Miller Highlights

The Portland State football team started its search for a new head coach this week and no one has anything bad to say about Tim Walsh leaving. Whoever takes over as the next head coach needs to make this football program better or watch it wither and die.

There is going to be a huge burden on whoever becomes the next head coach of the Vikings. Portland State needs to get exponentially better in this next season or the Vikings will lose all that Walsh helped assemble.

Walsh built a long legacy at PSU. He took a winning Division II squad and transitioned it into a winning Division I-AA program. In his 14-year tenure he had a 90-68 record, had four teams go to the NCAA playoffs and has the most wins as a football coach in school history.

I am not disgusted with his desertion of PSU for the offensive coordinator spot at Army, but he sure has put the Portland State Vikings at a disadvantage. This year he put together one of the best recruiting classes PSU football has seen in the last five years. Two big name local quarterbacks signed, a handful of good offensive lineman and a few defensive pieces that could really put PSU football in contention a few years from now. These kids signed up for the Tim Walsh experience and are not going to get it.

In truth, Walsh built a good system and PSU will have success no matter who the coach is. What I worry about though is whether or not in the next two to five years recruits will be drawn to Portland State without Walsh.

Walsh has an old school football mindset. Walsh recruited big, powerful offensive lineman that moved his run-heavy offense up the field without ever needing to throw the ball. Defensively, his teams focus on stopping the run and forcing the quarterback to make mistakes with strong defensive line and linebacker play.

This system is the building blocks of any other system a coach can throw at a team. So Walsh has created a system and recruited the type of players that can be successful under any other kind of system.

The biggest problem with PSU sports is the lack of prestige. The Vikings are always underrated and disrespected, even with the successes of our football and volleyball team. Teams build on prestige because of a combination of good coaching, location and success.

Recruits go to USC to play for head coach Pete Carroll and the perennial contender Trojans. Recruits go to Notre Dame because it is one of the most glorified football schools in the United States. Tim Walsh and his football team’s success is the only prestige that Portland State football had. Now that he has jumped the Viking boat will it sink?

The pressure is on for the next coach. This will be the year to push for the playoffs. It is not time to rebuild or change the major pieces of the team. If the Viks don’t make the playoffs in the next two years they may sink to the bottom of the Big Sky.

Here is a list of possible coaches that will be interviewed in the coming weeks:

Don Bailey, Montana State offensive coordinator

Jerry Glanville, Hawaii defensive coordinator

Chris Klenakis, Nevada offensive coordinator

Osia Lewis, New Mexico defensive coordinator

Greg Lupfer, Portland State defensive coordinator

Mike McCarty, Arkansas State assistant coach

Mark Speckman, Willamette head coach

Todd Spencer, Navy offensive line coach