Changes needed for NAU football after disappointing season
Comments
by Eric Gallo on November 20, 2008 at 4:00 am under Opinion
New coach required to rebuild program.
The football team is one of the most important features at any university. It gets people excited even if they are not rabid sports fans.
For the past 11 years, Jerome Souers has been the head coach of NAU’s football team. During those 11 years, the Lumberjacks have won 61 games, putting Souers atop the school’s all-time wins list. On the other hand, the Jacks have lost 65 games in those 11 years: the most games ever lost under one head coach. After this season it has become inherently clear that NAU will not become an elite Big Sky team unless changes are made, starting with the head coach.
Souers came to NAU after serving 12 years as an assistant coach at the University of Montana. He became the first coach since Dwain Painter in 1979 to post a winning record in his first season. In 1998, the Jacks went 6-5. The Lumberjacks improved to 8-4 in 1999, Souers’s second season at the helm. The Jacks also made an appearance in the Div. I-AA playoffs. However, the record did not stand, as NAU was forced to later forfeit six of those games because Souers played former wide receiver Francis St. Paul, who was ineligible at the time.
Over the next few years the team was up and down, even winning a Big Sky Championship in 2003. Undeniably, 2003 was a great season, but that gets overshadowed when you have one great season out of 11.
Souers has been able to recruit talent — no one can dispute that fact, with players like Jason Murrietta and K.J. Gerard, just to name a few. Also, Souers and his staff have worked hard to push academic ideals on the team; a Lumberjack has received six of the last eight Golden Eagle Scholar Athlete of the Year awards.
Unfortunately, with the way college football is today, it is on the field where the results matter most. And the field is where the Jacks have come up short for the past 11 years. Everybody expects there to be losses along the way, but this season has brought to the forefront that NAU cannot compete with top teams in the Big Sky — teams like Montana, Montana State, Weber State and Eastern Washington. Under Souers, the Jacks have never beaten Montana in 11 games.
Against those four Big Sky teams, Souers is a combined 14-30, with the games forfeited in 1999 counted as losses. In the Big Sky Conference overall, Souers and the Lumberjacks are a combined 38-46.
The Jacks once again finished 6-5 and were 4-4 in conference play.
The Lumberjacks’ record has also played a part in causing support from the community and the student body to fall away. The Lumberjacks play in a dome that can seat 15,000 people. The Jacks only broke 9,000 for attendance twice this year. Compare that to Montana State, whose home attendance of 12,147 three weeks ago broke their streak of 13 regular season game sell-outs. While attendance is not solely a responsibility of the coach, it can be used as barometer of the program’s current status.
This is not about Jerome Souers, the man and community member; this is about Jerome Souers the football coach — and he is no longer the correct fit for this program. Who would be a viable candidate to replace Souers? The person needs to be a former Lumberjack player or coach. It is up to Athletic Director Jim Fallis to make a decision about the direction of this team. We could stay on the same course, or we could go in a new direction and become an elite team.
3 Comments
BLAZING! Love the cartoon too! Travis Brown for new NAU Head Coach!
THANK YOU JACKCENTRAL for putting it out there. I just hope that the AD Fallis will listen. Not until the Alumi put pressure on the AD will anything happen. Souers contract was just renewed at the beginning of this season. They should have waited, maybe he would have coached better knowing his job was on the line.
Look at all the Blogs on the AZdailysun. Everyone feels the same way, Souers and his staff have got to go. He had so much talent on the sidelines and didn’t use it. If Henderson didn’t get hurt, Williams would have seen minimal playing time. Herrick was sorely underutilized, and then there was the departure of Slater. And what happened to White. This kid was leading the defense in tackles at one point. Why was he only on special teams after the ASU came? White only played 8 games (injury) and still was in the top 15 in tackles for the season.
The OL and DL just collapsed. What happen? No motivation? Did they take things for granted? Weber, Montana, etc, they knew what what play we were calling before we did. Why? Because thoses coaches had the respect of their team.
Both of you have this situation completely misconstrude.
Northern Arizona University does not have an “elite” football program because they are not permitted an “elite” budget. Without a reasonable budget, it is nearly impossible to elevate the football program to a level where it gains instant, positive recognition, and therefore, a reputation. With this reputation comes more attendance to the games, more dontations, and more interest in joining the team.
Jerome Souers is not to blame – AD Fallis is. Have either of you considered that NONE of the athletic programs necessarily succeed at NAU? Perhaps all of the coaches need to be fired – because that is CLEARLY the logical solution.
The only fault Jerome Souers holds is the fact that he considered coaching at NAU in the first place. Comparing NAU to universities like Montana is absolutely ridiculous. Montana, first of all, is surrounded by a community which is football-crazed. The budgeting granted to the football program at Montana, as a result, is significantly greater than that given to NAU’s football program. We need what Montana has – in order to get that, changes indeed need to be made…but not by firing the most successful coach NAU has ever had.
No, Fallis needs to be replaced. It’s clear as day. Jerome Souers has dedicated his life to his football career, as well as his own money. He has gone far beyond what is expected of the average football coach, and has received absolutely no recognition for it. Although I have never met him, I have seen and heard enough to have me convinced that this football team is his pride and joy. He loves those players, win or lose.
Oh, and the fact that Fancis St. Paul played in those games is the fault of the school – didn’t you know? Souers was not aware of it, neither was St. Paul. Perhaps you all should check your resources first.