COLUMN: Football coaching hire will be Heeke’s most important

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Athletics Director Dave Heeke stressed new CMU football coach Dan Enos is the “right person, at the right time.”

In the same breath, he made statements such as, “big step as we move forward” and “poised to take the next step,” driving home the point that, to him, CMU is a “national brand.”

But what culminated at Tuesday’s press conference, where Enos was introduced as the new head coach, was the ending of perhaps the most important hiring ever in CMU athletics.

The hirings of Brian Kelly and Butch Jones might have been more important to some because both got the team to where it is now. But many programs in non-Bowl Championship Series conferences have not had sustained success long enough to be truly considered a national power.

Boise State, TCU and Utah are the three that come to mind, and their success has gone on for years. And they still are fighting for a chance to play in the national title game.

Enos mentioned those three teams when he took the podium after Heeke made his speech. He said he wants the program to be the team that is 12-0 heading into the Mid-American Conference Championship game with people questioning, “What about them?” in terms of national bowl game contention.

His tenure at CMU will define if that question ever gets raised.
CMU is on the cusp of having that opportunity, but only if they can continue to win MAC titles for years to come.
But while CMU is on the cusp, it also is on the brink between powerhouse and just another MAC program.

The Chippewas lost the best senior class the school has ever seen, the coaching staff and Antonio Brown, their star junior wide receiver who declared for the NFL Draft.

It will be on Enos to prove to people that CMU’s program does not live or die with quarterback Dan LeFevour and company.

A different way

Heeke said he understands where CMU is. But he said what sets CMU apart from other programs that reached a certain level (a la Ball State in 2008), is the fact that its football program is not built on one class.

Next season will no doubt test that foundation.

The team will lose many key players, but also return many of its starters as well. The linebacker corps will be the highlight — with Nick Bellore and Matt Berning returning.

The team also returns its offensive tackles and defensive tackles, as well as all its running backs.

No doubt, there are holes to fill, but there also are places of strength still remaining with the departure of the senior class.

If CMU is to succeed and continue to build, its foundation will have to come through in a year when that might be all they have to go with.

Benefits

The program’s success and the implications that go with that go far beyond what it means to be in the Top 25.

The success of the program in the last four years has transformed under Heeke’s guidance and the program’s success. The entire marketing and “brand,” as Heeke likes to say, has changed. If anyone can think back to just think about what the media guides and athletics department’s Web site looked like back then, they would notice a huge difference.

Winning the Cartwright Award gives the athletics department even more leverage when academics are a deciding factor for an on-the-fence player.
Heeke’s goals for this football and athletic program go far beyond where it is now.

And if his vision is to ever come to fruition, five to six MAC titles need to sit in the trophy case in the next seven years.

And the pressure to find that success lies heavily on the shoulders of Enos.