wildstangs
04-04-2009, 03:19 PM
I bet Hal Mumme gets the job. Unless McMurry wants to match their crosstown rival HSU and have a coach in their mid 70's.....
Whoever is named the next head football coach at McMurry University faces a definite rebuilding project.
McMurry is 16-63 over the past eight seasons and will enter 2009 with a 13-game losing streak. McMurry went 0-10 in 2008, the third winless season in school history. All three have come in the last eight years.
A diverse field of five finalists have interviewed for the job week, with McMurry athletic directory Ron Holmes saying he's looking for "someone who'll turn it around."
Former New Mexico State and Kentucky coach Hal Mumme, McMurry interim coach Jimmy Edwards, longtime high school coach W.T. Stapler, Arkansas director of high school relations Dean Campbell and Fort Worth South Hills head coach Jerry Watson are the candidates to replace Donny Gray, who resigned Feb. 23 after going 2-18 in two seasons.
"Any one of them can turn it around," Holmes said. "If they can't, we may have to go back to Amos Alonzo Stagg or Knute Rockne and conjure up their spirits and get them back here.
"Dean, Hal and Jerry have college experience. W.T., everyone across the state knows him. Jimmy Edwards has been holding the fort for us and is worthy of consideration."
Football has been one of the few areas in the McMurry athletic program that has not enjoyed recent success. The men's track and field team won the outdoor national title last year and the school has claimed seven indoor and outdoor national titles over the past two years. The baseball team won the American Southwest Conference title last year and hosted an NCAA Division III regional, and both men's and women's basketball teams won American Southwest West Division titles this year.
As part of the interview process, Holmes said, candidates offered their views of McMurry's situation and their solutions. Holmes, who is also McMurry's head men's basketball coach, said the job will likely be upgraded to accommodate a new coach.
"These guys can educate us," Holmes said. "All five are coming from different experiences. We've heard a lot of perspectives. We have opened ourselves up to them.
"They are very diverse but very strong candidates."
Easily the highest-profiled of the finalists, Mumme, who turned 57 last week, has been through rocky times in the past six months. He was fired in December after four seasons at NMSU and then diagnosed with prostate cancer in January. Mumme underwent surgery Feb. 4. At the time, he expressed a desire to return to coaching for the 2009 season.
"He is a cancer survivor and his wife is a cancer survivor," Holmes said. "He invented the Air Raid. He has been to the top of the mountain that God had planned for him. He is looking for a place for his family to settle down. He said he has made six huge moves and doesn't want another one."
The Aggies went 3-9 last seven, losing the final seven games, and were 11-38 during Mumme's tenure.
A former Texas high school coach, Mumme built winning programs at NAIA Iowa Wesleyan and NCAA Division II Valdosta State before being hired at Kentucky in 1997. He resigned after the 2000 season following months of investigation into possible NCAA violations.
"While not admitting to any NCAA violations, he felt that the problems we had encountered with our football program were under his watch, and he felt like he should shoulder the responsibility for those problems," then-Kentucky athletic director Larry Ivy said after Mumme stepped down Feb. 6, 2001, the day before national signing day.
"They've had some bumps in the road," Holmes said. "Theirs are just more public and not any more severe than anyone else in Abilene."
Stapler retired after the 1996 season and is in his mid-70s. Edwards has been in coaching for 38 years.
Holmes said an offer is expected to be made next week by McMurry President John Russell. A five-member committee, which includes Holmes, will make a recommendation to Russell.
However, Holmes and Russell are playing in a charity golf tournament today.
"I'll be in the cart with him and we'll probably have our cell phones," Holmes said Friday. "He may pull the trigger."
Whoever is named the next head football coach at McMurry University faces a definite rebuilding project.
McMurry is 16-63 over the past eight seasons and will enter 2009 with a 13-game losing streak. McMurry went 0-10 in 2008, the third winless season in school history. All three have come in the last eight years.
A diverse field of five finalists have interviewed for the job week, with McMurry athletic directory Ron Holmes saying he's looking for "someone who'll turn it around."
Former New Mexico State and Kentucky coach Hal Mumme, McMurry interim coach Jimmy Edwards, longtime high school coach W.T. Stapler, Arkansas director of high school relations Dean Campbell and Fort Worth South Hills head coach Jerry Watson are the candidates to replace Donny Gray, who resigned Feb. 23 after going 2-18 in two seasons.
"Any one of them can turn it around," Holmes said. "If they can't, we may have to go back to Amos Alonzo Stagg or Knute Rockne and conjure up their spirits and get them back here.
"Dean, Hal and Jerry have college experience. W.T., everyone across the state knows him. Jimmy Edwards has been holding the fort for us and is worthy of consideration."
Football has been one of the few areas in the McMurry athletic program that has not enjoyed recent success. The men's track and field team won the outdoor national title last year and the school has claimed seven indoor and outdoor national titles over the past two years. The baseball team won the American Southwest Conference title last year and hosted an NCAA Division III regional, and both men's and women's basketball teams won American Southwest West Division titles this year.
As part of the interview process, Holmes said, candidates offered their views of McMurry's situation and their solutions. Holmes, who is also McMurry's head men's basketball coach, said the job will likely be upgraded to accommodate a new coach.
"These guys can educate us," Holmes said. "All five are coming from different experiences. We've heard a lot of perspectives. We have opened ourselves up to them.
"They are very diverse but very strong candidates."
Easily the highest-profiled of the finalists, Mumme, who turned 57 last week, has been through rocky times in the past six months. He was fired in December after four seasons at NMSU and then diagnosed with prostate cancer in January. Mumme underwent surgery Feb. 4. At the time, he expressed a desire to return to coaching for the 2009 season.
"He is a cancer survivor and his wife is a cancer survivor," Holmes said. "He invented the Air Raid. He has been to the top of the mountain that God had planned for him. He is looking for a place for his family to settle down. He said he has made six huge moves and doesn't want another one."
The Aggies went 3-9 last seven, losing the final seven games, and were 11-38 during Mumme's tenure.
A former Texas high school coach, Mumme built winning programs at NAIA Iowa Wesleyan and NCAA Division II Valdosta State before being hired at Kentucky in 1997. He resigned after the 2000 season following months of investigation into possible NCAA violations.
"While not admitting to any NCAA violations, he felt that the problems we had encountered with our football program were under his watch, and he felt like he should shoulder the responsibility for those problems," then-Kentucky athletic director Larry Ivy said after Mumme stepped down Feb. 6, 2001, the day before national signing day.
"They've had some bumps in the road," Holmes said. "Theirs are just more public and not any more severe than anyone else in Abilene."
Stapler retired after the 1996 season and is in his mid-70s. Edwards has been in coaching for 38 years.
Holmes said an offer is expected to be made next week by McMurry President John Russell. A five-member committee, which includes Holmes, will make a recommendation to Russell.
However, Holmes and Russell are playing in a charity golf tournament today.
"I'll be in the cart with him and we'll probably have our cell phones," Holmes said Friday. "He may pull the trigger."