One the myths propogated by the media during our...

Posted on: November 7, 2017 at 08:55:31 CT

...wilderness years was that Powers had been given a too-quick hook after his only losing season in 7 years, and that the knee-jerk firing sent our program into a death spiral.

Every few years, the newspapers would send reporters up to Behlmann Vans in North STL County where Powers was selling cars to talk to him about the "good old days" when Mizzou had winning seasons and whether he missed coaching, etc.

But facts are stubborn, and the fact is that we had already entered that spiral midway through the Powers era when Onofrio's players exhausted their eligbility. Just because everything really started circling drain after Powers left doesn't mean it was wasn't going to do so under him or that his firing wasn't just.

As others have said, Powers couldn't or wouldn't recruit at a high level. It was on his watch when the sorry tradition of too many Missouri high school stars not seriously considering us began. Under Widenhofer, actually, the recruiting got quite a bit better. But the lack of upperclassmen talent from the Powers era, freak injuries, and just plain busts negated most of the benefit.

The drinking was also an issue with Powers...he wouldn't last a month with today's level of scrutiny.

Still, when Powers got the axe, we were considered a very solid, respectable program. Not elite, but certainly top 25 in reputation. It was the right time to hire a coach. And Woody was considered to be a solid hire. But the chickens ultimately came home to roost. The lack of administrative support, terrible facilities, being poached by our border schools, some awfully back luck, etc. I'm not sure any coach could have overcome the obstacles here, but the ones we hired certainly did not.