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Show Monday ; July 30,2007 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE The Great Debate Whittingham: Should he stay or should he go? Advance to Go, and do not collect $200 Keep Whittingham, get rid of Ludwig to be Urban Meyer or Mike Shanahan. That being said, when a team has a defensive-minded head coach, it is imperative that his offensive coordinator be brilliant. , T he phrase "that'll be a tough act to . follow" has rarely been more fitting than in NATALIE the case of Urban Meyer DlCOU and Kyle Whittingham. For two years, Meyer . put on the ultimate show, captivating Ute fans and - ^ ^ - ^ enraging the BYU faithful. The Urban Meyer Show had it all, including a thrilling finale that featured a cast of thousands and, yes, even pyrotechnics. Meyer left the stage the leading protagonist in a thrilling real-life tale of David vs. Goliath. When he moved away from Utah, he had become one of the state's demigods, right up there with Brigham Young and John Stockton. And then Whittingham stepped out of the shadows. When Whittingham took over the team, expectations were sky-high (read; unrealistic). The Utes had just accomplished a remarkable feat and there were (overly optimistic) Ute fans who thought the Utes, under Whittingham, had a chance to duplicate the previous two years' success. Of course, it didn't happen. Consider this: In all his years as head coach of the Runnin' Utes, Rick Majerus guided the team to one Final Four. One. It's a grueling process to climb to the summit, and once there, it's impossible to set up camp. Does that mean Utah should settle for mediocrity? Of course not. But fans need to remember that 2004 was magical because the Utes achieved the impossible. Prior to Whittingham's first season at the helm, the Utes lost star quarterback Alex Smith to the NFL. Last year, quarterback Brian Johnson was sidelined and subsequently replaced by Brett Ratliff, an inexperienced senior. Because of these setbacks, we've yet to see what Whittingham is capable of. • 2007 will be the year that Whittingham spreads his wings. To accomplish that, he simply needs to be himself—which means knowing his limitations. He's a defensive specialist. Just because he's now head coach doesn't mean his brain has suddenly been infused with the knowledge of how to run an effective triple option. And that's OK. He doesn't need Which brings us to the point. Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig needs to be sent packing a la Ray Giacoletti. When Whittingham accepted the head coach position, he called up Ludwig and asked his close friend to join his staff. At the time, Ludwig was finishing up a 5-6 campaign and sucking the life out of a quality team (that dons stylish uniforms, I might add). The two years prior to Ludwig coaching at Oregon, the Ducks went 10-2 and 11-1. With Ludwig calling the plays, the Ducks went 7-6,8-4 and 5-6. The year after he left, Oregon returned to its winning ways and posted a 10-2 record. Whittingham has at least proven himself to be a talented defensive coordinator over the last 10 years with Utah. If anyone deserves to be chased out of town by an angry mob wielding pitchforks, it's Ludwig. Now, where did put my pitchfork? n.dicou@ chronicle.utah.edu T j.gilbert@chronicle.utah.edu RSL loses 'second season' debut Jon Gilbert STAFF WRITER A "new season" began for Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. New or not, the result was very familiar for RSL as the second half of the MLS season kicked off on a sour note. The club, fresh off a successful All-Star break in which it beat Everton FC and tied Boca Juniors in friendly action, lost 2-1 to Eastern Conference leader New England on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Revolution's Jeff Larentowicz played the hero with his game-winning goal in the 82nd minute. He also teamed up with Taylor Twellman to assist Pat Noonan on his 39thminute score. Larentowicz scored his second goal of the season on a free kick after Carey Talley fouled Noonan just outside the penalty box while the New England midfielder was looking for offensive space. Talley saw the play differently from the referee. "It would be better off if the men on the field who are playing in the uniforms decided who won the game," Talley said. Head coach Jason Kreis was frustrated but shifted the blame away from the referees. "I think it would be an easy thing to...criticize the referees," Kreis said. "I feel like we really need to just focus on how we are going to get better and let the referees worry about themselves." Kreis motivated his club before the match by passing out wristbands with the words "I believe." He also wrote the numbers 0-0-0, indicating a "new season" for RSL. The new season took a turn in the wrong direction when RSL had to play from behind. Noonan opened the scoring when Larentowicz and Twellman played the ball to him in space just outside the goal area. After Noonan's ball handling unbalanced goalkeeper Nick Rimando, Noonan scorched home the score. "(Larentowicz) played a i mediocrity for two years, a new coach can take the job without worrying about the Meyer comJON parisons. The new coach will GILBERT only be compared to Whittingham, which will make the