Has Hill Accomplished His Goals?

Goals:
1) Win the WAC
2) Get established recruits
3) Establish a top 25 team yearly
4) Play BCS teams yearly
5) Become a household name
6) Break into the BCS and win a National Championship

Pat Hill set lofty goals for Fresno State when he arrived. He wanted to make the Bulldogs a nationally known product with respect to the college football landscape. Many fans have been arguing back and forth about what Pat Hill has actually accomplished with respect to the football program at Fresno State. If we take a look at the list of goals I remember him setting for the Bulldogs we are able to go down the list and figure out which goals he has accomplished and which ones he hasn't.

First off we have one WAC championship in 1999 and that was a co-title. We have not won the WAC outright and maybe blew our best chance with our losses at Nevada and against La. Tech last season. I do believe Pat Hill has brought in much better recruits over the past few years. We have continually put players in the NFL that end up performing very well. David Carr, Bernard Berrian, Richard Marshall, and Logan Mankins are just a few players that have prospered in the NFL to date. In the future you will be able to add Marcus McCauley, Kyle Young, Dwayne Wright, and Paul Williams to that list. So overall the recruits have been a step above what we had before Pat Hill arrived. Hill's third goal of establishing a top 25 team yearly has not worked out as he once hoped it to be. We have finished in the top 25 one time in his tenure and that was not with David Carr at QB. In 2004 we finished #22 I believe after we beat Virginia in the MPC Computers Bowl. With respect to number four well we do play top of the line BCS teams yearly as we have taken on Oregon the past two years, USC, and this year LSU. However, I don't think this scheduling tactic helps the Dogs out in the long run. They put so much energy and effort into beating top tier teams that they have nothing left when it comes to playing in the WAC. Goal number fiive definitely has materialized as most people in the nation now know who Fresno State is. Hill has been able to make us a household name and most people do not want to take on the Dogs as they see it as a lose-lose situation knowing that their team could very well lose the game. Lastly we have not played in a BCS bowl so of course that goal has not been reached. Here is the problem with this goal. When Utah made a BCS game they did not aim for that, they just went from their first game to their second and on and on. Boise this season is doing the very same thing and you hear very little talk of a BCS game with respect to Boise State. If Boise does make it they might be the most surprised that they get into a game of that magnitude. Here in Fresno we have changed our goal to BCS or nothing and honestly that is such a bad goal to have. This is on Pat Hill as he has made this a goal for the team when I feel they should focus on the WAC and the OOC schedule should be secondary.

So when it comes down to it how much has Hill accomplished? He has given us a national name, scheduled BCS schools yearly, and brought in better recruits. At the same time we have our new locker room facilities and the new video board is now present at Bulldog stadium. You figure that we will either do something to the field or expand one day and you have to think it is going to happen because of Hill's vision for the team. At the same time Hill has failed with respect to winning the WAC, and finishing in the top 25 yearly. I know he has failed to get us into a BCS game but I think that is a goal that should be made for much later on down the line. I can see why some want Hill gone and why others want to keep him here. Who is right and who is wrong? I guess the last seven games of the season will decide that.