Jerry Glanville — is this season about it for him?
Man, when you’re starting to get blown out of home games in PGE Park, in your third season as the head coach, there are problems.
But I’d also say the even larger problem is that when Oregon and Oregon State are in bye weeks and you’re the only big-school game in the state that day, and all you can draw is a crowd generously called in the 6,000 range, you’re in some trouble.
Glanville made a terrible move last summer when he forced Mouse Davis out of his job as the offensive coordinator because he figured that offense scored so quickly it put his defense in a difficult position. Glanville wanted to establish the run, take time off the clock and not have the poor defense on the field all the time.
That’s after Mouse installed an offense that was one of the best and most efficient in the country.
Now Glanville is stuck with a defense that is still on the field all the time, but now instead of scoring too quickly the offense is punting too quickly. And let’s face it, Glanville is supposed to be a defensive wizard. That’s his coaching strength.
But the sad fact of the matter is the Vikings haven’t stopped anybody since he got there and the problem seems to get worse instead of better.
I just don’t see any progress. In fact, I see a lot of regression. And it’s becoming very clear, the wrong guy left the program last summer. And it’s a shame.
Coaches, College football, Portland State Vikings | Dwight Jaynes | October 20, 2009
Dwight Jaynes, Jerry Glanville, Mouse Davis, Portland State University
i got a feeling that mouse and jerry didn’t see eye to eye on things and that is why mouse left. id be willing to bet that mouse called jerry on the carpet and that didn’t sit very well with the head coach. like you said dwight i think the wrong guy left the program. i have seen what mouse can do and if given the chance i think he could very well do it again at psu!
Here is an idea. Let Jerry retire with dignity and let Mouse stay retired. Time to bring in someone new. Maybe Neil Lomax, an ex-NFL and ex-PSU great give it a try or some other ex-NFL player who wanting to coach at the college level give it a try?
Dwight, the 6,000+ attendance was probably due to the “Bald Face Truth Foundation” promotion and $10 GA tickets put on by John Canzano. Typically most PSU games don’t bring in that many and even the students sections are even filled.
Godzilla, that’s why I affectionately refer to John Canzano as a BHB! Great guy, and he can joke about his baldness, hence the BHB nickname.
I know that Canzano has given Jerry a pass after pass but he doesn’t have it anymore and I think everyone around PSU knew it when he came in. Yeah, he’s a good print in the paper but Jerry is never going to make PSU relevant in Portland.
I know this isn’t a light thing to say but PSU football is a joke at this point.
PSU is averaging around 6,000 people for each home game, so I don’t think the BFTFoundation promotion had much to do with the attendance number.
I agree that Glanville was the wrong guy to leave the program. Last year, PSU averaged 25.8 pts/game, and gave up 32.5. This year, PSU is averaging 21 pts/game, and is giving up 31.7. Our defense is horrible, even with the decent talent we have. Now we’re trying to be a more balanced team without a real running back (we have lots of fullbacks).
I was hopefull that we would improve over the constant 7-5 and just barely missing the playoffs seasons we had under Walsh. It was a gamble, and one that we lost. Time to start looking for a new coach.
“PSU is averaging around 6,000 people for each home game, so I don’t think the BFTFoundation promotion had much to do with the attendance number.”
I agree with the numbers. Average for the 4 home games so far is 6405.
1. 7436
2. 6659
3. 5037
4. 6489
Looks like it has been declining since the first home game. Maybe the BFT foundation game gave it a little spike?
With all due respect, remember that Glanville only has two recruiting classes under his belt. He was hired AFTER the signing date in 2007 and most of Walsh’s last recruited class are no longer with the team because they didn’t fit what Mouse and Jerry were looking for. The old saying “No animals, no circus” has a lot to do with PSU current problems but look deeper.
Look how many freshmen are playing and playing well. Sure they fumble and get late hit penalties. But PSU, which still can’t convert in the redzone, was only down by 8 at halftime against NAU. Glanville will get his fourth year because the admin cannot buy out his contract. He knows he is on the hot seat and it will interesting to see how many assistants leave in the off season.
As far as replacements, Neil Lomax isn’t even a high school head coach and you want him running a Big Sky program? Lake Oswego native Doug Nussmeier might be a good fit but he makes $275K at Washington so would he take the pay cut to be an FCS Head Coach?
Neil may not have head coaching experience as you say and you may be right. He has though been helping Roosevelt H.S. program this year, so he might have some ambition to be one some day.
I like Jerry, I think he is maybe even was a good face for the program. I believe if he had the funds or rather PSU had the funds to surround him with quality assistants it would be different (not to say that Mouse Davis was not, but it’s also possible that Mouse might make a better head coach then Jerry). He’s a really likeable guy but that doesn’t win football games.
PSU got a big jump in funds when Jerry came in. I don’t think has anything to do with money.
Walsh was able to put together respectible seasons without all of the financial backing and support from the actually University. Maybe if he had the same funds as Glanville he would have been able to push PSU over the top and win a few conference championships.
Also, I would venture to say that Walsh’s final season had a higher average attendance then this year. Once all the hype died down, PSU is in a worse place than when Jerry came in.
Steve Coury.
PSU needs to get rid of Glanville and hire Coury. Give him a shot. He couldn’t do worse with it than Glanville has.
