When you look at the football coaches at Kent State with winning records, what characteristics do they share? For those who might have forgotten, Kent State actually had winning records in ‘72, '73, '74, ’76, ’77, ’87, 2001, 2012 and went to the Tangerine Bowl in 1972 and the GoDaddy.com Bowl in 2012. The Golden Flashes also had winning seasons in all but one year from 1946-56, but because college football has changed so much since the 40s and 50s, for purpose of this discussion, I will look at KSU's coaches who had at least one winning record since the 70s. Don James had winning seasons in ’72, ’73, and ’74. Dennis Fitzgerald had winning records in ’76 and ’77. Glen Mason had a winning season in ’87, Dean Pees had a winning record in 2001, and Darrell Hazell had a winning season in 20012.
Most fans would agree that Don James was KSU's finest football coach. James compiled a 25-19 record in three years at Kent. From 1974-1992, James was head coach for the University of Washington. Highlights include guiding his Washington teams to the national championship in 1991, six Rose Bowls (4 wins, 2 losses), an Orange Bowl title in 1985 and fifteen bowl games (10 wins, 5 losses) in eighteen years. In all, James compiled a 153-57-2 record, including a conference record 99 wins in Pac-10 conference play. James was named national college coach of the year in 1984 and 1991. In 1997, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Fitzgerald had two winning seasons but many people would say that he won in ’76 and ’77 on James’ recruits and that he did not live up to the expectations set by James while he was at Kent. Although the Flashes were favored to win the MAC in ’77, Fitzgerald went 5-4 in the MAC that year. James was head coach when Jack Lambert helped the Flashes win their only MAC title, however it was Fitzgerald who Lambert picked to present him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In Lambert’s Hall of Fame speech, Lambert said, “I could have chosen any one of these men to be my presenter today, because they were all so instrumental in my success. But I chose Coach Fitzgerald because I thought he, more than anyone else, taught me the techniques and the fundamentals I used throughout college and professional football. But maybe more importantly, he took a raw talent and raw toughness in me and refined it into a mental discipline -- a discipline that is necessary to excel."
Glen Mason’s career record as a head coach is 123-121-1 in 21 seasons. After coaching two years at Kent State, Mason became the head coach at Kansas and Minnesota. If you remember, KSU beat the Jayhawks in ’87 the year before he became the head coach at Kansas. At Minnesota, Mason's record is 64-57 and 5-4 in bowl games.
Dean Pees had one winning season while he was at Kent. Despite all the criticism of Pees, you have to give him credit for recruiting Josh Cribbs, who is the all-time total offense leader with 10,839 yards and also holds school records in rushing touchdowns (38), pass completions (616), pass attempts (1,123), passing yardage (7,169), touchdowns scored (41), and points scored (246). And despite his poor overall record at Kent State, Bill Belichick thought enough of Pees to hire him as a defensive coach at New England.
Darrell Hazell's career record at Kent State is 16-10. He guided the Flashes to a 11-3 record in 20012 before taking the head coaching position at Purdue. Although Hazell was highly successful in his second year, I will argue that he was able to win because he was the beneficiary of Doug Martin's recruits. Martin's last two recruiting classes (2009 and 2010) were ranked 1st and 2nd in the MAC respectively. Hazell's current overall record at Purdue is 4-20 and 1-15 in the Big Ten. Despite Hazell's success in 2012, he has not been able to win with his own recruits and his coaching position at Purdue appears to be in serious jeopardy.
Now when you look at these coaches, do you see any commonality among them? Let’s look at personality. With exception of Glen Mason and Darrell Hazell, none of the other coaches had what you call charm, glamour, vigor, vitality or charisma. Certainly Don James didn’t have much pizzazz about him, being a bland sort of guy. And Dean Pees had about as much charisma as Bill Belichick.
So what was it about these coaches that made them different from all the others who coached at Kent? What about their coaching backgrounds?
Although James played quarterback for the University of Miami, where he set five school passing records, he was a defensive backs coach under Bill Peterson at Florida State and a defensive coordinator for Eddie Crowder at Colorado.
