Mick Dennehy left the University of Montana — arguably the best Div. I-AA job in America — with the hopes of building a program in Logan.
After five years, 39 losses and a wheelbarrow full of broken promises, Dennehy was fired as the head coach at Utah State University on Monday.
"I always wanted to coach Division I football. At the time I felt like it would be a good time to move on," Dennehy said Tuesday. "I think we are all motivated by challenges. We certainly looked at this as a helluva challenge. It was more of a challenge that we may have surmised."
The facilities were never built. The move to the Western Athletic Conference came three years later than expected.
In the meantime, Dennehy and his staff were stuck with no conference, tough independent schedules and the charge to be successful.
It was a scenario even Utah State athletic director Randy Spetman called difficult.
"This is not a new decline in the last year," Spetman said Monday. "This is a decline that's been going on for 15 years. It's going to take a while to right the ship."
When Utah State hired Spetman in July, Dennehy knew he meant business.
"I've been doing this for a long time, and I've known, I think, with the new A.D. coming aboard in the springtime and with the facilities on the horizon, or at least the possibility of facilities on the horizon, success equated into dollars," he said.
In his tenure, the Aggies never won more than five games in a season.
"I felt even before the season started if we didn't win, the likelihood of this happening would be great," Dennehy said. " . . . We've had to play with a hand tied behind our back to a certain extent, too."
Dennehy was given the option to leave immediately or coach the final two games of the season. He chose the latter, but he did put a lot of thought into it.
"I was a little bit torn on what to do. I didn't want this to turn into a media circus," he said. "In final analysis, I felt like with all things we've been through together, it's better to finish it together."
By the time he spoke with his team for the first time after his firing Monday, most of the players knew of his fate.
"They felt like they had something to do with it and they were sorry," Dennehy said. "I told them 'it's not your fault. It's not our fault. It's a tough deal for all of us.' "
The Aggies (2-7, 1-3) look to end the year on a positive note, beginning Thursday at Arkansas State. The game was scheduled to be televised on KJZZ-TV, but conflicts forced the station to cancel the broadcast.
The game kicks off at 5 p.m. (MST).
Utah State closes out the year at home Nov. 20 when they host New Mexico State.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com