FB: Northwest Conference

[RedandPurple]

Sad , but true:
Also..Joel Smith? Get it right will ya!

Linfield coach Jay Locey moves to OSU

BY Kerry Eggers     Issue date: 06/06/06
The Tribune


    Jay Locey is leaving Linfield after 23 years as head football coach and defensive coordinator to accept a position at Oregon State.
    Locey, who was named NCAA Division III coach of the year in leading Linfield to a 13-0 record and the national championship in 2004, will become the Beavers' assistant head coach and will be the position coach for running backs and tight ends.
    Jim Gilstrap, the running backs coach for the Beavers last season, will become the program's coordinator of support services.      A 1973 Corvallis High graduate, Locey, 51, is a former prep teammate of Oregon State head coach Mike Riley. Locey played for the Beavers from 1973-76, serving as a starting free safety his final two seasons. He was a first-team all-Pac-8 selection as a senior and holds the school record for longest interception return — 94 yards against Oregon in 1975.
    When Riley left a defensive coordinator's job at Linfield to coach at Winnipeg of the Canadian Football League in 1983, he recommended Locey as his replacement. Locey got the job and has been at Linfield ever since, from 1983-95 as defensive coordinator and for the last 10 seasons as head coach, amassing an 84-18 record.
    Under Locey's direction, the Wildcats have won or tied for the Northwest Conference championship six straight years. Linfield saw a 23-game winning streak end with a 44-41 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals last December.
    Locey has been happy at Linfield and wouldn't have considered leaving except for his relationship with Riley.
    "It's a great opportunity for me to work with a guy I greatly respect," Locey says. "We are pretty congruent in our thinking. I'll get to work at my alma mater and in my hometown. I have loved my time at Linfield, but this was a unique opportunity."
    Locey's successor at Linfield is expected to be either defensive coordinator Joel Smith or offensive line coach Doug Hire.

[RedandPurple]

I hope Carnahan or Kelly Bird makes an announcement soon.
I wonder when and how they'll let the players know.

[rockcat]

If they didn't know already they do now.

[D O.C.]

You townies got caught leaning the wrong way. In fact, you were looking the wrong way and got blind-sided.

[RedandPurple]

Does this mean I have to root for the Beavers now?
Ugh! Just kidding!

[d-train]

I'd say it's a bit premature to name Hire or Smith, isn't it? These days there are some fairly significant legal hurdles to the the "good ol' boy, keep it in the family" line of thinking...even within private institutions. The job opening will have to be posted for a period of time, a search committee formed, etc. What if a someone with extensive (and successful) head coaching experience applies?

Not that I'd be the least bit surprized if one of those two are eventually named...I'm just saying that it's not quite that simple. After 20 years at PLU, Scott Westering still had to apply and interview for the job and was evaluated against other candidates in a fairly drawn-out process.

With it being June already, the Linfield search will obviously be shorter than what S. Westy waited through. But I doubt they can skip too many of the steps.

[downtown48]

Any steps they take will be window dressing...I can't imagine them going outside the program, but I would imagine they will have to trot out the dog and pony show to keep it legal in this day and age!

[Tezbaseball]

congrats to Jay. I hope They hire Joe to take the reigns....

[onearmedscot]

Hey, tough news.

Maybe D3 will get the exclusive exit interview!!

oAs.

[Orca Jr.]

You know, this is very shocking news but I think I have mixed feelings.  I need to ponder for the night and check back in tomorrow. 

[Wildcat'64]

If we have to be "politically correct" and advertise the vacancy nationwide....how about an Interim Coach Ad?
That would keep things going smoothly while the Cats transition to the new Coach several months from now. 

[coco]

This is pretty sudden, sobering news, and I have mixed feelings, too. I'm glad for Coach Locey's chance to go home to Corvallis and coach at his old alma mater. Clearly, that's important to him, along with his relationship with Mike Riley. And we know he didn't make this decision lightly.

He's going to be missed, though, just as other head coaches have been. When Ad left, it was like a kick in the gut, and I wondered if Linfield would be able to maintain their standard, but we did. Change is hard, and I don't like this one. I haven't liked it when any coach has retired or left going back to Paul Durham, but we've survived, and we will this time, too.

Joe Smith and Doug Hire would be excellent, so we don't have to worry there. If the college can find someone better, that guy will be pretty damn good. I like the idea of Ad being an interim coach, if he'd do it.

Wildcat '64,
Clyde Powell does a lot in the managing of high school football camps.

[Touchdown Tommy]

Ahhhhhhhhh the sound of impending doom in Catdome nation.  Better rally the troops GHC or your boys will get steamrolled again this season by the Big Red Machine.

[RedandPurple]

tdt:
Losing by 7 points or less the last two times they played each other isn't getting steamrolled.
Now if the Wildcats had lost by, lets say, oh a score of 34-7, now that's getting STEAMROLLED!

Bring Back the Band.
Bring 'em Back and Turn 'em Loose!

[swede]

I'm sick about the news but at the same time happy for coach Locey. Not only was he a great coach but a heck of a nice guy just like Paul,  Ad, and Ed.

Knowing Locey he probably watched most all the Beavs home games when he was a kid and dreamed of one day wearing the black and orange. He fullfilled that dream and perhaps he dreamed of one day coaching them as well.

It would be nice to see Ad again in the interim but doubt that will happen. I suspect the 'cats will name a new head coach by July 1st and think it will be either Smith or Hare.