College Football: Some notes about the 2011 schedule...and beyond

Spoke with Texas State Director of Athletics Dr. Larry Teis at halftime of the women's basketball game and here is what I gleaned...

• Teis looked into an FCS team to come to San Marcos for the home opener, but all of the schools wanted a home-and-home series. Since Texas State is going to the FBS in 2012, the Bobcats are unable to agree to that deal.
• With Texas State deemed FBS transitional in 2011, the school was able to schedule 12 games instead of 11.
• Teis is in the process of talking with about 20 FBS teams to lock down the 2012 season opener. He told me those schools were in conferences like the Mountain West, Conference USA and Sun Belt.
  

College Football: 2011 Schedule

Sept. 3 — at Texas Tech
Sept. 10 — at Wyoming
Sept. 17 — Tarleton State
Sept. 24 — at Stephen F. Austin
Oct. 1 — Nicholls
Oct. 8 — at McNeese State
Oct. 15 — Lamar
Oct. 22— at Southeastern Louisiana
Oct. 29 — Northwestern State
Nov. 5 — Prairie View A&M
Nov. 12 — at Central Arkansas
Nov. 19 — Sam Houston State

What are your thoughts on the schedule?

College Baseball: USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Preseason Poll

USA Today and ESPN released its 2011 Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll this afternoon. You can take a look at it here — CLICK THESE WORDS.

Texas State will play six teams this season who either were ranked in the preseason or received votes. The Bobcats take on No. 2 TCU, No. 7 Texas, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 17 Rice, No. 24 Arkansas and Baylor (also receiving votes).

The 2011 season starts Feb. 18 when Texas State hosts Nebraska, Missouri State and Air Force for a tournament.

College Football: Texas State will not play TCU in 2011

Talked with someone in the Texas State athletic department yesterday at the basketball game and confirmed the Bobcats won't be playing TCU in 2011.

College Football: A funny story about scheduling featuring Brad Wright

So Texas State might meet up with TCU in Week 3 of the 2011 season, giving the Bobcats four consecutive road games to open the slate (Texas Tech, Wyoming, TCU and Stephen F. Austin). With the news of Texas State playing the Horned Frogs again, it reminds me of a conversation I had with former head coach Brad Wright about scheduling.

When Wright took over as head coach in 2007, he told me he asked Texas State Director of Athletics Dr. Larry Teis to not schedule three teams as long as he was head coach — TCU, Houston and Texas Tech — because the Bobcats would lose face in front of in-state recruits.

Who did Texas State play in 2009? TCU. Who did the Bobcats play in 2010? Houston. And who is Texas State slated to play in the 2011 season opener? Texas Tech.

College Football: Fran's new staff

Here is a list of Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione's new assistant coaches and their responsibilities:

• Mike Schultz — Assistant Head Coach, Co-Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
• Darrell Dickey — Co-Offensive Coordinator, Running Backs Coach
• Craig Naivar — Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach
• Dennis Darnell — Offensive Line Coach
• Jason Johnson — Wide Receivers Coach
• Brad Franchione — Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coordinator
• Mike Hudson — Defensive Line Coach
• Reuben Vaughn — Defensive Tackles Coach
• Charlie Reeve — Tight Ends Coach (?), Director of Football Operations, Recruiting Coordinator

OT: The rich get richer...

I'm sure by now many of you have seen the new deal the University of Texas got from ESPN. The network will pay the Longhorns $300 million over a span of 20 years to broadcast Texas' games and such.

With the yin, comes the yang, and while it's not directly related, it's a shame in itself.

The University of Delaware announced today it would cut men's cross country and outdoor track and field from varsity status to comply with Title IX. Last year, the Blue Hens regulated the men's indoor track and field team to club status.

As many of you know, I graduated from the University of Delaware and ran four years of Division I cross country and track and field.

While Title IX is important in the grand scheme of things, it's sad that after this year, no other male runners at the University of Delaware will be able to experience what I — and my teammates — did from 2003-07.

College Football: Recruiting News (Part 1)

Texas State is close to landing another solid JUCO transfer.

The Bobcats, who already have Blinn College wide receiver Shaun Rutherford on campus, are close to reeling in Navarro College tight end Chase Harper, who also has offers from Nebraska and Miami. Harper had an offer from the Cornhuskers last season, but couldn't join the team since he failed to qualify academically.