Mason was an offensive and defensive coach when he was an assistant at Ohio State. Although Mason played linebacker at Ohio State, he served as the outside linebackers coach and the offensive line coach at Ohio State before he was later promoted to offensive coordinator.
Pees was the defensive coordinator at Miami University and served as the secondary coach at the United States Naval Academy. He then became the defensive coordinator under Nick Saban at the University of Toledo and was the secondary coach for Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame. Pees then worked as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach again under Saban at Michigan State before earning his first head coaching job at Kent State.
So with the exception of Mason, who served as a defensive and offensive coach at Ohio State, and Hazell, who was a wide receivers coach at Western Michigan, Rutgers, and Ohio State, the other coaches mentioned above were defensive coaches. And since all but Hazell were defensive coaches at one time, one might conclude that defensive oriented coaches have the best chance of winning at KSU. One could even make that argument in college football.
Although Nick Saban was never a head coach at Kent State, he was an assistant coach for four years. During the ’75 and ’76 seasons, he coached linebackers. With a career college record of 177-59-1, Saban is considered the best coach in college football today leading the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Championship in 2003 and the Alabama Crimson Tide to BCS and AP national championships in the 2009, 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Like James, Fitzgerald, Mason, and Pees, Paul Haynes is a defensive minded coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Arkansas and also served as the secondary coach for the Razorbacks. Prior to that Haynes served as the co-defensive coordinator and as the defensive backs coach at Ohio State.
Although his first two years at Kent have been difficult, I believe Coach Haynes has the background and character to be successful. What I like most about Haynes is his ability to find players who play with a lot of heart. Two players who exemplify this are Nate and Nick Holley. Nate Holley, a Jim Thorpe Award Watch List candidate, is one of 42 players on the preseason list that honors the nation's best defensive back. The Mid-American Conference's leading tackler last season, Holley ranked third in the nation in tackles per game (12.5) in 2014 and sixth in solo tackles (6.8) and became just the second Kent State sophomore in five years to be named to the all-conference first team. Running back Nick Holley, led the team with 516 rushing yards and made 27 catches for 199 yards and one touchdown last season. Despite their competitiveness Haynes was the only one to offer the Holley's a scholarship. So what did Haynes see in them that other coaches didn't see? As a player's coach, Haynes knows that great competitors like Nick and Nate Holley want to be challenged and want to be coached. Players like them are never complacent and enjoy hard work.
Certainly, it will take more players like the Holley's to become competitive again but like the defensive minded coaches who preceded him, I believe Coach Haynes has the qualities and background to be successful at Kent State.
Most fans would agree that Don James was KSU's finest football coach. James compiled a 25-19 record in three years at Kent. From 1974-1992, James was head coach for the University of Washington. Highlights include guiding his Washington teams to the national championship in 1991, six Rose Bowls (4 wins, 2 losses), an Orange Bowl title in 1985 and fifteen bowl games (10 wins, 5 losses) in eighteen years. In all, James compiled a 153-57-2 record, including a conference record 99 wins in Pac-10 conference play. James was named national college coach of the year in 1984 and 1991. In 1997, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Fitzgerald had two winning seasons but many people would say that he won in ’76 and ’77 on James’ recruits and that he did not live up to the expectations set by James while he was at Kent. Although the Flashes were favored to win the MAC in ’77, Fitzgerald went 5-4 in the MAC that year. James was head coach when Jack Lambert helped the Flashes win their only MAC title, however it was Fitzgerald who Lambert picked to present him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In Lambert’s Hall of Fame speech, Lambert said, “I could have chosen any one of these men to be my presenter today, because they were all so instrumental in my success. But I chose Coach Fitzgerald because I thought he, more than anyone else, taught me the techniques and the fundamentals I used throughout college and professional football. But maybe more importantly, he took a raw talent and raw toughness in me and refined it into a mental discipline -- a discipline that is necessary to excel."
Glen Mason’s career record as a head coach is 123-121-1 in 21 seasons. After coaching two years at Kent State, Mason became the head coach at Kansas and Minnesota. If you remember, KSU beat the Jayhawks in ’87 the year before he became the head coach at Kansas. At Minnesota, Mason's record is 64-57 and 5-4 in bowl games.
