Jones Staying, Chagrin Aplenty

If you guys didn't hear, Butch Jones was retained as the head coach of Central Michigan. Also, this is the worst thing that could have happened to the Chippewa football program. Well, almost the worst thing.

In just a few seasons, Grand Valley State head coach, Brian Kelly, was able to turn around CMU football. The previous regime of Mike DeBord was just an absolute debacle and one that is taboo around Mt. Pleasant. But Kelly revived the once dead football school and generated a buzz not seen around mid-Michigan for quite some time.

But, when Kelly decided to leave for the greener pastures of Cincinnati and the Big East, CMU thought it would be a good idea to hire Butch Jones. The consequence would be felt by the Chippewa defense.

Let's compare stats here: CMU was 58th in scoring defense under Kelly in 2006, but with Jones at the helm, CMU ranked 111th in scoring defense. I'm not sure if there was a larger dropoff in defensive production in the entire nation. The offense saw some improvement, by about five points a game, actually. But that doesn't change the fact that CMU was just lost on the defensive side of the ball. Not to mention horrid games which displayed an unpreparedness unseen since DeBord getting whipped against Kansas, Purdue, Clemson, and North Dakota State.

The Fiesta Bowl was what caused this to happen. Interim head coach Bill Stewart was able to take the interim part off of his title when West Virginia offered him the job. Of course that had a ripple effect on Central Michigan's program. Unfortunately for us Chippewa fans, we can still see more of the same from one of the most fundamentally unsound defenses in the nation for the next few years. Hooray.