UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, August 21, 1995
3B
Coaching changes mark busy football off-season
Four Big Eight Conference teams have new sideline chiefs this year
By Robert Sinclair Kansan sportswriter
Apparently NCAA head football coaches lost more games than usual last year. At least that is how it would appear after the rash of coaching changes that were made during the off-season.
This year there will be 21 new coaches — the most since 20 were hired in 1990. In fact, the average turnover percentage only has been 14.5 percent in the last four years. This year that number jumped to 19 percent.
There were various reasons for the mass changes, which included several traditionally strong football schools. Miami's Dennis Erickson left to coach the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, and Oregon's Rich Brooks took the St. Louis Rams head coaching job.
Colorado's Bill McCartney, Michigan's Gary Moeeller and Michigan State's George Perles all resigned following successful careers.
The Big Eight Conference may have been hit the hardest, losing half of its head coaches. The league's new head coaches include Rick Neuheisel at Colorado, Bob Simmons at Oklahoma State, Dan McCarney at Iowa State and Howard Schnellenberger at Oklahoma.
Perhaps the most significant — and surprising — change took place in Boulder, Colo. McCartney's sudden resignation also affected Oklahoma State and Kansas. After McCartney's departure, Neuheiul was hired and Simmons left for Oklahoma State. Then former Colorado assistants Mike Hankwitz and David Gibbs were hired by the Javahaws.
Neuheisel said he felt that he had the confidence and support of both the school and the players even though he had some big shoes to fill.
"The people at Colorado have been terrific. They have gone out of the way to make me feel wanted and appreciated," he said. "Obviously when you replace a guy like Bill McCartney there's going to be some people that are wondering why. But for me, it wasn't a decision to remove Bill; it was Bill's decision to step down. That has made things a little easier for me."
Once the decision was made to hire Neuheisel instead of Simmons, controversy rose after comments by the Rev. Jesse Jackson that there are very few African-American head coaches in college football. Simmons is an African American, but the Colorado associate head coach was determined to move on and make the most of a disappointing situation.
"That's behind me. I'm looking forward," Simmons said. "I'm looking to build a solid program at Oklahoma State University. One of the things we talked about was that we're going to be a team on the rise."
Like Simmons, McCarney is also stepping into a rebuilding situation. He has the benefit of having experience in turning programs around.
Coaching Changes
Of the 21 head coaching changes this season in NCAA Division I football, four were in the Big Eight Conference. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Iowa State will have new head coaches when the season kicks off.
*Note: 126 teams was before Division IAA was created
Note: 126 teams was before Division IAA was created
source: KANANG Staff Research   Joe Dacheer / KANANG
McCarney spent 13 years as an assistant with Iowa and five years as the defensive coordinator for Wisconsin before taking the Iowa State job. At both schools, he saw first-hand what it takes to turn conference doormats into conference contenders.
"I'm looking to get a good, strong foundation built and get the program headed in the right direction," he said. "They've been down for a long time. They've had a lot of problems on and off the field. I've obviously had to make some real strong decisions this summer and try to get things headed in the right direction."
The fourth coach making his Big Eight debut is a football personality almost as well known as the school he's been hired to lead. Schnellenberger has enjoyed success at Miami, where he won a national championship in 1983, and Louisville, where he spent 10 years trying to turn that program around.
After a 6-6 season last year — disappointing by Oklahoma's standards — and a lopsided 31-6 Copper Bowl loss to Brigham Young, the school decided to go out and get a big-name coach.
"I don't know anything about the other teams. But the thing that has become very obvious to me is that the University of Oklahoma football team is a very talented football team," Schnellenberger said. "The coach hasn't said that we're going to go undefeated this year. What I had said is that this is an exciting time to be involved with the University of Oklahoma Sooner football program."
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