I agree, but as I've posted before, you cannot compare the situations that the Dome
coaches have with the opportunities that exist today. It would have been fun to see what
Gutey could have done with the support the U is prepared to give now, and with a revenue
stream and budget that's at least middle of the pack in the league. It likely would have
been worth a couple more wins each season- same with Wacker & Mason.
When you have a budget that's among the lowest in the Big 10, you do what you can.
You have to make choices. A smart coach who is a good "program manager" knows he
cannot be as strong as he wants to be everywhere. He has to choose where to
prioritize his efforts and to choose his strengths. In Mason's case, he chose his
offensive running game.
People do forget that in Mason's early years at the U, he was all about defense first.
In the 1st two seasons, he would load up 8 defenders in the box to prioritize stopping the
run- knowing he'd be taking his chances in the secondary. The defense ended up being
respectable, and one of the better run defenses in the big ten.
Lamanzar Williams was on his way towards a nice but highly un-noteworthy career under
Wacker. In Mason's first year at the helm, he became an All-American. They then
produced solid defensive linemen like Schlect and Riley, and a few others. It was the
offense the was sort of plain.
At this point, it is important to note that Gordie Shaw was coaching the D-line.
Then a change happened. Gordie Shaw was moved to the O-Line. Hamilton, Eslinger,
Satterstrom, etc all came. We know the story.
When you have a limited budget, you can do one of two things:
1) Go for 4 and 5 star players out of HS, woo them with the Dome and outdated
facilities, and simply collect the recruiting accolades. However, once you lose those
athletes to programs that are much better funded, you've shot your recruiting budget.
Then, you have to go get those 2 and 3 star players, only to find they've committed elsewhere.
or
2) Work within your budget and do the best you can. Mason chose to find good 2 and 3
star players, and help the coaches coach them up. I don't think anybody knowledgeable
about CFB would doubt that he and his staff had the ability to coach players up, esp.
those that were unheralded out of HS- Eslilnger, Barber, Schlect, Spaeth, Decker, etc.
All the while, he did nab the occasional blue chip- Tapeh & Maroney come to mind, but
many were the other kind.
It astonishes me that people claim he didn't care about recruiting or defense. He did
the best he could within his budget at recruiting, and emphasized a running game to
help protect his defenses as best he could.
I guess this makes me a "Masonite", but I will defend any of the other Dome Gopher coaches
in the same way I defend Mason. Many on this board simply do not realize just how much
of a liability the Dome was, and how it affected so much else. Its much easier to lash out
and say "they failed". Its called the easy way out.
