LSAClassOf2000

May 18th, 2013 at 8:05 AM ^

Here is Eastern Michigan's official announcement - (LINK):

The entire description for the $5,000 donation level:

"Skydive with Coach English! If we hit or exceed our overall goal of $60,000 in fundraising efforts (between our IndieGoGo campaign and Golf Outing), Coach English will be skydiving and you can join him! You'll be able to ride with him from Ypsilanti to Skydive Tecumseh, compliments of LaFontaine Buick GMC of Ann Arbor and spend the day and jump with coach! Your on site training, jump and equipment is all included and you'll get to ride in the plane and jump out of it with Coach English. In the event we don't reach the $60,000 goal, you'll still get to ride with the coach to Skydive Tecumseh, spend the day with coach and participate in the skydive. "

Skydive Tecumseh is a pretty cool experience, to be fair, so there is that if nothing else. Beautiful view of Ann Arbor from 18,000 feet too. Here's his indiegogo.com site (LINK)  - with 22 days left, the campaign has managed $100. 

blueheron

May 18th, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^

You might think that Eastern could make a go of it with the 2-star and low 3-star run-off in Michigan and Ohio. But, there seem to be too many schools competing for that run-off. That's how it looks to me, anyway.

Eastern's records (conference, overall) the past eleven seasons (last four with English):

2002: 1-7, 3-9

2003: 2-6, 3-9

2004: 4-4, 4-7

2005: 3-5, 4-7

2006: 1-7, 1-11

2007: 3-4, 4-8

2008: 2-6, 3-9

-----

2009: 0-8, 0-12

2010: 2-6, 2-10

2011: 4-4, 4-6

2012: 1-7, 2-10

It's hard to say he's been an improvement over the past, but I don't envy the guy. That's a big challenge. What's interesting is that he could have (if you believe various sources) become Michigan's coach after Lloyd. You wonder what he could do with better resources.

Buck Killer

May 18th, 2013 at 8:54 AM ^

I don't wonder what he could do with better resources. No offense to him, but coaches like Northwestern's coach win with less resources. He isn't even competing.

In reply to by Buck Killer

Perkis-Size Me

May 18th, 2013 at 11:34 AM ^

No offense, but you're an idiot if you think Northwestern has less resources than Eastern Michigan to compete with for football recruits. They're getting, or have already gotten, some new facilities on Lake Michigan, not to mention the academic resources they can use to lure in recruits who are serious about an education are probably second to none.

Don

May 18th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^

from a recruiting standpoint. Permanently in the shadows of Michigan, with many off-campus/commuting students, a campus that's going to impress nobody in a town with a lot of rough edges, all on top of a football tradition that saw its last real success before any of today's HS kids were alive. I know that head coaching positions for African American coaches are few and far between, but I still wonder if RE would have been wiser to pass this opportunity up and instead work as an assistant at a major program or the NFL.

Hair Raid Offense

May 18th, 2013 at 11:48 PM ^

Yea, EMU's gotta be one of the geograpchically toughest schools to recruit for. I've always thought they should really move in on the Detroit area and find some young, hungry guys who were over looked and are 2 or 3 stars. Kind of like what Howard Schnellenberger did in Miami in the early 80's. Go into the projects and hoods and find some tough players with a chip on there shoulders that want to knock the crap out of people. 

Blarvey

May 18th, 2013 at 9:15 AM ^

Your 2011 number is off - EMU went 6-6 including 3 conference losses by a combined 14 points. 

EMU may take some time to turn around but I think they are on the right track. I think it has to be the hardest job in FBS given that it not only has two B1G schools but also has historically been a step behind CMU and WMU. One of the best things about the MAC, however, is the fact that so many coaches step up to other jobs each year so I think the conference has a lot of parity.

Tater

May 18th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^

EMU is fine, but it is saddled with being in Ypsi.  If a recruit stays on campus, or maybe even on Cross St, EMU has a chance of getting him.  But once he sees "downtown" Ypsi, it has to be sort of an uphill struggle.  I would try to make sure that any recruits being "entertained" off campus ended up in Ann Arbor for the evening, and not Ypsi.

