By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University athletic director Loren Ferre had nothing but kind words to say about long-time Ichabods football coach Craig Schurig's contributions to the university in a Wednesday meeting with local media members.
But Ferre said WU believed it a time for a change after announcing Monday afternoon that Schurig would not return in 2025.
Washburn athletic director Loren Ferre said the university will move as quickly as possible to get a new football coach in place after Monday's firing of veteran Ichabod coach Craig Schurig. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We made the decision on Monday that we needed to make a change in the head coaching position,'' Ferre said. "I just think it was a decision we made that was best for the program at this time. Obviously the last two years we haven't been successful (in) win-loss record. This past year we had a lot of close losses, but still the name of the game is winning and we just felt we needed to make a change to improve that record.''
Schurig wrapped up his 23rd year at the school and 22nd football season as Washburn's head coach last Saturday with a 35-28 road win over Northeastern State, finishing a 3-8 season which included five one-possession losses, including four losses by three or fewer points and two one-point defeats. The Ichabods posted a 2-9 record in 2023 after a 7-4 mark in 2022 and a trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2021 (9-3).
Schurig is the all-time winningest coach in program history with a record of 142-109 (.566) and went 122-91 (.603) against MIAA opponents and won the MIAA regular-season championship outright in 2005. Also that year the program recorded its first 10-win season.
"Craig over the years has just been great for the community and for Washburn,'' Ferre said. "When he came here we didn't have near the facilities we have now. He came here on a promise that we would get this built and we would get things done, like the renovations to the football stadium, the weight room, the locker room, a variety of things and he just believed that we would do those things and we got them accomplished and he was a big part of that and has had a big impact on this program and in the community.''
Washburn has named associate head coach Zach Watkins as interim head football coach. Watkins has been on the Ichabod coaching staff for 11 seasons, serving as associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator. Prior to his coaching career, Watkins was a standout linebacker for Washburn from 2006 to 2009.
"Coach Watkins has been here 11 years, and certainly as all the coaches, they know the players, but his role as assistant head coach was probably the biggest factor,'' Ferre said of Watkins' designation as interim coach.
The WU athletic director said that he hopes Watkins can "keep the program moving forward, to visit with the players and let them know where we are in the process and how we're going about it and sort of get their minds at ease a little bit. It's always unsettling for players when a coaching change happens, so we just want to try to make them feel as comfortable as we can and knowing that we're moving on this as fast as we can and want to make the right decision moving forward.''
Ferre said Washburn wants to have a new coach in place as soon as possible.
"We're exploring all options right now of what we want to do and obviously you've had a lot of people reach out that have an interest, so we're just going through that process right now,'' Ferre said.
"I think we have a strong nucleus coming back of players that have experience now, a lot of them playing for two years in this conference and, as you know, this is a very competitive conference. Having players with experience coming back with a couple of years to play just bodes well for anybody coming in. We certainly believe that we have a strong nucleus of players coming back and if we add to that in certain areas we think we can be competitive right away, so that's our hope.''
