Comments on: Mike Stoops’ legacy: He put in the foundation

By: Mark B. Evans

Mark B. Evans — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:36:56 +0000

I think you mean "axe to grind."

By: jlintuc

jlintuc — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:28:28 +0000

You are mistaken. There is absolutely no evidence what-so-ever that he abused the players. Ask anyone who has any inside knowledge of the program. Sounds like you have a hatchet to bury…

By: Mark B. Evans

Mark B. Evans — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:30:15 +0000

I never liked Stoops, but this is nicely done, AG. He wasn't as bad as frustrated fans say he is now, nor was he as good as they wanted him to be, which is what did him in. He's Dick Tomey without the Desert Swarm or the nice-guy personality.

But here, I think, is his true legacy at Arizona. In a few years it will be the 20th anniversary of Desert Swarm. It's likely many members of that storied team will be invited to town, feted at homecoming and trotted out on the field at halftime of a game for one last cheer from the crowd.

It's a good bet Dick Tomey will be invited and will attend. When he walks out on the field, I'm betting he gets a standing ovation, even from the fans who wanted him fired 10 years ago for not getting them to the promised land of the Rose Bowl.

Mike Stoops is likely to never be invited back nor will he ever get a standing ovation from the fans. And that's a far worse legacy than only 41 wins in 8 years.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:01:44 +0000

He couldn’t get then to Pasadena? Seriously? Tha was the expectation?
Seems a harsh judgment since no UofA coach has done that.

By: Parker West

Parker West — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:01:12 +0000

I know that 3 seasons back when the program was close to its Stoops bottom, he was very close to losing his job, a turnaround saved it for a while but its clear he was always going to be on a short leash with the school looking for a reason to fire him. My question is why would a school hire a guy with the same volatile personality as J Mac, when it could not have been any clearer that the players were not going to put up with the abuse? This years recruiting isn’t so good as to be harmed by the firing, the timing really might salvage some kids who like UA but were hesitant. There was a time when a$$ kicking, abusive foul mouth coaches could do fine, Frank Kush for example, but today’s kids don’t get it at school nor at home and they aren’t happy with it when they arrive in Tucson. Why Bob did you not see this?

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:36:57 +0000

As an ASU fan, I would have loved to see Stoops stay for a long time. Nonetheless, objectively, it was time to pull the plug. He did improve the program — it was an absolute joke under Mackovic and Stoops was able to make Arizona respectable, even if he wasn’t able to get them to the next level. It will be interesting to see whether his successor tries to continue Stoops’s focus on recruiting Texas, or will take a more traditional approach by focusing on Southern California…