Eight wins in nearly four seasons was simply not enough. Despite visible improvement in many areas on the football team, Brent Guy's ultimate charge was to win games.
And with one game remaining this season and another season left on his contract, Guy was fired by Utah State Sunday.
According to sources close to the program, the decision to let Guy go was made prior to Saturday's 45-38 loss at Louisiana Tech. The defeat, however, hastened the decision and led to a meeting with athletic director Scott Barnes early Sunday where Guy — who had an overall record of 8-38 — was informed he would be let go after the season finale against New Mexico State in two weeks.
Guy and Barnes met with the team later Sunday, and the news was shared with the players and coaching staff.
Calls from the Deseret News to Utah State sports information directors and Barnes were not returned Sunday evening.
Guy's tenure at Utah State will be marked as one that included several good signs from the program, but few wins. The Aggies had the best graduation rate in the Western Athletic Conference and have had relatively few off-the-field problems.
But after winning three games in his first season with the program, the Aggies have posted just five victories since. USU was 1-11 in 2006, 2-10 a year ago and is now 2-9 in 2008.
The winning percentage of .174 is the worst in Utah State history. Chris Pella, who coached USU from 1983-85, won six games during his three years and had a winning percentage of .273.
Adding to the problems Guy faced were dismal attendance figures. Aggie fans never embraced the schemes Guy's teams used and stayed away from Romney Stadium in droves. In 20 home games with Guy as the head coach, attendance has averaged only 12,772 fans — well below the NCAA-mandated level of 15,000 per game to remain a Division I FBS school in good standing.
The Aggies have drawn fewer than 10,000 fans to Romney Stadium six times during Guy's tenure. This year, however, attendance has ticked upward a little bit — USU has an average of 15,700 with one home game remaining.
With Guy on the sideline, the Aggies have been outscored 826-1,642. Those totals include 13 games of 10 or fewer points and five shutouts.
Those numbers, and others, ultimately led to Guy's sacking. His original five-year contract included a base salary of $230,005.
Speculation about who will replace Guy has been going on for weeks. The name seemingly on the lips and minds of many Aggie fans is former coach John L. Smith. The former Idaho, USU, Louisville and Michigan State coach was in Logan for the home opener against Utah, and rumors have had Smith as the next coach since that day.
Other names surfacing over the past few weeks as the writing seemed to be on the wall regarding Guy's status include former USU player Kent Baer — formerly the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Washington and Stanford. He is an assistant coach at San Jose State.
Utah defensive coordinator Gary Anderson and BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae also have been mentioned by some Aggie boosters.
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com