What Is the bar…

[SDCoug]

for Dickert to get the HC job at the end of the season? He’s obviously a candidate for the open position.

He also expressed in his presser yesterday that he loves Pullman. That it fits him and his family. I got the sense that if he was offered the job he would love to be here for a very long time. Of course, that also means winning and keeping a good product on the field or he’ll likely be shown the door.

So what does he need to show over the next six weeks (hopefully more) to remove any doubt and get the offer?

 

[COCoug]

I'll take a stab-
Any two of the following:

Beat BYU
Win Apple Cup
Qualify for a bowl
Endorsement by potential recruits

 

[CougPatrol]

Stability really. We could lose the next 3, but if we beat Arizona and UW to finish the season, it’ll be tough to let him go.

 

[chugspig]

If he somehow managed to fill out this class and had it in the top 45-50 it would be fair to see what he could do with a full year under his belt, assuming he looks competent in this hell hole of a year. Recruiting needs to be #1

 

[etowncoug]

If he somehow managed to fill out this class and had it in the top 45-50 it would be fair to see what he could do with a full year under his belt, assuming he looks competent in this hell hole of a year. Recruiting needs to be #1

Recruiting and an ability to hire some quality assistants this off-season. I think we win at least two more games so the bowl streak continues.

 

[702coug]

Perhaps routinely exercise his jaw and throat for routine admin loyalty standards.

 

[longtimecoug]

Stability really. We could lose the next 3, but if we beat Arizona and UW to finish the season, it’ll be tough to let him go.

It would also keep continuity with the staff

 

[COUGinNCW]

If he somehow managed to fill out this class and had it in the top 45-50 it would be fair to see what he could do with a full year under his belt, assuming he looks competent in this hell hole of a year. Recruiting needs to be #1

Seems like an impossible bar to clear if he’s still the interm coach.

 

[425cougfan]

Seems like an impossible bar to clear if he’s still the interm coach.

Agreed; you beat me to it. I hope he and the staff can recruit, but I don't see how that's going to happen when facing the challenges he faces as the interim coach. Not only can he not sell recruits on him or anyone else being there when recruits arrive, but he's working with a cobbled-together staff who have the same problem on the trail, in addition to any new staff members not having formed relationships, and they're all in tricky spots just trying to coach, hold the team together, and win games.

Realistically, I think recruiting will be really bad until there is clarity on who the coach will be, and then, whether it's Dickert or an incoming coach, they'll have to scramble to get some semblance of a class. If we make a bowl, unless Dickert is named the permanent coach earlier, we may not even know who the coach is until after at least part of bowl season, and that will be after the early signing period has passed. That sucks. If the incoming coach isn't Dickert but is from a school we can pull some recruits from and who can generate some excitement, that might help a little.

This situation really sucks for recruiting, as did the past several months.

 

[SDCoug]

Agreed; you beat me to it. I hope he and the staff can recruit, but I don't see how that's going to happen when facing the challenges he faces as the interim coach. Not only can he not sell recruits on him or anyone else being there when recruits arrive, but he's working with a cobbled-together staff who have the same problem on the trail, in addition to any new staff members not having formed relationships, and they're all in tricky spots just trying to coach, hold the team together, and win games.

Realistically, I think recruiting will be really bad until there is clarity on who the coach will be, and then, whether it's Dickert or an incoming coach, they'll have to scramble to get some semblance of a class. If we make a bowl, unless Dickert is named the permanent coach earlier, we may not even know who the coach is until after at least part of bowl season, and that will be after the early signing period has passed. That sucks. If the incoming coach isn't Dickert but is from a school we can pull some recruits from and who can generate some excitement, that might help a little.

This situation really sucks for recruiting, as did the past several months.

Agreed on the recruiting front. It’s a tough one.

 

[CougSinceBirth]

I asked the recruiting question in another thread. It's going to be extremely tough, especially with timing, and a light staff.

