In December, 41 years ago , Shalamar’s “Second Time Around” debuted on the Billboard charts and proved to be a big hit.
When it comes to college football head coaches, the Second Time Around has repeatedly proven to be a big dud, with the Mountain West providing the latest testimony.
Two years ago, the Odyssey was shocked when Gary Andersen was tabbed as the Utah State head coach when Matt Wells left for the barren tumbleweeds of West Texas. While Anderson had done fantastic things in his first stint in the aptly named Cache Valley, his actions after leaving the Aggies for Wisconsin are straight out of bizarro world. He leaves Wisconsin for Oregon State?!?! Was the Wisconsin AD, Barry Alvarez, impossible to work for? However, this move was at least honorable. Quitting on Oregon State in the middle of the season was not. To the Odyssey, Anderson waiving the white flag in Corvallis made him radioactive as a future head coach hire, despite the fact that Anderson left a lot of money on the table. Utah State looks awful this year and Anderson exited (voluntary or not?) after 3 embarrassments to open 2020.
To San Diego State’s dismay, Rocky Long no longer wanted the responsibilities as a head coach after the 2019 season. They recycled Brady Hoke. It was an easy, and probably a relatively inexpensive hire, since Hoke was already on the staff. Hoke’s two solid seasons in 2009-10 as SDSU head man (and an excellent 2008 at Ball State) got him the gig in Ann Arbor. After an excellent 11-2 debut season in 2011, it was downhill in each of Hoke’s 3 subsequent years.
In 2020, SDSU already has 3 losses despite some terrific running backs and a ball-hawking defense. Last Saturday, the Aztecs managed all of 155 yards of offense against a Colorado team that nobody would confuse with a defensive juggernaut. The problem is that the Aztecs have no quarterback. With no proven starter heading into 2020, San Diego State had lined up a quality transfer in Jack Sears. However, Hoke could not keep Sears committed in the wake of Long’s unexpected departure. Even with quarterbacks jumping into the transfer portal like Mexican jumping beans, Hoke could not fix the position. To say that the QB position has been a disaster for SDSU would be understatement. The loss of Long cannot be understated. Truth be told, Long won for 9 years without a top-tier QB. To Hoke’s credit, one of the big reasons for his success in his first SDSU go-round was his vision in hiring a great defensive coordinator by the name of Rocky Long. From Long to Hoke is a serious drop in the Odyssey’s opinion.
Are these Mountain West duds an outlier? History says no, based on two Pac-10 sagas. John Robinson’s initial 7 years at USC produced a booming 67-14-2 mark. After a decade hiatus, his 2nd term dipped to 37-21-1.
Bill Walsh’s first 2 years at Stanford resulted in an impressive 17-7 record that resulted in his hire by the 49ers. His post-49er return to The Farm was a mediocre 17-17-1.
Recycling your head coach has turned out to be as problematic as going back to an old girl friend. In both cases, caution is advised.