Is Sonny Lubick in town for the last time as Colorado State's football coach?
Will he retire at the end of this season? Have we seen the last of Lubick in Provo or Salt Lake City?
I hope not.
If Lubick were a chair-throwing, reporter-goading, grandstanding, player-abusing football coach, it would be one thing.
He is not.
It would be another matter if Lubick had loudly joined in the three-decade-long coaching cop-out in the Denver area when it comes to playing BYU. It's an excuse-making whiner's club whose mantra routinely bubbles up from longtime Denver media, including radio host Irv Brown, and it has been embraced by a train of coaches at Wyoming, Colorado State and Air Force over the years. The club echoes the tired, time-worn argument that the main reason BYU football rises above those local college programs along The Range is because of older, mature returned missionaries.
Quiet when the Cougars stink but out front when BYU wins, even Colorado graduate and Boulder resident Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated and now ESPN) is a card-carrying member.
In his weekly press conference, a reporter hit Lubick with this issue for about the millionth time in his 15 years. His response to the inquiry on BYU's unfair advantage?
"That's part of their deal. We used to say that, and then we beat them a couple times and didn't say that anymore. It might help them a little bit. Sure, it does. They have to set their program up for that. That's been argued for 50 years, but that's the way it is. They're a little bigger."
On to the next question.
Lubick is not the author of excuses, especially when it comes to playing the Cougars, whom he has defeated time and time again in Fort Collins.
If Lubick were a jerk, a club-throwing golfer, a wife-beating drunk, an ego-driven coaching maniac who'd paraded around the WAC and MWC the past 15 years as a show-off, a displaced small-timer who embarrasses his employer and his family, it would make any departure from Fort Collins easy to digest.
But he's not.
Sonny Lubick is none of these things. In fact, he's the opposite of anything negative about the coaching profession you can think of.
Lubick is the epitome of class, a highly respected teacher, motivator and leader of men. He is a kind, generous and knowledgeable coach who has earned his way back to the West as a Montana native, stopping at Stanford as an assistant and serving as defensive coordinator at the University of Miami. He has given CSU football its best and most successful seasons.
He's the main reason CSU is enjoying $25 million in donations for upgraded facilities.
His CSU run in the mid-1990s to 2003 in the league is as good as anyone has done since LaVell Edwards dominated in the '80s and early '90s.
In fact, Lubick reminds one of Edwards in so many ways.
Lubick is a man who inspires loyalty in his players and his staff. While his current 1-7 team comes to BYU today and many fans are nipping and biting at his heels, nobody anywhere questions his work ethic, his desire and his ability.
That's why CSU's current losing funk the past two seasons is so perplexing. To members of BYU's coaching staff, Lubick's plight has left them scratching their heads.
They know Lubick is good. They know the Rams have the potential to whip anybody on their schedule — and should have done so many times this year.
"I can't figure it out, I just don't know," said BYU linebacker coach Paul Tidwell, who has always admired Lubick and members of his staff.
But CSU is losing, and it's a real string — a divot and a skid tough to explain and even harder to understand.
The Rams can move the ball. They've come short on big plays at the end of games, and turnovers and injuries have certainly been part of the losing the past two seasons. Defensively, the Rams have struggled the past three seasons, and they currently rank 86th nationally in total defense.
Opponents average a whopping 226 yards rushing against these Rams.
This certainly is tough to swallow for an old defensive coach like Lubick.
But believe it, Sonny Lubick, if he does retire at the end of this season, will be missed around these parts. The MWC will not be the same without him.
This week's picks:
WYOMING 17, SDSU 14: The Aztecs have had extra time to figure out how to get in the way of Wyoming's run duo of Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon, but they won't be able to do it.
NEW MEXICO 21, TCU 17: Look for the 6-2 Lobos to find more firepower than TCU, and that offensive difference will be the margin of victory in a battle of two good defenses.
AIR FORCE 38, ARMY 21: The Falcons are running out of time to make their imprint on the season for a new coach. This will be full of emotion, and the 5-2 Cadets are due after the New Mexico loss.
BYU 34, CSU 7: Turnovers will determine the final score. Look for Harvey Unga and Manase Tonga to lead BYU's attack against the nation's 115th-ranked rush defense as Max Hall tries to sharpen his passing game.
Last week: 5-0. Overall: 39-14 (.735)
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com