Wyoming doesn’t have to go too far for its new coach as it hires Jeff Linder of Northern Colorado (Big Sky). HC last four seasons at the “other” UNC, where he had three 20+ win campaigns, including a CIT title in 2018.
Northern Colorado promotes Steve Smiley to HC, while Loyola Marymount hires Marquette AHC Stan Johnson.
Coach Byington has a brother and sister-in-law that are JMU grads, and are very close. This is good to hear.
How have we not talked about Andy Kennedy to UAB? I think this is a homerun hire for them, and Kennedy might just stay there long term. There are several of us here that remember Kennedy as a player at UAB, and hated to face him because he was talented, smart, tenacious and came to get your lunch money every game.
If you just look at the wins/losses you might not appreciate his coaching success. Ole Miss is a football school, and he elevated them. He will have UAB playing for championships in a few years.
1 Like
Nugget, agree with you about AK. Definitely a home run hire for UAB.
Wasn’t he an assistant for Huggins at Cincinnati? I think I remember him interacting with the crowd pregame at Halton.
Yes and served as interim HC at Cincy after Huggins’ departure.
So UAB has now hired a Roy Williams assistant and, lately, a Huggins assistant.
I hate them.
Just kidding. I only hate them for the hiring out of Chapel Hill.
Well, AK is a UAB alum who played for Gene Bartow. Began playing career at NC State under Jim Valvano before transferring.
Fairly busy day on the Carousel:
-
Alcorn State (SWAC) parts with Montez Robinson after 5 seasons;
-
Boston College (ACC) decides to stick with Jim Christian;
-
Illinois Chicago (Horizon) hires Texas AHC Luke Yaklich, who previously served as an assistant at Michigan and Illinois State;
-
Southeast Missouri State (Ohio Valley) hires K-State assistant Brad Korn [NOTE: I remember when Korn played for Southern Illinois and the Salukis visited Halton in 2002. Current K-State HC Bruce Weber coached SIU back then];
-
Tarleton State (WAC) “promoted” Chris Reisman to associate AD after 2 seasons as HC. TSU will begin transition to D-I on July 1
Not everyone sees BCG’s return to the D-I ranks as a good thing!
Getting caught up here:
-
Air Force (Mountain West) - Minnesota assistant Joe Scott returning to the USAFA, where he previously served as HC 2000-04;
-
Alabama State (SWAC) - longtime coach and alum Lewis Jackson resigned after 15 seasons;
-
DePaul (Big East) - inexplicably extends contract of Dave Leitao on heels of 3-15 last place finish in conference play;
-
Georgia Southern (SoCon) - hires Texas Tech assistant Brian Burg. Previously served as an assistant at Campbell and NC Central;
-
Western Illinois (Summit) - hires Minnesota assistant Rob Jeter, previously HC at UW Milwaukee;
-
Western Michigan (MAC) - promotes assistant Clayton Bates. Looks to be a monetary driven move during COVID 19 pandemic as Broncs will be paying Bates less than his predecessor, as well as cost savings from eschewing a national search.
The second Dave Leitao era at DePaul (2015-present) has resulted in:
- Overall record: 123-132
- Big East record: 49-91
- Four consecutive last place finishes in 10 team BE following 9th place finish in 2016
And for that, Leitao given contract extension. From the official release by DePaul athletics:
And a reminder of how the 2019-20 season began for the Blue Demons:
Maybe we should bring her back. If we did, we need a better contract that will compensate us when she leaves, because let there be no doubt that is her plan.
clt asks how two Karen’s can exist in the same locker room?
I guess beating Baylor is the standard. Good luck to them. They are going to need it. This is a move that will be regretted more by Texas than Aston, who will be hired within a year.
1 Like