So long, farewell
You didn't think I had a "Sound of Music" reference it me, did you?
It seems strange that less than a month after being at one of the most exciting college football games in years, Georgia Southern fired their football coach, Mike Sewak, for failing to meet the program's lofty expectations.
National championships aren't wished for at Georgia Southern. They're expected. Coaches who fail to meet those expectations become former coaches who failed to meet those expectations. You see, the Eagles have won six national titles in the past 20 years. That's 30 percent, for those of you who are math-impaired.
Making things more difficult for Sewak is that he was following a legend in Paul Johnson. He came to Georgia Southern in 1997 and proceeded to win 62 of the 72 games he coached for the Eagles. He won the national championship in 1999 and 2000, finished second in 1998, lost in the semifinals in 2001 and in the quarterfinals in 1997. So of his 10 losses, three were in the playoffs and another two were against 1-A teams. Johnson left in 2001 to accept the head coaching position at the Naval Academy.
More than his success on the field, Johnson restored the "fear factor" to GSU. The Eagles were feared in football circles. Following a narrow 48-41 win over Oregon State, then head coach Dennis Ericson (formerly of the vaunted Miami Hurricanes) told his athletic director to never schedule GSU again. Oregon State, by the way, had an additional 22 scholarships and one year later went on to defeat Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Under Johnson, the Eagles never lost more than three games a season. Under Sewak, The Eagles lost at least three games a season every year. While Sewak's career record is pretty good (35-14) and his conference record isn't bad either (23-7), it wasn't up to the sky-high standards Eagle fans have grown to expect. Even being named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 wasn't enough.
For most schools, a winning percentage of .714 warrants a contract extension. At Georgia Southern, it gets you a pink slip.
This isn't the first time the Eagles have let go of a very successful coach who didn't quite measure up.
Sewak's firing is eerily reminiscent of GSU Athletic Director Sam Baker's first splash at the school a decade ago.
Baker came to Statesboro at the beginning of the 1996 calendar year to a program that had recently finished 9-4 with a loss in the playoffs to eventual champion Montana. That team was coached by Tim Stowers, who had the unenviable task of following Erk Russell. Russell was the man who resurrected the GSU program and led the Eagles to national titles in 1985, 1986 and 1989. Keep in mind that when Russell was hired in 1981, the school had to scurry across the street to Kmart to buy a football for the press conference. In other words, he had success faster than Brad Pitt at a high school prom.
Stowers inherited the program in 1990 that was coming off the first 15-0 season in college football history. In fact, the Eagles were one fumble away from being back-to-back champions, having lost the 1988 title game 17-12. (Even though I bring it up 17 years later, I'm not bitter.)
He proceeded to start 1-3 before reeling off 11 straight wins en route to the Eagles fourth title in six years. Things were looking better for the Eagles than a Catherine Zeta-Jones look-alike contest (and yes, that's an excuse to post a photo of the lovely Ms. Zeta-Jones.)
Unfortunately, Stowers never could live up to the expectations set by Erk Russell. Fair or unfair, he was judged against the success of the early Eagles. Despite winning a title in 1990, being named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 1993 and a career 51-23 record (a .689 winning percentage), Baker fired Stowers in March of 1996.
Stowers did have several things working against him. Despite his success, the offense (the spread option, Georgia Southern's calling card) had become predictable and boring. Attendance was hovering around 12,000 fans a game, down considerably from the Eagles heyday in the 80s.
Things hadn't deteriorated to that point yet for Sewak, but there was growing skepticism among many Eagle fans about Sewak's ability to lead the Eagles back to the promised land. Several fans on GSU's unofficial message board had been calling for Sewak's firing for quite some time (ahhh, to be a fan in the age of the Internet where you can post your thoughts and feelings as fact.) Surprisingly, firemikesewak.com was still available as of yesterday morning. However, firethenextguy.com was taken.
Where do the Eagles go from here? I really don't know. There aren't many coaches knowledgeable in the style of offense the Eagles run, but we've recruited players who fit in that system. Any change in the offense would require patience among the Eagle faithful and, to borrow a phrase from Stephen A. Smith, quite frankly I don't think Eagle fans are willing to wait.
With any luck, Scott will write something about the Sewak firing. He's got a wealth of knowledge about GSU football, having covered it for several years for the Statesboro Herald.
