bincitysioux

I think that statement is hilarious. Regardless of who the AD is, Lennon (or any coach) would most likely be very interested if a job opportunity came along like this. Lennon is a great coach, even if he does stay (and I hope to God he does) he will receive other attractive job offers in the future, and eventually he will be offered one he won't pass up.

I don't think there is much "terrible" about the MSU job and I'm not sure that many of us feel that there is. I'll continue to say what I've said from the start. Montana St. is one of the top 15-20 coaching jobs in FCS. I know there are circumstances currently surrounding the program which is why they are currently searching for a new coach. Fact is, without those recent troubles both legally and academically, it is most likely one of the top ten (maybe even top 5 ? )most attractive jobs in FCS. MSU is perennially one of the top 2 FB programs in what is perennially one of the top 2 or 3 football conferences in the FCS. It is a school at which football comes second to no other sport. MSU has a legitimate chance of challenging for a National Championship next season, not 5 transition years from now (or 10 years or longer, like UND). Dale's best quality as a head football coach is his decision making ability. Knowing that, I expect him to decide to take the job if in fact is (or has been) offered to him.

What do they know, Walrus, they're just uninformed internet posters right? I just made it 5 out of 12.

Sorry.

Knowing what I know about you, Walrus, you're probably on the right track. As I said in a previous post, I refuse to speculate on who will succeed Dale Lennon because at this point he doesn't need to be replaced. That could change over the weekend. I know little about the other 3 candidates but if the job were offered to Dale, I feel he would be foolish not to accept it. Having said that, considering what I have read about the other 3, I feel that Montana St. would be foolish not to offer the job Dale. This is the price you pay for having a successful program. I wish Dale the best of luck in whichever way he goes.

Hey Hansel, thanks for your reports on this subject. Alot of us who are familiar with you and your postings appreciate you keeping us updated with first-hand knowledge of what has take place at the meetings.

My thoughts exactly. RT was a great coach and I will always revere him for what did as coach of UND football. But I never cared for his administrative policies. You make excellent points about Buning having to be the guy to make tough decisions. He inherited RT's budget deficit and balanced it.

It should also be noted that the original contract with UNI still calls for 2 more games (contingent on UND, moving to DI which of course we are ), one of which could be played in GF. Those two games against UNI could prove pretty valuable over the next 5 years during the transition. As someone who has been a staunch supporter of Buning, I don't like to hear that our best coaches don't get along with him. But I have a hard time believing that Dale would be pursuing this opportunity solely because of the current A.D. As I posted earlier, I feel that Montana St. is one of the top 15 or 20 coaching positions in the FCS and that is why he is pursuing it, and he should. There are probably other factors, (Buning perhaps) but that is just side-dressing. I think it must be pretty enticing to have the opportunity to be the head coach of one of the top 2 programs in one of the top 2 or 3 football conferences in the country. Good luck to Dale, but I wish even better luck upon Mike Van Diest.

Dan Hammer was just on KFGO and said that he feels that if Dale is offered the job he will surley take it. He said he's talked to MSU officials and they are very impressed with Coach Lennon and he feels there is good chance he will get that offer. He also noted (as many here have) that Lennon and Buning do not have the best working relationship, and cited the scheduling of Northern Iowa last year as an example. Apparently, Dale was nearing a deal to play the University of Maine, and Buning scheduled the UNI game without Dale having any knowledge of it. Anybody ever hear anything about that? Hammer said he'd expect an announcement within 3 days. Hammer said he'll have more on his show on Monday night at 7:00 on 1280 The Fan.

Here is a link to Dale's public interview from a Bozeman TV station. It is a little easier to access than the one on Bigsky.TV. Forum video

I don't know if anyone already brought this up, but I heard on KFAN and ESPN radio today that saturday's game 3 tied with a rerun of the West Wing for the lowest rating in the history of NBC.