Dean Pees had one winning season while he was at Kent. Despite all the criticism of Pees, you have to give him credit for recruiting Josh Cribbs, who is the all-time total offense leader with 10,839 yards and also holds school records in rushing touchdowns (38), pass completions (616), pass attempts (1,123), passing yardage (7,169), touchdowns scored (41), and points scored (246). And despite his poor overall record at Kent State, Bill Belichick thought enough of Pees to hire him as a defensive coach at New England.
Darrell Hazell's career record at Kent State is 16-10. He guided the Flashes to a 11-3 record in 20012 before taking the head coaching position at Purdue. Although Hazell was highly successful in his second year, I will argue that he was able to win because he was the beneficiary of Doug Martin's recruits. Martin's last two recruiting classes (2009 and 2010) were ranked 1st and 2nd in the MAC respectively. Hazell's current overall record at Purdue is 4-20 and 1-15 in the Big Ten. Despite Hazell's success in 2012, he has not been able to win with his own recruits and his coaching position at Purdue appears to be in serious jeopardy.
Now when you look at these coaches, do you see any commonality among them? Let’s look at personality. With exception of Glen Mason and Darrell Hazell, none of the other coaches had what you call charm, glamour, vigor, vitality or charisma. Certainly Don James didn’t have much pizzazz about him, being a bland sort of guy. And Dean Pees had about as much charisma as Bill Belichick.
So what was it about these coaches that made them different from all the others who coached at Kent? What about their coaching backgrounds?
Although James played quarterback for the University of Miami, where he set five school passing records, he was a defensive backs coach under Bill Peterson at Florida State and a defensive coordinator for Eddie Crowder at Colorado.
Mason was an offensive and defensive coach when he was an assistant at Ohio State. Although Mason played linebacker at Ohio State, he served as the outside linebackers coach and the offensive line coach at Ohio State before he was later promoted to offensive coordinator.
Pees was the defensive coordinator at Miami University and served as the secondary coach at the United States Naval Academy. He then became the defensive coordinator under Nick Saban at the University of Toledo and was the secondary coach for Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame. Pees then worked as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach again under Saban at Michigan State before earning his first head coaching job at Kent State.
So with the exception of Mason, who served as a defensive and offensive coach at Ohio State, and Hazell, who was a wide receivers coach at Western Michigan, Rutgers, and Ohio State, the other coaches mentioned above were defensive coaches. And since all but Hazell were defensive coaches at one time, one might conclude that defensive oriented coaches have the best chance of winning at KSU. One could even make that argument in college football.
Although Nick Saban was never a head coach at Kent State, he was an assistant coach for four years. During the ’75 and ’76 seasons, he coached linebackers. With a career college record of 177-59-1, Saban is considered the best coach in college football today leading the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Championship in 2003 and the Alabama Crimson Tide to BCS and AP national championships in the 2009, 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Like James, Fitzgerald, Mason, and Pees, Paul Haynes is a defensive minded coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Arkansas and also served as the secondary coach for the Razorbacks. Prior to that Haynes served as the co-defensive coordinator and as the defensive backs coach at Ohio State.
Although his first two years at Kent have been difficult, I believe Coach Haynes has the background and character to be successful. What I like most about Haynes is his ability to find players who play with a lot of heart. Two players who exemplify this are Nate and Nick Holley. Nate Holley, a Jim Thorpe Award Watch List candidate, is one of 42 players on the preseason list that honors the nation's best defensive back. The Mid-American Conference's leading tackler last season, Holley ranked third in the nation in tackles per game (12.5) in 2014 and sixth in solo tackles (6.8) and became just the second Kent State sophomore in five years to be named to the all-conference first team. Running back Nick Holley, led the team with 516 rushing yards and made 27 catches for 199 yards and one touchdown last season. Despite their competitiveness Haynes was the only one to offer the Holley's a scholarship. So what did Haynes see in them that other coaches didn't see? As a player's coach, Haynes knows that great competitors like Nick and Nate Holley want to be challenged and want to be coached. Players like them are never complacent and enjoy hard work.
Certainly, it will take more players like the Holley's to become competitive again but like the defensive minded coaches who preceded him, I believe Coach Haynes has the qualities and background to be successful at Kent State.
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