Seth

November 8th, 2013 at 2:57 PM ^

You can't get kids to come to EMU. Not even MAC kids. It was not a great job and English shouldn't have taken it. I've had different people give me very different takes on him, and my eyes had their own conclusions, but nobody can deny his position as Michigan's former DC opened doors that he closed by trying to do the impossible there.

I hope he does well.

Joined: 10/14/2008

MGoPoints: 149454

Space Coyote

November 8th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^

Besides Cross Country, Track, and Swimming & Diving (I believe those are the sports they are randomly acceptable to good at). The rest of their sports are awful, their facilities some of the worst in the country, and they are an overall drain on the school (this is from people I know in the know)

Joined: 06/18/2009

MGoPoints: 38962

robpollard

November 8th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^

That's not fair at all. The sports you mentioned they are not just 'randomly acceptable to good'. Here is there list of MAC Championships in Swimming/Diving:

1978, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’98, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013

Men's Indoor Track & Field:

1996, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013

You get the idea.

And beyond those sports, they've done fine in most others (Women's Bball last won the MAC in 2012; Baseball in 2007; Golf in 2008; etc).

Essentially they have been completely TERRIBLE in football, and I would be fine with them dropping to D1-AA in that if they could, as it's an expensive sport and not worth the money. In men's basketball, they did very well in the late 80s to late 90s, so maybe they can get that back. But in the rest, they're a relative MAC powerhouse.

http://www.emueagles.com/sports/2007/3/31/EMUMACChampionships.aspx?tab=macchampionshipswon

Joined: 06/03/2009

MGoPoints: 14005

gwkrlghl

November 8th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^

EMU would probably do really well as an FCS school. Pick up a lot of Michigan/Detroit prospects who aren't quite D-I but want to be close to home and play a high level of football. EMUs never going to be any good at the FBS level

Joined: 04/13/2012

MGoPoints: 72

ItakeHGH

November 8th, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^

If anyone ever deserved to be fired, it was English.  The worst coaching performance I've ever seen.  So brutal. It's hard to go backwards at EMU, but English, somehow manged it 

Joined: 09/03/2008

MGoPoints: 1957

Brhino

November 8th, 2013 at 3:14 PM ^

From the MLive article:

 

English's firing brings an end to a nearly five-year tenure that at one point showed promise for reviving the Eagles program...

What does "revive" mean in the context of Eastern Michigan football?  Have they ever been good?  Like, good-for-a-MAC team good?

Joined: 09/08/2009

MGoPoints: 19502

ChalmersE

November 8th, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^

A colleague of mine, who eventually wound up with a scholarship to Florida in the 90s, actually took one of his recruiting trips to EMU.  He said the highlight of his trip was when they took the recruits to Main Street, Ann Arbor, and to the Big House where they told them they would play at least one game during their four years at Eastern.  I think that says it all about the EMU job.

Joined: 11/19/2008

MGoPoints: 5196

Toasted Yosties

November 8th, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNROwzJ602o

As someone who'd like to see Eastern amount to something, this video makes me sad.  Admittedly, I laughed when the coach comments that the facilities are "state of the art."  I'm not sure if they could lower football to FCS and maintain the rest of the sports in the MAC, but I think it'd help.  Being in such close proximity to Michigan hurts Eastern.  99% of their fans are bigger Michigan fans.

Joined: 06/05/2013

MGoPoints: 9261

MGoBender

November 8th, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^

Please.  Ron English is incredibly smart.  I had a chance to sit in on a small talk of his to about 20 high school kids and his approach to athletics and life in general is very insightful. 

He actually talked about Mike Hart during that talk.  He made a point of your job, no matter what it was, was a paid internship.  You should always have the attitude that you're preparing for the next big thing.  He said something like: "Do you think I'm paying Mike Hart to coach running backs forever?  I'm training him for his next job.  I'm training him to be able to move up."  I'm pretty sure he even made a comment along the lines that Hart would do just that - move up quickly.  I can't paraphrase that though, my memory isn't coming through.

Joined: 03/26/2010

MGoPoints: 15128

Bando Calrissian

November 8th, 2013 at 7:53 PM ^

I sat in on a couple workshops with English and got to talk to him a little bit when he was the Faculty Forum speaker at Camp Michigania (I think) in '02 or '03. He showed all sorts of practice films and game tapes, and managed to explain how you coach a secondary and coordinate a defense to a room full of people most of which never played football. He's an incredible football mind, an incredibly intense guy, a great recruiter.

But that EMU job is a no-win. You're recruiting to nothing, no tradition to build on, no fanbase, and you're in the shadow of a big-time program and recruiting in a state that has two other MAC programs plus a DII powerhouse as well. He had no chance. I'm just surprised they pulled the plug halfway through the season. What's the point?

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 68120

MGoBender

November 8th, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^

Agreed.  EMU really is a no-win situation from a head-coaching prespective.  I am surprised that they pulled the plug - what do they expect?  How does that help? 

Bigger questions than who's the head coach need to be discussed about EMU football in that athletic department.  I don't think there's anyway they don't have a D1 football team despite the rabble rabble in this thread.  EMU had a record freshmen class, size-wise, and if they are to continue to grow I am positive having a functional MAC football team is an essential part of that growth equation. 

Joined: 03/26/2010

MGoPoints: 15128

robpollard

November 8th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^

I see many people saying, "How can you expect to be successful there?" but really, no one was expecting him to turn EMU into a national power -- just not be terrible, and occasionally have a winning season in the MAC. Pretty much every other school in the MAC has managed that (and NIU is a regular Top 25 team, which is the ceiling). Are the facilities/recruiting pool at EMU really that much worse than Akron, Ohio, Ball State, Central, etc? EMU just added a new indoor practice facility in 2010.

He did very poorly. He deserved to be fired. My guess is the next guy will do better, b/c he sure couldn't do worse.

Joined: 06/03/2009

MGoPoints: 14005