Applewhite rumored to go to Iowa St.

[cjones]

to be OC under Chizik.

[untbowler]

to be OC under Chizik.

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could have made a good HC if people were not so scared of his age

[pollock]

could have made a good HC if people were not so scared of his age

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Careful. The Fake Lonnie Finch will be calling you a UT bootlicker in 5... 4... 3....

[untbowler]

Careful.  The Fake Lonnie Finch will be calling you a UT bootlicker in 5... 4... 3....

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screw the shorthorns, I just like Appliewhite. He is getting good experience in many different systems now. He played at UT, went to Syracuse and helped install a new offense, believe he was at Rice this year, and now possibly to ISU.

Nice moves.

[bdan2002]

Gene Chizik hired Robert McFarland, SFA Head Coach as OC on the 1st of Dec.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Gene Chizik hired Robert McFarland, SFA Head Coach as OC on the 1st of Dec.

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So much for Applewhite...bootlicker!

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

By the way, this article says he'll be making over $200k to be an assistant at Iowa State. This is what we're up against...assistants at middle of the road BCS conference schools being paid more than our head coach:

McFarland leaving for greener gridiron

By KEVIN GORE

The Daily Sentinel

Monday, December 04, 2006

After two seasons at SFA, head football coach Robert McFarland is leaving the Lumberjacks' program for an assistant's job at a Big 12 school.

McFarland resigned Friday to accept a position at Iowa State, where he will join Gene Chizik at the Ames, Iowa, school.

Chizik, who for the last two seasons has served as defensive coordinator at Texas, was named the Cyclones' head coach on Monday.

McFarland and Chizik both served on former SFA coach John Pearce's staff in the early to late 1990s.

SFA was 9-13 overall and suffered two losing seasons under McFarland's leadership.

But, there is reason to believe the tide will soon turn for the program.

McFarland's team won four of its last six games — all Southland Conference contests — to finish in a tie for second place with Sam Houston State last season.

SFA was 4-7 overall while playing a roster loaded with underclassmen and just 11 seniors.

McFarland said his ties to Chizik, the opportunity to join a Big 12 program and the potential to nearly double his salary were enough for him to leave SFA.

"The opportunity to be at Iowa State is certainly an opportunity in itself," he said. "The fact that Gene Chizik is the head coach makes it more attractive."

McFarland said he talked with Chizik in the middle of the week and, after being offered the job Thursday, didn't make his final decision until around noon Friday.

He said he met with his wife, Pam, and then drove around Nacogdoches for about 45 minutes before making his decision final Friday.

"The more you talk to people, the harder it gets," he said. "The final decision came down to doing what is best for me, my wife and my two kids."

McFarland was making approximately $115,000 at SFA, which ranks near the top among football coaching salaries in the Southland Conference.

He said his new position at Iowa State will be in excess of $200,000 per year.

Despite all of the advantages that McFarland came up with, he said it was a tough decision to leave SFA, his coaching staff and his players.

McFarland signed more than 10 Division I transfers his first season at SFA before rethinking his direction and signing high school players with the majority of his scholarships before his second season.

He said he looked back on Pearce's success of recruiting high school players and building the program from the ground up for his direction at SFA.

Next season's team is losing just one starter off its offense and four from its defense. Both kickers also return.

McFarland said he regrets that he will not be around for what he expects to be seasons where SFA strongly contends for the league championship.

"It is unfinished business," he said. "I didn't accomplish what I came here to accomplish. But, I feel good about what we got done here.

"This team will compete for the next three or four years for the Southland Conference title."

SFA athletics director Robert Hill said he will evaluate a "plan of action" for the direction that his department will take concerning the search for a new coach.

The previous three Lumberjack coaches — Lynn Graves, Pearce and Mike Santiago — were all fired from their positions.

Hill said the search for McFarland's successor could be different, because of the circumstances surrounding McFarland's departure and the upward direction that the program is perceived to be headed.

"We've really never had this happen at SFA," Hill said. "The last three coaches who were here were fired. McFarland is leaving because he got a great opportunity.

"We're not looking to hire someone at an unsuccessful program. We're looking at a program that is on the verge of really getting better.

"We want to consider how we're going to continue to grow what we have."