BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
Brent Guy is one of the most likeable coaches in the Western Athletic Conference hands down.
However, Guy knows better than anybody that the business is about winning football games, and wins have escaped the Aggies in the first three years of his regime. Guy is 6-29, including 5-19 in conference games.
Guy is in the fourth year of a five-year contract, and he's working with a new athletic director, as Scott Barnes has taken over for Randy Spetman, who left for Florida State.
"The administration has been very supportive," Guy said at the recent WAC Football Preview in Salt Lake City. "The new athletic director (Scott Barnes) has been tremendous in things that I've asked for.
"We have to show progress. If I don't feel I'm on the hot seat I probably don't have the right mentality."
Barnes has been complimentary thus far.
"My job is to facilitate things so the football team can have success under Brent Guy's leadership," Barnes said. "We're making sure camp runs smoothly, that we put fans in the stands and be making sure the new building (fieldhouse) gets open. We're doing what we can to faciliate success."
Barnes said that he measures coaches of any sport by several factors. He looks at the progress of the program in terms of where it came from, the conference alignment, schedule and win-loss records, and how the win-loss record relates to the type of opponent. Barnes also stresses academic progress, too.
It's definitely been an uphill struggle, however.
The Aggies are finally at the 85-limit for scholarships which is a plus and have 98 players in the program. It's a far cry from the first year when Guy had just 56 scholarship players, which forced Guy & Co. to play short-handed.
"We had to sign high school kids and play them, and that's what we did," Guy said. "Most of the seniors we have are the same kids we threw to the wolves three years ago."
Guy has been patient. Hopefully the USU administration and fans will be. The Aggies are clearly No. 3 in their own state in terms of recruiting. BYU and Utah usually scoop up the best in-state prospects, leaving the Aggies and Weber State to battle for everybody else.
The Aggies have been victims of scheduling, too. They have played money games against Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma the past three years, and you may bring in some much-needed cash, but you are liable to pick up losses plus a lot of bumps and bruises which can have an effect later in the season.
Utah State also has played Utah in each of Guy's first three seasons, and the Utes are on the schedule again. BYU is on the schedule for the second time in four years. Playing both in the same year is suicide, especially when you are judged on wins and losses.
- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281