Van Diest for Head Coach

[catamaran]

Two other possible canidates. Mick Denehy and Steve Axman.

[083190]

The positive in this list of candidates is that message board info is generally wrong. Especially early on. Since Van Diest is the first name floated, he is probably the least likely candidate. Which is a good thing. Not sold on him as a possibility.

[Catfan2030]

I would take Van Diest in a heartbeat. He has done amazing things with Carrol and with the extra scholorships i think he could do wonders for Bobcat Football.

[Cat_gld]

The recipe for success in Montana seems to point to hiring from within, either from within the existing coaching staff, or by hiring someone with strong Montana ties. I know there have beene exceptions, but I think in general, you could argue that the above recipe has worked almost 100% of the time.

That said, if I were AD, I would probably make my first call to VanDiest and then go from there.

Like I said on another thread, I don't know about Van Diest as a coach or a person other than what I've read, but I don't think anyone can argue against interviewing him.

Van Diest is the obvious choice of many posting on this site.....and all with very good reason. And hiring from within may be a comforting thought for some because these indivduals in their current situations are seemingly known quantities. However, recent experience, Hysell and Durham for example, have left a very bitter taste in my mouth. That is, it's easy to hire them but very difficult to get rid of them after it becomes painfully obvious that they need to go.

I support the hiring of Van Diest but only after a committee has had the opportunity to systematically weigh his potential against that of several others. Let's leave a provincial Helena attitude out of the process.

[catatac]

Question - does anyone have any REAL information at to whether or not Van Diest would consider the job? In the past I've heard everything from - he said he's never leaving Helena, to if he goes anywhere it will be Missoula, to the same about Bozeman. Do any of you know? Have any of you ever talked to him?

[CatFan54]

For the people who have watched Carrol play I was wondering if you can answer a few questions for me regarding the type of offense and defense that Carrol runs.

I remember Solomenson= Great offense...no defense at all our team was "soft"; Hysell=Our defense got tougher but we sucked on offense..3 yards and a cloud of dust; Kramer = tough defense that brings pressure and contrary to everbody ripping on Baily he has brought an offensive attack that at least makes sense to me.

Questions

1) What does Van Diest prefer to do with his offenses ? Is he heavy on the run, heavy on the pass, or does he do a good job of mixing it up based on the talent he has?

2) On Defense - Does bring consistent pressure, prefer man to man or zone defense, does he have his players play bend but don't break defense etc.

3) How good is he at halftime adjustments?

4)If this is the Guy can he take his "system" and implement it in 2007 or are we going to have to wait a year for the players to grab hold of what his is teaching.

5)Does he have good assistent coaches that he can bring with him? I know we need someone on his staff that can develop quarterbacks. I would hope that he would look to keep Junior Adams on staff for a lot of reasons.

Whoever is our coach next year I see no reason why our defense can't be a top 1 or 2 in the league for total defense and I would expect our offense to be efficient.

I'm not quite sure what Solomonson offense you are remembering. I was there for every one and none of them were more than anemic. We were competetive only because our defense was one of the best in the conference. Any one remember Mark D'Augustino or Todd Graves? Running the veer in the Big Sky of the 1980's was death blow to MSU. Solomonson brought in Bart Andrus late in is regime and while the offense picked up, it certainly wasn't "Great". We stayed with Idaho teams with Friez and Nussmier and Weber with Jamie Martin and Grizzly teams With Ah Yat et al because our defense WASN'T SOFT, our offense was pathetic.

[crazycat]

Question - does anyone have any REAL information at to whether or not Van Diest would consider the job? In the past I've heard everything from - he said he's never leaving Helena, to if he goes anywhere it will be Missoula, to the same about Bozeman. Do any of you know? Have any of you ever talked to him?

I have HEARD that he'd be interested, but I don't think anyone has any concrete info like that for any of the logical candidates. If he says he's interested at this point in the game (Kramer isn't even gone yet), then I'd have to say he's pretty seriously interested. He, nor anyone other possible candidate, isn't going to go public with his desires at least until after Kramer is gone. People are just using logic. Van Diest is good, MSU is a good fit for him, MSU pays more, MSU is a step closer to a I-A job. Van Diest could just want to stay in Helena. I would have to assume that since Bozeman is only 90 miles from Helena that if MSU showed interest in him, that he'd put in and accept the job, if offered.

[Au Blue]

Question - does anyone have any REAL information at to whether or not Van Diest would consider the job? In the past I've heard everything from - he said he's never leaving Helena, to if he goes anywhere it will be Missoula, to the same about Bozeman. Do any of you know? Have any of you ever talked to him?