 

[SDCoug]

Dickert said in front of Chun and Shultz “My No. 1 job today and going forward is that our young people have fear, doubt and uncertainty in their minds and my job is to replace that with faith, trust and belief.”

Don’t know how you objectively measure that. And don’t know if that would be enough for Chun. But if it appears that he does, can also win a couple of the remaining games along the way, and manage the other games well, I would hope it’s a slam dunk.

Right now I’m sure rooting for him.

 

[BiggsCoug]

I asked the recruiting question in another thread. It's going to be extremely tough, especially with timing, and a light staff.

First, they’ve burned up 6 of 7 home games for on campus visits. Have a big win? No one to show it to.

Second, recruiting takes years. Relationships with kids are built from their sophomore year on. You aren’t calling up a kid halfway thru his senior season to get in the mix. You are literally over a year too late.

Third, the kids verballed right now have no idea if their offer will stand. So you can’t really count them in.

If Im the AD, Im really pulling for Dickert to do well and make it an easy choice for promotion. He offers stability, consistency and maintains relationships with kids verballed and kids being recruited.

If Dickert isn’t the guy, Im placing high value on a coach that knows the SoCal kids or can hire a staff that knows the SoCal kids. Having coaches that can walk into schools down there and already have relationships in place with the talent helps. Maybe they can get in the mix with a warm lead.

Something to consider is the transfer portal. Talent is leaving the West Coast. If it doesn’t work out for them, does WSU have a coach on staff that has already met them? Making a phone call to rekindle a friendship is a lot easier than a cold call or dm on twitter.

I don’t know what the scholarship numbers are at now. The NCAA says you can take 7 transfers on top of the 25 max. The new coach could take 25 HS players and maybe strike gold with 7 sophomore transfers to beef up the ‘21 class. The following year maybe he can land another 25 HS players and 7 junior transfers. That should fill out 3 classes and with 64 new guys the roster should be filled in.

My free 2 cents.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

As mentioned by others above, Dickert is going to be recruiting with one hand tied behind his back. You cannot evaluate him based on that. First and foremost, if we qualify for a bowl game and beat the Huskies this year, it will be easy for Chun to keep him.

If we beat BYU and ASU.......which is very unlikely.......Chun should strongly consider just announcing that he is our head coach and give him a three year deal at around $1.5 million per year with a $500k buyout. If we beat the mutts too and win a bowl game, bump it by a million. FWIW, that would likely mean that WSU finishes 9-4, which would be an incredible finish to what's been a frustrating, bizarre season at times.

I don't really see that happening, so I think it falls to my first paragraph. 7-6 or better and you strongly consider keeping him. If we don't qualify for a bowl game, it becomes a much tougher choice. Arizona is a terrible football team so 5 wins is our floor right now. If he can't get one other win out of the other four games, there will be people that will not support hiring Dickert.

I'm ready for a quiet guy like Dickert to run our program, but I'll say that he needs to find a good OC and a good recruiting coordinator. He definitely needs a dynamic guy like Roy Manning in the fold to be the front man when we need recruits to get really jacked up.

When it comes to recruiting, I think this class is going to be rough and we will need to plan on using the portal to fill holes once things have settled down. No point in obsessing about it this year.

 

[roses04]

Recruiting is difficult to judge when you have the Interim Head Coach label, so as important as it is difficult to rate him on that. Plus he doesn't have a full staff, he is going to battle with one arm tied behind his back.

Here are my 3:

1. Win over the players, this team is hurting right now, you can see by the comments, Rolo was loved by his players, this is probably the most difficult task, if you accomplish that the rest becomes easier
2. Win 2 of the last 5 games, 2 are at home, and have a good showing on the road, blowouts are not acceptable, an Apple Cup win to get us to a bowl would be great getting 6 wins before the Apple Cup works too. They are only going to be favored in one game, so winning two is not going to be easy.
3. Show that he is capable, is the team organized, do they have good game plans and execute, does he make good in game decisions, win or lose, how they play down the stretch is important.

