State of Sioux football

[dmksioux]

Ok, so todays game was pretty ugly to watch and many people are frustrated. Right now our record stands at 2-4 with five games left to play. I only see one victory left on the schedule which would be the Lamar game. That would make us 3-8 on the year with our wins being against a DII team, an FCS team that was winless last year and only win this year was against a DII, and a first year FCS school. I think it's safe to say the UND football is heading in the wrong direction.

[dlsiouxfan]

There are some talented players on this team but without better coaching they will never reach their potential. I think the last two recruiting classes have been good but recruiting is only half the battle.

Under Lennon, UND may not have always had the most talented squad but they came ready to play every game and played with an intensity I haven't seen by a Sioux football team the last few years.

[4mcrue]

At this point from someone outside looking in, I don't feel like it's all that bad. No need for a meltdown quite yet imo.

[SloStang]

Ok, so todays game was pretty ugly to watch and many people are frustrated. Right now our record stands at 2-4 with five games left to play. I only see one victory left on the schedule which would be the Lamar game. That would make us 3-8 on the year with our wins being against a DII team, an FCS team that was winless last year and only win this year was against a DII, and a first year FCS school. I think it's safe to say the UND football is heading in the wrong direction.

Northwestern State beat a 3-1 Central Arkansas on the road 24-19.

[GeauxSioux]

Thus far Mussman is 0-3 against SUU. Lennon took a D2 team down to Cedar City and lit up the T-birds. I think Mussman would make a fine OC or D2 head coach, but I just don't think head coach at the FCS level is where he belongs.

When I read statements like we "figured out their coverages and took advantage", it seems other teams are able to see something and adjust to move their offense. The Sioux don't seem to be able to do that. And on the defense side, giving up 500 yards of offense seems to be the norm this year. That is not going to win you many games.

Women's hockey was doing poorly not too many years ago. Brian Idalski was hired and the last couple of years the Sioux have made great strides are now ranked in the top 10. The volleyball team was not good. Ashley Hardee was hired and turned the program around and UND has become a good solid team. Attendance is up from what it once was. I won't get into MBB.

The last couple of years UND football has taken a slide. UND has lost or barely won games that a few years ago would have been easy wins. UND has been totally dominated at times. Sure the Sioux have had a few good wins over the last couple of years the bad has outweighed the good. Attendance is suffering.

North Dakota is still transitioning in the FCS class. I don't want the Sioux to come out of transition as a doormat. I want them to come out strong. I think Mr Faison needs to pull the trigger, be prepared to pay a little more and find an FCS caliber coach.

[the green team]

Everyone kept saying what Lennon this, & Lennon that. Let us remember he was one that lobbied very hard for us to make this move, and then once we did...he got out of dodge before having to deal with one single ioda of the transition. The landscape of trying to transition into D1 football is far different and in my opinion far more difficult than it was for teams 5 years ago. Lennon is a good coach, but lets not get ahead of ourselves in regards to how things would be different had he still been coach. I'm not entirely sure they would have.

2 things, our offense just was absolutely horrid after the first possesion of the game. They have to be able to keep our defense off the field & defense you have to sometimes make a play on your own behalf to get yourselves off the field.

Lastly, the game was tied at 14 at the half... why did only half the students of the original section return for the second half? I mean cmon man. Despite struggles it was still a game why not come back and try to be a factor as the 12th man in the 2nd half. I definitely noticed though that because teams are converting 3rd and 4th downs at a ridiculous clip against us that the noise on the downs while usually very loud early in the game, is very often a fraction of that on those downs as the game progresses. Its almost if our crowd has resigned itself that we can't accomplish getting a stop.

[UND92,96]

Everyone kept saying what Lennon this, & Lennon that. Let us remember he was one that lobbied very hard for us to make this move, and then once we did...he got out of dodge before having to deal with one single ioda of the transition. The landscape of trying to transition into D1 football is far different and in my opinion far more difficult than it was for teams 5 years ago. Lennon is a good coach, but lets not get ahead of ourselves in regards to how things would be different had he still been coach. I'm not entirely sure they would have.

2 things, our offense just was absolutely horrid after the first possesion of the game. They have to be able to keep our defense off the field & defense you have to sometimes make a play on your own behalf to get yourselves off the field.

Lastly, the game was tied at 14 at the half... why did only half the students of the original section return for the second half? I mean cmon man. Despite struggles it was still a game why not come back and try to be a factor as the 12th man in the 2nd half. I definitely noticed though that because teams are converting 3rd and 4th downs at a ridiculous clip against us that the noise on the downs while usually very loud early in the game, is very often a fraction of that on those downs as the game progresses. Its almost if our crowd has resigned itself that we can't accomplish getting a stop.