I've heard all of those same arguments but I don't believe that Van Diest wouldn't jump at the opportunity to coach at either of the Montana universities if the time was right. I certainly hope our athletic dept has been in contact with him, especially in light of the rumors floating around grizland that Hauck may be leaving too. My worst fear would be Van Diest taking the griz to several national championships and having to say "I told you so". I certainly hope if Van Diest does come to MSU that he at least brings OC Nick Howlett. Nick is a great guy and a great OC. Best of all, he likes to throw to the tight ends! Short passes, what a concept!

[HelenaCat95]

What do we pay our Assistant Coaches, and what does Carroll pay theirs?


I would think that what we pay our HC is significantly higher than what Carroll pays (but I do not know this for a fact). But I know that our Assistant Coaches sometimes struggle financially...especially given the high living costs in the Gallatin Valley.

I know that we are talking about Head Coach here, but most Head Coaches do think about their current Assistants when making their decisions.

Point is, would a Carroll Assistant Coach do better financially at MSU given the higher cost of living.

[crazycat]

I don't think CC has any full time coaches besides Van Diest and the OC/DC. I think the others also do other work for the school. Actually I think VD is the DC, so I'm not sure anyone besides him is full time.

[Bleedinbluengold]

The positive in this list of candidates is that message board info is generally wrong. Especially early on. Since Van Diest is the first name floated, he is probably the least likely candidate. Which is a good thing. Not sold on him as a possibility.

Maybe, but the guy who Fields last hired as a coach was the first one to have his name "floated" and probably not just on this board. And, if there is place higher than first, then he had that spot.

[tetoncat]

i read in the paper earlier in the week that Van Diest was interviewing at Idaho State. If this is true I would think he would also be interested in MSU. But with all the rumors out there maybe he did not even interview there.

[rtb]

i read in the paper earlier in the week that Van Diest was interviewing at Idaho State. If this is true I would think he would also be interested in MSU. But with all the rumors out there maybe he did not even interview there.

I don't think he interviewed. They contacted him and he "took a look" at the position and determined he wasn't interested.

[bcats]

I don't know if Van Diest would be interested but he should have the opportunity should accept or decline.

For those who want to know his credentials:
Head Coach - Mike Van Diest
During his seven-year tenure as Head Football Coach at Carroll College, Mike Van Diest has lead the Fighting Saints to four straight National Championship, which has been one of the most dominating runs in college football history. The Saints have posted a 78-16 record during the past seven seasons. This includes a 47-9 Frontier Conference record for an impressive 84%. The Fighting Saints have earned six straight Final Four appearances in the NAIA national playoffs.

In 2005, the Saints won their fourth consecutive NAIA National Championship with a convincing 27-10 victory over St. Francis University (Ind.) this was the second time under Van Diest that Carroll had a perfect record (14-0) in claiming the Title. In 2004 the Fighting Saints were the NAIA national champions for the third year in a row with a slim 15-13 victory again over St. Francis University (Ind.) in Savannah, Tennessee. In 2003, the Saints were national champions with their first perfect season at 15-0, by defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State 41-28. In 2002, the Saints won their first national championship with a 28-7 victory over Georgetown, KY. Van Diest and his staff have led Carroll College to a 20-2 record in the NAIA national playoffs. In 2000 and 2001, the Saints finished with the numer 3 national ranking. During this time the Saints defense has been ranked 11th in 2000, 4th in 2001, 6th in 2002, 5th in 2003, 3rd in 2004 and number 1 in 2005. This season the Saints have held teams to an outstanding 9.4 points per game, which included three shutouts, two of which came in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the playoffs. While at Carroll, Van Diest has coached 18 All-Conference linebackers with four being named first team All-American, Joe Horne (2001), Cory Perzinski (2002), Marcus Atkinson (2003), and Gary Cooper (2004, 2005). Horne, Atkinson, and Cooper were all named Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Year. During his tenure as head Coach of the Fighting Saints, Van Diest has been named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year five times. In 2003 and 2005 Van Diest was named NAIA National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association as well as the AFCA Division II Coach of the year in 2003.

Van Diest is a 1970 graduate of Helena High School. His career has included stops at his alma mater, the University of Wyoming, the University of Montana, the University of Massachusetts, and Big Ten representative, Northwestern University as an assistant coach. Van Diest has won titles at Montana (Big Sky Conference Champions, 1982), Wyoming (Two Western Athletic Conference Championships and one Pacific Division Championship), Massachusetts (Yankee Conference Champions, 1986) and now six Frontier Conference Championships at Carroll, as well as the 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 NAIA National Championships. He and his wife Heidi have two sons, Shane and Clay. Shane is a football player at Carroll College.

You can contact Coach Van Diest at mvandies@carroll.edu

[HiLineBobcat]

Which is a good thing. Not sold on him as a possibility.

You are on crack if you don't think Van Diest is a good thing. Let's keep this train rollin