Harper, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 260 pounds, also played basketball at Navarro.

More on this as it develops.

College Football: Coaching staff nearly complete (Naivar returns to San Marcos)

New Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione hired Rice defensive line coach and special teams coordinator Craig Naivar this afternoon. Naivar will reportedly become the new defensive coordinator for the Bobcats. This will be his second stint with Texas State as he was the defensive coordinator under David Bailiff from 2004-06.

College Football: Talking about Schultz

Had a brief conversation with Bob Asmussen, the Illinois beat writer at The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill., about new Texas State offensive coordinator Mike Schultz. Asmussen covered Schultz when he was the offensive coordinator with the Fighting Illini.

On what type of offense Texas State fans can expect to see: "He wants to run the ball first and foremost. You saw what he did at TCU and that's what he wanted to do at Illinois, but it was tough. He came in to Illinois with a quarterback (Juice Williams) already in place, so Mike had to adapt to him and not the other way around."

On how much blame Schultz should take for the Fighting Illini's short-comings as an offense in 2009: "I wouldn’t throw all of the blame at him. He was asked to do the impossible. I was surprised that he took the job. He was asked to take a position that didn’t fit him."

On if he thinks Schultz will succeed at Texas State: "Mike is back in his comfort zone now. With his Texas roots, he'll be able to recruit the area and build that program up. Going into the WAC couldn't be a better situation for him."

College Football: Franchione building staff one day at a time

• Only one coach (Charlie Reeve) kept his job in the transition between former Texas State head coach Brad Wright and new head coach Dennis Franchione.
• Reeve is a solid recruiter but it's unknown what his job will be under Franchione.
• It looks more and more like Franchione will hire current Middle Tennessee State offensive coordinator Mike Schultz for the same position with the Bobcats.
• According to Football Scoop, Franchione is offering a position to former Kentucky defensive backs coach Chris Thurmond.

More as it develops.

College Football: My conversation with Teis from last Thursday night

Following Thursday's hiring of Dennis Franchione as head football coach, I tracked down Texas State Director of Athletic Dr. Larry Teis to talk about Franchione. This is what he had to say about Franchione and the process the day before the press conference.

On if Franchione was on the original list of candidates he had himself: "To be honest with you, I probably had 20 guys in mind if I had to do this. That’s what a good athletic director does. When it happened, I went to President Trauth and we talked and said we have some names and thought it would be better off if we went into a national search firm."

On whether or not he had some extra say in the hiring of Franchione: "I was 20 percent of the vote. That's why we had five people in the committee. I won’t tell you what the actual vote was. People need to understand this isn’t a Larry Teis decision, this is the whole University decision."

On whether or not Franchione's job hopping worried him: "I laugh all the time when you say coaches aren't loyal. Ninety-nine percent of the nation isnit loyal when it comes to getting a better opportunity. All I hope is that if someone leaves us, that they leave us in a better position than when they got here."

On why the process took so long: "The only people who panicked are on the outside. You don't work on the fan's timetable, you work on the one that best fits the administration. We felt it was in our best interest to get everything in order before we moved forward. We salvaged three weeks of recruiting. If you lose three or four kids [because of the delay], that’s not worth chancing the future of this program at the most important juncture."

On if this was the most-important hire to this date of his tenure and for the future of the program: "Probably, just because where we sit today and where we're trying to go and how the national landscape is. We wanted somebody who had the knowledge and the experience before, that's why it’s very critical for where we are today and where we want to go. Experience was going to outweigh everything."

On whether or not this process weighed heavily on his mind: "Oh, God, yes. You don't know how many ADs I called in the last three to four days. Thank God I wasn't the only person making this decision. I'm glad it wasn’t on me and me alone. No one person should make this important decision."

College Football: Final TSN Poll

Here is my final ballot for The Sports Network Top 25 Poll:

1. Eastern Washington
2. Delaware
3. Villanova
4. Georgia Southern
5. Appalachian State
6. Wofford
7. North Dakota State
8. Pennsylvania
9. Lehigh
10. New Hampshire
11. William & Mary
12. Jacksonville State
13. Montana State
14. SE Missouri State
15. Western Illinois
16. South Carolina State
17. Bethune-Cookman
18. Montana
19. Grambling State
20. Jacksonville
21. Dayton
22. Liberty
23. Stephen F. Austin
24. Northern Iowa
25. Cal Poly

College Football: New staff beginning to take shape

New Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione is already hard at work putting his staff together for the upcoming season. Along with Montana linebackers coach Mike Hudson, Franchione is poised to bring in current Blinn College offensive line coach Dennis Darnell and University of New Mexico offensive coordinator and running backs coach Darrell Dickey.

