George Ferguson Column: Stitt Ousted: With Monday's announcement, I can't ramble on about Cat-Griz

This was going to be the column where I gave my random thoughts on yet another Brawl of the Wild. But, things certainly changed quickly.

So here’s the two things I'll say about Cat-Griz, and the second one is what's caused me to have to move on in a hurry.

First, congrats to the Bobcats. They dominated the trenches for the second year in a row, and as a result, ran right through and right over the Grizzly defense. Right now Cats, you indeed do own the state.

Second, and I may not have fully realized it when I was walking out of Bobcat Stadium Saturday afternoon, but it was the second Cat-Griz game in the last three years to cost a head coach his job.

And this time around, that coach is Grizzly head man Bob Stitt.

After three seasons at Montana, with a 21-14 record, but with back-to-back losses to the Cats and two straight years of no FCS playoffs, Stitt was not given a new contract.

"These decisions are always difficult, and I understand how this impacts many people. I appreciate Bob's contributions to the University of Montana and Grizzly Athletics," UM AD Kent Haslam said. "He worked tirelessly to move the football program forward with a focus on overall student-athlete success.

"These are tough decisions, ones that do not come without consequence for many people involved — coaches, families, student athletes — but as expected, Bob handled it with absolute class. He was certainly disappointed, but nothing but class from head coach Bob Stitt."

And so, for the second time in Haslam's tenure, he's on the search for a new head coach of what was once the most prestigious football program in all of the FCS and a program that won more football games from 2000-2010 than any college football team, regardless of division.

To me, this all is plain scary.

I'm not going to use this column to pine for or against the firing, or nonrenewal of Bob Stitt. My opinion on what kind of a football coach he is is completely irrelevant, and at this point moot.

Instead, as an alumnus, a diehard Griz, and even as a journalist-observer, I'm going to say that the main reason I think this move is a scary one is because it makes me ask, how many more times are the Griz going to go down this road, either by circumstance or by choice?

A quick review is on order to see why I asked that question.

Bobby Hauck, the name that will now surface the most as Stitt's replacement, left the Grizzlies after an incredible run. By the time Hauck took the head job at UNLV, he had taken the Griz to three FCS national championship games, he had won or shared seven straight Big Sky titles, went an incredible 80-17 and beat the Bobcats in five of the seven games he coached against them. It was the continuation of unprecedented success at UM.

But Hauck wanted to test himself at the next level, so off he went to Las Vegas. That wasn't UM's fault, and so then AD Jim O'Day hired Hauck assistant Robin Pflugrad to replace him. Pflugrad got the Griz to the 2011 FCS semifinals and the Grizzly train appeared headed for great things. But then, and very controversially, Pflugrad and O'Day were fired during what became a highly-publicized sexual assault scandal at UM and, ultimately, also an NCAA Investigation and Department of Justice Investigation. The Griz went on NCAA probation, and longtime Grizzly assistant Mick Delaney was hired for the next three years to help steer the program through some of its darkest days.

Delaney led the Griz to a pair of playoff appearances, but also one of its only losing seasons in the last three decades. He retired for good at the end of the 2014 season, and Haslam brought in Stitt, who was not widely known but had completely built NCAA Division II Colorado Mines from the ground up into a very successful program.

Initially, it seemed like a fit, too, because Stitt went out and beat then No. 1 North Dakota State in his very first game, in front of the largest television audience to ever watch an FCS football game (ESPN).

Now fast forward three years from that day against NDSU and Stitt is gone. And Montana is left searching for answers.

The fan base indeed started to get louder and louder during Stitt's run, especially as social media became more prevalent. Montana fans want more than what they felt they were getting in the Stitt years, and Monday afternoon Haslam acknowledged that.

"I'm never gonna apologize for having high expectations," Haslam said. "I'm not gonna do that. ... High expectations are good things and they motivate you and they push you, and we've got high expectations here. There's no doubt about that. We owe that to a very loyal and supportive fan base and we owe that to this university. Expectations are a good thing. That raises everybody up."

