Bob Stitt will be hired as Montana’s new head coach, taking his explosive and inventive offense to the FCS level, according to Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman. Stitt had been the head coach at Division II Colorado School of Mines for 15 seasons, posting a 108-62 record in his time with the school.
Bob Stitt to be hired as Montana head coach, according to report
The Internet’s favorite lower-division coach is getting his first Division I head coaching opportunity.
We finally got to watch Stitt’s offense in action this year, when his Orediggers team took on John L. Smith’s Fort Lewis in a nationally televised game. At Montana, we’ll likely see Stitt on TV at least once more per year, and FCS playoff games are available for streaming on ESPN3.
Stitt is best known as the innovator of the fly sweep offense, which received national attention when Dana Holgorsen and West Virginia used it in the 2012 Orange Bowl.
If you want to see the offense in action at Mines, check this video out (and take particular note of the play fake at 1:50).
In his playing days, Stitt was a running back at Doane College, and was named the best offensive player in the state of Nebraska in 1985. He started his coaching career at his alma mater as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for four years, before moving to Austin College (Texas) as the offensive and special teams coordinator from 1994-99.
In 1999, Stitt was hired by Harvard as the school’s offensive coordinator, and set school records for total offense (640), passing yards (405) and first downs (34) in a game, as well as points in an Ivy League game (63).
The next year, he took over as the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines, where the Orediggers had not recorded a winning season since 1991, had not won the conference since 1958 and had never made the postseason. After a 2-8 first year, Stitt led the team to three straight winning seasons before an 11-0 mark and a conference championship in 2004. In that year, quarterback Chad Friehauf won the Harlon Hill Trophy (the D II version of the Heisman), setting NCAA records for passing yards (4,646), completions (384), completion percentage (74.4), total offense per game (412.5) and total offense (5,363).
Mines made the playoffs again in 2010, and recorded eight straight winning seasons from 2007-14.
See More:
