Stepping Stone School?

Scott Shelton The past few months in Troy athletics have seen an important transition period for our school’s athletics. After a tenure as head football coach at Troy, Neal Brown is now at West Virginia University, which is a strong Power Five program. Replacing him is former Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. Former UTA men’s basketball coach Scott Cross is now in Troy. The man who hired both Lindsey and Cross, Jeremy McClain, is now athletic director at the University of Southern Mississippi. These past few months have shown us Troy is trending upward across the board in our sports, not only in football. It seems as though in sports, opportunities are hard to decline in two instances: going higher and going home. Brown is from Kentucky, so going to Morgantown, West Virginia, seems like a fit for him. Since his successful 2016 campaign, it seemed as though Brown’s name floated up as potential hires for various Power 5 schools. Lindsey is from Madison, Alabama, and his first job coaching in the collegiate ranks was at Troy in 2010 when he was quarterbacks coach over freshman Corey Robinson. McClain came to Troy from Southern Mississippi where he was deputy athletic director. McClain is a Mississippi native, so his return to the state is not too much of a surprise. The turnover lately may bring some uncertainty to some fans. However, if our athletics program continues to make the strides it has over the past few years, our school will join the ranks of the most prominent Group of 5 schools, if it’s not already there. One issue which can be both a blessing and a curse is the concept of Troy being a stepping-stone school. This is currently seen with schools like the University of Houston. Houston, in the past two decades, has been a stepping stone for future successful head coaches such Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin and Tom Herman. When Herman left Ohio State for Houston, it was all but sealed that he was waiting for the job at Texas which was still occupied by Charlie Strong. I’m not saying Troy is going to be to Alabama or Auburn like Houston is to the University of Texas. Houston, Texas and Troy, Alabama, have a population difference of about two million people, so it’s almost apples and oranges. However, Troy athletics has seen a great amount of growth over the past few years. Our school is poised to climb higher among the ranks of Group of 5.