State of Sioux football

[mksioux]

I don't read too much into Mussman's salary as being what UND is willing to pay for any head coach. I don't think it means anything in terms of who UND might be able to land as a replacement. I consider it as what Mussman is worth based upon his limited experience and successes. If UND made a coaching change and went with a more experienced coach, I expect that salary would be raised accordingly. Or if Mussman stays and starts having success, I would expect he would get a handsome raise.

[82SiouxGuy]

I don't read too much into Mussman's salary as being what UND is willing to pay for any head coach. I don't think it means anything in terms of who UND might be able to land as a replacement. I consider it as what Mussman is worth based upon his limited experience and successes. If UND made a coaching change and went with a more experienced coach, I expect that salary would be raised accordingly. Or if Mussman stays and starts having success, I would expect he would get a handsome raise.

I agree with you. They decided to hire from within because they were right in the middle of recruiting season when Lennon left. An inexperienced coach doesn't get nearly as much money as someone with a proven track record. I think that UND has proven they will pay if they think it's worth it.

[bincitysioux]

I don't read too much into Mussman's salary as being what UND is willing to pay for any head coach. I don't think it means anything in terms of who UND might be able to land as a replacement. I consider it as what Mussman is worth based upon his limited experience and successes. If UND made a coaching change and went with a more experienced coach, I expect that salary would be raised accordingly. Or if Mussman stays and starts having success, I would expect he would get a handsome raise.

I agree with you. They decided to hire from within because they were right in the middle of recruiting season when Lennon left. An inexperienced coach doesn't get nearly as much money as someone with a proven track record. I think that UND has proven they will pay if they think it's worth it.

I agree as well....................also have to remember that Mussman was hired on short order when we had no A.D. as well.

I think Mussman was the right hire at the time given the scenario due to the timing, the transition, recruiting situation, and having no A.D. I'm not necessarily convinced that he still isn't the right guy for the job, but I think he at the very least has to chin up and make some difficult decisions regarding some of his assistants. IMO, 4 years of a regressing defense and a severe drop off in offensive productivity since Mussman turned over the play calling duties warrants a re-evaluation of his coordinators and/or their schemes.

I think UND92,96 brings up a valid point about Kotelnicki...........he has experience as a coordinator, and the special teams at UND have excelled in his time here, and they were also quite good when he was running the special teamers at K-State.

[Cratter]

Here are a few more....

Big Sky

Sac St-$140,000 plus incentives

WSU- $133,000 plus incentives

UNC- $90,000 plus incentives

......

....

.....

SWAC

Southern-$200,000

Which makes UND's coach one of the lowest paid in the FCS with the averages being around $200,000.

[Cratter]

Really? You think so?

UND's inability to pay its head coach a decent amount is the main reason it lost its greatest head coach of all time.

Lennon interviewed at Montana State was offered the job and turned it down. Then proceeded to accept a job at Southern Illinois with a massive pay increase.

[bincitysioux]

Really? You think so?

UND's inability to pay its head coach a decent amount is the main reason it lost its greatest head coach of all time.

Lennon interviewed at Montana State was offered the job and turned it down. Then proceeded to accept a job at Southern Illinois with a massive pay increase.

Lennon left because he had the opportunity to become the head coach at a perennial national title contender. Yes, SIU paid more than Montana St., but part of that is because SIU is a lot higher up on the FCS food chain than MSU is. Southern Illinois offers a far brighter future than does Montana St.

[WYOBISONMAN]

For sure UND and NDSU need to be on the high side of FCS payrolls, but our schools will still be a stepping stone to bigger and better. Tim Miles left to coach BB at Colorado State for about 4x what he was getting at NDSU. And........if he has success at CSU.....a bigger school will take him. I don't like it, but unfortunately neither school will ever be able to compete with the BCS schools, and as such, our best coaches will always be recruited away.

By the way..............that $450,000 for Georgia Southern really shocked me!

[82SiouxGuy]

Really? You think so?

UND's inability to pay its head coach a decent amount is the main reason it lost its greatest head coach of all time.

Lennon interviewed at Montana State was offered the job and turned it down. Then proceeded to accept a job at Southern Illinois with a massive pay increase.

Lennon didn't plan to stay at UND for the rest of his career. He was looking at a 5 year transition period with the big unknown of not knowing who his boss was going to be. Montana State would have been a 1/2 step up to an established FCS program. Southern Illinois was a full step up to a FCS contender. His next step will be FBS.

[UND92,96]

I agree as well....................also have to remember that Mussman was hired on short order when we had no A.D. as well.

I think Mussman was the right hire at the time given the scenario due to the timing, the transition, recruiting situation, and having no A.D. I'm not necessarily convinced that he still isn't the right guy for the job, but I think he at the very least has to chin up and make some difficult decisions regarding some of his assistants. IMO, 4 years of a regressing defense and a severe drop off in offensive productivity since Mussman turned over the play calling duties warrants a re-evaluation of his coordinators and/or their schemes.

I think UND92,96 brings up a valid point about Kotelnicki...........he has experience as a coordinator, and the special teams at UND have excelled in his time here, and they were also quite good when he was running the special teamers at K-State.

Although there were some decisions made by the interim a.d.'s that I strongly disagreed with, not paying Mussman more than necessary was one thing they got right. He got a nice raise from his o.c. salary, and I'm sure he was happy with it. If he has a high degree of success, he'll get more money.

I also agree that if a change were made, the pay would be considerably higher. Ditto for the men's basketball job should that open up in the near future. Faison proved with Hardee that he's not afraid to pay the going rate for the right person.

[NumOneFan]

I agree as well....................also have to remember that Mussman was hired on short order when we had no A.D. as well.