And if Coury’s not interested, get Chad Carlson. I hear he’s not doing anything these days.
that would be great if he and his staff wouldn’t have put on an ‘ultimate fighting’ session…lmao
Glanville has seemed to be more interested in scoring his own radio show at times than in building a successful football program. The final straw for me was when the MLS issue came up and Glanville was completely clueless about a stadium remodel that has the potential to make a hugely positive impact on his program.
I would be in favor of getting rid of him at the end of the season and bringing in a newer, higher energy coach in time for the remodeled PGE Park in the fall of 2011.
At the end of the day, the public will always want the coach’s head, and the perception is all the blame is on him.
PSU Athletics has worse than high school facilities, a crappy fan base, dormant and uninterested alumni, shoe-string budget.
Sure a great coach could probably squeeze a few more wins here and there but you can’t make chicken soufflet out of… That’s asking an awful lot.
Sad thing is Glanville took this coaching and fundraising job on the cheap.
For the record they should have hired Willamette’s Mark Speckman, best coach in the state not named Chip, or Mike.
I agree, Arvydas!
Speckman would have been a lovely fit for PSU. Perfect.
I’m not sure this was a fair jab at Glanville. I know you’re a big Mouse Davis fan, but you took a few cheap shots here.
“because he figured that offense scored so quickly it put his defense in a difficult position.”
really? Did he say that or did you make that one up?
“And it’s becoming very clear, the wrong guy left the program last summer.”
Painfully obvious? Hmmm.
Anytime the offense scores, it makes the defense’s job easier–they have more margin for error.
If Glanville really thinks that an efficient offense is a bad thing for a defense because of TOP, then he’s a moron who ought to be canned. If the D doesn’t like being on the field for a long time, they oughta force more quick punts. Or turnovers.
If Glanville doesn’t think such a thing…
At any rate, I’ve always thought using time-of-possession as an indicator of who’s winning a football game was kind of stupid, given that each side gets an equal number of possessions per game, plus or minus one. Net yardage (excluding turnovers and special teams) will tell the same story, but tell it far more accurately–the team who moves the football, and keeps their opponent from doing the same, is usually the one who wins football games. Pass-happy teams tend to break the correlation between TOP and yardage.
Give Jerry 1 more season to get it straight. Lets remember that this is not that great of a gig. Mike Shanahan is not going to take the job. If Jerry can get this thing off the ground, build a foundation, then it is time to look around. The guy is around 70. Let him get this Vike team up to 7-8-9 wins, then get someone bright and innovative to take it to the next step. Maybe Lomax is that guy?
This is such a tough situation, and I don’t know how you turn it around without spending big bucks on a young up-and-comer coach, and a PR campaign with W&K. They don’t have a coaching problem, they have a branding problem.
Here’s the issue- what do you first think of when you hear Viking football? My first impression is… NOTHING. If I really challenge my synapses, I think of words like struggling, not good, flat, & dull. Contrast that with Ducks football (exciting, big-time) and Beaver football (hard-nosed, great coach, Quizzzz)… or (OK I’ll keep it in the Big Sky) Montana Grizzly football (tradition, crazy stadium, winners). Regardless of whether you think the Vikings coaches are good or not, the brand is either bad… or non-exisent.
Yes, winning will put folks in the stands- no doubt about that. Unfortunately this team doesn’t look like they’re going to make a run at the Big Sky anytime soon. So they can continue doing what they’re doing, or go in another direction. Establish a rivalry with perenial powerhouse – Maybe Coach Glanville needs to punch Montana head coach Bobby Hauck in the nose, or paint a Vikings logo on the side of Robin Pflugrads new Missoula digs.
They need to do something to get noticed, because for now winning isn’t in the mix.
Perhaps if PSU continues to promote itself more as a traditional four-year school, in addition to the role it serves as a high-end community college
, it might attract the sort of alumni (young drunk college kids) who are passionate about sports, and who stay that way when as they get older and wealthier.
Mr. Gaynes, I also think that Gerry Glanville is not in this for the long haul. I was never a believer in Glanville from his days at CBS when it was clear that he wanted a coaching gob. He’s too intense and too series, I just didn’t think that he would do a good gob. He is a nice guy really, but just is not the right man for the Portland State gob.
I was really looking forward Jerry turning things around at PSU. I like to watch college football, but don’t really care to spend all day driving to Corvallis or Eugene to see a game. Saturday seemed like a good time to check out this year’s Vikes. Yow were they awful. No better than last year or the year before. Jerry seems to have figured out how to get the defense off of the field: give up 8 yards on first down. All day. The make up of the team seems to be about the same as it was last year and the year before. Good looking offensive schemes, but no personnel to carry them out. No running back. A quarterback that is too small even by Division 1AA standards and lousy offensive line protection. The defense was pretty much lousy at every position.
The players on the sideline looked listless and un-interested in the game as they wandered around or just sat. On the other side of the field every players was up and huddled near the sideline watching and ready to go in. Northern Arizona is a contender is the Big Sky and it showed.
PSU is a great city college and a surprising number of very successful people in this town spent some or all of college years there. A little success would go a long way to getting those alumni to support the team more strongly (like they did when Glanville was hired).
Also, lets be honest here…
part of the problem is also the conference.
People just cannto get jazzed about going to see Northern Arizona or Weber State….ZZZZzzzzzzzz.
“If” PSU were able to jump to WAC it would help. I knwo it won’t happen, and it is deemed too risky/costly…but it would save the program.