He couldn’t stop Army’s sad sojourn down the road it began all those years ago in Philadelphia.
Like those who have recently come before him, his teams played not to lose. And in doing so, his tenure failed to reflect the essence of West Point and everything captured in that simple phrase spoken by MacArthur and reiterated by West Point’s Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Hagenbeck:
“There is no substitute for victory.”
Army’s next coach must build a team that reflects that sentiment. Alums and fans don’t expect the team to win every game. They just want the team to play like they can.
And as the Academy considers its coaching options with great care, they must look beyond the sum of any coach’s Super Bowl appearances, National Championships, miracle seasons, or pure nostalgia.
There are a number of good candidates in the running, including: the earlier mentioned Bob Sutton; his former assistant and current Kansas University offensive coordinator, Ed Warinner; former Army defensive back and New York Giants wide-receiver coach Mike Sullivan; Navy offensive coordinator and Paul Johnson disciple, Ivin Johnson; South Florida offensive coordinator, Greg Gregory; and Wake Forest’s offensive coordinator and former Air force lineman Steed (Lobo) Lobotzke.
I disagree with those who argue that candidate must have a strong academy background to be viable. Paul Johnson’s exemplary career at Navy supports my theory.
Instead, the best candidate is one who can assess the program’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (yes business methods work for football too), and creatively devise the team’s systems around them.
Todd Berry and Bobby Ross came to the Academy with the idea that their systems could work anywhere, and in doing so they were shocked to find that they couldn’t.
Additionally, the candidate must be one willing to take bold action.
No. I’m not talking about going for it on fourth-and-five on your own 33-yard line. I’m talking about someone who isn’t afraid of trying new concepts in recruiting, such as leveraging Army’s nation-wide following to train and build a network of state and local recruiters.
Or by building an offensive scheme that might be a bit different than what they’re used to.
Or having the gumption to demand excellence from players from whom society already demands so much.
For these very players have each chosen to become cadets, warriors, and leaders because they believe in what they can accomplish.
They want a coach that believes the same.
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