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Y! MyWebMIAMI FOOTBALL
Montgomery will 'never forget' time at Miami
Saturday, November 29, 2008
OXFORD — Shane Montgomery has resigned as Miami University's head football coach following a disappointing season which saw the RedHawks fall short of expectations, finishing with a 2-10 record overall.
Montgomery, 41, has coached at Miami for eight years, the last four as head coach. He has compiled a 17-31 record overall, 13-18 in the Mid-American Conference.
The RedHawks were picked in preseason polls to contend for the MAC title this season but instead finished 1-7 in the MAC following their 41-26 loss at home to the Ohio Bobcats on Friday, Nov. 28.
Montgomery's teams did win a share of the 2005 and '07 MAC East Division championships and played in last year's MAC Championship Game, which Miami lost 35-10 to Central Michigan.
The parting between Montgomery and the university appears to be cordial.
"I'll never forget the eight years I spent at Miami," Montgomery said late Saturday afternoon. "I really enjoyed not only the football part, but this has been a wonderful place to live and to make some great friends.
"We didn't have a successful season, which was very disappointing," he said. "I appreciate (athletic director) Brad Bates giving me a chance to lead this program for four years and I appreciate the support of President (David) Hodge. I wish this program the best of success for the future."
Bates called Montgomery "an extraordinary person who has contributed to our department, university and community in exceptional ways" but said the team's performance in recent years "has not reflected the lofty standards of excellence we have."
He added that Miami's "search process will begin immediately and move swiftly yet deliberately. We must hire the perfect fit for our current context, goals and aspirations."
Bates said there might be certain benefits to choosing someone with a Miami background.
"I think at any university, whenever you can hire from within the family that's an advantage," he said. "If all else is equal, if have someone who is an alum, you have an immediate connection with the fan base.
"I think it's exacerbated with the Cradle of Coaches and the great coaches that have gone before," Bates added. "The majority of the successful ones have been Miami grads ... If all else is equal, and that person happens to be a Miami alum, that would be fantastic, but we've got to get the right person."
"Shane Montgomery has been a very positive member of the Miami family and has been an exceptional role model for his players, both on and off the field," Miami President David Hodge said. "Unfortunately, the football team has not achieved the level of success that we expect at Miami, and Brad Bates believes that the program needs a new direction. We wish the very best for Shane, Sandy and their family."
Montgomery said he plans to continue coaching and will begin his job search in the near future.
"There are a lot of openings," he noted. "The hardest thing is for your staff, making sure they're taken care of, that they have jobs. Maybe some will stay here, you never know how that is going to work."
Montgomery initially joined Miami as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2001 under head coach Terry Hoeppner. He was instrumental in the development of RedHawk quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Josh Betts.
Betts, who played at Miami from 2002-05 and ranks second on Miami's career passing charts for completions, yards and touchdowns, said Saturday that he still thinks Montgomery "has a great future" as a coach.
"I've had a relationship with him now since he first came to Miami," said Betts, who has spent parts of the last three seasons on the Indianapolis Colts practice squad and now is a free agent, hoping to sign with an NFL team in January. "I still think he is an outstanding coach. It was tough for him after my last year at Miami; we lost 23 seniors, so he was a little stuck with that, and he's had a lot of injuries.
"He was a great offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach," Betts said. "He's a stand-up guy, and his family has always been great to me and my wife ... It's tough, but it's part of the business."
The RedHawks had high hopes for the 2008 season, but lost their opener at home to Vanderbilt 34-13 and went on to lose four of their five games at Yager Stadium.
Miami struggled all season on defense, but remained in contention for the MAC East title, especially following their 27-20 victory at Bowling Green on Oct. 18. But then mounting injuries, especially on defense, began to take a toll and the RedHawks lost their final five games. During that span they gave up an average of 41 points per game.
Montgomery is a native of Newark, where he helped lead the Green Wave of Newark Catholic High School to two Ohio state championships.
He later went to North Carolina State where, as quarterback, he was the offensive MVP of the 1988 Peach Bowl and the 1989 Copper Bowl. During his collegiate career he passed for 5,298 yards and 31 touchdowns.
After serving two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at North Carolina State, Montgomery was an assistant coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga from 1993-2001.
In his first season as Miami's head coach the RedHawks went 7-4. His seven victories ranked among the top five among first-year coaches in NCAA Division I-A, and only three first-year Miami coaches have had more wins (Dick Crum, 10 in 1974; Sid Gillman, eight in 1944; and Tom Reed, eight in 1978).
Montgomery resides in Oxford with his wife, Sandy, and two sons, Tanner and Trent.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
Comments
By Old Fred
December 1, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this
Many years ago the school renamed its mascot because it was considered to be racial. I think it is time for another change, this time to correctly reflect the football team’s character - to either the “Redgals” or the “Benhawks”.
By csh
December 1, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this
As a MU grad, can we recognize what we have here. A fine school, great academic tradition, and somehow - a fantastic hockey program. Otherwise, we play football in front of 15,000 people in a mediocre conference. Lower/raise/eliminate academic standards - it will not make a difference. Let’s find a solid citizen to coach and recruit on behalf of all of us (most of “us” don’t even check for the score on Sunday, and only went to a “big” game while at the school), while graduating decent kids.
By Matt
December 1, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this
Nobody talks about the culture losing and mass exodus that happened in 05 when the coaches found out what was going to be the course under the Shane regime. The big loss was Dan Dalrymple at strength and conditioning coach. Coincidence that suddenly Miami was an injury ridden team that looks tired in the fourth quarter? I think not. Also, how many 5’-10” fumbling receivers is enough? You would think that Shane had a bet on how many he could sign.
