OT: EMU is Bowl-Eligible; Why Hasn't Chris Creighton Drawn Interest For a Bigger Job?
With one game left, Eastern Michigan became bowl-eligible last night by whipping Northern Illinois. (EMU owns the state of Illinois.)
I've seen that there might be a shortage of bowl-eligible teams this year, so the Eagles will likely make a bowl even with a 6-6 record. They finish the season against 4-6 Kent State.
If they do make it, that will be three bowls in the past four seasons for Coach Chris Creighton. Considering EMU's history (they hadn't qualified for a bowl since 1987 before he arrived), that's remarkable. Knowing EMU's program as well as we do, I never would have thought that any coach could do that there.
Which begs the question: How come Creighton's name never comes up for a bigger job? His overall record at EMU is still pretty awful, because he was 2-10 and 1-11 in his first two seasons, but there's no question he can turn a program around. Still, you never even hear him mentioned on a laundry list of coaching candidates when a low Power 5 job opens up. Successful MAC coaches are always snapped up. Just wondering why Creighton isn't even mentioned.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:40 AM ^
I want to make a joke about how MSU would be a lateral move, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a candidate for that job if Mork ever retires.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:42 AM ^
shhhh don't talk about MSU or you might make some posters' heads explode.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:15 AM ^
Obligatory....
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November 20th, 2019 at 8:53 AM ^
EMU and MSU could do a coach swap and complete the circle.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^
We are not allowed to talk about MSU anymore. It’s Indiana week.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:42 AM ^
The guy has only coached at tiny places. If you look at his career history, it's hard to see what professional connections he has. The only major college coach he's connected with, judging from Wikipedia, is Tom Allen at Indiana. Is Tom Allen exerting whatever influence he has to promote Creighton's career? If he is, well, it's still only Tom Allen. If he isn't, then this guy is a total unknown with a big hill to climb.
He's also been a head coach for more than 20 years, so he probably isn't interested in becoming a position coach for less money. Suppose you're trying to hire a head coach. Is a 50 year old whose crowning achievement is scraping above .500 in a shitty conference going to be your first choice? Not mine. Your 7th choice? Not mine.
I mean, compare him to Brady Hoke. Hoke had serious connections to people with real influence. He did a lot better than a couple of 7-6 years before he moved up, and even then he only moved up to the Mountain West.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
His record as a HC is 28-45. He is bowl eligibile but they aren't exactly winning the conference. At EMU in his division, he finished 6th, 6th, 4th, 5th, and tied for 2nd, this season they are tied for last in their division.
They beat bad Big Ten teams on occasion but they can't even win their own MAC division let alone play for a conference title. Don't let this WTKA narrative fool you.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:30 AM ^
I mean he's at EMU, they freaking suck. No a big job shouldn't take him. But a rebuilding program should look to him.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:39 AM ^
If you want to end up 6-6, ok.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:47 AM ^
There's a few programs out there that would kill for bowl eligibility 3 out of 4 years.
November 20th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
He is at one of them....
November 20th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
That is a good post. In addition, EMU is his 4th stop as a Head Coach and it is literally the first school that offers scholarships. He's been at places where he can just primarily coach football.
And there's nothing wrong with that. But any FBS job beyond EMU will involve (1) much much much more recruiting and (2) much much much more glad handing with the powerful alums.
Nothing against EMU, but that might be the FBS school with the least amount of alum support and pressure out there.
If I'm a C-USA or MWC or AAC team, I'm not taking a risk on Creighton either. Nothing against the guy, but he'd be too much of a risk in terms of what I'd be needing in my football coach.
November 20th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
Creighton is the Beilein of college football.
November 20th, 2019 at 6:11 PM ^
Thanks, NittanyFan. I hadn't appreciated that EMU is Creighton's first stop with scholarships.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:43 AM ^
I suspect that by saying "successful MAC coaches" you are referring to bigger name MAC programs - CMU, Ball St, BGSU, etc. EMU is barely recognizable as a MAC program because it's been so bad for so long. Other than rote name recognition versus 'bigger' programs in the MAC, I got nothing for you... I do think he'll get snapped up by a better G5 program soon, though. But I doubt he'll jump straight to a P5 school. Just not enough demonstrated experience...
