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Knudson: Cooling Off the Hot Seat

 
Is Steve Fairchild on the hot seat in Fort Collins?
 
“It was hot when I got here,” Fairchild smiles when asked about what the national pundits think. “That’s the nature of the coaching business.”
 
The prevailing wisdom outside the walls of the McGraw Center in Fort Collins is that Fairchild, about to enter his fourth season as the head man at Colorado State, must be on the proverbial coaching hot seat. After all, the Rams have gone 3-9 the past two seasons and ended last year with a thud, losing 44-0 to arch-rival Wyoming in the season’s final game.
 
Inside the building and the program, the outlook is very different. The notion of any sort of hot seat is quickly brushed aside. Administrators will tell you straight up: Fairchild is not under any sort of win or else edict. They believe they have the right man leading the program. No one is happy with the losing records, but they’re satisfied that the program is going in the right direction. At this point, no hot seat exists.

Do they want progress in the win column? You bet. Everyone seems confident that’s going to happen. Soon.
 
“We – and I’m talking about everyone, the coaches and the administration – know that we can get this program to where it competes for the Mountain West championship year in and year out,” states Fairchild. “When we can get there remains to be seen. The people in here know that we’re coaching and developing and recruiting right, and so now it’s time for us to step up and show that on the field.”
 
This season offers reason for optimism. The schedule provides ample opportunity for improvements in the win-loss column. Recruiting has improved with the help of the new indoor practice facility, meaning there’s more depth on hand than previous years. Most importantly, the biggest single reason for optimism can be summed up in a single word: Experience. The Rams now have some, including the offensive line and the guy under center. “Those are two positions you can’t quick-fix,” says Fairchild.
 
This year will be the first time in the past five seasons – two as the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills and now three leading CSU – that Fairchild has been able to welcome back a returning quarterback. Imagine the difficulty of breaking in a brand new signal caller every single season. That won’t be the case in 2011 as sophomore Pete Thomas returns to run Fairchild’s pro style offense.
 
“I’d like to see him take a huge jump, which I think he will,” said the coach. “It was unfair what he did to him last year. We threw him out there without much practice. As the season went along, he got more comfortable and we can get him into some situations now that we couldn’t before. I’d like to think he’ll be one of the better quarterbacks in the league.”
 
With the Mountain West undergoing changes, this year’s schedule has a decidedly different look. BYU and Utah are gone, and Conference newcomer Boise State will visit in mid October. There are more non-conference games that appear on paper, at least, to provide a shot at immediate improvement in the win column. There’s really only one daunting road trip - to powerful TCU - on the schedule. Air Force, Boise State and San Diego State all have to come to Fort Collins. The Rams won’t be favored in all their games but they won’t be decided underdogs in many, either.
 
“I’d like to think we’re going to get to a point where we’re competing for the championship,” Fairchild states. “I’d like to think that every game we play next year we can win. Sometimes I think when you put a number on it, you might be selling yourself too short.
 
“But I’m accountable and I expect us to be in a bowl. I will not allow anyone in this program to expect anything less.”
 
If that happens, perhaps that hot seat that outsiders believe he’s sitting on will cool off some.
See all of Mark Knudson's blog entries HERE.