No ‘Five-Year Plan’ for SDSU Coach Stolz

When Denny Stolz was named San Diego State’s football coach Wednesday afternoon, the Aztecs could thank Brigham Young University in part for Stolz’s presence.

That’s right, the same BYU that has beaten SDSU by an average score of 42-8 over the past seven years.

“There’s a school in this conference that won the national championship not long ago,” Stolz said, referring to the 1984 Cougars. “That was reason enough for me to think a school in this conference can develop into national prominence. I was offered the Wyoming (coaching) position, and I talked to people at Minnesota and Pittsburgh. This is the job I wanted if they wanted me.”

Stolz, who will coach undefeated Bowling Green against Fresno State in Saturday’s California Bowl, was saying all of the right things at his news conference. Whether by design or not, he talked at length concerning three areas where his successor, Doug Scovil, had been criticized:

--Community involvement. Stolz promised to get out among the fans.

--Immediacy. Stolz said he hopes to win immediately and not be shielded by a “five-year” plan as Scovil was.

--Recruiting. Unlike the previous staff, Stolz plans to recruit heavily in the local area.

“San Diego will be a big recruiting center for us,” Stolz said. “I’ll make every attempt to attract Division I players from here. We’ll fight anybody for them because we plan on keeping them here. We’ll recruit out of California and Arizona. We won’t go after players from the Midwest, but don’t hold it against me if we are contacted by a youngster from there.”

Though recruiting is well under way, Stolz said he thinks his staff will be in “great shape” concerning recruits. Stolz plans to rely heavily upon SDSU’s assistant coaches, some of whom Stolz said he plans to retain. He did not specify who might be staying.

Stolz, 51, admitted he knew little about SDSU but said he heard quarterback Todd Santos had “great numbers.” Stolz said he was unaware that SDSU had suffered through three straight losing seasons.

“I hope we can be a winning team next year,” Stolz said. “I haven’t looked at the schedule, but I would like to feel we can win quite a few games. If you ask me in a month or after spring ball, I can give you a more definitive answer.”

Perhaps Stolz is better off not looking at next year’s schedule, which includes UCLA, BYU and Air Force at home and Stanford on the road.

When Stolz begins at SDSU on Monday, he said he’ll hit the road immediately for recruiting. He also plans to attend community functions and participate in one of his favorite recreational activities--golf.

“He’ll be easy to sell to the community,” said Fred Miller, SDSU’s athletic director. “He has tremendous marketing skills. Believe me, I’m sensitive to that.”

Miller also was sensitive to the fact that Michigan State was put on probation in the aftermath of violations that occurred when Stolz was the Spartans’ coach. Miller said he “looked at that in-depth” before Stolz was hired by SDSU.

Stolz was succeeded at Michigan State by Detroit Lions Coach Darryl Rogers, whom Stolz considers his closest coaching friend. Stolz said he talked to Rogers before accepting the SDSU position. Rogers and Miller were at Arizona State before Rogers went to Detroit this season.

In 18 seasons as a college coach, Stolz has a 109-73-2 record. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year at Michigan State in 1974. He was also conference Coach of the Year at Alma College of Michigan in 1967 and 1968 and at Bowling Green in 1982 and 1985.

After serving six seasons at Alma College, Stolz became Michigan State’s defensive coordinator in 1971. He took over as head coach for Duffy Daugherty two years later.

“He’s a former defensive coordinator, which was an essential ingredient in our search for a coach,” Miller said. “When you examine successful programs--whether it be Penn State, Michigan or BYU--you’ll notice they are strong defensively. Plus, his offense speaks for itself.”

Bowling Green has won 14 straight games, the longest winning streak in the nation. The Falcons are 11th nationally in scoring and 12th in passing. Quarterback Brian McClure tied for 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

“I’m a pro-oriented offensive coach,” Stolz said. “I believe in receiver-skill people and dropback passing. I’ll show you an awful lot of what you see on Sunday afternoon.”

Wednesday afternoon, Stolz had a team meeting at SDSU.

“He came in with a lot of confidence,” offensive lineman John Minor said. “He’s talking about going to a bowl game and winning next year, not three to five years from now. They want to rekindle the tradition we once had here. We haven’t been connected to that the past few years.

“We got away totally from the Fred Dryers, Isaac Curtises and Claudie Minors.”

During the team meeting, Stolz looked at running back Chris Hardy and said: “I have some plays for you.”

Hardy became the fifth Aztec in history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in 1985.

Aztec Notes Webster Slaughter was named SDSU’s Most Valuable Player at the awards banquet Wednesday night. Other awards went to Doug Aronson, top offensive lineman; Mike Stevens, top defensive lineman; Jack Eaton, most inspirational; Vince Warren, most improved; Chris O’Brien, special teams; Casey Brown, Dan Knight, LeRoy Wardell and Stevens, team captains; and Rob Hawkins and Dave DesRochers, scout team.

Denny Stolz’s Coaching Record

School Years W L T Pct. Alma College 1965-1970 34 16 0 .680 Michigan State 1973-1975 19 13 1 .591 Bowling Green 1977-1985 56 44 1 .559 Totals 18 Seasons 109 73 2 .598