Victorious Guy silent after game
Brent Guy’s final statement as head coach of USU football to the print media after a 47-2 thumping of the New Mexico State Aggies was left on the field.
For undisclosed reasons Guy did not show up to the postgame press conference. Ninety minutes after the game ended, USU Sports Information Director Doug Hoffman informed the media that it was Guy’s decision to not show up.
Guy was interviewed postgame by 610 KVNU, but only because he is under contract to do so, Hoffman said.
It was not the first time this season that Guy has failed to speak to the media. At the Nov. 17 press conference to announce Guy’s firing, only USU Director of Athletics Scott Barnes answered questions.
Guy’s four-year record at USU was 9-38. This season was the first time USU has won three Western Athletic Conference games in one season. He finished the 2008 campaign 3-9 overall and 3-5 in WAC. In four years Guy was 8-24 in WAC games.
About 90 minutes after the game the athletic department released a page of quotes from Guy.
“I would have made a few decisions differently here and there probably,” Guy said of his tenure at USU. “I don’t have a lot of regrets. I think exactly what I said would happen has happened. The wins haven’t happened, but from where the program was and where I started to where it is today, it is not even close. I am sorry I couldn’t win more games, but it is a tough league. You have to keep investing in football if you want football to be good.”
USU sophomore quarterback Diondre Borel said the mood among the team members and coaches went from solemn to normal over the course of the past two weeks.
“The first week (after Guy was fired) everybody got a little bit down and it felt a little awkward,” Borel said. “The whole week in practice nobody was really talking. They were coaching us, but nobody was really active like they used to be. This week it kind of went back to normal. Everybody wanted to play this last game.”
Senior linebacker Jake Hutton seconded Borel.
“Coach Guy kept us upbeat,” Hutton said.
Freshman running back Robert Turbin, who had 50 yards rushing and one touchdown Saturday, was vague in his opinion of Guy’s firing.
“That’s a situation that’s out of our hands,” Turbin said. “It wasn’t made by us, obviously. There’s nothing we can do. All we can do is keep working hard in the weight room and get momentum going into the offseason.”
Guy’s coaching career began at Oklahoma State. From 1986 to 1991 Guy was a graduate assistant for two seasons, a recruiting coordinator for one season and a linebackers coach for three seasons.
From 1992 to 1994 Guy was linebackers coach at USU and helped the team win its only bowl game in school history. He returned to Oklahoma State from 1995 to 1997 to coach the linebackers again. From 1998 to 2000 he was defensive coordinator at Boise State, and from 2001 to 2004 he did the same thing at Arizona State.
NMSU head coach in similar situation
New Mexico State head coach Hal Mumme is, like Guy, in his fourth season as head coach.
Over that time he has accumulated a 11-38 record and his job is in jeopardy.
“The players were on campus all week with nobody around and all the media telling them I am not going to be around anymore,” Mumme said. “This has been going on for four weeks and I knew it was going to be tough. It was really hard to keep them focused. It was a pathetic effort on offense, but we didn’t have a lot of players to play with.”
–samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu