LOGAN — Faced with the daunting task of rebuilding a floundering Utah State football team, Brent Guy has pounded plenty of nails and worked tirelessly in creating a foundation for long-lasting success with the Aggies.
What he never quite managed to do, however, was turn the Aggies into winners.
On Sunday, after losing another ballgame, this time a 45-38 decision at Louisiana Tech, Guy was thanked for his efforts by USU athletic director Scott Barnes and told he would be out of a job.
"This is not a rebuild," Barnes said. "This is an add-on, if you will."
Barnes said Guy's labors had brought many positive changes to the Aggies. They were more competitive and athletic. They had more depth on the field and more success in the classroom.
But the ultimate measure of success for a football team comes in the win column. And there, Barnes said, is where Guy's teams had not proven themselves definitively better.
"In the end, the lack of any significant or sustainable momentum was the reason," Barnes said Monday at a press conference in Logan explaining the decision to let Guy go. "In addition, progress was undoubtedly made. But progress that translates to wins certainly wasn't there."
Guy, who has only eight wins in 46 games with the Aggies, was not at the press conference. He did, however, make a statement in the press release announcing his dismissal.
"We didn't win as many games on the field as I would have liked," Guy said, "but we started down a path that I believe will benefit the university and this program very soon."
The move was expected by many in the coaching circles but also came as a bit of a surprise.
"I think he's a great person and an excellent football coach. He'll land on his feet. He's a heckuva defensive mind. I know that for a fact," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "He just needs to get himself in a good situation. My guess is he'll have another opportunity to be a head coach somewhere down the line. He's a guy I have a lot of respect for."
Guy will complete the season as the Aggies' head coach with a home game against New Mexico State on Nov. 29 and then step aside.
It's entirely possible that Utah State will have hired a new head coach by that time.
Barnes, who said the search "committee" would be limited to himself, has already had contact with a handful of potential coaches and is getting feedback from college administrators and coaches across the country.
Perhaps the most popular name on internet message boards and water-cooler chats is former Utah State coach John L. Smith.
Smith had what many consider modest success at best during his three seasons with USU but is the last coach to take the Aggies to a bowl game, the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl.
Reached by phone in Louisville, Ky., where he lives and is a co-host of a sports talk radio show, Smith said the Aggie job still appeals to him.
"Well, they still have to have a press conference before anything is official out there," Smith responded over the air when asked if he might pursue the USU job again. "But yeah, that's a job I would definitely be interested in."
Other names surfacing as potential replacements for Guy, whose contract called for a base salary of $230,005 per year, include Utah defensive coordinator Gary Anderson, BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae, former Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington defensive coordinator Kent Baer and former Arizona offensive coordinator Michael "Chico" Canales. Another name to pop up is former USU and BYU assistant and current UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.
Anderson declined to comment Monday on the coaching vacancy at Utah State. Andersen said his focus was on preparing the Utes to face BYU.
Andersen's coaching resume includes a one-year stint as the head coach at Southern Utah and the past four seasons as Utah's defensive coordinator. Besides directing the Utes to national prominence on defense, Andersen is a successful recruiter — particularly in the state of Utah. Rivals.com named him the No. 1 non-BCS recruiter in the nation in 2005, and he's on their top 10 list this year.
The change in coaches will undoubtedly create some stress and possibly some turnover for players currently on the team who were recruited by Guy and his staff.
"Coach Guy has built a good team, and hopefully the new coach will appreciate that," Diane Bowman, the mother of USU junior receiver Xavier Bowman, said. "The effort behind building the team and everything that entails is something some of the fans don't always see, and staying away from the games hurts the whole school, not just the coach."
Barnes said he appreciates the improvements the football team has shown this season, but without an increase in actual wins, it became apparent a change was needed.
"It was difficult from the standpoint of the person Brent Guy is," Barnes said of how he came to the conclusion to terminate Guy. "Because of his class and integrity, it is never an easy process, especially when you respect a man as much as I respect Brent. But at the same time, given the lack of sustained momentum and progress, I think it was not as difficult."
What may be difficult, however, is making the step from a perennial bottom-tier WAC team to a bowl-game regular.
"Our goal is to be bowl eligible on a consistent basis, finishing in the top three in the WAC and continue to lead the conference in academic achievement as we have," Barnes said. "I think that is absolutely attainable."
Contributing: Dirk Facer
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com