I tend to agree that if Lennon were still here, with this exact coaching staff, things still wouldn't be all that great. However, on the other hand, if Mussman had Lennon's currrent staff at SIU here at UND, I think you'd see a much better product on the field. With that said, I believe Mussman should get another year even if we finish 2-9, but Faison needs to see that the certain changes are made on the staff.

[WYOBISONMAN]

You can't fault Lennon for moving. He went to an established program for more money. In the coaching world it is all about "what have you done for me lately". I sure bet Bohl is thinking he made a mistake by not moving from NDSU when we had those two one loss seasons. A couple bad seasons later and many were calling for his head.

I think changing coaches is very traumatic for a program, although it is surely needed at times. But, many times, by switching coaches you pretty much assure a transition of at least 3 years until you can start to see what he/she has done for the program and how that persons recruits are performing. Coaching changes are big decisions with long term impacts. IMHO I think your situation at UND probably doesn't warrant Muss being fired as this is only his 3rd season. Next season he probably ought to be on the hotseat. Now, take the Punky Brewster situation at Minnesota. There is a guy that definitely ought to be gone. He is truely terrible.

[mksioux]

No need to make a head coaching change until UND finds a football conference. You want to make sure the best possible pool of candidates apply for the position, and UND needs a conference home for that to happen. Hopefully UND secures a football conference invitation sometime in 2011. If UND does not dramatically improve in the 2011 season, I think a head coaching change at that point is necessary.

[GeauxSioux]

No need to make a head coaching change until UND finds a football conference. You want to make sure the best possible pool of candidates apply for the position, and UND needs a conference home for that to happen. Hopefully UND secures a football conference invitation sometime in 2011. If UND does not dramatically improve in the 2011 season, I think a head coaching change at that point is necessary.

Reading the last paragraph of Wayne's game synopsis, I don't know if the Sioux can afford to wait.

UND scored late to make the score somewhat respectable, but the game was dominated by the Thunderbirds, who improved to 2-4. UND dropped to 2-4.

Today's attendance was 10,215. Most were long gone by the fourth quarter.

If the Sioux continue to get dominated, especially at home, you will see more and more people staying away from the game.

To have most of the people long gone by the 4th quarter is not good. I hope there were no recruits there to see this.

I saw the word "apathy" in another thread. If it continues.... loss of attendance, loss of revenue, recruiting will get that much harder....

I don't want the Sioux to become playoff eligible only to be a doormat.

I don't really care what Jack (JBB) thinks.

[The Sicatoka]

Will it be a random link, or will I Rickroll you ...

Click if you dare.

[undfb1]

I hope we all continue to give Muss some time to get things squared away. As a former player the glaring problem may not be in the head coach but more in the co-defensive coordinators? Even before the injuries on Sat. there was no many times where we had a dynamic player on defense that could get after the QB. I saw alot of bull rush and no speed off of the edge!! I don't care who you are when a QB can stand flat footed and wait for openings no D-back in country can cover for that long. If we can't create pressure then we are doomed! I only get to watch the games on TV when on Direct TV but that is what I saw this weekend. Maybe those that are around more can chyme in? is this a scheme thing or an athlete thing? If it is a scheme thing than I think it's a fair assesment that the co-coordinator experiment has not worked!!

[mksioux]

Reading the last paragraph of Wayne's game synopsis, I don't know if the Sioux can afford to wait.

If the Sioux continue to get dominated, especially at home, you will see more and more people staying away from the game.

To have most of the people long gone by the 4th quarter is not good. I hope there were no recruits there to see this.

I saw the word "apathy" in another thread. If it continues.... loss of attendance, loss of revenue, recruiting will get that much harder....

I don't want the Sioux to become playoff eligible only to be a doormat.

I don't really care what Jack (JBB) thinks.

I suppose if Faison has a real gem in mind that would take the job in spite of the conference uncertainty, then there is no need to wait until after the 2011 season. But if he would plan on doing a national search and open the process up to anyone, then I think waiting until resolution on conference affiliation might be the way to go. Of course, a lot depends on the rest of this season too. Will UND completely fall apart or will they be competitive?

