BYUtx wrote:
How about not recruiting enough linemen because he had won w/o linemen before? The only thing GC proved in 01 is that if he had enough great offensive players, he could barely get by as a HC who didn't care about defense. To Crowton (from my perspective) it seemed that defense was just some trivial detail that got in the way of more important matters.
I don't know if you remember, but a condition of Crowton becoming head coach at BYU was that he keep all the staff. So he had to keep Ken Schmidt to run the defense the first year. That defense put 4 players in the NFL in spite of how bad it played. Crowton also hired Mendenhall and the defense turned it around the next season. Unfortunately, the cupboard was bare for Crowton on offense after that.
Don't get me wrong, I am glad we have Mendenhall and Crowton is gone, but don't lay all the blame on Crowton for things that were out of his control. He did make OSU's defense look silly in the BCS title game this year. He knows how to coach, just not be a head coach.