If English can win there, and win consistently, he should go back to being a "hot, up and coming coach."

gwkrlghl

May 18th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^

and I hope someone can build something good there sometime. As pointed out above though, it's really hard to recruit Eastern I'm sure. Even if you're just aiming for the MAC-level scraps from Detroit, I think Western, Central, the Ohio MAC-schools and even Cincinnati sometimes is a better option. Doesn't help that Ypsi has got some real bad areas literally right off campus.

ClearEyesFullHart

May 18th, 2013 at 11:17 AM ^

I went to the website http://timetoflyemu.com/ hoping there was a paypal donation link(I was just going to throw $10 at them) but when you click the donate tab it just takes you to a posting board...Anyone know what I am doing wrong?  I'd like it if the effort was front paged...EMU really is our little brother(in a good way), my wife went there, and the man crush on Mike Hart is still intact...Plus a healthy MAC makes it tougher for teams like MSU to survive.

Edit: Disregard, here is the link to donate:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/time-to-fly-skydive-with-coach-ron-english/contributions/new

Perkis-Size Me

May 18th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^

I feel bad for Ron English. He's a good coach, but choosing to coach at Eastern Michigan is career suicide. There are zero resources, you are forever in Ann Arbor's shadow, so many of your students are commuter students and/or Michigan fans, so they have zero loyalty toward the school or your program. And its not like Ypsilanti is all that desirable of a town. Ypsilanti is like that unwanted stepchild with head lice that no one wants to talk to or be around. How English recruits kids to that school is beyond me.



When every other directional school in Michigan has had some form of success on the football field, but your school hasn't even sniffed a bowl game in 20+ years, any coach there is being set up for failure.

MichiganManOf1961

May 18th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^

Why, exactly, does EMU have a football team?  Or better question, why do they have twenty-some athletic teams?  Do less people go to their football games than a AAAA high school football game?  Obviously students aren't going to EMU because of the teams and can anyone really say EMU sports has gotten the school exposure?  I know the arguments for paying players at Michigan, Alabama, etc... but when EMU has to resort to embarassing stuff like this, you know it is when a program is hanging on that no longer should be.  Maybe this will be one of the benefits of the conference re-alignment... it will force schools to take a good, hard look at their (imagined) position as a Div-1 football and athletics powerhouse (/ even relevant school).

SalvatoreQuattro

May 18th, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^

The track and swimming teams are outstanding, the baseball team has made a couple of trips to the NCAAs this(and swept UM this year),women's basketball(until this year) has been a MAC power for years...EMU athletics is pretty good considering how little they have to work with.

 

However, the festering wound is EMU football. While EMU has had a modicum of success in the past(California Bowl) and produced some NFL players(Jason Jones, TJ Lang, Charlie Batch, Kevin Walter) it rarely is competitive on the field. A lack of resources is often cited, but I believe that the issue is as much related to managerial competence as a paucity of money. Afterall, there are many schools that do well on limited funds. Northwestern, while having more money than EMU, is way behind its conference brethern in accessibility to financial resources. Its' alums don't seem to have the same level of passion for sports that UM or ND alums do and it certainly does not have a large  fan base in general. This last element is the one of the most important factor in a school's resources. More fans equals more lucrative sponsorships and increased ability to charge high prices for tickets. It is a measure of Michigan's popularity that it can charge so much for so many seats.The brand is so lucrative because Bo smartly built it upon the values of the social class most likely to embrace the game of football--the working class. Values like toughness, integrity, and a firm belief in egalitarianism are why so many of the proleteriat have chosen to support a team from an elite institution.  This appeal attracted a great many fans who have since passed it down to their children and grandchildren.

This identity is something EMU football has completely lacked. EMU needs a Bo to forge an image that can attract fans.  Until this happens(which maybe never) EMU football will continue to flounder.

