In the near future Oregon State will make a decision on who will be the next coach to lead their football program. Many names have started to be thrown around. Some of those names include Jack Del Rio, Mike Norvell, Brady Hoke (please no), Jeff Tedford, and Scott Frost. While some of these names are far fetched and some may be more realistic it is going to be a bit of a sell job to any of these potential coaches as to why Corvallis is a place where they want to come to coach.
A few of these items may be deal breakers for some potential candidates, so the Beaver hierarchy will have to be real diligent in their search and I think they will have to open up their pocketbook to bring in a coach who wants to be here and make a name for themselves in Corvallis.
The football team is 2-12 in the last 14 fourteen Pac-12 games. Some will blame the coaching on this one, some will blame the players, or the talent level that the Beavers have had. However, this is a stat that is hard to take for the fans. They want a winner and this is not showing them that winning is going to happen.
Next, over the course of the last four years the Beavers have a losing record. The record the past four years has been a paltry 29-33 and even worse 19-26 record in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is a highly competitive conference and if you want your program to be taken seriously, seven games below .500 is not going to get it done.
Staying with the struggles of winning over the course of the past few years. They have lost seven straight games to the in state rival Oregon Ducks. Oregon State hasn't won a game in the Civil War since 2007 and it is starting to affect the fan base. They want to beat the Ducks so bad and it is causing Duck jealousy amongst the Beaver fan base. The new coach is going to have deal with this jealousy at the outset of his reign. If the Beavs can take down Oregon in the next few years and maybe take them down a couple of times it will cause the fan base to feel like they can compete on a higher level.
Replacing Sean Mannion. This will be a huge task for any coach that gets hired in Corvallis. He had a magnificent career at Oregon State. As of right now and for the near future, he is the all time passing leader in Pac-12 history. He passed for a record 13,600 yards in his stint for the Beavers. His experience, arm, maturity, and all other intangibles he brought to the field will be sorely missed by his former players, fans, and coaches.
Attendance. Now, Reser Stadium is not a huge stadium by todays standards, but it never was. The sold out attendance is a little over 45,000 people. It gets loud, but it is not the L.A. Coliseum, The Rose Bowl, Husky Stadium, or even Autzen Stadium. The new coach will have to address this issue and make sure that the play on the field maximizes as much noise as the crowd can generate. Attendance has been averaging a little over 42,000 people, so they are not selling out. Once again, the play on the field has had something to do with the non sellouts. The new coach will have to bring that new enthusiasm and provide that reason for the other 3,000 fans to show up and sell out Reser Stadium.
The Beavers are losing nine starters on defense and that is going to be an area of concern because even with those nine starters in there, they still gave up 31 points a game and you will not win many ball games with that kind of statistic. Even in the spread offense happy Pac-12 where defense is an after thought you still have to get stops if you want to win in this tough conference, so this aspect of the team will come down to who the coaches can recruit to Corvallis.
Storm Woods. The returning junior tailback accounted for over 50 percent of the teams offense in the Civil War game. He had 128 yards rushing, 58 passing. This is a great thing that the new coach will inherit. He currently ranks in seventh place in the programs history with 2,183 rushing yards. He is a terrific weapon and is a talent that is game planned against by opposing Pac-12 defensive coaches.
The offensive line will be back. The offensive line will be experienced and hopefully anchored by All-American Center Isaac Seumalo. Seaumalo whose father is also a coach for Oregon State is expected to return, but hasn't made his intentions clear as of yet. This young man returns and the line goes from a very good line, to a phenomenal line. He's that kind of talent and he has been starting since he was true freshman, so that tells you right there what kind of talent he possesses.
Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. This is what college football comes down too many times. You win and it's easier to recruit because kids want to play for somebody that wins. They want to play for a coach who is going to give them a chance to play. Players that come to Corvallis find that opportunity to play and to make a name for themselves. Whoever takes the helm of the football program is going to have to be a great seller. Corvallis is a nice little city, but its not anywhere near the big city lights that a Miami or L.A could provide for a player. Like I said, the new coach is going to have to sell the positives of being at Oregon State and Corvallis. If he can recruit, the sky could be the limit for the program. Winning makes the recruiting part much easier for a coach. Just ask any Oregon coach. It's not that Eugene is any hot bed of night life for young athletes, but they win and look has happened to the program.
In the end, the new coach of the Beavers will have a lot to deal with immediately. They need a coach that will be devoted to bringing the program to a higher level and not looking to use the university as a stepping stone to a bigger, better job. Let's hope the Beaver powers that be realize that this may be the most important hire in the programs history. Just saying...
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