ron english

No, this is not from the Onion:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9287952/eastern-michigan-...

Ron English won MAC Coach of the Year yesterday. He led Eastern Michigan to a 6-6 record this year after going 2-10 and 0-12 in the 2 previous years. Congrats to Ron, it's always nice to see a former Michigan coach do well. 

Also I found this interesting:

English has been mentioned in recent days, in various publications, as a candidate for the vacant head coaching jobs at Arizona State, Washington State and Illinois.

I did not know that until now. It'd be great if he went to Illinois and was able to hand OSU a loss every now and then.

Link: http://www.detnews.com/article/20111130/SPORTS0203/111300419/1133/SPORTS/Eastern-Michigan%C3%ADs-Ron-English-named-MAC-coach-of-the-year

In this busy season of recruiting, I thought at least a handful of people might be interested to see how Ron English is doing at EMU:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/commitmen...

What I found remarkable there is the lack of players from Michigan.  I realize that stocking a roster with only Michiganders is unrealistic when the in-state competition is considered, but I'm surprised that the numbers are so low.  2010 and 2009 are similar.

Did his Family Values comments (http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/freep-ron-english-sells-single-moms-short) hurt that much?  Or, has he just kept his focus where there are more players?

I hate to dissapoint all of you Ron English Fans, HOWEVA, Mr. English will be returning to coach the EMich Hurons, doh, Eagles next fall:

"Absolutely, he'll be back," Gragg said. "I like the direction the program is going. Ron is one of the most resilient people I know."

 

Source: http://www.detnews.com/article/20101126/SPORTS0203/11260391/1361/EMU-football-coach-Ron-English-will-be-back-in-2011.

Ron English thinks it was kosher to have Tressel keep scoring on his Eagles:

"I felt like Jim (Tressel, Buckeyes coach) felt that we were still throwing it so he was going to keep scoring," English said. "That's probably what happened out there. I have to weigh developing our receivers, our quarterbacks and our protection. I always try to do that."

But, he leaves a fair warning for the Vest...

"Every dog has his day. I've had my days. I'm taking mine right now. I'm sure there'll be a day when I'm giving mine again, whether it be here or somewhere else. But I promise you, I'll be back giving my butt-whuppins out, too. It goes around.

There's an interesting contrast in the way that the Freep and the News covered EMU's recruiting class, and that contrast might reflect on the question whether the Freep has an anti-Rodriguez agenda.

The Freep covered EMU's 2010 class with a very positive article on Ron English, noting how he'd gone far and wide to attract recruits to EMU.

In an article on PSL players and where they signed, the News noted that EMU pulled its scholarship offer to Southfield linebacker Maurice Davenport, after Davenport had committed and had stopped talking to other schools. Apparently, Davenport gave his verbal to EMU and then stopped hearing from anyone on the staff. He called his recruiter, Tyrone Wheatley, who told him that EMU was reneging on the offer because Davenport's performance declined and because EMU had found other kids. Very Sabanesque.

Would the Freep have overlooked this kind of thing if it had been done by Rodriguez's staff with respect to a local kid? The News only tells the kid's side of the story -- so maybe the offer was not as firm as the kid thought, or maybe he's misrepresenting what happened in some other way. Still, his side of the story raises a question about EMU's recruiting practices.

I can't help but wonder whether, as many have speculated, English and his allies are sources for the Freep's attacks on UM. If so, then overlooking questionable conduct by English and his staff might be one way to pay English back for dishing dirt on RR.

Here's a link to the article in the News:

http://detnews.com/article/20100204/SPORTS05/2040383/1004/PSL-basks-in-t...

Look under the "What offer?" heading.

Of course, I won't link to the Freep's article on English.