Hauck resigned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AFCAT]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

Yeah, I don't believe the "quit or be fired" thing at all either. From what I've read on here, Haslam seems surprised that Hauck quit and didn't get the notice until the night before. In my opinion, the timing was perfect. Some on here have already noted, this keeps most of the roster intact, limiting the opportunity for players to go into the portal and lets the gris sign their incoming class. Sure, the portal opens up for those players now that Hauck quit, but the possible roster spots on teams those players could go to is severely diminished had he quit after Cat-gris.

[AFCAT]

Given his speech and then the presser I'm going to say this was done for the reasons he gives. Not that he has to okay the Cats or any of the bs coming out of griz nation that they were falling so far behind. They lost twice. To us. In close games that yes one became a whopping the last quarter. But the rails fell off.

And yes the timing of this was to take away the ability for people to transfer. Where are they going now? Classes have started. They are on campus. The returning and transferring kids both. They cant go anywhere before fall now, which means no spring ball anywhere but um. Maybe a few people pick off a HS kid or two? But say we get someone to flip. Who's their best HS recruit from MT and did we offer them? Opitz? Prior? Senter? Those are the only names I could see. @VimSince03 your thoughts? Would anyone flip?

Probably won't flip to MSU. Not a lot of roster spots still available, at least before Spring ball. Anything can happen after Spring ball. If anyone flips, I would think it would be their superstars and those guys would go FBS.

[D-Wreck]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks he's been inundated with calls, texts, and emails since he lost in the semis. His "it wasn't enjoyable anymore" narrative would have fit that scenario as well. The oddities of the timing, his replacement, his lack of recruiting, etc, all lead to much speculation. And the reality is, we'll never know for sure.

The conspiracy theory I concocted under my tin foil hat last night is that an agent or two reached out the day before signing day and said "So-and-so wants more $$$ or they don't sign tomorrow" and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. He saw it was going to take development of high school recruits to get to the championship, realized his "you should just want to be here" pitch wasn't cutting it anymore, and decided to cut bait rather than make any effort to change. I hope he enjoys retirement and I never have to see or hear from him ever again.

[AFCAT]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks he's been inundated with calls, texts, and emails since he lost in the semis. His "it wasn't enjoyable anymore" narrative would have fit that scenario as well. The oddities of the timing, his replacement, his lack of recruiting, etc, all lead to much speculation. And the reality is, we'll never know for sure.

The conspiracy theory I concocted under my tin foil hat last night is that an agent or two reached out the day before signing day and said "So-and-so wants more $$$ or they don't sign tomorrow" and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. He saw it was going to take development of high school recruits to get to the championship, realized his "you should just want to be here" pitch wasn't cutting it anymore, and decided to cut bait rather than make any effort to change. I hope he enjoys retirement and I never have to see or hear from him ever again.

Yup, right up until the takes the color-commentator job on gris football games. Other than Cat-gris, I don't watch their games anyway though.

[TomCat88]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

Yeah, I don't believe the "quit or be fired" thing at all either. From what I've read on here, Haslam seems surprised that Hauck quit and didn't get the notice until the night before. In my opinion, the timing was perfect. Some on here have already noted, this keeps most of the roster intact, limiting the opportunity for players to go into the portal and lets the gris sign their incoming class. Sure, the portal opens up for those players now that Hauck quit, but the possible roster spots on teams those players could go to is severely diminished had he quit after Cat-gris.

I thought he would retire a year after Robbie graduated. A lot of coaches do this. They don't retire the year after but a year after that. However, his team after Robbie went to the title game, so I think that reinvigorated him.

[Prodigal Cat]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

Yeah, I don't believe the "quit or be fired" thing at all either. From what I've read on here, Haslam seems surprised that Hauck quit and didn't get the notice until the night before. In my opinion, the timing was perfect. Some on here have already noted, this keeps most of the roster intact, limiting the opportunity for players to go into the portal and lets the gris sign their incoming class. Sure, the portal opens up for those players now that Hauck quit, but the possible roster spots on teams those players could go to is severely diminished had he quit after Cat-gris.

The interesting one here is Gillman. This is his 4th year at UM so its likely he's in the final few months to get his bachelor degree. The school part is less of an issue for him. I'm sure he heard from FBS teams. Does the coaching change give him pause about coming back for the final year or does he go try playing at a big time school. But yeah I don't think they lose much if any at all.

