Fire Chris Ault

In preparation for the upcoming season, now less than 48 hours away, I would like to reach back into the archives and reopen some 'old wounds.'

From January, 2010:
Shackled to a Corpse

We now have statements from both AD Groth and Coach Ault.  Ault stays, Wilson (sigh) stays, Buh is in, House is definately out. 

Groth's Statement

Ault's Statement

Groth not only reafirms her backing of Ault, she reinforces it with a diatribe of accolades, concluding by saying that: "...Coach Ault has 100 percent of (her) support and the support of this athletics program going into next year."  So, like Germany with Austria-Hungary in the First World War, we are a program shackled to a corpse.

At least for next season.

For it would seem that not all is as it appears.  Groth wasted no time heaping on the defense (I'll stop short of calling it all 'praise') for Ault and the 2009 Wolf Pack, but it quickly ran to excess (the lady doth protest too much, methinks), starting with a rather trite "He's done a heck of a lot for this institution...."

She began with: "The past couple of weeks, Coach Ault and I have had some good conversations, very good conversations."  Translation: Coach Ault and I have had some serious conversations.

She continued: "The average NCAA attendance when I arrived six years ago was 9,000. Last year, it was 18,000. It’s doubled in the six years he’s been coaching."  Translation: I'm going to sidestep a bit while I try to convince you (and myself) that we are going the right direction.

And on... "Here’s some of the challenges. We have community and fan indifference right now in our football program. We need to fix that, all of us together."  Translation: Transfering the blame off of Ault (and onto THE COMMUNITY!!!) takes the heat off of me, too!

"So how do we move forward? In talking with Coach Ault, I told him he needed to make a change in his defensive staff, and he agreed. It had to be done, and it wasn’t just in the defensive coordinator position."  Translation: I am starting to flex some authority over Ault here...see how serious our talks acutally were.

"One of the things that I told Coach Ault is that he shouldn’t have been put in that position in the Hawaii Bowl. His assistant coaches, it’s their responsibility to make sure that our team is prepared."  Translation: Did I go too far?  Back off!  Back off!

Ault's comments, on the otherhand, had a certain tenacity and fervor to them.  While he admitted early that the buck stops with him, he reinforced the blame of the defensive coaching staff and the community at large.  The overall flavor of his tenor: Ault was trying to sound strong, but now knows that his program is under the microscope...in short, he was on the defensive.

Read both statements, and consider the tenor of what the both of them are saying; let it sink in a little, and I think that nine out of ten of us will come to the same conclusion:

Ault is officially on probation.

Frankly, they wouldn't have had such an elaborate press conference for a routine firing, and they certainly wouldn't have gone through so many pains to appear riteous and even altruistic in their efforts if it meant anything else.  As with any other time a head coach makes a peculiar and potentially shattering move Ault could have run with the punches; he could have released a prepared statement; and there was no real reason for Groth to become so embroiled in the process, let alone to share the spotlight and discuss "...the future of the program."

And blaming the community is a sign of desperation, and a bad tactical move...a classic example of biting the hand that feeds you.  And Groth was quick to point out that attendance averages have doubled in the past six years, followed quickly by her lump of communal blame.  I don't think that anyone denies that community support could be stronger, and at the very least they admit the need to outreach and divine the needs and the desires of the larger community (Ault's tenure aside).  Then again, admiting that need is nothing new, as it seems to come up every year.

For the record, to compare extremes: the population of the greater Reno area and immediate outlying metro area: approx. 677,386; the population of the greater Lincoln, NE metro area: approx. 292,219.  According to Groth, average Mackay Stadium attendance in 2009: 18,000; average Memorial Stadium attendance in 2009: 85,888 (although it is a stone's throw from the 837,925 metro area of Omaha).  Now I'm not comparing the two programs, but a FBS football program for the flagship institution of the state in a metro area of that size should theoretically have little trouble bringing in a capacity crowd for humble little Mackay Stadium. 

For another comparison: Washtenaw County, MI (home of Ann Arbor and, therefore, the University of Michigan) has a total of 322,895; the metro area for Ann Arbor is 341,847; UM averaged 108,983 per game in 2009...and Michigan is struggling with a horrid economy and declining population (and UM went 5-7 overall, and 1-7 in the Big Ten).

There is something off here, but they need to truly evaluate what is off and why before playing the 'blame the community' card.  But play they did, and that is bad protocol and classless on the part of both parties. 

Yet regardless of where the blame has been 'officially' put, some conclusions are obvious: Groth is beginning to dictate terms to Ault; Ault is on the defensive; Ault is on probation...

...Ault is on probation...

...but, for now, the Pack is mired.

 This somehow seems fitting.