There has always been two ways to look at the McBride era at Utah.
The first, and the one I subscribed to for many years, is that Mac
brought us respectability and for that we should be eternally grateful.
He's recruited some excellent athletes, gotten us into bowls (and
won three!) and put us on at least par with everybody in our conference.
He even had us ranked in the top-10 nationally. For those of us who
lived through the scorched earth years following Tom Lovat, the frustrations
inherent with having Mac as our coach (unimaginative offense, losing
games we shouldn't, starting players who weren't as good as their
back-ups) were outweighed by the positives.
The second way to look at the McBride era is that maybe Mac should
be doing more with what he's got. I remember an article in an Arizona
paper when we were there for the bowl game against Wisconsin which
basically said the U was a sleeping giant and there was no reason,
with the resources it has, that its football team wasn't a power in
the conference (like the basketball program). By following this line
of logic it's easy to believe that with the money available, the new
stadium, the workout facilities and everything else the U has, that
we should be winning the conference regularly. (Ever wonder what Colo.
St.'s coaching staff -- who have virtually nothing in Ft. Collins
-- would do with our resources?)
A couple of years ago when Mac's job seemingly hung in the balance,
there were those accusing Chris Hill of not fully supporting Mac.
At this, Hill was furious. He has said in no uncertain terms that
"Mac has everything he needs to win." I think now we all agree with
Hill.
Hill has given Mac all the rope he needs. We'll see if he hangs himself
with it or not. For Mac this year will end in Memphis or with a pink
slip and I, and a fast-growing group of Utes, are OK with that. There
can be no argument that the Utes are the most talented and experienced
team in the MWC. Barring catastrophic injuries, on paper, once again
we are the best team. So, if we don't win the MWC title, the blame
will fall at the feet of the coaching staff.
Hill will fire Mac if we go 6-5 and end up in San Francisco or Seattle.
We won't go undefeated (only one or two teams a year go undefeated;
this is college football, virtually everybody loses a game or two),
we won't beat Michigan and we'll probably lose at Arizona. That being
said, we should be competetive in Ann Arbor and Tucson, we should
win all our home games and we should win the MWC.
If we don't win the MWC this year, I think we should bravely look
at the future. We should not be afraid of change just because we're
afraid to go back to the level we were at pre-Mac. I think it's probable
that if Mac and his staff don't get it done, that another staff could
come in here and build on what's without question an excellent foundation.
Of course, my dream is that Mac figures out how to get us over the
hump. That he wins a much-deserved title and when he does retire,
he does it on his own terms. I feel comfortable, however, knowing
the outcome lies completely in his hands.
