EMU hires Chris Creighton
If you don't know who Harsin is, you probably haven't heard of Chris Creighton -- he's the current head coach for the Drake Bulldogs.
Full story: http://www.footballscoop.com/news/11909-chris-creighton-will-be-the-new-head-coach-at-eastern-michigan
According to footballscoop, Mike Hart was interviewed for the position -- so at least they gave him a shot.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:02 PM ^
Unrelated coaching rumors: Pete Roussel also claims that UConn will hire Pete Lembo, the current HC at Ball State. This is coming on the heels of Narduzzi turning down the job, supposedly partially due to low salaries for his would-be assistant coaches (this reasoning is also addressed in the Narduzzi thread).
December 11th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
I really think Narduzzi will be the next head coach at Wake Forrest.
If not, Narduzzi will be a head coach somewhere by next year. He will pretty much have his pick of the litter where he interviews.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:08 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^
Was not aware of that. Still think he'll get one of the open jobs though.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:08 PM ^
Narduzzi's options are pretty limited if he wants a head coaching job this year.
December 11th, 2013 at 10:31 PM ^
I don't think he's in any hurry to leave. He knows the MSU job is his for the taking if he's still there when Dantonio retires, so I don't see him leaving for anything he doesn't consider an ideal fit.
December 12th, 2013 at 12:10 AM ^
But he might have a shot at an MSU-level job well before Dantonio retires. Dantonio's not that old, so Narduzzi might not want to wait that long. Also, it's possible that by the time the MSU position is open, Narduzzi isn't the #1 guy, so he might as well grab a HC spot when he can, assuming that's what he wants. Waiting for Dantonio to retire is risky, and will likely cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, if not more.
December 12th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
For some reason a lot of people think Dantonio is older but he is 57 or roughly 2 1/2 years older than Hoke. Yes he had a heart issue but that was over 3 years ago, without any incident since and he appears to be in pretty good shape.
My feeling is that Narduzzi could take a job at a good school, say Bowling Green and stay there for a few years and if Dantonio would retire they have their guy. If Dantonio stays at MSU he could move on or stay there as an unoffcial coach in wait for the Spartans. No matter what happen, Pat Narduzzi is in a great postion in regards to his future in coaching.
December 12th, 2013 at 8:50 AM ^
This is my belief about Narduzzi. Dantonio isn't exactly a young man. He will likely be done at MSU within five years, assuming he doesn't take another job, which I don't see happening.
December 11th, 2013 at 11:01 PM ^
I think Narduzzi is waiting to see where the dominoes fall when Mack Brown is fired. A bunch of jobs could open up, and many will be a lot better than UConn.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^
I cannot edit my previous comment because people responded to it, but now Roussel is backtracking and saying his sources tell him that someone else is on UConn's mind:
I'm surprised. A source tells me the UCONN job is not going to Pete Lembo. Warde Manuel has something up his sleeve.
— Pete Roussel (@coachingsearch) December 12, 2013
December 11th, 2013 at 9:00 PM ^
I'd like to see EMU do well.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:01 PM ^
Great hire. Creighton is a great offensive mind.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:02 PM ^
I feel like with a football program that bad they should of taking a shot with Mike Hart. He would have had some name recognition with recruits deciding between MAC schools and could he really do worse than Ron English?
December 11th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
The real gamble would have been taking a guy based on a name and no head coaching experience. I love Mike but he's still learning. Failure at a place like EMU would have buried him and his coaching career before it got started.
Best thing for Mike is to get hired on with an experienced staff that will mentor him along.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:09 AM ^
wouldn't mind seeing him move 10 miles west at RB coach.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
I don't think he's ready yet.
December 12th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
was a great RB at Michigan. That does not mean he was adored at Michigan.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
They supposedly interviewed Hart, so at least give them that: http://www.footballscoop.com/the-scoop/11862-sunday-december-8-2013
December 11th, 2013 at 9:06 PM ^
and failed.(Woodruff, Genyk)
December 11th, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^
Contrary to reports, Hart interviewing was just a rumor put out. He had/has no interest in that position.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^
Sounds like you're tuned in to EMU. Anything more you can tell us about the search and/or Hart?
December 11th, 2013 at 9:58 PM ^
And did Mike Hart tell you this?
December 11th, 2013 at 10:10 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 9:03 PM ^
This is the route EMU had to take - comb the lower divisions for an up and comer with experience and success as a head coach. Someone hungry and happy for the opportunity.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:03 PM ^
Darnit...was hoping Narduzzi would get the EMU jorb.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^
...as they also seem to be spending the evening covering coaching hires - (LINK). Creighton said in a release:
"It is both a huge opportunity and responsibility and I am fired up about it. My vision is to make playing football at Eastern Michigan one of the most incredible experiences of our players lives. I cannot wait to meet the team and start a new journey with them."
