Awful this year of course but 72-38 overall with 4 FCS playoff appearances in his first 7 years. Also their only coach ever.
FOOTBALL Kennesaw Coach Fired
- Thread starter MidTennMtneer
- Start date
Their AD told everyone that he just stepped down too.
C-USA is becoming a good G5 conference if MTSU can keep building up under Mason, so the Owls kinda need to hit on this hire.
Bright side: Insane amount of talented young coaches in the sport with resumes right now, everyone has ties to Atlanta
Not so bright side for the AD: Nobody gives a damn what you say now, every fan, alumni, social media presence already didn't respect you
C-USA is becoming a good G5 conference if MTSU can keep building up under Mason, so the Owls kinda need to hit on this hire.
Bright side: Insane amount of talented young coaches in the sport with resumes right now, everyone has ties to Atlanta
Not so bright side for the AD: Nobody gives a damn what you say now, every fan, alumni, social media presence already didn't respect you
Just to add some background, KSU was one of the few FCS programs that scheduled A LOT of lower level teams and padded their wins. I think it was a little premature but I was expecting them to make a change.
Not as many as I thought but his time there these are wins he had:
15 D2 or lower
3 non-scholarship
54-38 still isn’t terrible but I wanted to make sure the full picture is being painted.
I read that too. So while I get it, as Shayne said, terrible optics in how it was handled. What is the point in doing it now as well with three games left? Should've announced together as AD and coach a change was coming at end of season.
He also was making under $400k according to CBS. They are going to have to raise that if they want anyone currently involved in FBS.
He also was making under $400k according to CBS. They are going to have to raise that if they want anyone currently involved in FBS.
I would expect Willie Simmons to be lead dog in the search for a new coach. The AD was the one that hired him at FAMU.
I'd tell Willie to RUN.
This is seems like a situation where the school jumped too fast without the resources or leadership to navigate the jump. And then threw HC under the bus. Why waste a what COULD be your only shot to be a FBS HC on program that is underfunded & lacks the resources to compete?
Bohannon's salary was 50% less than MT. They'll need to almost double salary to attract people
They do have a large budget and have a ton of students. I expect they will pay their new coach a lot more. Look for a retread FBS coach to fill this role. Chad Morris is a name I’m watching.
That's a win for Middle Tennessee all the way around
Mack is going to do very well there. He knows how to run the ball and had a lot of success at an HBCU with zero resources. I wanted him as well. Him or the DC at UT who really wanted this job. They both did.
Ugh what could have been done with our coach opening infuriates me! This program is in shambles.
I don’t think anyone realized that Mason was going to instantly implement his schemes so harshly. Felt like this season was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt this season but they need to clean some things up. Rebuild will be longer than I thought it would be with the harsh change tho. Wish he’d stop saying they’re going to compete right away tho. Don’t think he’s doing himself any favors there
I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt this season but they need to clean some things up. Rebuild will be longer than I thought it would be with the harsh change tho. Wish he’d stop saying they’re going to compete right away tho. Don’t think he’s doing himself any favors there
I watched Mike Norvell’s postgame presser from start to finish yesterday. I couldn’t help but wonder how much input Stock had on their offense this season as an “Analyst” and Director of Scouting.
A few thoughts regarding Mason & the season :
1) Mason's enthusiasm & willingness to engage the fans / community was EXACTLY what MT needed after Stock. I see why the powers that be (aka McPhee) liked him.
2) I had some concerns re: Mason's hire. There's a reason he failed / got fired at Vandy & it's not just that every body gets fired at Vandy. It's that football evolved & Mason didn't. Based on watching MT this year & listening to Mason talk over the last year, it seems like Mason believes you can still win football games 21-17. You can't. You need to be prepared to win 34-27.
It's no longer trying to put together a 12 play 75 yard drive that drains the clock. You need to be dynamic and explosive ( on the outside with the threat of a consistent run game.
You don't need 6'3 250 inside backers. You need 6'3 225-230 pound inside backers that can drop & cover (FWIW, Stock's 215 pound LB don't work either. Too small). You gotta be able to play in space, especially when you're in a nickel isn't as sub package anymore. You're in nickel / dime 60-70% of the time.
3) As Shayne said, I'm not sure saying the "bones are good" & the potential to compete immediately was honest if you're gonna overhaul everything (offensive and defensive schemes, personnel, etc).
Recruiting has some bright spots. Can't wait to see some guys who RS / played smaller roles this year take the next step in 2025.
But Mason's seat starts to get warm if he doesn't do better than 6-6 in 2025.
I've said from the get go today's coaches need 3yrs.
- Yr 1 usually a disaster. Figure out what you have and what you need. Sometimes lightning strikes like Cignetti and Indiana. But he brought several from JMU and their championship team not to mention a super weak schedule. Not the same as our situation with a coach that was out of the game.
- Yr 2 is better. Bowl and win is the minimum. Off-season spent plugging final holes. A needed safety, returner, etc.
- Yr 3 is conference champ or bust.
If you are a G5 and have a coach longer than 5-6yrs tops that isn't poached (unless they are doing well and choose to stay), you have the wrong guy.
So we shall see. I'm expecting more next year, period.
- Yr 1 usually a disaster. Figure out what you have and what you need. Sometimes lightning strikes like Cignetti and Indiana. But he brought several from JMU and their championship team not to mention a super weak schedule. Not the same as our situation with a coach that was out of the game.
- Yr 2 is better. Bowl and win is the minimum. Off-season spent plugging final holes. A needed safety, returner, etc.
- Yr 3 is conference champ or bust.
If you are a G5 and have a coach longer than 5-6yrs tops that isn't poached (unless they are doing well and choose to stay), you have the wrong guy.
So we shall see. I'm expecting more next year, period.
This is a fair take. I've looked at most of the G5 hires and it's been a rough go for a lot of them - almost all of them. Only 4 of 17 G5 new hires in 2024 had a winning record. All 3 of the new CUSA guys each went 3-9.
To top it all off - we ended up with the #1 hardest schedule in CUSA according to the sports reference SOS rankings.
I'm not sure I agree with those saying that Mason made a mistake in trying to build positivity. We all should have known (if we're being honest) that this wasn't going to be a 6 month turnaround. It's all made doubly difficult by the portal and every player being a free agent every year. You can't really walk in the door and say "everyone and everything sucks and it's going to be a while". You can't replace all 85 guys in a year, and you can't alienate all the support staff and such and you still have to convince portal guys to join up ("we're going to suck" isn't going to play well in those phone calls).
Deion tried that - everyone remember the "I'm bringing Louis with me" nonsense - and he went 4-8 (1-8 in conference) his first year with a generational talent in Hunter and possibly a 1/1 QB in Sanders.
We need to see enough progress next year to have a realistic idea that we're going to contend for a title in years 3 and 4.
How did we stack up against "weaker" competition ? NMSU and FIU too tough ?
Maybe we need to schedule some high school teams
All fair points…
Personally, I’d rather you show straight and say “it’s gonna take 2-3 years for me to get the guys to run my system. We’re gonna build it, but we’re gonna do it right. And that takes time.”
if I were a recruit, I’d rather you say “let’s build something great together. It’s gonna be hard. Maybe a little rough on the front end, but it’ll be worth it.”
Feel like the talk of trying to blend things ended up trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
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