I was and still and am upset when O'Day was screwed over by being let go. Nonetheless, I have to admit, Kent has done a marvelous job. The progress made in facility upgrades and funding are certainly momentous. I also applaud him for his hires with DeCuire, Pinkerton, and Stitt.
Unlike some, I don't believe he is Engstrom's puppet. However, he likely honored Engstrom's non support of hiring Hauck back. As it turns out, whatever the reasons for Stitt's hire, to date it appears to be a great hire. I like the fact that Haslam had the fortitude and confidence to go outside of the security of hiring within. I also like how well he grasped onto what the fans would like to see in our new football coach. Many of us complained here, and I am sure via email or in person on having a better offensive minded coach. As it turned out, Stitt was the best offensive mind within our reach. I honestly believe the Stitt hiring will be among the best hires in GRIZ history for what this program needed at this time. The only concern I have now of Stitt's hiring, is if he quickly returns GRIZ football to being a national title contender, can we keep him longer than 3 years? Yes, I know he is loyal and particular in what he wants in a head coaching position. The fact is, over the next 3 years, there will be a lot more coaching turnovers in BCS football. Just never know if 1 of those vacancies will be 1 he would fit his criteria, or not?
The DeCuire hire is looking to be great too. At worse, DeCuire's hiring is and will be historic. It is the hire that means Montana has finally caught up to the times in college athletics. Meaning the GRIZ finally hiring a minority as head coach. Amazing enough, our fan base also supported DeCuire's hire so well. Amazing what DeCuire did in year 1 as head coach. Imagine how well he can do when he has all his own players in place and can play a style he wants to. Also amazing is the GRIZ landing Michael Oguinne. DeCuire is not afraid of the big boys and will not back down to them when it comes to recruiting. The caliber of players he is offering is amazing. He is more than capable of landing 1 3 star recruit or better every year. Oguinne is rate among the top 25 PG's in nation!!!
Then there is GRIZ softball. He got a great coach in Pinkerton. To top that off, look at the softball facility the program already has. That is a top notch facility. Hard to believe that facility is for a 1st year program.
O'day laid the foundation for many of these things and got the wheels turning. Haslam fine tuned everything and closed the deals in all these things. As we see it now, the transition from O'day to Haslam went as smoothly as possible. New AD hires normally cause much more turmoil and shake up within the various programs and athletic department. Very seldom does a transition go as smooth as this one did.
If, Haslam has hit a grand slam with Stitt, the question is can the GRIZ find another great AD to keep building what Haslam now has in place? How much longer will he be at Montana? It sounds to me that USU would be a terrific fit for him, personally and professionally.