Hudson has experience in the Southland Conference as he was the defensive coordinator at Sam Houston State from 2003-04. He began his coaching career at Texas State in 1987.

Darnell most recently spent a season at Blinn College on Franchione's son's (Brad Franchione) staff. Prior to Blinn, Darnell was offensive coordinator at Northern Colorado but was fired following the 2009 season.

Dickey was the head coach at North Texas from 1998-2006 before moving to Utah State and then New Mexico. With the Lobos, Dickey's offense only averaged 15 points and 256.7 yards of total offense per game in 2010.

College Football: Fran's press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m.

You can watch it live on the Texas State University athletic web site at that time.

Franchione's Press Conference — Click Here

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 14) — Reading The Fine Print

Just talked with a source close to Oklahoma defensive assistant Bobby Jack Wright. Here's what the source had to say:

• Wright was very much a finalist after having a solid interview with the administration at Texas State. He left the meeting feeling good about his chances of landing the job.
• His interview went so well that the Bobcats did extend a contract offer, but this is where it gets dicey: Included in Wright's contract was a stipulation that Texas State could fire him at any moment but then reassign him to another position within the University system.
• Wright took a look at the contract with his lawyers and turned the job down.
• Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops was in Wright's corner the whole time, letting him have the freedom of seeking another position, especially one with his alma mater.
• Wright left the process feeling Texas State Director of Athletics Dr. Larry Teis already had a guy in mind.
  

College Football: Is Fran the man?

ESPN's Joe Schad reported earlier that Dennis Franchione will be the next head coach at Texas State. I am trying to confirm.

No calls have been returned but there is a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.

College Football: Your portal to the Bobcat Live Chat (Coaching Edition)

In case you missed it in the previous post, the Bobcat Live Chat is today (Thursday) at 1 p.m.

Click Here To Access The Live Chat

College Football: Bobcat Live Chat

We're going to hold a Bobcat Live Chat tomorrow at 1 p.m. on the San Marcos Daily Record web site to discuss the Texas State coaching search. If it's done by then, great, we can discuss the new head coach. If not, then we can still discuss those who were offered the position.

See you then and tell your friends.

Update: Also considering pushing it back an hour to 1 p.m. after getting some e-mails from folks taking a late lunch. Leave a comment to let me know what you prefer.

Double Update: The Live Chat will now begin at 1 p.m. Link to be provided shortly.

Triple Update: Here's the link you'll need to follow along. Click here to join the Bobcat Live Chat.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 13) — Possibly A Lucky Number?

• A source told me that if former Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins won't accept a pay cut to coach at Texas State, the Bobcats are prepared to move forward with either San Diego State defensive coordinator Rocky Long or former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe.
• Long's decision might be tough depending on what San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke does. Hoke evidently is the front runner for the open position at Michigan now that Rich Rodriguez was fired and it's known that Long would be the coach-in-waiting at SDSU.

More as it comes clearer.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 12) — Making Sense Of It All

This is what it's going to come down to and it's from a quote I heard from my friend a while ago: "What a piece of bread looks like depends on the man who is describing it."

Those remaining candidates know how much Texas State is offering. It was reported here a while ago that the base salary would be between $300-400K.

Those remaining candidates also know how much Texas State will offer to pay any assistants they want to bring on board. While an official number hasn't been released, it's not a staggering amount. Former head coach Brad Wright fought hard to get the administration to improve his assistants' salaries but it just didn't happen.

Most of the remaining candidates would need to take a pay cut from their previous jobs to assume a job at Texas State with a lot more responsibility, yet they've stayed in because they want to either get their foot in or back in the door at this level of responsibility.

So who wants it more? Who is the hungriest candidate?

