And Summitone; I know, I know -- buck the fison. There, now you don't have to say it
Big Griz fan here, but I think you guys will win it all this year. Next best thing, to me, if the Griz don't win it all is NDSU beats App State by 40.
Sounds like folks aren't too happy in Laramie (or Denver, for that matter).
Cowboy Joe's ride must end
By John Henderson
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 09/06/2008 11:08:24 PM MDT
LARAMIE — Joe Glenn is as Wyoming as a real cowboy riding his horse through a Rocky Mountain snowstorm. He fits in Laramie like a tailor-made Stetson. On popularity alone, he'd bury any fast-talking politician for any position from governor on down. But for those 23,168 fans at War Memorial Stadium and a state tied to its football team like few others in America, one thing became grudgingly clear Saturday.
They saw the beginning of the end of Joe Glenn.
In his sixth year, Glenn's run of mediocrity must end. He has one winning record, in 2004, and one winning Mountain West Conference record, in 2006. He has one bowl game.
He can't let expected wins slip away into the thin 7,220-foot air. He can't let a rebuilding, inexperienced, slow, one-dimensional but well- coached Air Force team dump him at home 23-3. It was an embarrassing exhibition for a team with 16 returning starters, including the entire offensive line, two solid running backs and a defense traditionally in the top 25 nationally.
"Everywhere I've coached, by now we've gotten over the hump," Glenn said. "This was a huge game for us. It was one of those get-over-the-hump games. You have to beat somebody who's pretty darn good. It just didn't happen, and I'm devastated by it."
He should be. His safety net is clear. Athletic director Tom Burman didn't hire Glenn but, like everyone else in this state, he loves Glenn. On Friday, I asked Burman if Glenn needed a bowl game to save his job.
He doesn't. Bowl bids are out of coaches' hands. But Burman's answer was telling.
"We expect to have winning records here," he said. "We have seven home games. We don't go into a season saying, 'Boy, if we go 6-6 that's success.' I don't want to get to that point."
Burman is a Laramie native and a Wyoming graduate. He knows a lot of coaches who struggled here and the state wanted to run them out of town on the next horse. (Remember Joe Tiller in the 6-5 1995 season?) Glenn is not one of them.
He'll speak to a Future Farmers of America group in Sheridan one day, then to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Cheyenne the next. Fans told me they'd meet him, then two years later he'd remember their name. Not one football player has been arrested in the past two years.
Glenn is also blessed with some of the best facilities in the West. The $11 million indoor practice facility built last year is as good as any in America. The $9.4 million Rochelle Athletics Center features a locker room as fancy as the Arizona Diamondbacks' clubhouse.
Boosters are fighting for one of the 12 luxury suites scheduled to open in 2010. The state's booming oil and gas economy is pouring money into Wyoming athletics.
"Wyoming fans want Joe Glenn to succeed more than anyone except maybe Paul Roach, and maybe more because Joe is so outgoing," Burman said. "But we've got to get some W's."
Look at the schedule and you won't see many more. Wyoming (1-1) could easily lose next week to a veteran North Dakota State team that won at Minnesota last year. Then the Cowboys visit No. 15 Brigham Young, host a Bowling Green team that won at Pitt, visit New Mexico, then host No. 22 Utah and go to Texas Christian.
They end with San Diego State, at Tennessee and UNLV, then Colorado State at home. If anyone sees seven wins out there, I'd advise avoiding bookies at all cost. Glenn knows what's on the line.
"It is what it is," he said. "Anytime 10 (assistants') families are tied to you, I'd be lying to you if I didn't feel pressure. Big time."
The offense looked as wretched Saturday as it did a year ago, after which Glenn dropped his nice-guy persona and fired coordinator Bill Cockhill. Glenn reached to Florida A&M to get Bob Cole, one of his six cronies from his Montana days, and switched quarterbacks to savvy junior college transfer Dax Crum.
Crum fumbled three times and threw an interception, part of Wyoming's five turnovers as it gained all of 216 yards on Saturday.
In the offseason, Glenn had a chat with New Mexico coach Rocky Long who was an assistant at Wyoming for five years. Glenn asked, "Why can't anyone get over the hump here?"
"You know what his answer was?" Glenn said. " 'It's just the way it is at Wyoming.' It wasn't the answer I was looking for."
He'd better come up with one fast. A state doesn't want its love affair to end.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or
jhenderson@denverpost.com
