAC schools are.

Maybe one of these fellas don't take us to a bowl but maybe, just maybe, they turn it around so that it isn't such an unattractive job (as Jim Stapleton asserted).

(11-11-2013 08:13 PM)HuronRob Wrote:  Mini thread hi-jack... I think Collins or Winters would be ideal. They are both successful with less. Will that transfer to EMU and the MAC? I don't know but EMU, with its "substandard" football facilities (as Jim Stapleton asserted) is more akin to a Div I-AA or D-II school than a lot of the other MAC schools are.

Maybe one of these fellas don't take us to a bowl but maybe, just maybe, they turn it around so that it isn't such an unattractive job (as Jim Stapleton asserted).

Winters' team have slumped the last two years.

Winters started turning WSU around and then Joique Bell carried the team on his back (mediocre QB play). Bell ran for 2K yards and 29 TDs in 2010. Strangely, WSU went to the championship game in 2011 without Bell. 2012 was mediocre and 2013 downright very disappointing.

Winters' star isn't shining too bright these days.

(11-11-2013 09:25 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(11-11-2013 08:13 PM)HuronRob Wrote:  Mini thread hi-jack... I think Collins or Winters would be ideal. They are both successful with less. Will that transfer to EMU and the MAC? I don't know but EMU, with its "substandard" football facilities (as Jim Stapleton asserted) is more akin to a Div I-AA or D-II school than a lot of the other MAC schools are.

Maybe one of these fellas don't take us to a bowl but maybe, just maybe, they turn it around so that it isn't such an unattractive job (as Jim Stapleton asserted).

Winters' team have slumped the last two years.

Winters started turning WSU around and then Joique Bell carried the team on his back (mediocre QB play). Bell ran for 2K yards and 29 TDs in 2010. Strangely, WSU went to the championship game in 2011 without Bell. 2012 was mediocre and 2013 downright very disappointing.

Winters' star isn't shining too bright these days.

Perhaps I should have written like Winters or like Collins. What I meat by my statement is hiring a coach who is used to making lemonade out of lemons. Someone who is used to working with inferior facilities and attracting players who can produce winning results.

I have to be honest here. I have no idea how our facilities compare to the facilities at other MAC schools. I haven't done an in depth analysis of what other MAC schools provide their football programs. According to Mr. Stapleton, our facilities are inferior; so, I will take him at his word.

I am not ignorant enough to think that a coach like a Winters or a Collins will be a panacea and that everything will be great. I view the next hire as more of a stepping stone to the coach we will want/need to take EMU to being the program we hope it can be. If our next hire is that man then great but he doesn't have to be. The money for facilities improvement will come if the winning improves - and not for just one season out of five or six.

As crazy as it sounds, alumni donations increase when the athletic teams excel. They go hand in hand.

If Mr. Stapleton thinks that facilities are substandard, what is he doing about it? Isn't it his job to improve things at Eastern?

Thanks for posting the Indy coach, I was about to get around to doing that. Indy is also nationally ranked in Div II circles.

HuronRob:

Our athletic facilities may not have all of the glitz of the best MAC programs, but we are probably 'mid-pack'.

There are MAC programs without indoor practice facilities...

I think the big complaint is no 'true' football building - I mean big building with weights, study facilities, meeting rooms, etc.

I might be wrong, but in 2008, before the financial crash, EMU wanted to build a big brick building, where the IPF is, and I think it was to be more than a big indoor practice field. Cost: More than 30M.

There was a big corporate donor who was going to put up a LOT of dough and I think get naming rights.

The more I read into Collins at Saginaw Valley the more I think he is the right man for the job. Recruiting ties in Ohio (was HC at Capitol in Columbus) and Michigan will be integral part of success. has won everywhere he's been and has a 9-0 record in the GLIAC. He's my # 1 choice

Since Capitol is in Columbus, your new AD that came from Ohio State may be familiar with him.

May give him an "in" to get an interview at least.

Dear Friends,
I like Tim Beck from Pittsburg State, Kansas. His team is 9-1 this year heading into the playoffs. I don't think he has had a losing season in twelve years as their coach. Yes Kansas is not close to Michigan, and yes he doesn't have much if any, of a midwest connection, but if you look at his record, it's outstanding. He's my #1 choice.

Pittsburg State has been a D-II (NAIA before that) power for four decades.

Beck replaced a highly-successful coach, has just continued the Gorillas' run.

EMU needs a coach who has experience rebuilding a down-trodden program.

(11-12-2013 12:35 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
I like Tim Beck from Pittsburg State, Kansas. His team is 9-1 this year heading into the playoffs. I don't think he has had a losing season in twelve years as their coach. Yes Kansas is not close to Michigan, and yes he doesn't have much if any, of a midwest connection, but if you look at his record, it's outstanding. He's my #1 choice.

Beck played at Pitt St. and has coached there ever since. He's been at that school for about 30 years total. Also, his son is a freshman FB player there. His roots are pretty deep there.

He's not going anywhere.

Probably not in the running, but I still would like to see EMU chase after Garin Higgins at DII Emporia State (Kan.).

He is in his seventh year there and has turned it around the last three years, including going 10-2 last year and was undefeated and ranked 10th until losing to the second-ranked team last week.

Before that he was at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State and made the NAIA playoffs several times, including a national championship runner-up.

This is the kind of guy that knows how to work with limited resources and build up a program.

http://www.esuhornets.com/coaches.aspx?r...h=football

SVSU v. GVSU is on Comcast 900 this Saturday at 1PM. Two of our HC candidates going at it in the Battle of the Valleys.

Wooden:

Do you see Mitchell as a serious candidate for the job?

My take is no, Kelly and Martin won national championship at Grand Valley, the program under Mitchell is no longer the best in its own conference being outdone by Saginaw Valley and Indy.

(11-13-2013 09:16 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Wooden:

Do you see Mitchell as a serious candidate for the job?

My take is no, Kelly and Martin won national championship at Grand Valley, the program under Mitchell is no longer the best in its own conference being outdone by Saginaw Valley and Indy.

Folks are considering the 2nd or 3rd best HC in the GLIAC?

(11-13-2013 09:16 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Wooden:

Do you see Mitchell as a serious candidate for the job?

My take is no, Kelly and Martin won national championship at Grand Valley, the program under Mitchell is no longer the best in its own conference being outdone by Saginaw Valley and Indy.

GVSU has lost to Ferris State (Tony Annese) two years in a row too.

Some believe Mitchell got head job only because AD is his father-in-law. Many Laker fans wanted an outside search to replace Martin.