I am a part of those expectations. I feel Montana should always be one of the top dogs in the Big Sky, and in an era when 24 teams get in the playoffs, the Griz should always be a part of that, too.

The Cat game for me is a little different now. I don't look at it as the be-all-end-all so many in the Treasure State do. I've been to the Brawl in person more than 20 times in my 43 years, and I'll say this, the playoffs, the trying to win a national title, that is where it’s at for me. I love the Cat-Griz rivalry, but I don’t think it should make or break a coach, which is why three years ago, I felt that the Rob Ash’ firing at Montana State was a big gamble, too. And while I think Jeff Choate is a very, very good head coach, and the Bobcats own the Grizzlies right now, they’ve also yet to have a winning season since Ash was fired.

And that's one of the many reasons why I'm scared to death following what happened today. Firing a coach that was 7-4 and was one win away from a playoff berth — one stop against Eastern Washington, or one more touchdown against Montana State would have gotten the Griz in. It just seems like a big risk to me.

On the flip side though, that's the business of coaching and the business of college football. It's performance based and no one knows that better than Stitt, who has been at this for a long time. At Montana, what Stitt accomplished in his tenure was just not good enough it seems, and so he's gone.

But since I'm not a head football coach or an AD, I can look at this through different eyes, and what I see makes me awfully nervous.

For starters, when the Griz take the field Sept. 2, 2018 against Northern Iowa, they will be on their fifth head coach since opening day of 2009. Five coaches in just eight seasons. Something just doesn't seem right with that.

The second thing I see is, what if it doesn't work, again? What if Montana doesn't hit a home run with this hire? Then what? Or, what if it takes a new coach, be it Hauck, or anyone else, two or three years to get the program he wants in place? Three years was all Stitt was given. Will the new head man get longer, or is that the new norm?

In other words, where does the revolving door stop?

I'm also seeing an outpouring of emotion from the current Grizzlies, and, contrary to many pundits, it's not one of joy that the head coach that brought them to Montana won't be there anymore. From what I'm seeing, they loved their head coach, and now they no longer get to play for him. What does this do to them going forward? After all, they're the ones who play the game, the ones who get injured, and sacrifice their blood, sweat and tears for our entertainment. I find it interesting that college football players don't seem to have much of a voice in these types of decisions, at least not in the same way a disgruntled fan base does.

Lastly, what I see when looking at this from the outside in is Montana is in a place I never really thought it would be, and that is the Grizzlies are no longer an FCS football power. Save Pflugrad's trip to the semifinals in 2011, I don't think Montana has been since the 2009 national championship game in Chattanooga ended. I think, since that night, Montana has slipped, and slipped some more. There were outside factors that helped it happen, like the NCAA sanctions, but in general it is my opinion that the coaching carousel has finally and fully taken its toll on this football program.

Monday, Haslam assured everyone that Montana will be fine. He talked about the many great things Montana has to offer a head coach. I agree with every single one of them. But given what's transpired since the Grizzlies lost to Villanova in that 2009 FCS championship game, I can't help but ask, what if it's not fine?

What if, the next head coach can't get the program over the hump, or, what so many people are clamoring for in Griz Nation, which is a return to the glory days? What if the Griz go 7-4 again next season, what if they miss the playoffs again? What if, even with a new head coach, a new scheme, and maybe even some new players, the Bobcats go into Washington-Grizzly Stadium next November and rush for 300 more yards? Then what?

Given where the Griz have been and what transpired on Monday, when Stitt was let go, I think those are fair questions. I think they're very valid questions when a decision like this is made.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I think very good coaching candidates will step up to the plate in the coming weeks. I think Kent Haslam will do a great job in trying to find the next head coach. I know he cares deeply about Montana football and the university itself, and he reiterated that during Monday's press conference.

But I still have to wonder, what if this change doesn't work either? Then what?

I guess, for now, I won't get an answer to that, and I hope for everybody's sake, I actually never need an answer. Hopefully, it will all work out. But right now, the Grizzlies are a team without a head coach, and whether it's going to work out or not, that remains to be seen.