USD Magazine Summer 2007

San Francisco and were eliminat- ed from earning a berth in the NCAA tournament. This time, though, the WCC tournament loss was cushioned by the sea- son’s 21 wins that earned a bid to play in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. “I was talking with our new football coach (Ron Caragher), and he was saying the great thing about being a bowl team in college football is the extra practices the team’s younger players get,” Fisher said. “For a young team like ours, it’s invalu- able experience. We were on the floor practicing, while the season has ended for a lot of other teams.” Although the Toreros lost at home to UC Santa Barbara, 75- 63, in a first-round WNIT game in mid-March, the post-season experience may pay off next sea- son. Santa Barbara, which was making its second straight WNIT trip following nine straight NCAA appearances, opened an early lead in the game that the Toreros never overcame. “To end the season the way we did was extremely disappointing and not what we expected, but you can’t take away from the great year these kids had,” Fisher said. “They’ll continue to work hard and to get better. We’ll get back to the drawing board and try to figure out some things that we lacked this year.” The Toreros’ only previous post-season appearances were first-round losses in the NCAA tournament in 1992-93 and 1999-2000. Fisher says USD fans can expect better than another seven-year wait between post- season trips. “We took a huge step in the right direction by making the WNIT this season,” Fisher said. “We want to build a championship program at this school.”

FRED GREAVES

NEW FOOTBAL L COACH RON CARAGHER come s to USD f rom t h e Un i ve r s i t y o f Ke nt u c k y, wh e re h e wa s an a s s i s t ant co a c h . Prev i ou s l y h e s p e nt n i n e s e a s on s on UC LA’s co a c h i ng s t a f f.

[ t h i n k i n g m a n ]

PERSONAL BEST Ron Caragher, USD’s new footbal l coach, promi ses to demand the most f rom hi s players by Tom Shanahan

N ew USD football coach Ron Caragher is eager to build on USD’s recent success and doesn’t fear the inevitable comparisons with his predecessor, Jim Harbaugh. Last year, the Toreros won back-to- back NCAA Division I-AA Mid- Major titles and Pioneer Football League championships with an 11-1 record. Coping with comparisons is something Caragher learned as a UCLA athlete and has studied as a coach. At UCLA, he thought he was in line to become a starter, but then Troy Aikman transferred in from Oklahoma. Aikman

became an All-American for the Bruins and went on to a Pro Foot- ball Hall-of-Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys. As an assistant coach, Caragher began to read books by former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, an icon in American sports. “My introductory talk to the team was about comparisons and putting forth your best effort,” he says. “You might feel like you’re a failure if you com- pare yourself to someone who is better, like a Troy Aikman. But if you compare yourself to some- one with limited ability, are you a success? I want my players to

compete against themselves with their best personal effort.” Caragher has challenged the 2007 Toreros with a tougher schedule than last year’s slate of games. USD, which doesn’t recruit athletes with scholarships, played one scholarship school last year, losing at UC Davis. In addition to Caragher scheduling a rematch at UC Davis on Nov. 17, he added a second scholarship opponent: Northern Colorado plays Sept. 15 at Torero Stadium. “We want to push our team and challenge them,”Caragher says. ”It will be challenging, but that’s what makes it exciting.”

For more information about Toreros sports, go online to www.usdtoreros.com

SUMMER 2007 15