Happy Penguin,
Coach Killer spot may be more accurate than alot of people want to admit??
Expectations are very, very high at YSU. And, that is due to the success of Tressel. Prior to Tressel, it is doubtful either coach would have been fired. And, prior to Tressel, people were generally happy if YSU had a winning record. Tressel went on to have great success at TOSU. So, a question to ask is are the post Tressel expectations realistic? YSU all time is basically a 6-5 program... 453-305-17(.585).... Take out Tressel's 15 years, and YSU all time is 318-254-15(.542 wining percentage)... So, how much of what happened in the 15 years was because of him being at YSU, and how much was because of the way Tressel ran the program, they way he got players to buy in, the way the teams played on the field in terms of execution and taking advantage of other teams mistakes...etc? YSU had no where near the quality of facilities they have now. Had good facilities for FCS, but not great. Tressel made about half of what Wolford made..Assistants were not paid very much. An argument can be made that Tressel would have had great success at ANY school he was hired at for his first coaching job. He BUILT a program at YSU. BUILT the culture of expecting to win. Actual crowds when Tressel arrived were maybe 12,000 or so for home opener, and then lucky if more than 5,000 at rest of games. 7,000-8,000 was considered a good sized crowd.
Jon Heacock:
2001 .... 8-3/5-2 but missed playoffs..... 6-3 against D1 teams
2002.... 7-4/4-3 but missed playoffs.... 6-4 against D1 teams
2003... 5-7/2-5 no playoffs .... 3-7 against D1 teams
2004 .... 4-7/2-5 no playoffs... 3-7 against D1 teams
2005 ... 8-3/5-2 MVFC Tri-Champs..... no playoffs... 7-3 against D1 Teams..first year with "money game"
2006 ... 11-3/6-1 MVFC Champions.... FCS Semi-Finals... 10-3 against D1 teams
2007 ... 7-4/4-3 ... no playoffs .... 6-4 against D1 teams
2008 ... 4-8/3-5... no playoffs ... 3-8 against D1 teams
2009 ... 6-5/4-4...no playoffs.... 6-5 against D1 teams
OVERALL 60-44(.578)/35-30.... 50-41(.549) against D1 teams.... 1 trip to playoffs...2 MVFC Titles(one shared)... no major issues with NCAA....clean program given the myriad of inane NCAA rules.... solid grad rate for players... winning season 6 of 9 years
Wolford:
2010... 3-8/1-7 .... last in MVFC
2011 ... 6-5/4-4..beat NDSU on road in next to last game....lost last game at home to MSU, and thus no playoffs
2012 .. 7-4/4-4 ... Won at PITT...first win for YSU over FBS school from BCS/Power 5 Conference
2013 ... 8-4/5-3.... no playoffs
2014... 7-5/4-4...no playoffs ... beat SDSU on road, which made playoffs
OVERALL: 31-26(.544)/18-22 ... winning record 4 of 5 years...no major issues with players off the field.. was very good about getting rid of players who caused trouble... solid academically for D1 football
I'm NOT saying either coach was great. NOT saying either coach met the standard expected at YSU. Just pointing out they both ended up with overall records above .500. Heacock made playoffs 1 time, and team was 1st or 2nd team of those left out in at least 2 other seasons. With Wolford, 4 straight winning seasons, and at least 2 of those 4 seasons, YSU was definitely a "bubble team" on selection Sunday.
Not hard to see why alot of current FCS Head Coaches may not be chomping at the bit to take the YSU job. Same with OC's and DC's at top level FCS programs, and OC's/DC's at FBS schools in the "group of 6 Conferences), for whom the HC job at YSU may well be an increase in pay, in addition to an opportunity to be HC.
Just something to think about, as this search drags on, and other than Bo Pelini, none of the names of possible hires at YSU mentioned in the media seem as if they would be an improvement from Wolford.