November 20th, 2019 at 8:44 AM ^
He'd be a HUGE upgrade over Dan7onio
November 20th, 2019 at 8:45 AM ^
I think he'd have to do better than .500 to get attention from the Power 5 (outside of Rutgers). Maybe if he had an offensive system that was revolutionary, but I don't see that. If I was an AD, I would like to see a couple more years of sustained success before I hire the next Brady Hoke.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:46 AM ^
He's done ok for EMU, don't get me wrong, but his season records have been:
- 2-10
- 1-11
- 7-6
- 5-7
- 7-6
- 6-5 (to date)
He's had a winning record in his conference once. That's good for EMU but if you're looking for a "up and coming coach" they are usually the guys who are whipping ass in their conference and completed the turnaround where you are seeing some 8, 9, 10 win season on the regular and competing for championships. The gap between "not sucking" and "championship caliber" is a substantial one.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:06 AM ^
If you look at those numbers in a vacuum, they aren't impressive. But when you look at them in terms of EMU, they're remarkable.
November 20th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
I have some appreciation for that but you asked why he’s not getting looks for better jobs and that’s why IMO. “Hey I got this coach that has a moribund commuter schools football program winning half its games most of the time” isn’t catching the attention of big time ADs
November 20th, 2019 at 11:59 AM ^
EMU made 2 bowls in their program history prior to him, this will be his third. He probably has the worst facilities of any d1 school to work with.
November 20th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
Yeah, but isn't that more a factor of the number of bowl games has dramatically increased?
Their record in 1971 was 7-0-2 before the bowl game and they were playing at what is today the FCS level. There were only 4 bowl games for FCS teams in 1971 (For FBS teams there were 13)
Their record in 1987 was 9-2 (7-1 MAC) and they were MAC Conference champs before the bowl game. In 1987 there were 18 bowl games at the what is today known as FBS level.
In 2016 there were 40 bowl games, in 2018 there were 39 bowl games, and this year there will be 39 bowl games. (I didn't count the CFP championship game because it is filled based on results from bowl games).
November 20th, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
Yes, that probably has a lot to do with it. I dug deeper. In the past 45 years (all I could find), EMU has won 6+ games 10 times (3 by Creighton). In that same time period they have won 2 or fewer games 17 times (2 by CC ((his first 2 years)).
I don't think he's the next Saban, but he has produced above expectations at a school that is hard to win at historically. I think that makes him a solid hire at the correct program.
November 20th, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Looking at overall win/loss records for MAC and similar schools can be misleading because they typically play up a weight class or 2 for money. Looking at his conference record, which would be teams considered peers, would be a fairer comparison.
- 1-7 (6th place - West Division)
- 0-8 (6th place)
- 4-4 (4th place)
- 3-5 (5th place)
- 5-3 (3rd place)
- 3-4 (currently in 5th place)
That's not killing it. Huge improvement over Eastern's historical norm. But not enough for national attention.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:49 AM ^
It's great that EMU is bowl eligible but I think it's a bit premature to say that the program has been "turned around".
November 20th, 2019 at 8:54 AM ^
I suppose you could argue that it's turned around by EMU standards, but the Eagles aren't necessarily competing for MAC titles yet, nor do they seem poised to do so in the future.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
I just looked and recruiting hasn't gotten any better under him. He hasn't had a top 100 class according to 247 and was 123 this year.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:33 AM ^
By EMU's standards, it absolutely has. I'm not sure you realize just how truly awful they were, for almost three decades, prior to this guy showing up. Not sure they'd been to a bowl game since the 80s.
This job is right up there as being one of the hardest D1 programs in America to win at.
November 20th, 2019 at 8:51 AM ^
I think he'd only be getting offers from the Vanderbilts and Rutgers of the P5 conferences. The only positive to those jobs is a temporary pay raise. You're probably back out on your ass after 3-4 years. Although EMU isn't the most stable job, he has the position for as long as he wants it. He might value that assurance. Crazy to think he has just as many wins against B1G teams in the last three years as Rutgers does.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:15 AM ^
And of course one of those Big Ten wins *was* over Rutgers.
