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MSU Scrambles to Hire Next Head Coach

GoRacers.com

By Chris Taylor

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-875345.mp3

Murray, KY – Murray State University is without a head coach for its Racer football program. Athletic Director Allen Ward has been narrowing down a list of over a hundred applicants with blinding haste, in order to hire a replacement before the school closes for the holiday.

The MSU Racers have finished below five-hundred the last five years, four of which with recently released Head Coach Matt Griffin. Griffin won only a quarter of the games; he was 11 out of 44 played. Athletic Director Allen Ward says despite the meager win/loss record, Griffin was successful in a number of ways during his tenure.

Ward- He completely started over when he got here: he had the NCAA APR penalties hanging over him, which were no fault of his own, but it cost the program some scholarships which he had to endure; cleaned up all the citizenship issues we were dealing with; some of the negatives; did a lot to help fundraising for our facility improvements. So there are a lot of positives that came out of Coach Griffin.

Ward describes Griffin as a young and energetic coach, a great motivator who connected well with student athletes and could rally excitement in new recruits, inspiring them to become Racers.

Ward- Up through the first three years I saw that progress. We had one win, then two wins, then five wins. I thought at the end of the third season in the OVC. Then, for whatever reason, it didn't go the way we thought it was going to go.

Sports Writer Dave Ramey has been covering Racer athletics for decades. He thinks Ward's decision to replace Griffin was a smart move.

Ramey-We had not shown improvement and a lot of the things that Matt did from the standpoint of his tenure here was setup to win this year and we clearly didn't.

The Racers went three and eight this season, down over last year's five and twelve finish. Ramey says that was a step back from progression.

Ramey- If you looked at some of the issues related to who we were going to lose on the defensive side of the ball and you also looked at the schedule next year, I think there was a serious question whether we were going to be much better.

Finding the right coach is Ward's top priority at the moment. He needs to have one in place as soon as possible so the program can effectively recruit next season's players starting next month. Ward has been hosting conference calls from around the country in his office for much of the week, hoping to have a candidate signed on by next Friday. He says the style of the Racer's next head coach won't contrast much from Griffin, but will likely come with more experience and pedigree.

Ward- There's a lot of factors that go into that. They don't have to be a head coach by any stretch, but just their overall background. What have they done from recruiting? Who have been their mentors? Who's really made an influence or an impact on that particular coach and his style and philosophy, so that's the direction I'm looking.

Though Ward remains tight-lipped on his selection process, Ramey recently posted an article to Examiner dot com, speculating on several possible applicants, including: former Racer assistant coach Randall McCray, the current recruiting coordinator at Wisconsin, South Carolina assistant coach Shane Beamer, Ole Miss assistant coach Dan Werner, and Valdosta State coach Chris Hatcher among many others. Ward declined to comment. Whoever is chosen to lead the Racers next year is up for a tough season ahead. The team will face some of their fiercest competition from EKU, Jacksonville State, and Eastern Illinois all on the road.