new hire look like a god and Athletic Director Chris Hill look like a genius for pulling the trigger. Whittingham seemed like a conservatively smart hire in 2004. He worked two seasons under Urban Meyer and led a respectable defense. He understood the big stage and had lived through the Holy War. Two seasons later, Ute fans have too much to agonize over. Whittingham's downfall is not so much his win/loss record. Seven wins and a bowl victory in 2005 followed by eight wins and a bowl victory in 2006 is a pretty good track record. It's the "should haves'* and "could haves" that should cost Whittingham his job. In 2005, Utah lost to TCU in overtime when the Horned Frogs got away with a blatant offensive pass interference play in the end zone, snapping Utah's 18-game win steak. TCU went on to win the Mountain West Conference and finish the season ranked No. 9 in the country. That same year, Utah dropped home games to San Diego State and New Mexico. But Whittingham bailed himself out by beating BYU and unexpectedly trouncing Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl. In 2006, Utah lost to BYU on a last-second play that made the perfect poster for every boy and girl in Provo. Again, he saved himself with an impressive bowl victory over TXdsa. Fans can only be left with the question: What could have been? What if Utah beat TCU in 2005? Would that have had a domino effect on the rest of the season? What if BYU's Jonny Harline would have tripped and John Beck's game-winning pass had fallen innocently to the ground? Would Utah now be weighing invites to join either the Pac-10 or the Big 12 Conferences? Maybe not. But we can still blame Whittingham. here is only one reason Utah hired aBYUgradu, ; ate with no prior head "' y coaching experience to take the reigns when Urban Meyer floated off into the Everglades: No one else wanted the job. Kyle Whittingham was the only person willing enough (read: dumb enough) to follow Urban Meyer at Utah. Can you imagine the job posting for that position on Monster.com} "U football team looking to replace record-breaking, history-making, BCS-busting head coach whose reputation is insurmountable." Alabama has Bear Bryant. Notre Dame has Knute Rockne. Utah has Urban Meyer. Whittingham is the steppingstone Utah needs to get to its next coach. He will always be "the one after Meyer." The demands of following Meyer put Whittingham in a position in which he cannot be successful. Once Whittingham puts in his third year, it will be time to pack his bags and find another defensive coordinator position. We can only hope he returns to BYU. Whittingham has served his purpose. Now that he has hovered in GILL SAYS U . FANS HAVE FALLEN OFF THE BANDWAGON continued from Page 5 to Columbia. Perm State has had some good and bad times in recent years under legendary coach Joe Paterno but the whiteouts in Happy Valley seem brightest when the team is struggling. During the Fiesta Bowl season of 2004, Utah football had record attendance* If U fans want to make RiceEccles Stadium a premier venue and the Utah football team a premier program, the stands cannot be left halfempty when the team isn't enjoying a 12-0 season. ESPN recently released its ranking of top college foot- ball programs over the last decade. Utah ranked 28th. It seems the football program is doing its job, ranking ahead of programs such as Texas A&M, Arkansas, Alabama and Cal. This ranking was based on winning percentage, bowl games and conference championships. A separate fanbase ranking would leave the U far behind many mediocre programs. Fair-weather fans hurt Utah's national reputation and hinder the effectiveness of home-field advantage. The tradition and pageantry Utah football offers should be embraced by the student body and the fans. Many fans might think the coaches and team have failed in the past few seasons, but these are the same fans that have failed the team. m.gill@chronicle.utah~edu TYLER COBB/JtitCkil, Utah (hrezklt RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman brings New England's Wells Thompson to the ground in Saturday's match at Rke-Ecdes Stadium. great ball to (Twellman), who laid it off perfectly and made it very easy for me," Noonan said. Down 1-0, misfortune set RSL back even further. Andy Williams was shown the red card in the 67th minute for a hard tackle, leaving the home team a man down for the rest of the match. "When you're down a goal and down a man, it's a difficult prospect," Kreis said. It also adds the chance for other players to step up. Newly added Kyle Beckerman did just that. Beckerman made his mark in the 71st minute when Kyle Brown found him slashing into the penalty area. The play was broken up by New England, but at the cost of penalty. Talley stepped up and buried the ball into the bottom left corner for RSL to equalize the game at 1-1. Despite only being down a goal at halftime, RSL displayed a disorganized firsthalf attack. RSL midfielder Chris Wingert played several long passes to the front line, proving rather ineffective. Kreis said. "I think we got into "It's a team that is wanting to take chances, obviously," See RSL Page 8 Officers provide security and protection for air travelers, airports and aircraft. 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