”worst decision ever made in Beaver Football.“. Pretty bold statement considering the sheer number of available choices. How about hiring the Wizard himself? Or Fertig, Avenzano...That’s just the tip of the iceberg!
Well, what I meant (but didn't articulate) was that it was the worst decision ever made by a Beaver football coach. Certainly in my lifetime, anyway. I simply can't understand the wood that that staff had for Luton, when 3M was a proven commodity.
How old are you?
Forcing out Lon Stiner to make way for Kip Taylor.
Hiring Kip Taylor.
Firing Kip Taylor, which led to Bump Elliot carrying a grudge against Oregon State.
Accepting the Liberty Bowl invite in 1962.
Campaigning to get the AAWU to also invite Oregon as a member.
Three quick kicks in the 1965 Rose Bowl led to all 12 Michigan first half points. (I think a fourth quick kick was nullified by a penalty, which led to Oregon State's first touchdown.) Another Michigan score was set up on a blocked punt. All-in-all terrible special teams by Oregon State.
Not going for two against Iowa and Kentucky in 1968.
Scrapping the offense in favor of an offense that Andros did not know how to run in 1972.
Home-and-home with Grambling, which led to Wilhelm getting hurt his freshman year.
Hiring Fertig over Brooks, turning a lifetime friend of the program into an enemy.
Hiring Avezzano.
Avezzano playing the starters late in a 51-14 win in 1983, which led to the starting quarterback getting hurt.
Keeping Avezzano around for the 1984 campaign, because he managed to tie Oregon 0-0.
Hiring Kragthorpe over Erickson and Price, leading to further mediocrity from Oregon State and the ascendancy of Washington State.
Misplaying Ed Browning, turning the family against Oregon State.
Hiring Pettibone.
Forcing Pettibone to drop the wishbone in favor of the flexbone.
Everything about the third down field goal in the second overtime against California in 1996. Bad decision. Worse execution.
Smith being third-string to start the 1998 campaign. Not starting Smith earlier in 1998.
The two-point play against Washington in 1998.
Not letting Cortez try to kick the game-winner against California in 1998.
The defense on UCLA's final drive in 1998.
Not realizing that Cesca was a choke artist earlier. (Oregon State lost to Washington in 2000 and, more famously, USC in 2001, but Cesca also missed important kicks against Hawai'i in 1999 and Oregon in 2000, which should have tipped everyone off.)
Trying to play Nick Barnett as a safety. Not starting Nick Barnett earlier.
The final 2nd-and-1 play-call against Washington in 2000. Having no third down emergency play called, just in case, despite Smith asking Erickson for a third down emergency play call. Several very conservative play calls leading up to that play call. Several other terrible play calls on the final drive, where bullets were dodged.
Not going for the win against Washington in 2000.
Not going for two against UCLA in 2000. (It worked out, but Oregon State was stupid lucky that it did.)
Needlessly burning Derek Anderson's redshirt in 2001.
Not getting out of the Fresno State games 2001-2003.
The terrible coaching at the end of the 2002 Arizona State game.
Mark Banker patently being in over his head from 2003 to early 2006 and taking way too long to fix it.
Starting Dwight Wright over Yvenson Bernard in 2004.
Agreeing to play in Baton Rouge to start the 2004 season.
Not going for two against LSU.
Agreeing to play in Boise six days after a road trip to Baton Rouge.
Agreeing to play in Boise ever.
Not getting the punt out of bounds against USC in 2004.
Agreeing to the home-and-home with Cincinnati.
Letting Serna punt in 2007.
Not getting Gerard Lawson out of the game faster against UCLA in 2007.
Playing Canfield late against USC in 2007, which ended up ruining the following season.
Blowing the final timeout on a pointless challenge against Washington in 2007, which led to there being no review, when the refs to messed up Bernard's fumble that wasn't.
Not starting Quizz to start 2008 and not starting Quizz against Penn State.
Running a play that could result in a backwards pass inside Oregon State's ten-yard line between a quarterback and running back that both probably should not have been starting against Stanford in 2008.
Playing Darrell Catchings against Stanford in 2008.
Scheduling Penn State in 2008.
Agreeing to the home-and-home with Utah in 2007 and 2008.
Going for two against Utah twice in 2008.
Moving the Civil War back in 2009 after Oregon refused to do the same in 2008.
Starting Moevao over Canfield against California, Oregon, and Pittsburgh.
Not kicking the field goal against Oregon in 2009.
Riley thinking that he could incorporate spread option elements into the offense, when he had no idea what he was doing.
Katz starting over Vaz in 2010.
Not realizing sooner that Katz was team cancer.
Agreeing to play in Arlington in 2010.
Letting TCU open the roof in Arlington in 2010.
Scheduling a home-and-home in Boise to start in 2010.
The two-point play against Washington in 2010.
Playing too conservatively against Oregon in 2010.
Mis-utilizing Terron Ward for pretty much his entire four-year career.
Playing Storm Woods as an every down back, rather than as a third-down and passing back.
Thinking Woods and not Ward was Quizz' replacement.
Starting Mannion too quickly after injury in 2012.
Starting Vaz, or, at the very least, letting Vaz start the second half against Stanford in 2012.
Starting Vaz in the 2012 Alamo Bowl.
Agreeing to play Eastern Washington.
Allowing Gwachum to steal Richard Mullaney's playing time at wide receiver, when it was patently clear that Mullaney was a much better wide receiver.
Starting Skotte over Mageo to start 2013.
Not transitioning Gwachum to another position faster.
Not going for the win against Eastern Washington on the final play in 2013.
Being too aggressive in the first half against Stanford in 2013.
The defensive play-calling at the end of the first half against Stanford in 2013.
Allowing Kevin Cummings to get hurt on the final drive against Stanford.
Wasting all those snaps on Gwachum, thereby leaving the team with zero depth at WR, when Cummings got hurt.
Not eating up more time against Oregon on the final touchdown drive in 2013.
Allowing Seumalo to get hurt in the rather meaningless Hawai'i Bowl in 2013.
Allowing BDC to force out Langsdorf.
Hiring John Garrett as offensive coordinator.
Not forcing Garrett into the booth earlier.
Starting Johnson over Mageo.
Not going for two against Utah in 2014.
There are some wasted starts on the line that you could point to, where someone was not contributing on the line and was blocking a more talented player from contributing, but that is a pretty terrible list, I think.