This coaching staff is a skeleton crew to say the least, they will all be putting in long hours, I wish Dickert nothing but the best, he said all the right things at the press conference, can he pull it all together. It is a great opportunity for him, but he is put in a position where it is extremely difficult to succeed with all the odds stacked against him.

 

[Glad Cougar]

Recruiting is difficult to judge when you have the Interim Head Coach label, so as important as it is difficult to rate him on that. Plus he doesn't have a full staff, he is going to battle with one arm tied behind his back.

Here are my 3:

1. Win over the players, this team is hurting right now, you can see by the comments, Rolo was loved by his players, this is probably the most difficult task, if you accomplish that the rest becomes easier
2. Win 2 of the last 5 games, 2 are at home, and have a good showing on the road, blowouts are not acceptable, an Apple Cup win to get us to a bowl would be great getting 6 wins before the Apple Cup works too. They are only going to be favored in one game, so winning two is not going to be easy.
3. Show that he is capable, is the team organized, do they have good game plans and execute, does he make good in game decisions, win or lose, how they play down the stretch is important.

This coaching staff is a skeleton crew to say the least, they will all be putting in long hours, I wish Dickert nothing but the best, he said all the right things at the press conference, can he pull it all together. It is a great opportunity for him, but he is put in a position where it is extremely difficult to succeed with all the odds stacked against him.

I agree with you and Flat. Getting to 6 wins and a bowl may be the bare minimum for Dickert to retain the job. That may not be fair since 3 losses came under Rolo, but the team needs to avoid a losing record, IMO. Winning the Apple Cup as one of the 6 wins will obviously be favorable to Dickert. An upset over BYU, ASU, or UO would also work in his favor. I won't yet count on an Arizona victory only because I don't know what kind of shape our team is in mentally & emotionally. They might play exceptionally well the rest of the year, using this adversity to come together and show everyone. Or they might pack it in. That's at the foundation of what Dickert needs to do...keep the team focused and maintain the high effort. If he can do that, I believe at least 2 wins are attainable and he would be retained.

Brand X has the obligatory early list of potential coaching candidates for next year. Dickert, of course, is on the list. The other names include predictable ones, like Alex Grinch. (Please, no). Nevada's Jay Norvell is a popular name. Brett Brennan at San Jose State is another. Graham Harrell, Brian Lindgren (OSU OC), and Jeff Banks were among the other names. I'm rooting hard for Jake Dickert.

Glad Cougar

 

[WaltherPPK]

You all must be joking, right ?

Even Dimslee ( being way to kind to the dufus ) and his 2 Mini Me's at WSU don't really know where their going to ! You can count on theses two, having ****ed the program, to react by not reacting, changing the script as it suits them and ignoring logic and common sense !

The team LOVED Coach ??, well, **** that ! i have my own agenda and now, skin to save !

 

[roses04]

You all must be joking, right ?

Even Dimslee ( being way to kind to the dufus ) and his 2 Mini Me's at WSU don't really know where their going to ! You can count on theses two, having ****ed the program, to react by not reacting, changing the script as it suits them and ignoring logic and common sense !

The team LOVED Coach ??, well, **** that ! i have my own agenda and now, skin to save !

People can blame Chun and Shultz all they want, but in reality we are in this mess because a coach wouldn't do what 65% of the people in this state have done, and that is become fully vaccinated. I liked the Rolo hire, I liked what he was doing as a coach, and winning games and fielding a competitive team is the number 1 priority. Another major priority as a power 5 coach is to be a marketing person for the university, that's why football coaches get paid a lot, they draw attention to the school and bring in more money not only for the program, but for the University. Look at Oregon as an example, and what they have accomplished as a University and academics ever since their football program became consistently good, thanks to Uncle Phil. 20-25 years ago, no one gave Oregon a 2nd look, today everyone knows about Oregon. I don't want to be Oregon, but your football program is a major marketing arm for the university. Rolo decided to go his own way and drew negative attention to himself and certainly the University, he put himself above the university. While I admire his conviction, who knows what the next conviction will be, you can't have someone like that running your program, wondering when the next shoe will drop. There has been mention of Chun and Rolo not getting along, I assume it all started last spring when the vaccine became available and Rolo told Chun no way, and neither of them backed down from there.

