UND92,96

While your article is much appreciated, I couldn't help but notice a pretty big omission--no mention of arguably UND's second-best player, Aaron Anderson.

Try this: http://www.grandforksherald.com/pages/undsportschat

I know many UNC fans wanted him the last time that job was open. Apparently he did apply, but pulled his name from consideration soon after. I have no idea whether he'd be open to leaving the state of Colorado, but he'd be a very intriguing candidate IMO if he had any interest.

On the Herald's live chat going on right now, Tom Miller said he is guessing Muss will be let go on Monday.

I think some get too hung up on labels. A lot of current dII head coaches are former dI assistants anyway. In terms of current dII head coaches, any FCS program looking for a head coach should take a look at CSU-Pueblo's John Wristen (a former longtime FBS assistant ): http://www.gothunder...es/John_Wristen

I'm confused about exactly what's going on in Mankato. You will note that Keen is now in his second season as "interim" coach. Obviously this is related to the Hoffner saga, but I haven't been able to find anything regarding the current status of Hoffner. The last thing I could find was that there was supposedly arbitration a couple of months ago, but nothing has apparently been in the media since.

Given the vast disparity right now between the programs and head coaches, UND is not going to be in a position to get many of the best ND players the way it used to in the 1990's and early 2000's when it got Kleinsasser, Moore, Callahan, Howe, Schmidt, Chappell, etc. IMO, UND needs to focus on getting the under-the-radar types, such as Dan Hendrickson.

UC-Davis has seemingly been very up and down. They got crushed at home by Portland St., and lost almost as badly as UND did at home against Montana. But they've also had some good performances, and handled both UNC and Idaho St. more easily than UND did. They also had a nice win at Southern Utah. If the "good" version of UC-Davis shows up, it could be another long day. If it's the Portland St. or Montana versions, UND would have a shot. However, with an extra week to prepare (they had a bye last week), I suspect this will be the "good" version on Saturday.

So is the problem that there simply aren't Hendrickson, Bellmore, Boyle, etc. types in our traditional recruiting areas anymore, or are we just letting them slip through the cracks and they end up playing in the NSIC? I don't follow dII ball anymore, but I've often wondered how many players UND has overlooked that end up excelling there who could have really contributed here.

This is one of the things I can't understand. The transition UND teams that hung with those decent FBS teams were presumably not more talented than the current team. So why have we gone from being able to compete relatively well against teams that should be at least comparable to the current Montana, Montana St. and EWU teams (if not better), to being routinely blown out by these types of teams? Why have we struggled to find a quality every-down running back since Josh Murray? Why can't our offensive line open holes now, but could a few years ago against Fresno St.? Why could we negate a future NFL back like Baron Batch, but now routinely give up 150-plus yards to less or similarly talented backs?

A few questions-- 1. What, if anything, would it take before you'd think a change DID need to be made? 2. Does it bother you that in his second year, Glenn has USD going to the wire with highly-ranked teams such as Montana and Youngstown St., whereas we have been routinely blown out by teams like that? Clearly, USD is not a playoff team, either. But at least they appear to be on the right track. I just can't say the same for UND. And wanting better leadership for the current and future players so that more people actually want to watch them play is far from turning one's back on them.

Valpo has fired its coach: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=9957297

UND is currently last in the Big Sky in rushing yards, and sacks allowed. Not a good combination for an offensive line.

I don't think there's much question UNC isn't actually the worst team, even though they have no dI wins. But among scholarship programs, they're probably very near the bottom. I think Weber might be worse. Regardless, we're struggling to beat some of the bottom teams, and that in and of itself is quite disappointing.

Look at who is the last-ranked team in all of dI college football: http://realtimerpi.c.../ncaaf_Men.html While I'm very happy for the seniors to finish with a win at home, it's pretty scary how close UND came to losing to this team.

From the Herald: http://www.grandfork...group/homepage/

I see SIU lost at home today to a pretty mediocre Missouri St. team. USD even beat Missouri St. this year. From 2010 to 2013, SIU is 20-23. Does Lennon need a fresh start somewhere else?

Was this the first time Schleusner has been on the sidelines rather than upstairs?

Agreed.

The disastrous seasons of Behrns and Muss are/were similar in that regard, along with the fact that both occurred in their sixth season. It wasn't merely that there were 8 or 9 losses. It was more the manner in which several of the losses occurred. Behrns' last season included losses by 41, 41, 42 and 49 points. And one of those blowouts was to Morningside!

I was only 15 at the time, so I could be wrong, but my guess is that back then UND coaches were on one-year contracts, and the choice was made to simply not renew his. I'm fairly certain he did not leave voluntarily, which presumably explains some of the hostility towards UND he later displayed (i.e. the bomb UNO threw against UND in the closing seconds of the 1996(?) game despite having a two or three score lead at the time).

I find it somewhat interesting and/or ironic that nobody seemed to be advocating for Huff, Anderson or Webb to red shirt three years ago, back when UND had absolutely nothing to play for, but now with a possible NCAA bid on the line the most sought after recruit UND has gotten in years supposedly wouldn't get enough playing time to warrant having his red shirt pulled? Really? I'll bet he gets a heck of a lot more minutes than Antwi got two years ago, when he didn't red shirt, either.

I don't think so. The coaches of UND's top three women's sports are already paid quite well compared to other conference coaches, and in some cases compared to their male team counterpart. Brewster actually made more than Jones last year.

From what I have been able to find, the lowest regular season attendance figure in the Alerus era is 6238, which was the Lamar game from 2010. The lowest number overall is the Winona St. playoff game from 2006--5073. I don't think there's much question there won't be as many as 6238 on Saturday. The question is exactly how bad it's going to be? Under 5000? I know they count season tickets regardless of whether or not they actually show up, but I have no idea how many of those were sold this year.

Even though it seems nobody wants to even entertain the idea of Lennon returning, is it really completely out of the question? When he left, as hard as it may have been to accept at the time, it made sense. He got a healthy pay raise, and it gave him a better chance to climb the coaching ladder, a la Brian Kelly. Did it work out? No, not really. But it made sense at the time, and he's made good money for an FCS coach. And just because he hasn't been able to replicate the success he had at UND at SIU, that doesn't mean he's not a great head coach. Joe Glenn struggled too at times. At this point in Lennon's career, he's got maybe 10-12 years left. Frankly, it's probably too late for him to realistically succeed at a level necessary to climb the ladder. So the question becomes--where would he rather be living/coaching for the next decade? Is he really happy at SIU? Is that really the right fit for him? Could he lead UND back to where it was during the glory years? Is there anybody else out there who would be a "safer" choice for UND? I realize that for a variety of reasons, Lennon's return is doubtful. But it would make some sense. And it shouldn't be completely out of the question that UND's next coach is a current FCS head coach.