Ron English gets a shout-out in SI.com
From Mandel's College Football Overtime:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/10/23/oklahoma-wisconsin-upsets/3.html
Two years later, however, English is soon to be back on a lot of prominent athletic directors' radars. He has Eastern Michigan (5-3) off to its best start since 1995. On Saturday, Eastern beat Western Michigan, 14-10, which coupled with a win the week before over Central Michigan gave the Eagles the Michigan MAC Trophy (yes, this really exists).
I'm glad to see English (and Hart) have some success at Eastern. I hope he stays there for a few years; it's no fun when EMU is a strong candidate to be dropped to FCS. I'd actually love for Michigan to play a "road" game there every once in a while (guarenteed sellout, lots of money for Eastern, easy commute for M fans), but we know DB would never allow that now.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^
EMU would make more money getting paid to come to the Big House than if they sold out their small stadium.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^
Balls. You're right.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^
I hope you're not taking a pot shot at DB for never allowing an away game at EMU to happen.... no AD in the history of the planet would allow that to happen.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^
No, just lamenting the weird world of college football finances and scheduling.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^
Is playing at Rynearson in 2018....
October 24th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
MSU also plays at CMU next year and at WMU in 2015. There has been talk about moving some of these games to Ford Field however, and still having MSU as the road FWIW.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
DB does plenty of things that are worthy of potshots, but not playing at Rynearson isn't one of them. It's really pointless; any EMU fan who wants to go to the game can usually get tickets anyway. All it would do is piss off a lot of people who couldn't get tickets.
It would be almost surreal to see Rynearson actually full, though.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
The very difficult- Making Eastern not suck. Very few programs are as hampered by they are. Forget facilities and all that....how many others are that close to another school, and that school ALSO happens to be one of the all time powerhouses? (When you're at a lower level, not equal conference rivals).
October 24th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
I would think being that close to U of M would actually be a good thing for Eastern. The proximity seems to help them with getting coaches. I almost think of them as our minor league affiliate.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:52 PM ^
their would be star recruits are our walk ons.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^
But player wise, how many have transferred from here to Eastern? If they were getting our scraps, it might be good for them. But they're not.
The best was when they came to town not this year, but the last time, and BTN or whoever had the video of the drive from Eastern to Michigan Stadium, and sped up it took about 20 seconds.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^
How crazy would that be if EMU makes a bowl?? Still work to do, but they play Buffalo and Kent St who each have 6 losses...
October 24th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
MAC teams usually have to put up 9 or 10 wins to even be considered for a bowl. That said, I haven't followed the MAC this season--I don't know how EMU is looking in the overall standings, but they would get an automatic bid if they win the league championship.
October 24th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^
No with 7 wins any team is a lock for a bowl game.
October 24th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
Temple (much better program, same league) one 8 games last year and was snubbed from a bowl game.
http://www.totalfootballstats.com/Team_College.asp?id=136&Season=2010
October 24th, 2011 at 12:14 PM ^
What English has accomplished at EMU is impressive, but the only way the Eagles are going to a bowl game is if they win the MAC title and given the fact they've already lost to West Division leader Toledo and still have games against Ball State and NIU, I don't see that happening. Eastern's 3 conference wins have come against Western, Central, and Akron who are all at the bottom of their respective divisions. They did luck out and draw Buffalo and Kent State for their other cross-divisional games though, but bowl games are still a long way off.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:35 AM ^
So, is Carder still the best QB in the state of Michigan (batted balls with :00 on the clock not allowed to affect that decision)?
But seriously, EMU definitely has a very Bo-like feel to it. Run the ball, stop the run. Run the ball, stop the run. Good for them!
If English keeps this up, he won't be at EMU long. Say, if Dantonio replaces Fickell, then... nooooo way *banging noggin* get that idea outta here.
October 24th, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^
If Dantonio went to OSU, I would think that Pat Narduzzi would get promoted to HC.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^
While there were very high expectation for him at the beginning of the season, I'm not sure Carder is even the best QB named Alex in the State of Michgan at this point.
Gillett outplayed him in the game, head to head. He did not throw nearly as many times but had almost as many yards and almost the same completion percentage without any picks.
October 24th, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
Not that people are all that interested - but here are some photos of the game on Saturday vs. WMU. Here is Coach English (from across on the other side of the field):
He has them looking pretty good.
Here is Javonti Greene scoring the winning touchdown:
Here are all the photos from that day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/tags/emu14wmu10/
October 24th, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^
Usually it's Mike Hart doing the Shouting Out!
I never would've thought that Eastern could beat Western!
I'm happy for Coach English and have a lot of respect for him. He knew the Eastern gig could make or break his career. I hope he lands a big time job in the future!
October 24th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
I am impressed with the job he's done. I thought he was nuts to take that position three years ago (and the last two seasons didn't dissuade me) but now he's making me a believer. Hopefully he can stay there long enough to lay down something of a foundation.
Regarding the Michigan MAC Trophy, what happens if the teams all go 1-1 against each other? Does it remain in possession of whoever had it before?
October 24th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
I would assume so, that's how the Commander in Chief's Trophy works with the service academies
October 24th, 2011 at 2:00 PM ^
But the fact of the matter is as a black coach, there aren't too many head openings that have offers going your way. That's not getting into the why's or politics of it, that's just numerical fact. So you kinda have to take what you can get.
October 24th, 2011 at 1:32 PM ^
Eastern also getting love from EDSBS Magazine; I do like the renaming of the trophy.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2011/10/24/2510489/edsbs-the-magazine-vol-3-issue-8
October 24th, 2011 at 1:54 PM ^
Always good to see former coaches and players succeed. Especially in extremely difficult situations.
October 24th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^
The million dollar question is. Would eastern make more money playing a home game vs Michigan, or play at the big house and get the ca$h