Leach was always a concern, he lived on the edge of being positive PR, but in the end he understood the importance of the University, the students and academics and bringing funds into the program and the University, he said and did the right things when he had to.

 

[Observer11]

We're in this mess because of a Governor's proclamation/mandate that is arbitrary with regards to compliance.

Chun and Schulz made sure they were good soldiers and didn't accommodate 5 football coaches.

Maybe they can get a job with the Mead School District.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

As this thread has morphed, it is clear that there are really at least three questions...the original, "what is the bar", and two related questions: timing and whether we do the full coaching search or not.

As for the bar, either an apple cup win or a bowl game seems like a likely minimum bar to exceed to me. If by chance we get both, then it is a slam dunk.

As for the timing, if we hit 6 wins (the bowl threshold) way before the end of the season, I suspect that it will be announced then if all else is looking good. Seize the moment and boost recruiting credibility.

As for the search, my guess is that Chun is both making and receiving calls, but that is being kept on the down low pending how the team does over the next several weeks. If Dickert & the team (they are in this together) can perform well enough, there will never be a formal search.

 

[SDCoug]

As for the search, my guess is that Chun is both making and receiving calls, but that is being kept on the down low pending how the team does over the next several weeks. If Dickert & the team (they are in this together) can perform well enough, there will never be a formal search.

I believe you are spot on here. Chun /Schultz said in the first press conference that they would ideally have a hire made by early December. I doubt they can even interview all their candidates by then as many of these guys will still be coaching and (hopefully) focused on their team and players.

To get something done in early December means that Dickert would likely be our guy. All that to ultimately say that I think Chun is rooting for him (speculation on my part) but not at the long term expense of the program.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

I believe you are spot on here. Chun /Schultz said in the first press conference that they would ideally have a hire made by early December. I doubt they can even interview all their candidates by then as many of these guys will still be coaching and (hopefully) focused on their team and players.

To get something done in early December means that Dickert would likely be our guy. All that to ultimately say that I think Chun is rooting for him (speculation on my part) but not at the long term expense of the program.

If I'm Dickert it would be difficult to not just walk away - he's being set up for failure from the start. There's no way he can get ahead of the recruiting, it sounds like his assistants are going to be scrabbled together from the scrap heap of coaches not working, and he's going to lose players to the portal.

Why play the martyr for an employer like WSU with a piss poor leader of a president and a CYA, non-whale-getter (and its going to get worse, not better now) of an AD who talks out of both sides of his mouth?

 

[CougEd]

for Dickert to get the HC job at the end of the season? He’s obviously a candidate for the open position.

He also expressed in his presser yesterday that he loves Pullman. That it fits him and his family. I got the sense that if he was offered the job he would love to be here for a very long time. Of course, that also means winning and keeping a good product on the field or he’ll likely be shown the door.

So what does he need to show over the next six weeks (hopefully more) to remove any doubt and get the offer?

Kids to play hard, the team looks well coaches and organized, not a bunch of timeouts burned because of communication errors. That his defense continues to play hard. If that means 1-4 and he does that he would have to be in serious conversation. I think coach Dickert has shown he is at least Bill Doba, that he gets his teams to play hard, he is getting good linebacker play out of a guy that hasn't played before in Thorton.

Of course the concern is recruiting. Who is a great recruiter on the staff. Or maybe who is a great evaluator. The secondary reformed. The linebackers are better. Again, Thorton seemed to be like a poor mans Pelleur a player in the right place and you shake your head wondering how that happens. Maigoa is a missile and loves to hit people.

I think there are two people that are realistically in on the job. Jeff Banks and Dickert....and to be honest I would hate to lose Dickert at this point.