[JoeCatsJoe]

He was the perfect villain. We knew it had to come to an end at some point and I could not have asked for a better boot to the behind to send him out the door forever. Max euphoria ending. With that being said, I can feel my hate for the griz diminishing a little already, it just won’t feel the same. Nothing like a head coach taunting the student section and then receiving the spanking of a lifetime. Checking in on the griz game to see what joke of a school is almost beating them, followed by the bite the reporter’s head off press conferences just won’t be near as fun. Jerks like this don’t just grow on trees, nor does any normal university allow the face of their program to act in such ways, so I would personally like to thank Hauck for making it a million times more fun to beat the griz
: )

Well said. He played his villain role well. I’ll miss rooting hard against Hauck, especially if they get a respectable coach in his stead. It’s a little more difficult to root against Travis DeCuir(or however that’s spelled) because he’s not a jerk. It’s kind of sad, a piece of the rivalry is gone.

[tetoncat]

Hauck & the Griz have been out-recruited by Vigen & the Cats for years now, this is not something new. I think some here are trying to create stories and motives that simply don't exist - Hauck told us all yesterday why he's hanging it up and I see no reason to think that there's anything beyond that because it makes perfect sense. The only thing I don't necessarily believe is that Hauck only came to the decision to retire this week - I suspect he has known for a while but waited until now to announce it to help keep the existing roster and coaching staff mostly intact for next season.

Thought it was odd he said he made his decision Monday but Haslam said he got called Tuesday evening. Also a reporter asked about 48 hour notice and he said it was only 47. Not sure all the times and dates match up.

[lutecat]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

Yeah, I don't believe the "quit or be fired" thing at all either. From what I've read on here, Haslam seems surprised that Hauck quit and didn't get the notice until the night before. In my opinion, the timing was perfect. Some on here have already noted, this keeps most of the roster intact, limiting the opportunity for players to go into the portal and lets the gris sign their incoming class. Sure, the portal opens up for those players now that Hauck quit, but the possible roster spots on teams those players could go to is severely diminished had he quit after Cat-gris.

The interesting one here is Gillman. This is his 4th year at UM so its likely he's in the final few months to get his bachelor degree. The school part is less of an issue for him. I'm sure he heard from FBS teams. Does the coaching change give him pause about coming back for the final year or does he go try playing at a big time school. But yeah I don't think they lose much if any at all.

And Gilman has not tweeted anything....

He lost his RB ans head coach. Maybe?

[AFCAT]

The most annoying part in this is that the media guys, for the most part, will focus on his "winningest coach in the Big Sky", etc, etc, and won't mention his losing record to his rival. Of course that's what happens when you retire versus being fired or not renewed - you get to go out in a blaze of glory.

The media has been really annoying with their griz centric reporting. All of them.

Is there any speculating that with Hauck being in Hawaii instead of recruiting he was basically given the ultimatum quit or get fired? This is just the story that was concocted.

Yeah, I don't believe the "quit or be fired" thing at all either. From what I've read on here, Haslam seems surprised that Hauck quit and didn't get the notice until the night before. In my opinion, the timing was perfect. Some on here have already noted, this keeps most of the roster intact, limiting the opportunity for players to go into the portal and lets the gris sign their incoming class. Sure, the portal opens up for those players now that Hauck quit, but the possible roster spots on teams those players could go to is severely diminished had he quit after Cat-gris.

The interesting one here is Gillman. This is his 4th year at UM so its likely he's in the final few months to get his bachelor degree. The school part is less of an issue for him. I'm sure he heard from FBS teams. Does the coaching change give him pause about coming back for the final year or does he go try playing at a big time school. But yeah I don't think they lose much if any at all.

What are star RBs going for at the FBS level? I heard he made some decent NIL cash at UM.

[84CatGrad]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

[catatac]

I’m sad to see him go. The longer they kept him the longer MSU’s run was going to be.

But, I’m also sad for the reasons he is leaving. He isn’t the only head coach to get out of the profession due to the portal.

Love him or hate him, his name will be synonymous with the rivalry for a long time. He is a huge huge reason for the vitriol. I’m kind of taken aback and very oddly have mixed emotions.

