New MSU coach Ash says the future is now

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

Rob Ash dropped everything.

ERIK PETERSEN/CHRONICLE Former Drake University head coach Rob Ash speaks Monday during a press conference at Montana State University announcing him as the new head football coach to replace Mike Kramer. When the lifelong Midwesterner was offered the head coaching job at Montana State University Saturday, everything stopped.

Including his lawn mower.

On Monday, Ash was introduced as MSU's 31 football coach to a crowd of 50 community members at Bobcat Stadium.

After 18 seasons and 125 wins at Drake University, Ash replaces Mike Kramer, who was fired May 18 after seven seasons and 40 victories - including at least a share of three Big Sky Conference championships.

According to MSU athletic director Peter Fields, Ash, a 31-year coaching veteran, accepted a three-year contract worth $130,000 annually, plus incentives.

And he's not heading back to Iowa to finish off his lawn.

"I'm not going home. I'm here," Ash said, wearing a Bobcat pin and a blue and gold tie. "I've got a suitcase. I've got a jacket (adorned in MSU colors, issued by Fields before the press conference). Margaret (his wife, who was also in attendance) will come in a few weeks and bring me some more clothes, because I hear it gets cold here."

Ash, 55, was one of 80 original applicants and one of four finalists who spoke at last week's public forums - also held at Bobcat Stadium. While at Drake, he won 125 games and three Pioneer Football League coach of the year awards at the Des Moines, Iowa, school.

He also coached at Division III Juniata College in Huntingdon, Penn., finishing with a 51-36-3 record. He is the career wins leader at both schools.

Ash takes over a team that won eight games and hosted a playoff game last fall, both program firsts since 1984.

"Gosh, I have tremendous respect for this institution in the short time that I have had to get better acquainted with everyone here," Ash said. "There's a great football team in place here. I'm excited to be leading that team into the future."

At his public forum last Monday, Ash said no player who had spent four years at Drake left without a degree and a league championship.

"Rob Ash embodies all the attributes that we were looking for in our new coach," Fields said. "His teams are known to work hard on the field and in the classroom while doing the right things in the community."

Added Jim Rimpau, chairman of Montana State's search committee: "I'm very pleased. I think he'll relate well to the students and I know he'll relate well to the faculty.

"He's got a good focus on academics and when we were interviewing him, he always anticipated the next question. He's everything the search committee was looking for."

Ash said he will assemble a coaching staff this week that will include a mixture of Kramer's staff, coaches who have experience in Montana, those Ash has coached with and others who have been recommended to him.

He said he promised MSU's current assistants they will have an opportunity to interview and be part of his staff.

"As I told the players, my coaches will be great teachers and care deeply about the players they are coaching," said Ash, who added he had 37 messages on his cell phone from interested candidates. "I have an extensive set of contacts just because I've been coaching this game for so darn long."

Ash's best run at Drake began in 1992, the Bulldogs' final year at the Division III level. From there through the 2000 season, the team went 67-25-2 and won or shared three league titles.

Last season Drake posted a 9-2 record.

"It was difficult to say good-bye to the people I was there with for so long," Ash said. "The universal response to me was, 'coach, you deserve it, we're happy for you and we'll miss you.' I left that program in far, far better shape than it was when I got there."

The Bulldogs were fifth in the nation a year ago, averaging 405 yards per game. They went over 500 yards four times and averaged 231 rushing yards.

Ash explained the type of offense he ran.

"Basically," he said, "the concepts at Drake were a small package of running and passing concepts out of multiple formations with 'window dressing' as we called it, so we could put together a package that was complex for the defense that we were playing against, but simple for our players to execute."

He doesn't plan any immediate sweeping changes.

"We're not sure what we're going to do yet," he said. "It's going to be a combination of things. One of the first things I'm going to do is, I'll sit down and watch every video from last season and find out what these guys can do."

Ash said another order of business will be to meet with as many players, coaches, faculty and community members as possible over the next few days.

Linebacker Will Claggett, one of Montana State's four captains, says he is anxious to move on after being without a head coach for nearly a month.

"It's a good step, but we have a lot of work to do from here on out," he said after the press conference. "Since December we've only had one goal in mind, and that's to win a national championship. Losing the head coach isn't going to kill that dream."

Ash sounded pleased to be moving on from a school where he endured just two losing seasons in nearly two decades.

There is some unfinished business to attend to, however.

"I still," Ash said, "have a portion of my lawn that's not mowed."

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