 

[CougEd]

If I'm Dickert it would be difficult to not just walk away - he's being set up for failure from the start. There's no way he can get ahead of the recruiting, it sounds like his assistants are going to be scrabbled together from the scrap heap of coaches not working, and he's going to lose players to the portal.

Why play the martyr for an employer like WSU with a piss poor leader of a president and a CYA, non-whale-getter (and its going to get worse, not better now) of an AD who talks out of both sides of his mouth?

Why? Dickert is in a no lose situation. The expectation is that we will do what USC after Helton was fired. Fall apart. Dickert knows the game, that AD's will CYA. He isn't a martyr. The worse he can do is be someone that was respected for his loyalty to the team and school, and that he has shown someday he will be a head coach. That is the absolute bottom of what can happen to him.

The upside....he gets to do what he had a passion all of his life to do. That is to be a head coach. This is a great opportunity for him!

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Why? Dickert is in a no lose situation. The expectation is that we will do what USC after Helton was fired. Fall apart. Dickert knows the game, that AD's will CYA. He isn't a martyr. The worse he can do is be someone that was respected for his loyalty to the team and school, and that he has shown someday he will be a head coach. That is the absolute bottom of what can happen to him.

The upside....he gets to do what he had a passion all of his life to do. That is to be a head coach. This is a great opportunity for him!

because people don't gaf about whatever sob story there is, only W's and L's. He's going to lose, a lot, as is the next coach. The WSU HC job is dead man walking at this point.

 

[roses04]

because people don't gaf about whatever sob story there is, only W's and L's. He's going to lose, a lot, as is the next coach. The WSU HC job is dead man walking at this point.

Who pi$$ed on your cornflakes this morning

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Who pi$$ed on your cornflakes this morning

Bro, you don't even know how my week is going. Seriously.

That being said, I might be slightly more optimistic if it was an end of season firing, but this is nothing short of a complete catastrophe.

I think what might be putting me more over the edge is not only losing the coach, but I've lost all faith in Chun. Him backtracking and hinting that he knew Rolo was a bad guy from the start... seriously, WTF? Not only does that show poor judgement at the time of hire, its also petty and vindictive. He (Chun) won, time to move on not piss on Rolos grave.

These are hard times to be a Coug, all around.

 

[CougEd]

because people don't gaf about whatever sob story there is, only W's and L's. He's going to lose, a lot, as is the next coach. The WSU HC job is dead man walking at this point.

Oh sure they do. Miss State hired Leach and what was his record the last year he was here? Dickert in no lose situation.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Oh sure they do. Miss State hired Leach and what was his record the last year he was here? Dickert in no lose situation.

right. take a 1 year snap shot, that makes sense. Because CML has shown himself to be a loser over his career.

 

[SDCoug]

Him backtracking and hinting that he knew Rolo was a bad guy from the start... seriously, WTF?

I missed that in the press conference. Is that where it happened? He did look somewhat out of sorts. Stumbled in some of his responses. I may need to go watch it again.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

I missed that in the press conference. Is that where it happened? He did look somewhat out of sorts. Stumbled in some of his responses. I may need to go watch it again.

it's in the sidebar of this site

 

[425cougfan]

because people don't gaf about whatever sob story there is, only W's and L's. He's going to lose, a lot, as is the next coach. The WSU HC job is dead man walking at this point.

Dickert's career would be hurt much more by just walking away than accepting the interim HC role and doing anything other than catastrophically poorly at it. I mean, really, think about it.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Dickert's career would be hurt much more by just walking away than accepting the interim HC role and doing anything other than catastrophically poorly at it. I mean, really, think about it.

I'm talking about after the season

 

[425cougfan]

I'm talking about after the season

Ah, OK. Different set of considerations, but there, too, really, he's not going to take a P5 head coaching gig? We all know that you think the program is irredeemably hosed, and I understand that to a great extent, but if Jake Dickert, a guy who has little experience as a coordinator at any level and would probably have a 5-10 year path to a head coaching gig in P5 in the most optimistic scenario otherwise, won't take it, then we really are getting down to the Mora and Neuheisel set. What better P5 gig does Jake Dickert have a realistic path to get anytime soon, if ever?