Not to damn him with faint praise, though; he also beat Illinois this year and last year the Purdue team that later beat Ohio State.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
Guess who else coached at Vanderbilt....
November 20th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
He's a good coach, but unless Dave Brandon becomes an AD again, no Power 5 program is going to snap up an EMU coach who topped out at 7-6. His best bet is to climb the MAC ladder. BGSU or Northern Illinois would be ideal landing spots for Creighton, then if he can win conference titles at one of those spots, he'll start generating interest from lower tier Power 5 programs. Or maybe he stays at Eastern and hopes he can win titles there, but it's gotta be tough to recruit there, even against other MAC schools.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:04 AM ^
If I'm an AD and I take a granular look at EMU (its location, lack of "tradition," the past thirty years), I'll view Creighton favorably. I think he would make sense for a team at the wrong end of the Big Ten / Big 12.
November 20th, 2019 at 11:17 AM ^
I don’t think that’s really the appropriate logic for giving someone a shot in one of these conferences. That’s almost a death sentence for a guy with middling results in the MAC. Bringing him in to Rutgers or Maryland or Vandy etc just means he’s hired for 2-3 years in hopes that it wasn’t all smoke and mirrors at lower level competition at EMU, and that he can turn a program on its head.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:05 AM ^
What Chris Creighton has done at EMU is no doubt impressive but if he has designs on one day coaching in the P5 ranks I think he has to make at least one jump up the ladder in the interim. Winning seven and possibly eight games at EMU is like nine or 10 at other MAC programs, however I think he'll need to show more at higher level G5 program first.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:11 AM ^
He's never leaving Ypsilanti. He loves it there.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:21 AM ^
As a red-blooded man, would you turn your back on the world's largest dong?
November 20th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
If every morning you could wake up to this, who wood....
November 20th, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^
Dude, you stole my joke and posted the EXACT SAME PICTURE from among the hundreds available online???
You, sir, have gone too far. I challenge thee to a duel. Pistols at 50 paces. Shortly before the sun slips below the horizon. Haveth you no honor, sir???
November 20th, 2019 at 10:05 AM ^
Talk about watertower envy!!! I was thinking the same thing that you some how hacked my phone and knew which pic I would choose.
I think a duel is in order and given the topic, I'm glad you didn't say sword fight....
November 20th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
You guys selected the same picture because out of the 100s available online, this one is the most, ahem, "impressive".
November 20th, 2019 at 9:52 AM ^
Double dong!
November 20th, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
With his record, while impressive given the state of EMU's program prior to his arrival, he's more likely to go to another G5 school that has a more stable program. That is, he's more likely to end up at a school like WMU or SDSU than MSU.
But keep an eye on hot G5 jobs that open up when their coaches go to P5 jobs. I don't see Creighton going to P5 any time soon, so a good G5 program might want some stability instead of getting their coaches poached off every few years.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:37 AM ^
To be honest I'm not really sure what his next stepping stone would be. He's strictly been in the midwest and heartland region of the country up to this point. The MAC and B1G cover the midwest and the Big 12 has the heartland but I don't think he's P5-ready nor do I think he'd move within the MAC. Maybe the AAC or C-USA? Either way I think his next step will need to be outside of his established geographical footprint.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
I think he'll be in the conversation to replace a Fickell or other G5 coach once they move up. Jumping straight from MAC to P5 is a recipe for Peter Principle to kick you in the nuts.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:34 AM ^
If you are a pretty successful MAC coach the best route is to go to an AAC school. Success in the AAC is viewed much more favorably for a Power 5 job than a MAC job. Look at what coaches from Temple, UCF, Memphis, and Cincinnati have been able to get by having success there.
Unless you are a flashy young guy a la Fleck, you are not going from the MAC to Power 5 unless its the absolute bottom of the barrel which is a poor career move.
November 20th, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
I mean if dude was 11-1 on a regular basis you'd want him.
6-6, 5-7, what?
November 20th, 2019 at 9:37 AM ^
So if you were running a college athletic department you'd hire him?
November 20th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
Never forget...
November 20th, 2019 at 9:59 AM ^
Man that's just dumb and it doesn't age well