All of the NCC schools staying in DII now have conference homes. MIAA adds Nebraska-Omaha to conference

UND is ranked #4 in Lindy's 2007 preseason poll. UNO and USD are also in the top 10. Link Lindy's Magazine NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25 1. Grand Valley State (Mich.) 2. Northwest Missouri State 3. Chadron State (Neb.) 4. North Dakota 5. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 6. Nebraska-Omaha 7. Delta State (Miss.) 8. Valdosta State (Ga.) 9. South Dakota 10. Indiana (Pa.)

Good stuff. I am able to watch every Montana St. and U of Montana football game on the satellite dish that I use to pick up the FSSN. After 3-4 years of watching Kramer coach, I admit that I have never been impressed with his coaching ability, nor with the way he carries himself. However, I chuckled watcing that press conference when he mentioned he was recently a candidate for the Head job at Idaho. It is his alma mater, and I remember earlier this year when he took himself out of the running for the vacant position that he had a good chance of getting. Then I remember hearing he was fired a couple weeks ago and thinking to myself, wow, what a way to reward Kramer's show of loyalty to Montana St. Oh yeah, and if MSU chooses Coach Lennon, I hope that Kramer wins his lawsuit.

We could learn alot about Coach Lennon's pusuit of the Montana St. job by going here. MSU will provide a free webcast of each candidate's public forum. Rob Ash of Drake was tonight. Lennon will be on Wednesday at 6:00 central time.

You'll have to refresh my memory. When have I named a potential successor for Dale Lennon?

Good point. However, "The Ralph", is a nickname. Like calling the Montreal Canadiens the "Habs", or the Cleveland Indians the "Tribe". The NCC used to be called the "Big 9". So why do we call it the NCC now? Because that's its name.

I agree with pretty much everything BisonKent said. Montana St. (despite recent troubles) is probably one of the top 10 or 15 most attractive coaching positions in FCS football. Perhaps UND will be someday too, but not for a minimum of 5 years, and I'm guessing it'll be a bit after that. If he took the job, he'd have a legitimate chance to contend for a Division I National Championship in 2007. The biggest thing that makes coach Lennon a great coach is his decision making ability. As much as I hate to say it, if he were offered the job, the right decision for him would be to take the job.

Call me crazy, but I like to call things by their name. I call Pro Player: Pro Player. I call Monster Park: Monster Park. I call Minnesota St.: Minnesota St. I call FCS: FCS. If my name were Bill, I wouldn't want to be refered to as Bob. BTW, I thought this thread was about Lennon and Montana St., didn't NDSUFREAK start thread in the football section for this name discussion?

Very well said!

Here we go again.................. What was Brian Jones' head coaching experience prior to UND? I will now excuse myself from getting into a discussion about who should replace Dale Lennon until Dale Lennon needs to be replaced.

From today's Herald

I don't think Lennon would consider this job had UND moved to DI 4-5 years ago when NDSU, SDSU, and UNC left. Had we done it at that time, there is a good chance UND would either be in the Gateway conference or Big Sky by 2008 which is where those 3 schools ended up respectively. He has been in the pro-DI camp all along. UND football is going to be in the best position of any of our sports during the transition, but long-term, they'll likely be stuck in the non-autobid Great West. Although UND football will likely be the first UND sport to have a conference home in the Great West, by the end of the transition when we are playoff eligible and hopefully have a conferecne for the other sports (best chance is the Summit, which probably means GWFC membership for the long-term) it is likely that at that time UND football will be in the worst shape conference wise being in the Great West with still no auto-bid coming in the forseeable future and probably still only 5 members or six at the most. Dale has to do what is best for Dale. Football-wise, I think that going from UND to Montana St. would be considered a lateral move. But big picture career-wise it would really be very attractive for a great coach like Dale to take a job that would make him the Big Cheese at a school where football plays second fiddle to no other sport (unlike UND) and coach in an established auto-bid leauge in which Montana St. is already competetive in year in and year out. I wish Dale the best of luck whichever way he goes. I would hate to see him leave UND, but I could certainly not fault him for pursuing this opportunity.

Van Diest has to be the fan favorite because he's a known commodity in Montana. The question is will the higher-ups at MSU feel that it would be too big of a jump to go from NAIA to what is often expected to be a Top 20 FCS program?