George Ferguson Column: Ash firing seems like a risky move for MSU

Emotions can bring out the best in people, and sometimes the worst. And, it seems, nothing is as emotional to people as their sports and their favorite teams.

And that’s why, November 23 will always be remembered as an emotional day for fans, alumni, players, and anyone else associated with the Montana State Bobcats football program. And, emotions were certainly running high when MSU athletic director Peter Fields announced the firing of head coach Rob Ash.

I’ll admit, the firing caught me a little off guard, not because I didn’t think it couldn’t happen. Instead, I knew Ash was at least on the hot seat, rightly or wrongly. No, what caught me off guard was the timing. I just didn’t expect MSU to make such a move literally less than 48 hours after the dust had settled on the 115th Brawl of the Wild. Yes, the fact that it came so quickly surprised me, but, I guess that’s the coaching business in a nutshell — here today gone tomorrow. There’s cliché’s like “Coaches are hired to be fired” and “You’re only as good as your last win”.

But, in many ways, it doesn’t seem like those cliché’s applied to Ash, who won more games than any other coach in MSU history. Ash cleaned up a big, big mess at MSU, and in his nine years, the Bobcats didn’t just become a perennial FCS power, they became one of the most respected program’s in the FCS, on and off the field. They had one of the highest graduation rates in the Big Sky during Ash’ reign, and, ticket sales, fan support and donations were at an all-time high in Bozeman the last nine years.

Now, the last two weeks have been nothing but a re-hash of why Ash was fired, and I don’t need to go over all those reasons for what would be the millionth time. But, I will say this, for me, I think the move was, and is a big, big risk.

First and foremost, no matter how much we like to think of our two NCAA football programs as big time, in the grand scheme of things, we’re just not. The Bobcats, and Montana Grizzlies play in the FCS, and no matter how many times each school keeps breaking attendance records, we’re all still part of being a little fish in a gigantic NCAA pond.

And for that reason, to me, it’s dangerous to just dismiss a coach like Rob Ash. To send a guy who wins eight games a year, goes to the playoffs more than not, and produces a program with class, sportsmanship and an excellent academic reputation is a move that could really backfire. If it was Alabama or Notre Dame doing this, I wouldn’t bat an eye because 20 of the best coaches in the country would line up for those jobs. But that’s not how it works at places like MSU and UM.

Instead, finding a coach to run a program like MSU, and one who is supposed to do it even better than Ash did, that’s a big gamble. I know, the names you’ll here applying for the MSU job, guys like Jeff Choate, Dan Hawkins, and current MSU offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, among others, they all are respected coaches and they all have to get their start somewhere.

But, what none of them, not those three mentioned above, or for that matter, other high profile names being mentioned in association with the MSU vacancy, like Bobby Hauck and Dennis Erickson, can offer is an absolute guarantee that in the coming years, the Bobcats will be in better shape than they were under Ash. There is just no way any candidate for this position can know for a fact that they’ll be able to surpass all of the incredible things Ash has accomplished in his nine years in Bozeman.

Now, that’s true of any head coach applying for a collegiate football opening, because no one can predict the future. But, the bottom line is, MSU had it pretty darn good under Coach Ash. Yes, this year was a disappointment, yes, the Bobcat defense has struggled the last couple of seasons, and yes, I know, Ash didn’t beat the Grizzlies nearly enough. But, none of that can really take away from the fact that Montana State won a lot of football games under Ash, Montana State had tremendous and legendary student-athletes under Ash, and, at no time, save the 1984 1-AA national championship run, was Bobcat football more popular and more prestigious on a local and national level, than it has been under Rob Ash.

So, while coaches around the country that are lining up for the MSU job may believe they can do better, and even have a plan in place to do better, it’s just hard for me to believe, at least in the short term, that that’s actually going to happen. It’s just hard for me to believe that there are many guys out there, at least that MSU can get, that can do it any better than Rob Ash.

Honestly, I hope I’m wrong. I hope the risk MSU is taking by moving on from Ash pays off. But, for as great as Ash was for MSU, in all ways, excuse me for being skeptical about a risk like this actually working out.