We'll find out soon.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 11) — A Decision Is Coming

Here is a comprehensive list of the finalists according to several folks I talked to once former Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster pulled his name out of the running:

• Former Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins
• Missouri linebackers coach Dave Steckle
• Oklahoma defensive assistant Bobby Jack Wright
• Tulsa defensive coordinator Paul Randolph
• Former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe
• San Diego State defensive coordinator Rocky Long
• Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson
• Former Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione

Heard contradicting information from a few of my sources about Franchione. One said Franchione pulled his name out of the running while another said Franchione is still in. This all happened within an hour of each other. His name remains until I can get concrete proof that he is out.

Also heard that Watson removed his name from contention.

More as it comes out.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 10) — All jumbled up

Remember that pecking order of candidates I posted not too long ago on this blog and on Twitter? Well, it's all been jumbled up with the influx of new candidates given to Texas State from Parker Executive Search.

According to a source, the administration has been impressed with each interview and right now it's tough to pinpoint a clubhouse leader.

More to come as it develops.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 9) — Two schools of thought

As BobcatReport stated earlier, Dennis Franchione withdrew his name from contention to become the new head coach at Texas State. In talking with some folks last night at the basketball game, I got this feeling too, but wanted to wait until today to confirm it.

Ended up talking with a source about this matter and he told me there are two trains of thought going around about Franchione deciding to take his name out of the running.

• Franchione felt the other candidates listed had a better résumé in recent years than he and thought with the expanded search, there was no way he'd get the job without someone thinking the fix was in.
• Franchione did it in consideration of his friend, Director of Athletics Dr. Larry Teis.
  

UPDATE: Heard from someone else Franchione didn't pull his name from the race.

DOUBLE UPDATE: Franchione is still very much in the mix for the position.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 8) — Interviews have commenced

• Three candidates have been scheduled to or have interviewed Tuesday with Texas State president Dr. Denise M. Trauth, Director of Athletics Dr. Larry Teis and Parker Executive Search — San Diego State defensive coordinator Rocky Long, Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and former Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster.
• From what I've been told by sources, both Long and Watson left those in attendance impressed. Brewster, according to another source, is set to interview Tuesday night in Austin.
  
• It seems as if Brewster is trying very hard for the job, coming to Austin to interview and reportedly studying up on the players he'd inherit as well as having a staff in mind should he get the job.
• Expect Oklahoma defensive assistant Bobby Jack Wright to interview Wednesday with former Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins to put in a late charge soon after, according to a source.
• Former Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione won't interview on campus, according to a source.
• When asked about the candidates, one player said he "...liked everyone they have named" and when it comes to the type of style he'd like to see the coach bring, the player said he "...likes the balanced attack but we need to take some more chances downfield."
  

College Football: Coaching Poll (No. 5)

It's getting around that time. So, who do you think will get the job? Feel free to write in your own answer but include it in the comments.

College Football: Players Meeting

In case anybody had any questions about the players only meeting held by Texas State yesterday (Sunday), it was much ado about nothing.

They didn't announce a head coach since the Board of Regents just granted Texas State president Dr. Denise M. Trauth permission to go ahead with a hire once she, Dr. Larry Teis and Parker Executive Search find the proper candidate.

It was meant more to discuss the upcoming semester and offseason workouts.

College Football: Coaching Search Update (Part 7) — Results from B.O.R. Meeting

Here is a link to what was discussed at today's Texas State University System Board of Regents Meeting — actually a teleconference. Click here to take a look.

Basically, the Regents granted Texas State president Dr. Denise M. Trauth the ability to pursue the hiring of a new head football coach. Trauth was unable to move forward without this blessing.

The teleconference lasted all of 24 minutes and the next meeting was originally scheduled for Feb. 10-11.

Salary parameters weren't discussed and will be at the discretion of Trauth when a prospective candidate is offered the position.

College Athletics: Bobcat Athletes of the Year

Here are the winners of the Daily Record Bobcat Athletes of the Year Award. Winners are bolded in RED.

Daily Record Male Athlete of the Year

• Da' Marcus Griggs (football)
• Cameron Johnson (basketball)
• Kyle Livingstone (baseball)
• Carson Smith (baseball)

Daily Record Female Athlete of the Year

• Britney Curry (soccer)
  
• Diamond Ford (basketball)
• Chandler Hall (softball)
• Krista Puisite (golf)

Daily Record Newcomer of the Year

• Preslie Alexander (volleyball)
• Tyler Arndt (football)
• Diamond Ford (basketball)
• Anna Hernandez (softball)