IT HAS BEEN two weeks since ESU football coach Dave Wiemers resigned, but the debate about whether he should have stayed on continues.
On the emporiagazette.com Web site, this story still ranks as one of the most active discussions. Online comments range from:
“Please accept this notice as support for Coach Dave Wiemers and the direction he was taking by doing things the right way” to “Thank you Mr. Weiser for ruining the football team and especially that of the senior class of this year and next.”
The reason the debate has gone on for so long is that Wiemers was well-liked and ran a good program. This year did not turn out as the coaching staff planned. They had young players and with some player injuries, they could not catch the needed breaks to win more games. This year their record was three wins and eight losses. Five of those games were lost by three points or less.
Many in the community feel that Wiemers deserved another season or two to prove himself.
On the other side, some people comment that even if things went right, the most games the Hornets would ever win would be four to six games a season.
The debate will go on, but the real issue is where we go from here. The football coaching position has been a revolving door, and we need to evaluate whether we have realistic expectations for the program.
To have a winning program takes dollars, and the ESU football program is funded in the bottom half of the league. We need to evaluate whether there is a correlation between dollars spent on the program and the season record.
If the university is not prepared to spend what the top-ranked football programs in the MIAA are spending, then we need to be satisfied with a middle-of-the-pack record.
We need to make sure the next coach is not held to goals that are unrealistic, given the resources available.
Christopher White Walker
Editor & Publisher
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