By Word
December 1, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
Wanted: Head Football Coach- Miami University Qualifications: MUST BE A MIAMI ALUM!
Miami is a school full of inbreds! If you’re not connected to Miami, you are an outsider and treated as such.
By w
November 30, 2008 10:31 PM | Link to this
so much verbage —- so little sense —- how many of you know-it-all posters have ever played D1 football or have even worn a jock strap —- unfortunately, too often i have to sit near you when trying to enjoy athletic events
By John
November 30, 2008 10:04 PM | Link to this
The current Miami staff could not recruit in their own back yard and that was true before UC became successful. I do not know what the relationship is between the Miami staff and the tri-state high school coaches is or is not but judging by the number of “local kids” on Miami’s roster, it cannot be that great. Now that UC is pretty darn good and is a member of a BCS league to boot, why would any tri-state kid choose Miami over UC? And don’t say academics. Nancy Z has upgraded UC.
By Ted Londot
November 30, 2008 9:32 PM | Link to this
The last thing that Miami needs to do is lower their academic standards. The last three years have been tough, but Miami cannot abandon what makes Miami “Miami” and that is smart student athletes who not only succeed in the classroom, but on the field. Miami will bounce back and be fine. I believe Taver Johnson or Kevin Wilson would be a perfect fit for Miami at this time.
By redhawkobserver
November 30, 2008 8:02 PM | Link to this
If Miami wants to improve, they will need to pay better and lower their academic standards. Miami pays its football coaches the lowest in the 1A NCAA football. The assistant coaches get paid much lower than other assistant coaches even in the MAC. Miami requires high academic standards for its athletes. Then, Miami wants victories. If Miami wants UC-like success, then Miami needs to pay coaches comparable salaries and accept students with lower academic credentials.
By Reiff
November 30, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
shane is a great man and will be missed in the oxford area. I think the redhawks should try and get a big name coach as in Kevin Wilson who has coached at miami before he is do for a head coaching job.
By VietVet
November 30, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
Cincy was a doormat football school for years. Then,Brian Kelly shows up,starts recruiting top talent from this area as well as selected areas from outside the state and has slowly built the former doormat into a contender.Over the years Miami seems to have never had a plan or attraction for the top talent from Ohio. Need to copy success and Cincy’s football talent recruitment program is a good place to start.You just wonder why some coaches know what they need and go after it and others don’t.
By nick
November 30, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this
Pete’s so right. I’d like to see if Kerry Koombs would be interested, thats if Kelly doesn’t leave a senior stripped UC for bigger $$$. Koombs would probably be next in line there. We need a guy to come in to Ox and change the landscape of our alums and students being so polite and go to being “Bucknuts” like they are in Woodyville! Yep..we’re the “Cradle” alright. Lots of great traditions but only “Big Ben” to show for it all. Kelly was a find for UC and Tressel was one that got away from us.
By Put-In-Bay
November 30, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this
As a MU alumnus, I think it was time for Montgomery to go. While it would be nice to have “one of our own” as coach, what is most important is to produce a winning program and maintain our academic excellence. By the way, the official name of our school (as stated in the Charter of February 17, 1809,) is THE Miami University- long before all the clowns in Columbus claimed ownership to the word “The.” Go Redskins.
By nick
November 30, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
Back in the day, we used to be known as “THE MIAMI UNUVERSITY”. I know that would sound like we’re trying to steal a bit from Ohio State but remember, M U Oxford was here before those guys in Florida! Woody, Bo, PB, Walker, Ara, Pont, Hepp…..the tradition goes on and on. Guys like these and “Big Ben” are somewhat rare and come along just once. We need to play off our traditions to bring back the glory. It’ll take the fans,the adminastration and the right coaches and players to make Miami Magic
By Peter
November 30, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this
About academic standards. Vanderbilt has high standards, as does Michigan, Stanford and many others. Miami has success recruiting “gap” players with good intelligent, high motors and a desire to excell in both classrooms and the football field. It’s not the players so much, but the program and direction. Hoeppner would have won with these guys, so would have Randy Walker and a myriad of other Cradle coaches. Shane had to go. Goodbye and good luck. Find the next Randy Walker, he’s out there.
By Peter
November 30, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
I wrote to Mr. Bates about a month ago to express my frustration at the state of the football team. For whatever reasons, Montgomery simply could not keep his team focused, going in the same direction, properly motivated and, above all, healthy. While coaches can’t themselves will players to be healthy, staff can help that when it comes to things like proper stretching, transparency when small injuries happen and aren’t allowed to grow into major ones.
Miami doesn’t NEED a Miami alum to coach
By nick
November 30, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this
“Lower academic standards????” You gotta be kidding! The main purpose is to come to college to GET that degree, with sports being one of the means of getting there in the firstplace! Miami…don’t EVER LOWER STANDARDS! There are great students out there who are great players. MU has to do the sales job to get the best kids possible while changing the whole atmosphrer from laid back to making Yeager a real snake pit for the other guy to attempt to perform in!
By NUGENT
November 30, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
Montgomery was so cocky and sure of himself,he deserved the axe.Hopefully the unemployment line will wake him up, or coach at Michigan.It’s basically the same thing”””””””
By Bill
November 30, 2008 6:51 AM | Link to this
Unless they lower their academic standards, like many other schools, Miami will continue to struggle. It doesn’t matter who they get to coach.
By Pops
November 29, 2008 7:00 PM | Link to this
Unfortunately, Montgomery wasn’t able to carry on the great winning traditions of Miami football. The administration, supported by alumni, acted promptly before the tradition changed.
By Bucknut
November 29, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
what took so long..to politcally correct to win up there..glad to see someone at Miami grow a pair and tell this guy to fly? Adios..see ya!