Great post, this sums up how I kind of feel about it. But I was also thinking, yes college football has changed and is changing forever. Everything changes, and the people that are able to pivot and roll with the changes, are usually the most successful. Vigen obviously figured out quickly, how to navigate this new environment, and thrive. Bobby, not so much. I know Bobby talked a lot about things in the press conference, not enjoying it anymore, etc... and I believe that to be true. I also think though, that he has to be looking at the overall situation and knows there is virtually no chance he was going to come into Bozeman next year and win. So that means another year of watching the Cats win the Big Sky title, the Griz getting bounced in the playoffs, and the Cats going to Nashville. I'm not even trying to talk smack but you'd think that realization was enough to have him pull the plug.

Not a chance. That dude lives to play the Cats.

He does, but he's also smart about football and he saw what the Cats have coming back, and the team he was going to field and I can promise you he understands it would take a miracle for them to beat the Cats in Bozeman next Fall.

[MSU Doc]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

I found it odd that an extension hadn't been announced. I assumed it was because he wasn't planning on staying for another year, but your info would fit, too.

I don't think most coaches who haven't won the big game would retire if they felt that they had the team to do it. Even if he felt slighted by a single-year contract extension, I think he would have stayed if he believed he had the dudes. So, either there is another reason, e.g. health, or he didn't think he had the dudes.

[TomCat88]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

Not impossible but Miller is making around $500,000 at Wazzu as OC.

[wbtfg]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

Not impossible but Miller is making around $500,000 at Wazzu as OC.

Also, I'm not sure Matt would stay for one year and then leave.

It would certainly be a great opportunity, but I don't see him bolting after one year in Pullman.

[Prodigal Cat]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

Huh. Kinda weird on the timing. Why not a week or two after the end of the season?

You have to wonder if he wanted an extension because he is on the last year of his contract and Haslem said lets see how this fall goes? Or maybe the main boosters finally had enough. A few weeks ago there was a X post with Vigen meeting a couple Big Sky players that went a little viral among griz fans about how it looks that UM coaches couldn't be bothered to go down the street to meet them. This is complete speculation on my part with zero evidence. It's just odd to me to do this right at a signing date.

Posited this page one right after it was announced.

[Prodigal Cat]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

Not impossible but Miller is making around $500,000 at Wazzu as OC.

Also, I'm not sure Matt would stay for one year and then leave.

It would certainly be a great opportunity, but I don't see him bolting after one year in Pullman.

Honestly the upward mobility of being a OC at Wazzu is probably better than the HC at UM. Miller has zero connection with the griz so this seems wrong.

[MSU01]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

Not impossible but Miller is making around $500,000 at Wazzu as OC.

I looked it up and Vigen was making a base salary of $300,000 as Wyoming's OC when he took the MSU job. Not sure how $300K in 2021 "coaching dollars" compares to $500K in 2026 but it seems fairly comparable. To me it's more about how much Miller wants to be a head coach or if he's content to stay as an OC for now. If he wants to be a head coach, in all aspects except money the UM job seems much more desirable than taking on an FBS rebuilding project like Choate has (so far) unsuccessfully tried to pull off at Nevada.

[TomCat88]

Inside scoop - with a grain of salt - from my frizz son-in-law is BH wanted a three year contract but was only offered one. That rubbed him the wrong way so he waited until all his asst's signed theirs then decided to retire. Kennedy is a one year guy, then they want Matt Miller.

Not impossible but Miller is making around $500,000 at Wazzu as OC.

I looked it up and Vigen was making a base salary of $300,000 as Wyoming's OC when he took the MSU job. Not sure how $300K in 2021 "coaching dollars" compares to $500K in 2026 but it seems fairly comparable. To me it's more about how much Miller wants to be a head coach or if he's content to stay as an OC for now. If he wants to be a head coach, in all aspects except money the UM job seems much more desirable than taking on an FBS rebuilding project like Choate has (so far) unsuccessfully tried to pull off at Nevada.

Wyoming OC was $400K last year.

It just doesn’t seem like many Wazzu OCs have become FCS HCs.

Not impossible but I think the experience of being a OC at Wazzu might be better than HC at an FCS school.

Assuming Miller is successful at Wazzu, you’d think he’d be a hot commodity at a MWC school.

[TIrwin24]

I still remember in 2003 that he walked out of Bobcat Stadium, (after losing 27-20) and flipped off the entire student section. That one action alone has fueled my disdain for the guy to this day.

He did that while he was on the bus going by the Cat Prowl.

Yes! Thank you for that correction. I may have had a few beverages that had clouded the fine details of that eventful day