David Scott’s game day article:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/11/2765158/49ers-major-difference.html
Again, it’s good to see a pre-game story on any game day, especially opening day.
That is seriously top shelf writing there. Love the quotes, love that he reached out to Shaka Smart for a line, love that he drew parallels with other coaching situations. I seriously wish Scott would get the greenlight to write more articles for us because he’s really good at it.
[quote=“scollie41, post:1, topic:25860”]David Scott’s game day article:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/11/2765158/49ers-major-difference.html
Again, it’s good to see a pre-game story on any game day, especially opening day.[/quote]
Great, high-quality write-up. I didn’t know about his friendship with Smart, that’s pretty cool. Hopefully this “buy-in” translates into wins on the court; I’m cautiously optimistic.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Major and Smart know each other from that Villa 7 coaching symposium as well.
TF, you are correct. That is hosted at/by VCU.
The final quote is awesome. You’ve got to love Coach Major. The guy reeks of authenticity.
"Major was replacing the fired Bobby Lutz, whose final 49ers team had gone 19-12" "Major points out that he doesn’t feel like his situation last season was unique, citing other examples of first-year coaches - like Al Golden (Miami football) and Luke Fickel (Ohio State football) - who inherited troubled programs."
A lot can be read into (between the lines) on these 2 statements. It is funny how a Coach who had recently signed an extension and went 19 -12 in his last season is now being described as running a troubled program. Obviously a lot was going on behind the scenes over the last couple of years. Glad it is behind us now. Good article and very surprised to see it on the front page of Sports this morning.
I honestly think the point of his comment was that the bigger rarity is for nothing to go wrong when you take over a program, and he used those two as having a worse situation then his, hence him stating “his wasn’t so unique”. Just my opinion though.
At Charlotte, missing the NCAA tournament for half a decade means we’re a troubled program.
I agree w/ JFelt… add to that the fact that it had become normal to fill a good chunk of our roster with 2 year JUCOs. It was almost like it had become acceptable that this is what a program of our caliber should be doing… I realize that this does not define a troubled program, but I think it is an indicator of things that we might not be privy to. Compare that to the fact that Major appears to be building classes with 4 year players - likely a more sustainable model for a program. Only time will tell how much of a difference that and the Major hire make, but I’m optimistic.
I honestly think that Major’s comment was just a general reference to the program’s inability to be consistently competitive in the A10 and the gradual downward slope that we appeared to be in after the success of CUSA
Can be taken a lot of ways but troubled seem to be an interesting choice of words and along with Miami and OSU comparisons from what they went thru. There has been such a emphasis on culture change and getting things off the court in place first then tying that with the statement of a troubled program does make you wonder. Sounds like the inmates were starting to run the asylum or there were some control and accountability issues. Athletic Dept. runs at such a stealth level that unfortunately reading between the lines is a needed skill.
[quote=“CharSFNiners, post:8, topic:25860”]I honestly think the point of his comment was that the bigger rarity is for nothing to go wrong when you take over a program, and he used those two as having a worse situation then his, hence him stating “his wasn’t so unique”. Just my opinion though.[/quote] Since it wasn’t a direct quote, we don’t know how Scott was passing it along. I agree, Major could have just been saying “it could be worse, I could have had to deal with the crap that went on at Miami or OSU”. Or maybe other things were happening. Or it was a poor analogy. Who knows?
Me too. Major is charged with turning a ship around.
If the program hadn’t been “failing” he wouldn’t have been offered the job in the first place.
Coach Major has always been respectful about what Lutz has accomplished.
The Miami/Ohio State comp as well as the use of the word “troubled” were all poor choices. You read that and you assume we were something other than just shitty. Hyperbole fail.