COLUMN: Enos’ departure marks crucial CMU football turning point
In college football, coaches mean everything.
Coaches at the collegiate level have a bigger impact on a team’s success than those who coach at the professional level.
NFL coaches don’t have to develop players to the extent that College coaches do. Most professional prospects come to the league with much more game experience than college recruits. Many top NFL prospects already have the skills to play at a higher level, skills given to them by college coaches.
NFL skippers don’t have to go out on recruiting trips to try and woo top talent. With all the big money contracts, agents and salary caps, coaches rarely have a chance to convince top talent to come to their team.
College coaches have to convince top high school players with success, flashy uniforms, a promise of a wholesome education and a chance to go to the NFL.
So when a program comes to a crossroads such as a coach’s resignation, those who run it have to get the right person for the job.
Look at what happened to Ohio State. After head coach Jim Tressel was shown the door for breaking NCAA rules, Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell was given the reigns.
Fickell finished the season with a 6-7 record, marking one of the worst seasons in school history.
Ohio State went to the drawing board and hired Urban Meyer, who has a 38-3 record and a national champion after three seasons with the Buckeyes.
CMU will obviously not attract a coach like Meyer, but it doesn’t mean they can’t land a quality coach.
Enos may have not been our most successful coach or our most well-liked coach, but he did build some momentum in his five seasons at CMU. Following that growing momentum, the athletic department can’t set the program back another five seasons by hiring the wrong guy.
The athletic department has made good coaching decisions for both of our basketball programs. Now they must do the same to restore the championship culture to our football team.
Central Michigan needs to find someone with quality coaching experience. Both basketball coaches have coached at a high level before and we can see what success it has brought to both of those programs.
The next CMU coach should also bring a strong coaching philosophy. If the coach doesn’t know what they want the team to look like, how will the players be able to execute?
Most importantly, the next CMU head coach will need to bring discipline. Last season was a season filled with arrests and sportsmanship issues. If a team is not disciplined outside the lines, it is very hard to expect them to be disciplined inside them.
It will be hard to find a coach that matches these descriptions on such short notice, but as Vince Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
