Okay folks, so the other day I already commented on how I thought that firing Doba was uncalled for. Now I’m really confused.
I thought statistics were supposed to help understand rationale for why things happen. Using numbers to show and prove a result is supposed to clarify, not confuse, right? Well, like I said, I’m now more confused than ever.
Confused because Mike Price is seen as a savior of sorts for WSU football, and is mentioned as a potential replacement for Doba.
Confused because in his first five seasons as head coach after Dennis Erickson left, Mike Price compiled a 27-29 record… that’s right, a losing record after five seasons and only one bowl game victory.
Confused because Bill Doba compiled a 30-29 record in his first five seasons as head coach, with one bowl game victory. That’s a winning record and the same number of bowl game victories as Price. Yet Doba was fired, and they want Price back.
It’s frustrating when an institution of higher learning makes as uneducated of a decision as they just did, and it would have been nice for fans, students, the media, and the administration give the same chance to Bill Doba as they gave to Mike Price when Price is considered a replacement for Doba and yet Doba’s teams outperformed Price’s in his first five years. Yet Doba was fired and they want Price back.
Furthermore, when you look at the winning percentages of coaches with at least 5 years under their belts at WSU, Doba’s winning percentage is 4th behind John R. Bender (1906-07, 1912-14 ), O.E. Hollingberry (1926-42), and Mike Price (1989-2002). In fact, the scariest thing of all is that in the history of Cougar football (since 1893 I think) only 8 head coaches in the history of the school have coached for at least 5 seasons, and only 5 have coached for more than 5. If WSU gets a good coach willing to hold onto the job and not just use it as a springboard, they might want to consider holding onto them no matter what the media and alumni says.
Yea, so this info was from different eras, different situations. But this all still makes no sense. Why would you fire Doba when he did just as well with his first five years as Mike Price and could be argued to be one of the Cougars top five coaches in the history of the program? That does not make sense! Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit!… err, well, at least reconsider and be willing to admit that a mistake was made.
Bring back Doba!
4 responses so far ↓
1 Joel // Dec 1, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Ahhh… the beauty of statistics. You can grab any period of time and make an argument for or against it. Ignoring the most prominent facts is a huge mistake. Price has had the most success of any coach in WSU history. You are forgetting that Doba’s first year was Price’s team. The team graduated and Doba had to build his own program. Look what happened…. 4 home wins in 4 years (taking out the Idaho wins). I think you forgot to add that little tidbit in there. Price is older now and he may not be the best candidate, but you have to admit there are more energetic, harder working, and much better recruiters out there. Recruiting and winning in the Palouse is next to impossible. Price made it happen and he can do it again. I personally think they can do better than Price but bringing Doba back is retarded. To win in the Palouse you need a team of at least 5 recruiters, not two. If you do only have two, one of their names better be Price.
2 eric // Dec 2, 2007 at 10:47 am
Well, in no way would I expect WSU to rehire Doba; more because once you fire a coach you’re stuck to that decision in Pac 10 football. He’s not coming back; never will. I know that.
But alright, so 2003 was Price’s team, and similarly 1989 was Erickson’s team. Then in the next four years Price’s regular season winning % was .444 and Doba’s was .435. So even then, the argument is that Doba sucks because of a difference of .009 in winning percentage. I still think the University owed him at least one more season considering he lost two of his assistants in the offseason.
The 4 home Pac 10 wins in 4 years is an okay stat but really, a win is a win. Don’t tell me that if WSU had beaten Arizona, USC, Cal, Oregon, and UW on the road this year but lost all their home games that Doba would have been canned.
So now we’re back to recruiting, where my other post focused on. How did the two star commits in 2003, like Alex Brink and Jason Hill help the program? Were they seen maybe as consolation prizes, not top recruits in 2002?
3 Joel // Dec 2, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Something is wrong when you win more frequently on the road than at home. What it really points to is that you aren’t winning many games. Its screams that change is needed. I pray to god we get more recruits like Hill and Harrison and Brink. Time will tell. The cougs had their chance to keep Doba, a bowl game would have saved him. A fresh start can only help the program at this point. We can’t do any worse. Well I guess you could be a DAWG. hahahah Go Cougs!
4 eric // Dec 3, 2007 at 7:55 am
I guess in the end it just sucks that we even have to have this conversation and whatever happens, hopefully it all works out in the end for WSU.
Go Cougs.
Leave a Comment