Mussman Named GWFC Coach of the Year

[zonadub]

by the coaches:

http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205337765

and the media:

http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205338151

... and is also a finalist for the National Coach of the Year.

PHILADELPHIA UND’s Chris Mussman is among 20 finalists for the 25th Eddie Robinson Award, which honors the national coach of the year in the Football Championship Subdivision.

http://topics.areavo...the-year-award/

[zonadub]

Mussman is also among the top vote getters for the Liberty Mutual Coaching Excellence Award

http://www.coachofth...bid=dkyuqzOpAdY

Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, which honors college coaches who demonstrate responsibility and excellence on and off the field

[Cratter]

Good Topic. I give credit where credit is due. Mussman and the rest of the Fighting Sioux did a great job last year. While it wasn't pretty they got the job done. 3-8 to 8-3.

Looking forward to the Big Sky next years. Should be fun. The schedule looks awesome.

[zonadub]

Really, Cratter, the credit goes to you for the idea on that other thread that Darell should shut up on and let it go away. But thanks for the + rep!

[Siouxperfan7]

As much as I want to give Muss and the team a ton of credit, lets put things in perspective. Yes they did go 8-3 after a season where they were 3-8. But, lets look at those 8 wins. 3 of them were against NAIA or D2 teams, and the other one is against a D1 non-scholarship team. So really, they had 4 legitimate wins against D1 FCS teams. Last year they had 3 wins, one of them against a D2 team. So looking at the numbers, in the past two years, UND and coach Mussman have won 6 games in two hears that are legit. Not really that impressive. I do think they are moving in the right direction, but they have a long way to go to be considered a contender in FCS.

[dmksioux]

As much as I want to give Muss and the team a ton of credit, lets put things in perspective. Yes they did go 8-3 after a season where they were 3-8. But, lets look at those 8 wins. 3 of them were against NAIA or D2 teams, and the other one is against a D1 non-scholarship team. So really, they had 4 legitimate wins against D1 FCS teams. Last year they had 3 wins, one of them against a D2 team. So looking at the numbers, in the past two years, UND and coach Mussman have won 6 games in two hears that are legit. Not really that impressive. I do think they are moving in the right direction, but they have a long way to go to be considered a contender in FCS.

Good points and I agree. I think Muss deserves another year or two, but it's not just the results that have me worried. There are other areas such as the way he comes across in the media, the undisciplined penalties, players out of postion/taking plays off (think of the kick off against SUU), etc. I think Muss can recruit, especially now that we have a conference. I just don't know that he will get us above "mediocre." I hope I'm wrong...

[Cratter]

As much as I want to give Muss and the team a ton of credit, lets put things in perspective. Yes they did go 8-3 after a season where they were 3-8. But, lets look at those 8 wins. 3 of them were against NAIA or D2 teams, and the other one is against a D1 non-scholarship team. So really, they had 4 legitimate wins against D1 FCS teams. Last year they had 3 wins, one of them against a D2 team. So looking at the numbers, in the past two years, UND and coach Mussman have won 6 games in two hears that are legit. Not really that impressive. I do think they are moving in the right direction, but they have a long way to go to be considered a contender in FCS.

You play the schedule they were handed. The key part is they only lost one game against FCS opponents. And lets not forget Mussman had to recruit players during a transition in which they were not playoff eligible.

[Cratter]

but they have a long way to go to be considered a contender in FCS.

A long way to go to be a contender??? This team was ranked top 25 in FCS basically all season.

[UND92,96]

Muss showed me something this season. Winning close games, and coming back in the fourth quarter several times speaks volumes about his ability to get his players to keep fighting and handle adversity.

I also believe he is a good recruiter, and should be even better with the transition in the rearview mirror.

If there's one area which concerns me a bit it's whether he can honestly assess certain areas of the program, such as whether continuing to have co-defensive coordinators is truly in the program's best interests.

[supersioux]

They weren't in the top 25 in the poll that matters.

[Irish]

As much as I want to give Muss and the team a ton of credit, lets put things in perspective. Yes they did go 8-3 after a season where they were 3-8. But, lets look at those 8 wins. 3 of them were against NAIA or D2 teams, and the other one is against a D1 non-scholarship team. So really, they had 4 legitimate wins against D1 FCS teams. Last year they had 3 wins, one of them against a D2 team. So looking at the numbers, in the past two years, UND and coach Mussman have won 6 games in two hears that are legit. Not really that impressive. I do think they are moving in the right direction, but they have a long way to go to be considered a contender in FCS.