I think Mussman was the right hire at the time given the scenario due to the timing, the transition, recruiting situation, and having no A.D. I'm not necessarily convinced that he still isn't the right guy for the job, but I think he at the very least has to chin up and make some difficult decisions regarding some of his assistants. IMO, 4 years of a regressing defense and a severe drop off in offensive productivity since Mussman turned over the play calling duties warrants a re-evaluation of his coordinators and/or their schemes.

I think UND92,96 brings up a valid point about Kotelnicki...........he has experience as a coordinator, and the special teams at UND have excelled in his time here, and they were also quite good when he was running the special teamers at K-State.

Just to clarify, Kotelnicki was a graduate assistant under Tim Tibesar at KSU. Tim was the special team coordinator at that time with Kotelnicki his GA.

[fightingsioux4life]

Really? You think so?

UND's inability to pay its head coach a decent amount is the main reason it lost its greatest head coach of all time.

Lennon interviewed at Montana State was offered the job and turned it down. Then proceeded to accept a job at Southern Illinois with a massive pay increase.

Let's also remember that Southern Illinois was upgrading their facilities for football (new stadium, strength and conditioning facilities, everything). They were willing to make a serious investment in the football program while UND was still treating football like Little Orphan Annie. Lennon would have been stupid to turn all that down.

I agree that Mussman has not earned a huge salary increase. However, if Faison decides to get rid of Mussman and go after a big-time FCS coach, that checkbook had better not have some outrageously low cap on it. I do not want to become a low-major FCS program who has coaches stolen by mid-major and big-time FCS programs. If we lose coaches in the future, it had better be because: 1) We fired them for bad performance or 2) An FBS school snatched them away because we were winning big year after year. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

[The Sicatoka]

Let's also remember that Southern Illinois was upgrading their facilities for football (new stadium, strength and conditioning facilities, everything). They were willing to make a serious investment in the football program while UND was still treating football like Little Orphan Annie. Lennon would have been stupid to turn all that down.

Alternatively, a 3-3 record with all of those advantages could have Lennon in trouble.

It's all about perspective.

[airmail]

So many great talking points brought up in this thread...

MadScout03 made some great references to the particulars of the players, formations, etc. Have to agree on mostly all of those concerns. This no-huddle that uses nearly all of the play clock is not catching anyone off guard. The word "gimmick" comes to mind...

I have concerns with the coaching staff too - Mussman in particular. I have been fortunate to watch all of the Alerus Sioux games over the years from a great vantage point to see the coaches' interaction with the players. Past coaches could melt some great athletes with one cold stare. It seems that our athletes this year don't have the same fear of our coaches. I was particularly displeased with what was seemingly a "playground shove" from our head coach to one of his athletes during the last home game. Don't get me wrong - I am 100% in favor of chewing them out to get their heads in the right place, and generally doing whatever it takes to get them in the right direction. Just the fact alone that it takes physical interaction to do this tells me that A) The coach doesn't instill the fear of God into his players B) There is a lack of respect for one another on both sides of the clipboard.

I can be honest and say that I'm completely frustrated by the season thus far - perhaps that is weighing on my opinions.

But I can also be honest in saying that I don't like what I see thus far - and unfortunately, I don't expect anything to change very soon.

*Saw Dale Lennon mentioned on this thread a few times too. Anyone else besides me think that Lennon gave his ringing endorsement to Mussman only to ensure that he could secure Schweigert as his DC, and not have to worry about him applying? That, among other things, has been bothering me for the past few years. Loved the guy as our coach, but really think he screwed us over when he went southeast.

[bincitysioux]

Well, I think we have a glaring concern at the QB postion going into next season. We can speculate about a JC player coming in to help next season, but when is the last time a JUCO qb transferred in and started for UND, or any other program for that matter?

Is Goska in the doghouse or something? I saw nothing from Hendrickson yesterday that made me think: "Let's stick with this guy". He's a great athlete with a nice arm, but made some questionable throws, inaccurate, and seems to refuse to set his feet when he throws. Goska is no more accurate, doens't have as strong an arm, but has alot more experience and probably makes better decisions.

I don't know much about the other So. QB Nichols, but what would have been lost by giving him a few snaps in either of the last two games or next week? He played at a lower level in high school than Goska or Hendrickson, but he is a big kid and had far more impressive high school numbers than either as a passer.

Whether Landry would have gotten hurt or not, everybody knew this would be his last year here...........................it seems that their was a lapse in grooming his successor for the 2011 season, which is surprising to me considering the fact that since Mussman became the OC, our offenses have often been geared around a QB that is pretty effective as a passer. And basically this entire decade, there has always seemed to be a capable backup on the roster: Bowenkamp, Belmore, Manke, Landry, etc...........at some point in their careers, all 4 of those guys were thrust onto the field unexpectedly and managed to perform well for the most part.

As far as Demler or Comes are concerned, when is the last time a freshman started at QB for UND? Serious question, I don't know the answer.

[Shawn-O]

As far as Demler or Comes are concerned, when is the last time a freshman started at QB for UND? Serious question, I don't know the answer.

Kevin Klancher in '94 would be my guess.

[UND92,96]

Kevin Klancher in '94 would be my guess.

Klancher played some as a freshman when Clay Wagner got hurt, and may have started a game or two, but wasn't really a starter. I can't recall a freshman actually winning the starting position at quarterback at UND. But barring a good incoming transfer, I think there's a good chance of it happening next year.

[Cratter]

Is Goska in the doghouse or something?

Nope, he just sucks even worse than Hendrickson at throwing the ball. He's a decent runner but so is Hendrickson. Henrickson is/was clearly the better of two evils. Only thing is Goska understands the offense better.

Goska in the first quarter with his feet set, with no pressure, threw it right at the ground to a wide open receiver. He was then pulled.