It seems strange that less than a month after being at one of the most exciting college football games in years, Georgia Southern fired their football coach, Mike Sewak, for failing to meet the program's lofty expectations.
National championships aren't wished for at Georgia Southern. They're expected. Coaches who fail to meet those expectations become former coaches who failed to meet those expectations. You see, the Eagles have won six national titles in the past 20 years. That's 30 percent, for those of you who are math-impaired.
Making things more difficult for Sewak is that he was following a legend in Paul Johnson. He came to Georgia Southern in 1997 and proceeded to win 62 of the 72 games he coached for the Eagles. He won the national championship in 1999 and 2000, finished second in 1998, lost in the semifinals in 2001 and in the quarterfinals in 1997. So of his 10 losses, three were in the playoffs and another two were against 1-A teams. Johnson left in 2001 to accept the head coaching position at the Naval Academy.
More than his success on the field, Johnson restored the "fear factor" to GSU. The Eagles were feared in football circles. Following a narrow 48-41 win over Oregon State, then head coach Dennis Ericson (formerly of the vaunted Miami Hurricanes) told his athletic director to never schedule GSU again. Oregon State, by the way, had an additional 22 scholarships and one year later went on to defeat Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Under Johnson, the Eagles never lost more than three games a season. Under Sewak, The Eagles lost at least three games a season every year. While Sewak's career record is pretty good (35-14) and his conference record isn't bad either (23-7), it wasn't up to the sky-high standards Eagle fans have grown to expect. Even being named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 wasn't enough.
For most schools, a winning percentage of .714 warrants a contract extension. At Georgia Southern, it gets you a pink slip.
This isn't the first time the Eagles have let go of a very successful coach who didn't quite measure up.
Sewak's firing is eerily reminiscent of GSU Athletic Director Sam Baker's first splash at the school a decade ago.
Baker came to Statesboro at the beginning of the 1996 calendar year to a program that had recently finished 9-4 with a loss in the playoffs to eventual champion Montana. That team was coached by Tim Stowers, who had the unenviable task of following Erk Russell. Russell was the man who resurrected the GSU program and led the Eagles to national titles in 1985, 1986 and 1989. Keep in mind that when Russell was hired in 1981, the school had to scurry across the street to Kmart to buy a football for the press conference. In other words, he had success faster than Brad Pitt at a high school prom.
Stowers inherited the program in 1990 that was coming off the first 15-0 season in college football history. In fact, the Eagles were one fumble away from being back-to-back champions, having lost the 1988 title game 17-12. (Even though I bring it up 17 years later, I'm not bitter.)
He proceeded to start 1-3 before reeling off 11 straight wins en route to the Eagles fourth title in six years. Things were looking better for the Eagles than a Catherine Zeta-Jones look-alike contest (and yes, that's an excuse to post a photo of the lovely Ms. Zeta-Jones.)Unfortunately, Stowers never could live up to the expectations set by Erk Russell. Fair or unfair, he was judged against the success of the early Eagles. Despite winning a title in 1990, being named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 1993 and a career 51-23 record (a .689 winning percentage), Baker fired Stowers in March of 1996.
Stowers did have several things working against him. Despite his success, the offense (the spread option, Georgia Southern's calling card) had become predictable and boring. Attendance was hovering around 12,000 fans a game, down considerably from the Eagles heyday in the 80s.
Things hadn't deteriorated to that point yet for Sewak, but there was growing skepticism among many Eagle fans about Sewak's ability to lead the Eagles back to the promised land. Several fans on GSU's unofficial message board had been calling for Sewak's firing for quite some time (ahhh, to be a fan in the age of the Internet where you can post your thoughts and feelings as fact.) Surprisingly, firemikesewak.com was still available as of yesterday morning. However, firethenextguy.com was taken.
Where do the Eagles go from here? I really don't know. There aren't many coaches knowledgeable in the style of offense the Eagles run, but we've recruited players who fit in that system. Any change in the offense would require patience among the Eagle faithful and, to borrow a phrase from Stephen A. Smith, quite frankly I don't think Eagle fans are willing to wait.
With any luck, Scott will write something about the Sewak firing. He's got a wealth of knowledge about GSU football, having covered it for several years for the Statesboro Herald.
posted by Luke at 6:00 PM
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