What Have You Done For Me Lately? Pat Hill Fired @ Fresno

[Ozcuse]

Wow, seems Pat Hill became a victim of his own success. He had four straight winning seasons from 2007-2010, and 11 winning seasons out of 13 dating back to 1999 playing a murderer's row non-conference schedule. In 2011 he has a 4-9 season and he's canned. He probably won't have to look for a job outside California but he'd be an interesting OC/Special Teams Coach candidate. I bet he could recruit Cali/West Coast.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/coll...-12-04/fresno-state-pat-hill-fired/51644154/1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Hill

 

[JoeSU]

Just curious... what are his OC/ST credentials? His success as a HC was built around recruits with academic and legal issues who couldn't get in elsewhere. That doesn't sound like a good fit with Marrone's philosophy.
All else being equal, I'd rather have someone who can recruit in ACC territory.

 

[kingottoiii]

Unless there is something going on off the field, I don't get his firing. I understand that Fresno St was the original Boise St and then faded back out of the spot light. However you cannot expect to sustain that type of success at a school outside of the BCS. Even if they get the next hot HC, the guy will leave for a BCS job. Hill was a great fit for Fresno St.

 

[Whitey23]

I always appreciated his "anywhere, anytime" attitude. Guy never backed down from a challenge.

 

[Ozcuse]

Just curious... what are his OC/ST credentials? His success as a HC was built around recruits with academic and legal issues who couldn't get in elsewhere. That doesn't sound like a good fit with Marrone's philosophy.
All else being equal, I'd rather have someone who can recruit in ACC territory.

He was a former OL and OL/tight ends coach in college and the NFL (I think we've heard that story before) and his teams at Fresno St. were known for power running and having a dominant OL. He was OC and recruiting coordinator at UNLV when they landed Randall Cunningham. The guy has recruited some other impressive players as well. These were some of his former players: David Carr, Ryan Mathews, Richard Marshall, Logan Mankins, James Sanders, Alan Harper, Rodney Wright, Tracy Rogers, Ron Cox, Aaron Craver, Marquez Pope, Lorenzo Neal, Jethro Franklin, Tony Brown, J.D. Williams, Mike Withycombe, Michael Stewart, John Fina and Tedy Bruschi.

Also from his wikipedia page on the academic improvement of the football team under Coach Hill:

"Also under Hill's leadership, Fresno State has greatly improved the academic performance of its football players. During Hill's tenure the team has produced (as of 2005) 65 Academic All-WAC players, compared to a total of nine in the entire history of the program before Hill's arrival. In 1999, senior cornerback Payton Williams became the first Fresno State football player to achieve Academic All-American status. In each of the last two years, the Bulldog football program has produced two of the most decorated students on the Fresno State campus. In 2006, lineman Kevin Cooper was awarded the President's Medal as the top graduating student at Fresno State. Last spring, Bulldog kicker Clint Stitser was a finalist for the President's Medal after winning the Dean's Medal for the Craig School of Business as its top graduate. Both young men graduated with 4.0 GPAs."

Now I don't think SU has a good chance of getting him since all his roots are in Cali, he may see a coordinator position as being beneath him, and we may not want him for the recruiting reasons you listed. But I do think the guy plays a style of ball that Marrone understands and when it works, looks pretty dominant. Also the man coached under Bill Belichick at Cleveland and has a mean handlebar moustache.

 

[JoeSU]

I may have been guilty of stereotyping the Fresno St. program without giving credit to their academic improvement under Hill.