Everett Withers’ hire at Texas State was one that came out of left field when it was announced in winter 2016.

Considering the names that floated around the job at the time – Doug Meacham, Major Applewhite, Jeff Traylor – hiring someone who hadn’t coached in the state of Texas in nearly 15 years was puzzling at first glance.

After a frantic Google search and research of Withers’ resume, Bobcat fans and alumni met the announcement with optimism. Well, most fans at least. Withers was a proven winner at James Madison with FBS head coaching experience, albeit at the interim level, at North Carolina. Plus, his ties to Urban Meyer’s coaching tree, fresh off of a national title in 2014, was even more appealing.

But most of all, his arrival was a breath of fresh air. He wasn’t a retread. His prime years weren’t well behind him and he was still a relatively young coach with no previous ties to the university. He was something different.

But after a 7-28 record and just one game short of three full seasons at the helm, Withers’ tenure is up in San Marcos. On first reaction, it’s odd timing, seeing as athletic director Larry Teis had just lauded the team’s improvement back in October in a letter to alumni. Teis also had no history of firing coaches before their contracts were up. 

Obviously, the experiment didn’t work, for whatever reason. But regardless, it absolutely needed to happen.

During the program’s transition into FBS, Dennis Franchione was brought in to do one thing: make Texas State a competent Group of 5 program. For all of the frustrations his final season caused, he did that. He finished with a record just below .500, but his lack of roster depth and overreliance on the junior college ranks (many of whom didn’t pan out) proved to be the Bobcats’ downfall during their 3-9 tailspin in 2015. The belief was that after going 6-6 and 7-5 in 2013 and 2014, the right hire was going to have Texas State back on the upswing soon.

Then came Withers and a much-needed blast of reality, Texas State was a lot further from where it thought it was. 2014 was the exception. In fact, he had a lot more to fix than what appeared on the surface.

But overall, Texas State needed someone to look at its recent football history in the post-Jim Wacker era without bias, an era blanketed by toiling mediocrity outside of a few blips of hope, and deliver the crushing news no one wanted to hear — that it wasn’t good enough. The way Texas State had operated wasn't what a burgeoning FBS program should be getting used to.

From the facilities to the social media presence, the program had an instant upgrade. The aesthetic was the best it had ever been, and the Bobcats looked like an FBS program. But most importantly, the recruiting was the best it had ever been in the high school ranks, reeling in the two highest-rated classes in program history in 2017 and 2018 according to 247. Withers brought Texas State into the modern era of college football. In his introductory press conference, Withers said that he wanted to build a program the “right way” through high school recruits, and that it would take time.

He was right.

Withers set a standard that he showed to be unflinching when 15 players left the program before fall, plenty of whom were expected to play significant roles. That earned him a lot of criticism. Some was warranted. He pulled a scholarship from a signee during the spring game, called out Teis for his autonomous vote on satellite camps and proceeded to say his team wasn’t good enough to win in year one over the course of spring and fall camp – again, unflinching.

The Bobcats went into year one with 71 scholarship players, 14 below the FBS limit, and subsequently went 2-10. It was a grueling but understandable road-bump considering the team’s youth and wilted ranks. Year two was marginally better, but not in terms of record. Texas State finished 2-10 again, but showed significant improvement in every statistical category. The biggest strides came defensively with the highly-touted 2017 recruiting class permeating the depth chart. 

2018 was expected to be the first true turnaround season with two full recruiting classes under Withers’ belt, but the team posted a 3-8 record. With still one week left to go, Withers was let go.

The biggest indictment of Withers' time is undoubtedly the offense never materializing an indentity. The Bobcats ranked No. 128, 115 and 122 in Withers' three seasons. Texas State never truly established the up-tempo brand of football that Withers pitched during his introductory press conference. The offensive line also failed to string multiple good games together, and constantly shifting lineups didn't help. 

Even the most optimistic observers expected the team to hover around the four-win mark, so the move was surprising to say the least.

Regardless of what you think of his firing, Withers leaves Texas State in better hands than when he arrived. The talent is there. The facility upgrades are there. The recruiting footprint is there. Someone has to cultivate all of that into more ticks in the win column.

Now, it's on Teis and the administration to get the next hire right. Six years into its Sun Belt tenure, Texas State is in a critical stage of its development as an FBS program. The expectation has to be to win now.

If the standard during the next coaching seach isn't immediate success, why was Withers fired again?