[UND-1]

I hope we all continue to give Muss some time to get things squared away. As a former player the glaring problem may not be in the head coach but more in the co-defensive coordinators? Even before the injuries on Sat. there was no many times where we had a dynamic player on defense that could get after the QB. I saw alot of bull rush and no speed off of the edge!! I don't care who you are when a QB can stand flat footed and wait for openings no D-back in country can cover for that long. If we can't create pressure then we are doomed! I only get to watch the games on TV when on Direct TV but that is what I saw this weekend. Maybe those that are around more can chyme in? is this a scheme thing or an athlete thing? If it is a scheme thing than I think it's a fair assesment that the co-coordinator experiment has not worked!!

They are no longer Co-Coordinators. Mike Mannausau took over the defense in the off season.

[darell1976]

Reading the last paragraph of Wayne's game synopsis, I don't know if the Sioux can afford to wait.

If the Sioux continue to get dominated, especially at home, you will see more and more people staying away from the game.

To have most of the people long gone by the 4th quarter is not good. I hope there were no recruits there to see this.

I saw the word "apathy" in another thread. If it continues.... loss of attendance, loss of revenue, recruiting will get that much harder....

I don't want the Sioux to become playoff eligible only to be a doormat.

I don't really care what Jack (JBB) thinks.

Also what will happen with our tv contract. I am sure FCS will not want to televise a team with poor records and no people in the stands. Plus with games on tv that just adds to people staying away and not pay the 5 bucks for parking the expensive football ticket and the expensive concessions. I think its time for either a coaching change or go back to the standard form offense we had last year. This pistol, no huddle whatever it is..it stinks. Landry sucks plain and simple. Mussman will not bench him for Goska, and therefore needs to be removed. I feel like our team is the 2009 NDSU team. Hopefully we can fix the problems on the offseason and turn things around next year. My predictions went from 7-4 to 3-8.

[UND92,96]

They are no longer Co-Coordinators. Mike Mannausau took over the defense in the off season.

Aren't they still technically co-coordinators, but now Mannausau actually calls the defense whereas Kelling did the past three or four years? FWIW, they're still listed as co-coordinators at fightingsioux.com, although that info is admittedly not always 100% accurate.

[MadScout03]

The football team is in a bit of a complex situation. As posted earlier, we don't have a solid conference, so by firing Mussman, finding a good head coach will be nearly impossible. There has to be some sort of solid ground for a coach to be willing to take the job. But at the same time, there are serious issues with the team right now. It has been stated before and I'll state it again...why on earth do our db's give a 10 yard cushion on nearly every play to the wr's? That's one thing the players can't take the blame for. That comes from the D coordinator. When we run into a qb like we did on Saturday, or any qb with the slightest bit of accuracy, we're gonna be pushed around the field all game, which is what happened on Saturday. Yeah, our D didn't make many stops. That hurts. But when the O goes 3 and out, time and time again, it's gonna start wearing on them. TOP was 40 to 20 in favor of SUU. That can't happen. Injuries suck and we had a bunch of them on Saturday, but all you have to do is look at the first half to notice that losing the guys we lost didn't matter one bit. The INT return by Schwenzfeier was great, but they moved the ball down the field with no problem on that drive, up until the INT of course.

I also question pulling RJ McGill's redshirt. How much of an impact has he made? He had 1 catch for 4 yards. Seems to me another year to prepare would have been best. And how about Miller? Muss said after the game in which he pulled Miller's shirt that he'd be put into the offense more and used more in special teams. He had 1 carry for 3 yards. That doesn't seem to be worthy of losing a full year of eligibility. There had to be a reason why no true freshman, with the exception of Jimmy and Weston, played their first year up until a couple of years ago. Obviously there was a good reason for that. And Landry needs to be benched. No question about it. His accuracy was terrible. Has been all season, except against a terrible D2 team and a FCS transition team. At this point in the season, Muss needs to start playing the young guys to get them some experience. If he doesn't, things aren't going to get any better. Who will be the starting QB next year? Goska? He's hardly played this year. So we'll basically have a new QB next year, for one year, then who? A junior who hasn't seen the field any more than Goska has this year? Things have to turn around next year, because if they don't, we WILL be a doormat once we become playoff eligible.

One thing that might secure Mussman his job is the fact that on both sides of the ball, they changed their style. That's an excuse that could be made. It's a new style of offense...it needs time to work itself out. It's a new style of D that no one on the team played in the last time it was used. It needs some time to work itself out. But that is also more ammo to fire him. How many changes can you make from year to year and expect everything to be hunky dory? Obviously that falls on the coaches. The no huddle offense sucks. They take so much time getting a play in that you might as well huddle up. It seems like the coaches are trying to make the offense too sophisticated by putting all of these schemes and looks into it. To me, it's too much. You can't polish a turd, and that's exactly what the offense looks like these days. I can only imagine the thoughts running through Kelby Klosterman's head as he stood on the sidelines this weekend watching the game.