 

[CougPatrol]

If I'm Dickert it would be difficult to not just walk away - he's being set up for failure from the start. There's no way he can get ahead of the recruiting, it sounds like his assistants are going to be scrabbled together from the scrap heap of coaches not working, and he's going to lose players to the portal.

Why play the martyr for an employer like WSU with a piss poor leader of a president and a CYA, non-whale-getter (and its going to get worse, not better now) of an AD who talks out of both sides of his mouth?

Dickert was going to be on the short list for Big Sky and MWC head coaching jobs in the next year or two. At the absolute worst, things don't work out for him as the WSU head man and he returns to a DC position in the MWC.

Why in the world would he walk away, particularly if he retains the current roster? He's got one of the best young QBs in the P12 to build around, along with a stable of pretty solid WR depth. With his type of personality, the transfer portal could be a huge benefit to him next season while he digs in and establishes high school recruiting relationships.

If he continues the upward trajectory of the defense and we retain the current roster, there's no reason to assume we won't be at least a .500 team next season.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Dickert was going to be on the short list for Big Sky and MWC head coaching jobs in the next year or two. At the absolute worst, things don't work out for him as the WSU head man and he returns to a DC position in the MWC.

Why in the world would he walk away, particularly if he retains the current roster? He's got one of the best young QBs in the P12 to build around, along with a stable of pretty solid WR depth. With his type of personality, the transfer portal could be a huge benefit to him next season while he digs in and establishes high school recruiting relationships.

If he continues the upward trajectory of the defense and we retain the current roster, there's no reason to assume we won't be at least a .500 team next season.

I literally listed the reasons.

 

[Glad Cougar]

because people don't gaf about whatever sob story there is, only W's and L's. He's going to lose, a lot, as is the next coach. The WSU HC job is dead man walking at this point.

I know at least a couple of Cougar fans who thought whatever coach was hired to replace Ernie Kent was going to fail....and that we might as well keep Kent around since we had to pay him the full amount left on his contract. Well, Kyle Smith has proven otherwise.

I know that's apples & oranges, and that Smith was already a proven commodity as a head coach. But you never know what can happen with an energetic, ambitious young assistant. Probably a better example is Kelvin Sampson, who took over (some say engineered a coup) for Len Stevens after being an assistant with only HC experience at Montana Tech. Now, he's one of the top coaches in college basketball.

I guess I'm just interested to see what happens the rest of this season under Dickert. If he does well and gets the job permanently, it won't surprise me if he builds a program better than what Rolovich would have done.

Glad Cougar

 

[CougPatrol]

I literally listed the reasons.

No, I listed the reasons. You gave a doomsday prediction.

 

[spongeandshoot]

Why? Dickert is in a no lose situation. The expectation is that we will do what USC after Helton was fired. Fall apart. Dickert knows the game, that AD's will CYA. He isn't a martyr. The worse he can do is be someone that was respected for his loyalty to the team and school, and that he has shown someday he will be a head coach. That is the absolute bottom of what can happen to him.

The upside....he gets to do what he had a passion all of his life to do. That is to be a head coach. This is a great opportunity for him!

Plus he is only 38.

Great experience for him.

 

[spongeandshoot]

Dickert was going to be on the short list for Big Sky and MWC head coaching jobs in the next year or two. At the absolute worst, things don't work out for him as the WSU head man and he returns to a DC position in the MWC.

Why in the world would he walk away, particularly if he retains the current roster? He's got one of the best young QBs in the P12 to build around, along with a stable of pretty solid WR depth. With his type of personality, the transfer portal could be a huge benefit to him next season while he digs in and establishes high school recruiting relationships.

If he continues the upward trajectory of the defense and we retain the current roster, there's no reason to assume we won't be at least a .500 team next season.

It will be interesting to watch. A lot of people have complained about the portal...but we could end up benefitting quite a bit from it