Dennehy fired
A coaching era has come to an end at Utah State University. Randy Spetman, USU Athletic Director, said on Monday that head football coach Mick Dennehy will be relieved of his coaching duties at the end of this season.
Dennehy was 18-36 in his five years coaching USU football.
“Mick Dennehy and I met yesterday [Sunday] afternoon to discuss his future role in Aggie football,” Spetman said. “I told Mick that at the end of this season, he will no longer be responsible for the coaching duties at Utah State University.”
Dennehy has agreed to coach the team’s final two games, Spetman said.
“I think it is important for his own closure and for the team,” Spetman said. “He is an incredible person, who has poured his heart and soul into this program.”
Spetman said he has talked with the assistant coaches, who were “true professionals,” because they agreed to lead the program to the end of the season, and hopefully get the Aggies two more victories to end the year.
The reason for Dennehy’s dismissal wasn’t purely because of wins and losses, Spetman said. The decision was based more on the players starting to believe they couldn’t win anymore, and in any program when that starts to happen it is time for a change, he said.
“I felt that was a little bit of it, although I had made my decision before Saturday night,” Spetman said. “I thought I saw a little bit of that Saturday night [against UL-Monroe]. We had a chance to put the game away, but we didn’t step up to it.”
Spetman said when he made the decision to dismiss Dennehy, he felt it was right to let him know as soon as possible.
“In the last week I had made the determination that I would no longer have Mick as part of the coaching staff and I am not very good at hiding that,” Spetman said. “I couldn’t be phony on where we were going to go. I treat him as a professional and he has treated me that way. It is also very important for us in the recruiting world.
“We only have a very short period of time before national signing date for next year, so I need to be actively looking for a new coach to lead our program. I would never ever do that or seek anybody out unless Mick knew that he was not going to be a part of that.”
The coaching staff is at a real disadvantage this week, Spetman said. The Aggies play Thursday, making it a short week, and after the news of Dennehy leaving, the coaches have to concentrate on their lives and try and win a football game, he said.
“I thought it was the right thing to do and just go forward,” Spetman said. “I met with all of the assistant coaches and they are ready to take this on and go forward and make us successful.”
A successful individual who is a motivator is the kind of coach Spetman hopes to find by his Jan. 1 goal, he said.
“That is the latest I would think we would be down the line so he can put together his assistant coaches and we can be going forward,” Spetman said.
Utah State can’t wait any longer to move forward, Spetman said. Look 80 miles south and a football program is playing in an Olympic stadium, he said. He also said Utah State needs to stop fooling itself thinking it can move forward and be successful with the facilities it has.
“In my study of the history of this program,” Spetman said, “we have told other coaches that we have brought in here that we were going to make changes and go forward and do that. We have not done that. We have to do that. The only thing we did for Mick was get him into the WAC, but we didn’t give him any other resources. That is a huge recruiting resource for our next coach. I think with another individual and where we are going to go we can be successful.”
Spetman also said he doesn’t have any candidates in mind to fill the shoes left behind by Dennehy.
“I don’t know who is available,” Spetman said. “I have not looked at that at all. I would not even consider that until I had talked to Mick. It will be a very difficult thing for me to research also as many of the coaches that I will probably want to be involved with our program are in season right now and won’t want to discuss their future until their seasons are over. Some of them will be going to bowl games also, which will probably cause me some delay in getting someone on board.”
USU is responsible to this community to change the recourses and give the coaches a chance to win here, Spetman said.
“We have to do that,” Spetman said. “I have said that from day one that I have been here. If we do not change the athletic complex of Utah State University we aren’t going to give coaches the opportunity to recruit and be successful here. This is our opportunity. We gave Mick Dennehy the challenge to go into the Western Athletic Conference. The next coach is already there. We have to give him the facility to recruit to and be successful.”
-kcaustin@cc.usu.edu
(Photo by John Zsiray)