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Dennehy, like many coaches, left stability for shaky ground
By Casey Hobson
Dennehy in his University of Montana days. Four days had passed since Utah State University named Mick Dennehy as its head coach on Friday, Dec. 3. One might have expected Dennehy's office to be in disarray, cluttered with boxes of three-ring binders and videotapes -- things common to any coach's office. But it wasn't. Since his arrival in Logan, Dennehy hasn't had much time to breathe, let alone unpack. Yet, his office was clean and well organized. His books were filed on the shelves, and he had disposed of any boxes used during the move. His white office walls were still bare. Getting organized may have been on the top of Dennehy's priority list but interior decorating was not. Those things could come later. There were still recruits to sign, players to meet with and assistants to hire. So much for an off-season of relaxation. Dennehy said Utah State has some catching up to do, and as far as he's concerned, the time is now. "Any time you start a new job there's always a certain amount of feeling your way around," Dennehy said. "And yet, things in this business move so fast, even though you're kind of feeling your way around, you've still got to do it at light speed." "My
brain kept telling me Why did Dennehy, like so many other coaches, leave a cozy, successful program like the one he developed at the University of Montana? Why would anyone leave success for uncertainty? It's a growing trend in sports today. Dennehy isn't a pioneer, and he certainly won't be the last to do it. "It was not an easy decision to leave, and yet, I think that I'd been there long enough," Dennehy said. "I took over a successful program, and my objective there was not to screw it up." Dennehy, who graduated from Montana, left a successful program where he was 39-12 as head coach and led the Grizzlies to three Big West championships. Montana reached the Division I-AA playoffs in each of Dennehy's four years as head coach. But all of that is behind him. Now he's starting over at USU, inheriting a team that finished 4-7 overall and 3-3 in the Big West Conference - a team that, despite its efforts, hasn't sniffed success in years. When Dennehy left Montana and signed with Utah State, he may have jumped on a sinking ship. There is little certainty surrounding the future of the football program at USU. In fact, the only certain thing about the program is the team won't be part of the Big West Conference after the 2000 season - the last year of football in the Big West. What lured Dennehy from a university where his job was secure to a university that has employed five coaches in the last 10 years? Even Dennehy didn't have a perfect answer. "This felt right," Dennehy said. "It was kind of a neat thing to have the opportunity to coach at your alma mater, and yet, it just felt like the right thing to do. We coached hard. We left the program in good shape. We put a lot of energy into it, and yet this is a wonderful opportunity. "There's a lot of unknowns. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to teach some young men that I think are very hungry, at a school I think has a great reputation, in an area that's always going to be a great place to live. And it's going to be an area that's easier than some people think it might be to recruit to. Those are all good things." Dennehy said he believes Utah State is on the verge of success and has the right things going for it. These opportunities for success at a higher level are seemingly what lured him to Logan. These same opportunities have lured coaches from one job to another for years. After eight years with the University of Kentucky, Rick Pitino left the Wildcats for a job as head coach of the Boston Celtics. During his tenure at Kentucky, Pitino took a program fresh off a two-year NCAA probation and turned it into a national contender. He reached the NCAA tournament in the spring of 1992, just three years after accepting the job at UK, where the Wildcats lost to Duke University in the East Regional Final - a game many people consider to be one of the greatest college games ever played. It was the beginning of what became a highly successful program under Pitino's careful guidance. In all, Kentucky made five trips to the Elite Eight, three to the Final Four and won one NCAA championship during the Pitino era. Yet, all the success he experienced at Kentucky wasn't enough to keep him there. When the Celtics offered him a job as head coach in May of 1997, Pitino accepted. Pitino has seen limited success in Boston, compiling a 65-86 record with the Celtics as of December 1999. However, 31 of his 86 losses came last year in the lockout-shortened, 50-game schedule. The season's vigorous pace played havoc with several teams, and the Celtics may have been one of them. Pitino was on dry, secure land