We sort of joked about what a national search at EMU might entail, but on the surface, this seems like the sort of hire they needed to make, someone rather successful at lower levels of NCAA football who wanted a challenge.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:12 PM ^
"There but for the grace of God go I", muttered 119 D-1 coaches as they skimmed across ESPN.com's headlines.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:12 PM ^
1. EMU is a death trap, so getting ANY decent coach is a plus
2. Creighton has had success at smaller schools. Recall Jerry Kill had to start at Saginaw Valley St, then on to S. Illinois before going to N. Illinois then Minnesota.
3. If this guy turns out to be suucessful at EMU (at EMU that = bowl game), he'll be in line for a B1G job or B-12 job someday.
4. Narduzzi won't get a premier job (like Texas, etc.) but will get decent job soon enough (I hope) at a better MAC team (like if Northern Illinois opens up again) or BCS school (like Kansas if Charlie gets canned). UConn is a hoops school with little chance of making a difference given conference re-alignment.
December 12th, 2013 at 6:30 AM ^
Creighton may have at least one person working against him from the beginning. Do a search on "Jim Stapleton" in these:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131109/SPORTS0203/311090058
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131110/SPORTS0203/311100036
http://eagletotem.net/blog/2013/11/08/ron-english-fired/6445/
http://eagletotem.net/blog/2013/12/02/random-musings-2/6695/
December 12th, 2013 at 7:05 AM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 9:12 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 9:19 PM ^
EMU has gone that route and it has blown up in their faces. They needed a experienced head coach.
December 11th, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^
I heard he was interested but they weren't interested in him. My guess is that they wanted someone with head coaching experience. The search firm was probably given specific criteria. Probably pretty easy to infer what it was based on who they interviewed.
December 11th, 2013 at 10:40 PM ^
The last EMU coach to go a bowl game was Harkema and he had head coaching experience before coaching at EMU.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:17 PM ^
by Joe Novak.It took him awhile, but he did it. Buffalo also was considered a dead end job, but Turner Gill transformed them into a MAC power. Hoke did the same at BSU. So did Darrell Hazell at Kent State.Enough historically bad MAC programs have been turned around that I think it is possible to do so at EMU.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:26 PM ^
Turner Gill and Buffalo Mac Power?
A bit strong there I think...
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bulls (Mid-American Conference) (2006–2009) | ||||||||
| 2006 | Buffalo | 2–10 | 1–7 | 6th (East) | ||||
| 2007 | Buffalo | 5–7 | 5–3 | T–1st (East) | ||||
| 2008 | Buffalo | 8–6 | 5–3 | 1st (East) | L International | |||
| 2009 | Buffalo | 5–7 | 3–5 | 5th (East) | ||||
| Buffalo: | 20–30 |
14–18 |
||||||
December 12th, 2013 at 12:56 AM ^
You are giving Hoke way too much credit for Ball State. Outside of going 1-10 in 1998 and 0-11 in 1999, that program was not horrible.
In fact, in Hoke's first four years there (4-8, 2-9, 4-7, 5-7), they had accumulated season winning percentages inferior to what they were used to (three years prior to Hoke were 6-6, 5-6, 5-6 and their record from 1988 to 1996 was a nice 61-37-4).
So what are you arguing? That Hoke turned BSU into a good job from the records HE presided over?
December 12th, 2013 at 7:03 AM ^
I'm not saying he is a great coach, but he did win at a school that is historically mediocre. It's not like Muncie, Indiana is filled with top drawer talent or a particularly attractive place to coach at.
December 11th, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^
Hazell didn't turn around Kent State. He was there for 2 years, where they went 5-7 and 11-3. This year they went 4-8
December 12th, 2013 at 6:56 AM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 4:16 PM ^
Bullshit. It was a flash in the pan season, and his overall coaching record is just further proof of it
December 12th, 2013 at 1:25 AM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 6:55 AM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 11:44 AM ^
West Virginia was competitive but not a power. After the 1993 Sugar Bowl year they were basically Purdue under Hope & Tiller and didn't finish ranked in the top 25 for 9 years (1993-2002). Between 2002 and 2007 West Virginia finished with 3 top-10 rankings, tying the number of top-10 seasons in the 40 years combined before.
December 11th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 9:22 PM ^
No TCB with Jerry Glanville at Eastern...
December 11th, 2013 at 9:26 PM ^
December 11th, 2013 at 11:41 PM ^
If he is a Chip Kelly-type genius who just needed to be unearthed, there is no doubt in my mind he would win at EMU. It's a big longshot, but it's not mission impossible if he really has the goods.