[Cratter]

Gosh where do you start?

Its pretty bad when Landrys #1 read on screen plays is wide open for about three seconds before he throws it to him.

SUU just threw it up against our short cornerback (not sure what his name is cause they don't put it on the back of the jerseys) who was overmatched and only had single coverage.

UND always seems to have a masterful plan for the first drive. Scores and then nothing. USD and now SUU.

Good luck hiring a quality head coach when the program 70 miles away pays their coach $181,000 to our $105,000!

[SooToo]

Reading the last paragraph of Wayne's game synopsis, I don't know if the Sioux can afford to wait.

If the Sioux continue to get dominated, especially at home, you will see more and more people staying away from the game.

... I hope there were no recruits there to see this. ...

Per the pre-game entry in Sioux Football Insider, UND was expecting to host "15 or 20" potential recruits for the game. <Cringe>

[WYOBISONMAN]

Good luck hiring a quality head coach when the program 70 miles away pays their coach $181,000 to our $105,000!

Does anyone know what the market is for FCS coaches? I know Bohl is on the high side.

[homer]

Per the pre-game entry in Sioux Football Insider, UND was expecting to host "15 or 20" potential recruits for the game. <Cringe>

Don't get to wrapped up with the recruits. Lets face it right now recruits coming in know they have the chance to contribute immediately to the program. We don't have much in the junior class. Kids today care more about potentially playing right away. The coaches also have to sell that the program is going in the right direction. It may not seem like it is but we have a bunch of young kids getting very quality minutes while we won't be graduating to much that will affect us next year. Times are tough now but I believe brighter days are ahead.

[UND92,96]

Does anyone know what the market is for FCS coaches? I know Bohl is on the high side.

I don't know about averages, but I believe the highest-paid FCS coaches are between $250k and $300k. Richmond, Delaware and James Madison are supposedly among the highest-paid.

[mizzou/sioux]

You can't fault Lennon for moving. He went to an established program for more money. In the coaching world it is all about "what have you done for me lately". I sure bet Bohl is thinking he made a mistake by not moving from NDSU when we had those two one loss seasons. A couple bad seasons later and many were calling for his head.

I think changing coaches is very traumatic for a program, although it is surely needed at times. But, many times, by switching coaches you pretty much assure a transition of at least 3 years until you can start to see what he/she has done for the program and how that persons recruits are performing. Coaching changes are big decisions with long term impacts. IMHO I think your situation at UND probably doesn't warrant Muss being fired as this is only his 3rd season. Next season he probably ought to be on the hotseat. Now, take the Punky Brewster situation at Minnesota. There is a guy that definitely ought to be gone. He is truely terrible.

WYOBISONMAN, I agree that changing coaches is traumatic for a program. The fact that UND is transitioning doesn't make it any easier. The potential lack of a conference home shortly doesn't play to our advantage either. I can't fault Lennon for moving. Certainly Bohl must be wondering if he made the right decision after his Bison posted a couple of one-loss seasons. Lo, how the pendulum swings. I believe Muss has warranted another year. Some of the problems are not of his making.

[jodcon]

Does anyone know what the market is for FCS coaches? I know Bohl is on the high side.

Robin Pflugrad, the new Montana coach, signed for 155k base salary, 40k media obligations, and also has performance incentives which would bump it up into the low-mid 200k's depending on if they win the Big Sky and how far they get in the playoffs.

[FargoBison]

Here are a few more....

Big Sky

Sac St-$140,000 plus incentives

WSU- $133,000 plus incentives

UNC- $90,000 plus incentives

Big South

Liberty- $179,400 plus incentives

CCU- $110,551 plus incentives

CAA

UD- $310,662

ODU-$200,000 plus incentives

UMass- $200,000 plus incentives

Richmond- Around $250,000

JMU-$248,000

UNH-$183,000

W&M- $179,400

Towson-$169,200

Maine-$155,000

GWFC

CP- $190,000 plus incentives

Indy

Georgia State- $350,000

MVC

YSU- $200,000 plus incentives

NDSU--$188,198 plus incentives

UNI- $268,000

SoCon

GSU- $450,000

App St- $170,000 plus incentives

SLC

Texas State- $186,760 plus incentives

SWAC

Southern-$200,000