at Kentucky, but he chose to jump on a sinking ship in the Boston Harbor. He's not alone. Atlanta Braves hitting coach Don Baylor signed with the Chicago Cubs on Nov. 4, replacing Jim Riggleman as manager of the troubled franchise. Baylor made it to the World Series this year with the Atlanta Braves - a team that has become a virtual lock on the post season. Yet, Baylor traded in his yearly post season ticket with the Braves for an uncertain future with the Cubs - a club that made the playoffs a year ago, but finished last in the NL Central in 99 with a 67-95 record, despite a $60 million payroll. In fact, the Cubs had just three more victories than their right fielder Sammy Sosa had home runs (64). "It's going to be a challenge," Baylor told the Associated Press. "There are so many Cubs fans all over the world. Just think if we ever won. I want to be part of that." Dennehy said staying at one place and protecting your job has become difficult over the years because of the increasing pressure to win instantly. "It's become business-like," he said. "It has become very cut-throat in a lot of ways." Maybe it's that business-like pressure that moves coaches from one job to another. Whatever the real reasons, Pitino and Baylor's decisions are somewhat understandable. Both coaches moved up to the next level. However, for Seattle Seahawks' head coach Mike Holmgren, moving up the ladder was not an option, for he was at the top. If anything, Holmgren's decision had to initially be considered as a step down the ladder, or sideways at least. Holmgren signed in the off-season with the Seahawks after one of the more successful stints as head coach in league history. He was 75-37 in the regular season as coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992-98 and 9-5 in the post season with two Super Bowl appearances, including a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. Yet, for whatever reasons, he gave it all up and left for Seattle, becoming the team's fourth coach in the '90s. But Holmgren's move hasn't come without results. He has unified the Seahawks and turned them into contenders. More than midway through the season, Seattle (8-5) is tied with Kansas City for first place in the AFC West. Were Holmgren's motives the same as Dennehy's? Had he just been in Green Bay for too long? Was it time for a new challenge? And in both cases, wasn't it hard to leave? "Everything that I looked at just kept pointing in this direction except one thing, and that's the emotional, deep-rooted feelings that you have on the human level for the guys that go out and lay it on the line for you," Dennehy said. "That was the thing I think I struggled with the most." Dennehy said he came to Utah State 75 percent convinced there was no way he would leave the University of Montana. However, once he visited with President George Emert and Athletic Director Rance Pugmire and saw their commitment to the football program, he began to think the job was for him. "All of the non-human, less important factors were all very favorable here at Utah State," he said. "When I left here, I knew it was going to be a difficult decision. There were so many things that are good here at Utah State. My brain kept telling me that it was a no-brainer, and my heart kept telling me that it was going to be tough." Dennehy said his wife played a major part in the decision, helping him overcome the emotional battle. "Basically she said, 'Hey, we've been here a long time, and you've done a great job. But it's time to go.' Which shocked me," he said. "I thought I was going to have to do some selling." He said while simply having a new challenge was appealing to him, it was not the only reason for taking the job at Utah State. "Each season, each new team, each new group of kids that you bring in presents new challenges and things like that, but you kind of settle in sometimes to a comfort zone," he said. "I think coaches are like players. I think they're very competitive. I think they welcome those challenges, and this is a different kind of challenge. There always comes a time when you start thinking about new directions in your life, and this was a great opportunity." And while some people worry that programs such as Utah State's might slip at times like these, Dennehy said he's confident the players can overcome such changes. He said he knows the players will adjust and thinks they are eager to learn. "The thing that saves us all is the game," Dennehy said. "I think kids like to play football. I think they like to work hard. I think they like to be disciplined, and I think (because of) their love for the game ... they kind of understand that maybe nothing is sacred. Maybe (no job) is safe, yet they're still going to have the opportunity to play the game and to do something they love to do." And so will Dennehy, regardless of the reasons.
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