Dear Sports Illustrated...

Many of you guys have heard me say that I do my best to not listen to the local Little Rock sports radio shows.  I will listen to A-StateNation radio during lunch and will also listen to Game Time with Mickey Ryan in the afternoons.  But mostly during the day or on the daily commute heading home I will use my computer or phone to listen to a number of different national college football podcasts. 

One of the many podcasts I listen to is the Sports Illustrated college football podcast hosted by Stewart Mandel and Mallory Rubin.  The podcast is titled – The Mandel Initiative - and they do a pretty good job in a weekly podcast covering the big upcoming games and review the best games from the week earlier.  However during the summer they have some time to preview the upcoming season.  One day while listening they were begging for folks to send in emails for them to answer.  Well I obliged them and sent the following email…

I’m an Arkansas State fan and our new coach Gus Malzahn has continually used the phrase of trying to build Arkansas State into the “Boise State of the South”.  Now living in a dream world that Gus is going to pull a Chris Petersen and stick around longer than a couple of seasons, is it possible in this new era of playoffs and potential super-conferences for a program like Arkansas State to build themselves into the type of program that Boise State has become.

Stewart and Mal answered my email on the 7/25/2012 and I wanted to give you guys some of their thoughts and comments from the podcast. 

Mallory stated that she had three things that would affect whether or not ASU could become the Boise of the South.  The first of those three were coaching.  (First let me apologize to Red Wolf fans for the “dream world” comment about Gus staying long term.  I have been labeled by some as negative, though I usually say realistic, but I digress.)  Mallory made mentioned that I answered the coaching portion in my question.  She said you need a long term coach for continuity and that it is “hard to imagine that Gus Malzahn becomes an Arkansas State lifer”.  Stewart added that for ASU to build it would require “Malzahn digging in his heels and staying at ASU for a while”.  He added that most people are skeptical about that and see ASU as a springboard job.

Mallory then jumped into recruiting.  She stated that to become that BCS buster type program you have to be able to recruit really well.   Mal mentioned that ASU is in a better situation than Boise has when it comes to talent pool.  In the “football loving south” she believes ASU can find the guys that weren’t quite elite enough to play in the SEC but are fast, athletic, and often end up in the NFL.  That is much better than what Boise was getting until the last couple of years.

The New Playoff system could be the toughest to overcome.  After stating that many national college football writers believe that the mid major programs may be worse off with the new playoff system, both Mal and Stewart agreed that it is hard to say what will happen when the playoffs actually arrive.   Mallory did say “in order to be relative, you do have to break into those playoffs”. 

Stewart added a 4th component that is needed to become another Boise.   He explained that Boise State dominated their conference for a decade and then beat some of those larger programs.  It took that time to build the program and the national respect and then came the defining moment for Boise – Defeating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.  Earning that respect of the media, fans, and other coaches is required.

The following week on the 8/9/2012 podcast, Mallory made a nice prediction that I thought everyone would like to read.  When previewing the Big 10, Mal brought up Nebraska as someone that was ripe for upset.  She wanted to “throw it out there” that she “wouldn’t be shocked to see Arkansas State upset Nebraska in game 3”.  She said that fans should “watch out for Arkansas State this year”. 

So I’ve thought about writing this out for a while now, but it wasn’t until the Little Rock Luncheon hosted by Jeff Hankins and his group at War Memorial that I felt like I can finally make more out of this entire story.  Malzahn was really impressive that day and it got me to rethinking the answers to my question.

Now I’m still realistic, but I believe Gus is here to build something.  There is no question he is the coach that can take Arkansas State to the “Next Level” and if ASU fans buy into this thing, maybe Gus does stick around.  It would take total immersion by ASU administration, ASU fans, and the state of Arkansas, but Gus could see something special in what he has created.  Gus absolutely loves the recruiting game.  He will always be a threat to the SEC and Big 12 schools while recruiting kids in the South because of his name and style of offense.  If ASU continues to put guys in the NFL, and the Red Wolves consistently dominate the Sun Belt, then the recruiting will continue to get bigger and better. ASU is in the right conference to dominate for a number of years.  If the Red Wolves keep putting top recruiting classes together, they should be able to pull a couple of upsets.   10 win seasons, chopping down the big boys, living in the top 25 would earn national respect, and then we are talking about the “Boise State of the South”.  Oh, and the “Boise State of the South” can make a run at that new playoff, you can bet on it!