Stolz Has One Game Left as SDSU Coach : In-House Search Yields Luginbill as Replacement

Less than 2 years after he was carried on his players’ shoulders in celebration San Diego State’s only Western Athletic Conference football title, Denny Stolz was fired Monday as the school’s coach effective the end of the season.

Stolz will be replaced by Al Luginbill, the school’s associate athletic director for student and internal affairs, Athletic Director Fred Miller announced at a news conference Monday afternoon at the Aztec Athletic Center.

Stolz, who will coach the team in its final game at New Mexico Saturday, said Miller told him of his dismissal Monday morning. Stolz, who has 3 years remaining on his contract, will be assigned as yet unspecified duties within the university, Miller said.

The announcement came 2 days after the Aztecs sustained their worst loss in their 11 seasons in the WAC, 58-7, at Texas El Paso. The defeat was the Aztecs’ eighth in 10 games this season and 18th in 25 games since Stolz was carried off the field at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium after the Aztecs clinched their only conference championship with a victory over Brigham Young in the 1986 regular-season finale.

It was the crowning accomplishment in a storybook first season for Stolz, who took over a program that was coming off 3 consecutive losing seasons.

“While we have an expression of appreciation for Coach Stolz, we have to realize the record in this case speaks for itself,” Miller said. “Following our contest Saturday in El Paso, I thought it was appropriate to make the change at this time.”

The lopsided loss was the latest setback for a program whose luster faded quickly after its championship season. Attendance dropped, revenues fell, and a 55-27 loss to Wyoming on ESPN 5 weeks ago exposed the Aztecs’ troubles to the nation.

Their greatest deficiency, and the one that Miller indicated led most directly to Stolz’s downfall, was the team’s poor defensive play.

The Aztecs ranked 98th out of 104 NCAA Division I-A teams in scoring defense last season, allowing an average of 35.7 points per game. Stolz promised improvement, but with a game remaining, the Aztecs are 101st, allowing 37.8 points per game.

Miller said it was Luginbill’s background as a defensive coach that led to his selection as Stolz’s successor. Luginbill was the defensive coordinator of the 1982 Arizona State team that led the nation in total defense.

“I have not seen a program in football or basketball or any team sport that played above average or great defense that did not win consistently from year to year,” Luginbill said.

Luginbill, 42, will take over as coach Nov. 23, the day after the Aztecs’ annual football banquet.

Luginbill has served as an assistant to Miller since December of 1985. He previously had been an assistant at Arizona State for 6 seasons, the last 3 as defensive coordinator. His only head coaching experience was in 1977 when he led Pasadena City College to an 11-1 record and was named national junior college coach of the year.

Miller said he offered the job to Luginbill after the loss at UTEP but was unsure Luginbill would accept. Luginbill has been out of coaching since 1984.

“We were both cautious,” Miller said. “It was like broaching a question with your wife. Sometimes you don’t come straight out. We sparred around a little bit, feeling our way into it.”

Miller said he had been considering Stolz’s fate since midseason and that his thoughts often swung between retaining and replacing Stolz.

The Aztecs started the season by losing at UCLA, 59-6. After they defeated Air Force, 39-36, they lost 6 in a row, then defeated BYU, 27-15. The 2-8 start follows a 1987 season in which the Aztecs lost 6 of their first 7 games before winning 4 of 5 to finish 5-7.

“It became more and more evident as the season went on that a change was necessary,” Miller said. “There was a respite after the BYU win, but our situation at El Paso confirmed what we are doing.”

Miller said replacing Stolz from within will lessen the cost to the program and minimize the disruption to recruiting during the transition.

Miller said the move was made before the final game to save time because of university hiring practices that will affect the assembly of Luginbill’s coaching staff.

“The loss of time was crucial,” Miller said. “The financial considerations were secondary.”

The SDSU athletic program is about $400,000 in debt, and Miller said it would have been difficult to hire a coach from outside and meet the financial obligation to Stolz.

“It would have been an additional risk to go back in the community to try and raise that money,” Miller said. “It would have tested our credibility.”

