Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The athletic director at the University of Arizona says he is keeping football coach John Mackovic despite growing calls for his ouster.
The Wildcats are coming off a pair of lopsided losses to Louisiana State and Oregon.
During the 48-10 Oregon loss on Saturday, fans began chanting "Fire Mackovic" during the first quarter.
But AD Jim Livengood and some of Mackovic's players are backing the third-year coach, who has the rest of this season plus the next two years remaining on his contract.
"I have always said, and it has been true for the last 19 years as an AD in this conference, coaches are evaluated at the end of the season, period," Livengood said. "People like to talk. There are a lot of people who feel they have an influence on it. There are a lot of people who like to run their mouth when they really shouldn't."
He didn't completely disregard the losses, however.
"When you lose and you lose bad, and you have not played particularly well, those are problems," Livengood said. "But we are only three games into the season."
Arizona safety Clay Hardt said he's not taking the chanting about Mackovic too seriously.
"It is easy to shout ridiculous things out. Fans in general, when things are going bad, they are going to look for something to blame, and (Mackovic) is easy to blame. But they can pick a million different people."
Under Mackovic, the Wildcats are 10-16 overall and 3-14 in the Pac-10.
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The athletic director at the University of Arizona says he is keeping football coach John Mackovic despite growing calls for his ouster.
The Wildcats are coming off a pair of lopsided losses to Louisiana State and Oregon.
During the 48-10 Oregon loss on Saturday, fans began chanting "Fire Mackovic" during the first quarter.
But AD Jim Livengood and some of Mackovic's players are backing the third-year coach, who has the rest of this season plus the next two years remaining on his contract.
"I have always said, and it has been true for the last 19 years as an AD in this conference, coaches are evaluated at the end of the season, period," Livengood said. "People like to talk. There are a lot of people who feel they have an influence on it. There are a lot of people who like to run their mouth when they really shouldn't."
He didn't completely disregard the losses, however.
"When you lose and you lose bad, and you have not played particularly well, those are problems," Livengood said. "But we are only three games into the season."
Arizona safety Clay Hardt said he's not taking the chanting about Mackovic too seriously.
"It is easy to shout ridiculous things out. Fans in general, when things are going bad, they are going to look for something to blame, and (Mackovic) is easy to blame. But they can pick a million different people."
Under Mackovic, the Wildcats are 10-16 overall and 3-14 in the Pac-10.
