Fed up with football mediocrity after the 2003 season, the University of Arizona plucked a big name from a large program to turn things around; no doubt an unenviable task.
Men in suits chose then-Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops to do the seemingly impossible: give Wildcat fans meaning during basketball's off-season.
He's bearing down, way down.
Since Stoops made the leap to head coach, he has yet to end the regular season with a bowl berth. His crowning achievement may be a victory over the Sun Devils in 2004, upsetting then-No. 18 ASU 34-27 in Tucson.
The victory caused as much of a stir among Sun Devil fans as the original hiring of Bob Stoops' younger brother.
But little Mike has done little since.
He followed two three-win seasons in 2004 and 2005 with six in 2006.
"It's a lot harder than you think," Stoops said of trying to turn the program around. "You feel like you're going forward; then you take steps backward."
Still, ASU coach Dennis Erickson said the young coach is well on his way.
"I've said this all along — Coach Stoops has done a heck of a job there," Erickson said. "When he took the program over, it was about as low as you can get. He came in and hung with his plan."
What? Why would Erickson kneel before a coach with a 17-28 career record?
And what is Stoops' plan?
He waited until his fourth season with the school to bring in a new offensive coordinator and install completely new schemes.
And he may have wasted the defensive talents of seniors Antoine Cason and Spencer Larsen.
Cason said he hasn't heard much about his coach's job security, or lack thereof.
"I don't concern myself with that," Cason said. "I am a senior; this is my last year anyway."
To Stoops' credit, though, he is 8-4 in November. When he led the Wildcats over highly-ranked Oregon on Nov. 15, the whispers that started after a loss to Stanford began to quiet.
"When we started to relax as a staff, (the team) started to play better," Stoops said. "Worrying really inhibits you in a lot of different ways."
Now, the suits in Tucson must decide if more changes are in order.
With inconsistency being the only constant in Stoops' regime, the coach couldn't hurt himself by beating ASU Saturday night. He is 1-2 in his career against his intrastate rival.
"I can't say enough about the good things that he and his staff have done," Erickson said. "He's made changes when he's felt he had to make changes."
Simply put, it shouldn't take a Pac-10 coach four years to learn that how to manage his staff. So should Stoops lose his job?
"I don't worry about that stuff," Stoops said in response to the whispers. "I always felt I was prepared to be a head coach. I believe the past is going to help us in the future."
But the past is also a good predictor of the future. Stoops' less than impressive resume at UA isn't doing him any favors, and onlookers of all sorts have to wonder at some point: What has he done in four seasons that makes me feel good about his next four?
He's made little headway in recruiting and his team isn't finishing among the Pac-10 elite for the fourth time, both of which don't exude much confidence.
But the thinking of the suits is, "really, what matters?" and they haven't answered the question.
The real answer always depends on who you ask. And if ASU's Erickson is the interviewee, continued compliments are in order.
And if Tucson is broken, why should Erickson want it fixed?
Reach the reporter at: andrew.pentis@asu.edu.