Stolz has 3 years remaining on a contract that has a base salary of $62,500. Miller said the university would honor its obligation, but he would not comment on whether that would include money from sources such as television shows and endorsements that could more than double Stolz’s income. Miller said Luginbill was given a 3-year contract, but he would not disclose the terms.

Don Kaverman, the school’s athletic trainer since 1986, will take over Luginbill’s duties as an associate athletic director. A replacement for Kaverman will be named shortly, Miller said.

The fate of Stolz’ 9 assistants will be determined by Sunday or Monday, Miller said. Both Luginbill and Miller said they expected some would be retained.

Miller said he did not know what duties Stolz might be assigned to at the university. Stolz, 54, said it was too early to comment on his future and whether he would want to remain in coaching.

Stolz, who appeared at the news conference after Miller and Luginbill left, expressed unhappiness that he had not been given more time to rebuild the Aztecs after their 1986 championship season. The Aztecs lost 30 lettermen from a team that finished the regular season 8-3 and lost by a point to Iowa in the Holiday Bowl.

“His (Miller’s) timetable isn’t the same as mine, obviously,” Stolz said. “If they just had a little bit more patience, we would have been OK.”

But Miller said he could wait no longer.

“As evidenced by our record this year, sometimes you can’t give the full amount of time as you would like,” Miller said. “I’m not here to extract a pound of flesh from Denny Stolz. He gave it his best shot, and it was not forthcoming.”

Stolz became the school’s 12th football coach when he was appointed in December 1985 to succeed Doug Scovil, who was fired after 5 seasons. Stolz came from Bowling Green, where he was 56-45-1 in 9 seasons. His last Bowling Green team was 11-0 before losing to Fresno State in the 1985 California Bowl.

Stolz previously was head coach at Michigan State (1973-75) and Alma College (1965-70). He played quarterback at Alma in the early 1950s.

He has a 124-93-2 record in 21 seasons as a head coach, including 15-19 at SDSU. His 3-season tenure was the shortest since Bill Terry coached the 1946 SDSU team to a 6-4 record in his only season.

“You can build a case for anything,” Stolz said. “But it’s the lack of wins, the lack of Ws (that led to the firing).”

STOLZ’S RECORD AS HEAD COACH

ALMA COLLEGE

Year W L T Conference W L T Finish 1965 3 5 0 Michigan I.A.A. 1 4 0 Fifth 1966 4 5 0 Michigan I.A.A. 3 2 0 Fifth 1967 8 0 0 Michigan I.A.A. 5 0 0 First 1968 8 0 0 Michigan I.A.A. 5 0 0 First 1969 6 3 0 Michigan I.A.A. 4 1 0 Second 1970 5 3 0 Michigan I.A.A. 4 1 0 First (tie) Totals 34 16 0 22 8 0

MICHIGAN STATE

Year W L T Conference W L T Finish 1973 5 6 0 Big 10 4 4 0 Fourth (tie) 1974 7 3 1 Big 10 4 4 0 Third (tie) 1975 7 4 0 Big 10 4 4 0 Third (tie) Totals 19 13 1 14 9 1

BOWLING GREEN

Year W L T Conference W L T Finish 1977 5 7 0 Mid-American 4 3 0 Fourth (tie) 1978 4 7 0 Mid-American 4 7 0 Fifth (tie) 1979 4 7 0 Mid-American 3 5 0 Eighth 1980 4 7 0 Mid-American 4 4 0 Seventh 1981 5 5 1 Mid-American 5 3 1 Fourth 1982 7 5 0 Mid-American 7 2 0 First 1983 8 3 0 Mid-American 7 2 0 Second (tie) 1984 8 3 0 Mid-American 7 2 0 Second 1985 11 1 0 Mid-American 9 0 0 First Totals 56 45 1 49 27 1

SAN DIEGO STATE

Year W L T Conference W L T Finish 1986 8 4 0 Western Athletic 7 1 0 First 1987 5 7 0 Western Athletic 4 4 0 Fifth 1988 2 8 0 Western Athletic 2 5 0 Seventh Totals 15 19 0 13 10 0 Career 124 93 2 98 54 2