Mark Spier has been let go at Western. He had a 9 year run there, but just could not make them a consistent winner. Nice guy and a good position coach, but could not get it done as the HC.

Spier is a good guy. It’s next to impossible to win at that dumpster fire known as wcu.

Spier will quickly land on his feet. If I had to bet, he will end up at Louisville in some capacity with Satt, or down in Atlanta with Elliot. Outside chance he lands back in Boone in some capacity as well.

GO APPS!!

appst1979 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:05 am

Mark Spier has been let go at Western. He had a 9 year run there, but just could not make them a consistent winner. Nice guy and a good position coach, but could not get it done as the HC.

Well I think that is a little harsh - it has been a long time (at least in my memory) where they had a sustained winning program - In the wrong place at the wrong time - He will be an attractive addition to another staff and I would expect he will be a HC again not very long in the future

Such a nice person and a great coach.

Coach Spier will be joyous to throw away all the purple clothing in his closet....lol
Put him Back in Black !!

This should be the first step in disbanding that program for good. Their administration isn’t committed to fielding a winner, they only want to showcase their band. Just cut it out altogether.

9 years, wow guess I haven’t heard anything out of the whee is so long I had forgotten they existed.

So glad we aren’t concerned with the SoCon, who knew the grass would be this green...

Spier being hired by Western in December 2011 was the first domino that led to Satterfield coming back and saving the program.

Someone can win there. Spier won there in 2014-2017, but I think the game passed him by in some ways.

I doubt it'll happen, but Western should kick the tires on PJ3.

BeauFoster wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:18 pm

This should be the first step in disbanding that program for good. Their administration isn’t committed to fielding a winner, they only want to showcase their band. Just cut it out altogether.

They may be at the crossroads of some sobering decisions. They have always operated their football program on shoestring resources and now they have to deal with Spier's agent and his attorney on the buyout terms (,,.) of his contract which runs through the '25 season His most recently published annual base salary was right at $255,000.

asu66 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 6:54 pm

BeauFoster wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:18 pm

This should be the first step in disbanding that program for good. Their administration isn’t committed to fielding a winner, they only want to showcase their band. Just cut it out altogether.

They may be at the crossroads of some sobering decisions. They have always operated their football program on shoestring resources and now they have to deal with Spier's agent and his attorney on the buyout terms (,,.) of his contract which runs through the '25 season

I hate to see programs cut regardless of school. Bob Waters won there (Clark Gaines, Darrell Lipford, Ty Smith, our old York QB Mark Smith) and beat our fannies a few times. Ever since they dumped him (I know he was ill but should have let the man go out on his own terms; he'd earned it) they've not been consistent. Even after dressing up Whitmire Stadium and building the Ramsey Center that was all just lipstick on a pig. If they'd commit to football (athletics?) as much as they do the marching band they'd be competitive in the SoCon.

Is John Holt the leading candidate to take over?

I haven't dug in to it, but I do wonder what the NC promise program is doing to their sports program. I'm not sure if the lower tuition is also affecting the student fees in other ways that may have been draining the program worse than normal these last few years.

He had a solid run at a career making 200k+ for those years. The big problem he will face is where to go from here. Getting let go by an FCS school doesn't leave one with all that many options besides moving back to an assistant role at a larger school.

WVAPPeer wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:45 am

appst1979 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:05 am

Mark Spier has been let go at Western. He had a 9 year run there, but just could not make them a consistent winner. Nice guy and a good position coach, but could not get it done as the HC.

Well I think that is a little harsh - it has been a long time (at least in my memory) where they had a sustained winning program - In the wrong place at the wrong time - He will be an attractive addition to another staff and I would expect he will be a HC again not very long in the future

How is this harsh, he compliments a good man, but he in no uncertain terms got it done. Wins are job one and they did not consistently get them, bottom line. I think Spier has lots in the tank, Western is just a really tough gig.

appdaze wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:57 pm

I haven't dug in to it, but I do wonder what the NC promise program is doing to their sports program. I'm not sure if the lower tuition is also affecting the student fees in other ways that may have been draining the program worse than normal these last few years.

The way I understand it, student fees are untouched by the promise program. It's just the tuition so that certain schools could get more students which would mean more subsidies through fees.

I don’t see them promoting John Holt or anyone else. If they do they are giving up. They need a house cleaning. Tough with limited resources. I think they could win in a couple of years with a triple option system .The model is there.

I graduated high school with Coach Speir's older brother, was hoping he could turn that program around but I'm not sure anyone could at this point.

goapps wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:09 pm

I graduated high school with Coach Speir's older brother, was hoping he could turn that program around but I'm not sure anyone could at this point.

It could happen if the stars align, but if any coach deserved a million dollar salary it would be taking the WCU program to a winning level at the top of the SoCon and consistent playoff participants. They have so much stacked against them and to me the biggest is they don't really have much history of winning. Over the years they have had a few winning seasons and a few years in a row but mostly it has been losing and the winning pops up every now and then for a year here or there. That institutional inertia is hard to overcome and with more football in their recruiting area it will be even harder.

A shame really. I have no reason to pull against them at this point, unless they are playing App.

I would love to see UNC-P have success at DII football and WCU and A&T have success at FCS football. I don't feel that way with UNC-C, ECU, UNC-CHeat and NCSU. They can lose every game and it would not bother me, beyond some family connections to a few of the schools.

Anybody watched the SoCon lately? This ain’t the SoCon of old... it’s baaaaaaaad, really bad football.

GO APPS!!

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... ate-tigers


Sources: Former Tennessee Titans star Eddie George named Tennessee State Tigers coach


Ok, so the gauntlet has now been dropped. Jacksonville state and now ETSU have hired hall of fame NFL players as coaches.

Who should WCU get to coach their team? What former star should they bring in? What an interesting trend that is starting.