First game Navy 1981

May 18th, 2013 at 3:49 PM ^

As an alum of EMU, ( I didn't attend Michigan because I wanted smaller class sizes) there are a couple of items that are part of the problem that are unique only to EMU. The first is not so obvious, but when I was there from 88-92, the forced mascot change from Hurons to Eagles angered the vast majority of students and alumni. To this day, I refuse to give a single dime to EMU over this. Maybe you think that is petty on my part, but you don't mess with tradition in my eyes. Especially when the group of people complaining is comprised of about half a dozen people, none of whom were Native American.



Secondly, EMU can't grow athletically because they are in the shadow of Michigan. 7 miles is just too close. Would you rather see Michigan vs Minnesota or EMU vs Buffalo? No brainer for me. Compare EMU to WMU. WMU attendance isn't 100,000 a week , but I would guess they average at least twice what EMU does.

Don

May 18th, 2013 at 5:47 PM ^

I should have been more precise in my wording: head coaching opportunities for black coaches are few and far between, but I hardly need to do that since the point should be obvious anyhow. If you take the total number of head coaching positions that have been open and available over the last two decades, just to pick a date range, and then total the number of African Americans who have been hired, the only possible conclusion you can draw is that the number of opportunities are rare. It's especially remarkable given the huge percentage of players in the top two divisions who are black.

Wolfman

May 19th, 2013 at 2:54 AM ^

I really don't think the number of black players should be any type of benchmark as to coaching jobs. Traditionally, and what the Black Coaches Association and the NAACP were looking for was a number that more closely represented the total of African-Americans compared to those of European ancestry.  These groups, along with the percentage of whites who deem blacks every bit their equal in all aspects and most importantly intelligence have resulted in the number of black head coaches reaching an all-time high at 18 this past season. Their percentage of the population stands at 12.6 in the latest census, so they have, indeed, surpassed their original goal and with continued success, I strongly expect that number to increase. Sorry I can't break paragraphs under the given drop down menu above because this is where one belongs.                                          ^At one point in the latest season, 2012, there were four teams in the top 25 all led by African-Americans; A&M, Stanford, Louisville amd Kent State.  When you consider that as recently as 2005 you could watch two thirds work at  that position by watching just one game. This is a dramatic improvement imo.                                               ^Blacks have gained access to the microphone and this has only helped their cause. There are so many articulate former players and assistant head coaches that the archaic premise of leadership skills and intelligence should, by now, be completely eliminated from the mind of any right thinking person.   And perhaps of greater importance is Obama's election and subsequent re-election. This signifies to me anyway that if the majority of people have enough faith to not only elect, but more importantly, re-elect a black with questionable results in his first term, but one they still considered better than the white alternative, society will benchmark this factor.                ^But, as I said above, it's something that should be watched diligently based on the simple fact that it easy to fall back into old habits.                              ^Being of Irish-German ancestry, I like to look at numbers, results, etc., before I form an opinion on the sometimes still touchy race issues, and my opinion is that this growth in black head coaches should lead to more hiring of black assisants, thereby widening the range of qualified applicants when new head coaching jobs, and damn, don't they open often now days, become available. I would not fault these head coaches for practicing this type of hiring, however, they have been successful and that's why they are head coaches, so I think they'll will nab those they feel most qualified. The best way to keep a head coaching job, as all of us Michigan and ND fans should be aware of, is to hire the best possible assistants available. I realize that's really not fair to RichRod because he had so little to work with on that side of the ball, but he should have realized that and instead of recruiting so heavily on the offensive side, rebuilt the depleted defense that he inherited.                 ^So, yes, I'm proud of the fact the number is growing and with their success, I hope it continues. I could care less about the representation of the total population, but it was a good starting point.  Now that they are a proven commodity, the fact that their interviews will be much more than just an attempt to meet NCAA mandates speaks volumes.   So long answer but result: myth.

HELLE

May 18th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^

$25 to lead the team out of the tunnel. $50 for Ultimate access tour. $250 for four tickets to watch a game from the field ( includes food and drinks). Imagine what the cost for those at Michigan.