Each week Covers columnist David Payne teams up with Covers’ Expert Ben Burns to take a look at the smaller conferences in hopes of finding a hidden gem. This week, they look at three teams with lame duck coaches.
If you were told you were being fired, but were asked to work for another month, how much focus would you put into your job?
Coaches may say they’ll continue to work just as hard for their players, but updating their resume suddenly becomes more important that implementing the game plan. Let’s take a look at three coaches who might not have their teams completely prepared of the closing stretch.
UNLV Runnin' Rebels (Mike Sanford)
Mike Sanford will coach his final game as Head Rebel, Saturday against San Diego State.
Sanford has been in lame duck status since Nov. 15, when it was announced his fifth season at UNLV would be his last.
He was gracious in during his announcement, thanking the university for the opportunity to be the lowest-paid coach in the Mountain West.
"In the last 20 years that UNLV has played close to or at BCS-level competition, no football coach has left this program with a winning record, which includes a man — John Robinson — who is being inducted into the college football Hall of Fame next month," Sanford told the Las Vegas Sun. "In my opinion, this must be a systemic, infrastructure and commitment issue, and not a coach issue.”
It probably didn’t help to hear school officials say they will consider upping the salary of their next football coach.
The Rebels had last week’s bye to think about all the uncertainty surrounding their program.
Sanford said it showed early this week during preparation for the Aztecs.
"To win the game, we've got to practice better than we practiced today," Sanford told reporters on Monday. "I do feel like the attitude is good, but as far as the lack of execution or any of that today, I will attribute it to rustiness. We can't do that tomorrow, though."
UNLV will be without star wide out Ryan Wolfe, who broke his foot returning kicks in practice. Wolfe was leading the Mountain West in receptions and was second in yards.
UNLV is around a 4-point favorite over San Diego State.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (David Elson)
Coach David Elson was told on Nov. 10 that this would be the last of his 14-year career at Western Kentucky, which including winning the I-AA National Championship as the Hilltoppers’ defensive coordinator in 2002.
Elson was basically WKU’s sacrificial lamb, as the program stepped into the FCS level last season. As always, it has not been an easy transition for the Hilltoppers, who have lost 18 straight games.
WKU played well last week at Louisiana-Monroe, covering as 21.5-point underdogs in a 21-18 loss. That’s the fewest points the Hilltoppers have allowed all season.
On Tuesday, the Hilltoppers hired Stanford running backs coach Willie Taggart to be their next coach. But Elson will still coach Saturday’s game at Florida Atlantic (-12.5) and next week’s season finale against Arkansas State, before stepping aside for Taggart.
Memphis Tigers (Tommy West)
You've got to love coaches who use the excuse that the “program sucks, not me” after being fired.
Tommy West took the rout after being told of his dismissal on Nov. 10.
"I couldn't say [this] as a coach, but it's too painful," West told reporters. "It's too painful for coaches, for players, for people, for fans. Put something in [the program] or do away with it, one or the other."
Did the university suddenly cut off the support that allowed West to take the Tigers to bowl games in five of the last six years? Did lack of support create the nation’s 115th ranked defense?
Sorry, coach, but you’ve got the same facilities you did when you were winning. The reason you lost your job is because you’re 2-9 this season.
In the Tigers’ first game since West’s firing, Houston blasted Memphis 55-14.
Memphis is a 16.5-point underdog at Tulsa Friday. The Tigers could be without two defensive starters, including senior linebacker Greg Jackson, the team’s leading tackler.