Agree they still have a long way to go. I've been a Mussman critic, but I do recognize that he has grown some this year. However, a last second field goal to beat Sioux Falls in a game at home that we should have been spitting fire is not quite what I had hoped for. Muss needs to keep improving as he has some weaknesses that could cost us. I think my big worry is our quarterback situation. Since Muss has been in charge, we have failed to make the most important position on the team secure and I'm not hopeful for next year. This is squarely on the head coach. I agree that 8-3 buys him some time to improve, but remember - he was only two plays this season from being a bum.

[Siouxperfan7]

I am a Sioux football fan just like mostly everyone that posts on this site. But you have to look at all the games we played and really evaluate how the team looked. Sure we were 8-3. That is a respectable record. But we were a last second field goal against an NAIA/D2 team, a 45 yard field goal late in the 4th quarter against a winless No Colorado team, and a miraculous 3 TD 4th quarter comeback from being 5-6. Now I realize that we were good enough and our team played well enough to get us into the position to win those games, but if you really look at this season can you really say that you can brag about this season? There is much more to look at when evaluating a team then just wins and loses. I agree we are moving in the right direction and I would much rather be 8-3 going into the Big Sky that 3-8. But unless we inprove our play, next year is going to be more like 2010 than 2011.

[homer]

I am a Sioux football fan just like mostly everyone that posts on this site. But you have to look at all the games we played and really evaluate how the team looked. Sure we were 8-3. That is a respectable record. But we were a last second field goal against an NAIA/D2 team, a 45 yard field goal late in the 4th quarter against a winless No Colorado team, and a miraculous 3 TD 4th quarter comeback from being 5-6. Now I realize that we were good enough and our team played well enough to get us into the position to win those games, but if you really look at this season can you really say that you can brag about this season? There is much more to look at when evaluating a team then just wins and loses. I agree we are moving in the right direction and I would much rather be 8-3 going into the Big Sky that 3-8. But unless we inprove our play, next year is going to be more like 2010 than 2011.

I don't think anyone can deny that the talent we are putting on the field is getting better and better every year. The cupboard was left pretty bare. It takes some time to rebuild the talent level to compete. Last year, we didn't have it. This year it was much better and we had a lot of youth that had to contribute. Yes, we were inconsistent but that can be blamed on lack of experience as much as on the head coach. All of this is new to Mussman as a head coach as well. When he took the team over, I feel he had to coach to keep games close as the overall talent wasn't there. Now that he is getting the talent, he needs to develop and coach to win. I think we saw him do that towards the end of the year as he gained confidence along with the team. You can look at last year and next year but I judge him on this year and I don't think anyone saw this team finishing 8-3 especially with the injuries the team had. Give the guy a little credit at least.

[Siouxperfan7]

I don't think anyone can deny that the talent we are putting on the field is getting better and better every year. The cupboard was left pretty bare. It takes some time to rebuild the talent level to compete. Last year, we didn't have it. This year it was much better and we had a lot of youth that had to contribute. Yes, we were inconsistent but that can be blamed on lack of experience as much as on the head coach. All of this is new to Mussman as a head coach as well. When he took the team over, I feel he had to coach to keep games close as the overall talent wasn't there. Now that he is getting the talent, he needs to develop and coach to win. I think we saw him do that towards the end of the year as he gained confidence along with the team. You can look at last year and next year but I judge him on this year and I don't think anyone saw this team finishing 8-3 especially with the injuries the team had. Give the guy a little credit at least.

I do give him credit for coaching our young guys up especially when we had injuries where those younger guys had to come in and play more. He did a great job keeping the team focused in all those games where we had to come from behind in the second half. He did a good job coaching this year. But is it going to be good enough to compete with the big boys in the Big Sky? Yes we won the Great West. But the Great West conference doesn't really have any great teams. The level of competition next year conpared to the last 2 years is going to be obviosuly better next year. We will have to wait and see how Muss and this team does against good football teams, not just cupcakes.

[The Sicatoka]

I see a team that learned how to win and built some confidence in its abilities. Hopefully the coaching staff did the same. They'll need that and more in the Big Sky.