It was a season that started with promise and ended with promises—that Marshall will be better next year.

Mark Snyder feels very strongly that the best of his era at Marshall lies ahead.  He took two dramatic steps on Monday relieving offensive coordinator Larry Kueck and Defensive Line Coach Thielen Smith from his staff.  With a new quarterback starting in 2008, Coach Snyder undoubtedly felt that a new QB and a new coordinator would be a nice mix.  That’s not to diminish the contributions that Larry Kueck made to the Marshall program.  Give the guy credit—he presided over offenses under Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich.  He got to be a part of unparalleled football success at Marshall and he should take pride in that.  His kids went to Marshall .  Thielen Smith deserves some kudos as well.  He had to make do with a patchwork defensive line.  A line that lost the best defensive player in Conference . (Albert McClellan)  before the season even started.  Without a stout pass rush, it’s tough to stop the high powered offenses in Conference USA.

Coach Snyder begins his fourth season at Marshall with a cumulative record of 12-23.  He’s not proud of that by any stretch.  He knows the expectations at a place like Marshall and he wouldn’t have it any other way.  As year four of the Snyder era begins, he returns 17 starters and has a wealth of young talent.  But he must replace Quarterback Bernard Morris in what is football’s most visible position.  Fans and coaches will watch that battle next spring and fall with great interest.

The University could do its part too.  If President Kopp or Athletics Director Bob Marcum can somehow pull it off, they should get out of the Wisconsin game next season.  It serves no viable purpose except to raise some money for the program.

Why play it?   Wisconsin is not a great alumni base.  Marshall doesn’t recruit in the state.  There’s no return game.  Physically a game like that can beat you up before conference play even begins.  The powers that be should look for a winnable home game and take the 200-thousand dollar or so loss.  Because ultimately what matters is that Marshall has to be in the conversation again in the college football world.  That means you have to go to postseason play.  You get your players 15 extra practices while preparing for a bowl.  That’s like another whole spring practice!  At the end of the year—will it really matter if The Herd plays the Badgers tough?  No.  It will only matter if Marshall can get to 6 or 7 wins and go to a bowl game again.  Two years ago, Marshall played @ Kansas State, @ Tennessee, and @ West Virginia.  There’s absolutely no benefit to playing that kind of schedule except to make money.  To continually schedule your team to a 1-3 start isn’t conducive to winning seasons.  The emphasis should be on returning Marshall to its winning ways.  Smart scheduling is imperative to make it there.