Matt Doherty will become the new men’s basketball coach at Florida Atlantic on Monday, sources told ESPN’s Dick Vitale.
Doherty toured the campus and met with athletic director Craig Angelos and school president Frank Brogan on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old Doherty succeeded Bill Guthridge at North Carolina in 2000, but he lasted only three seasons at his alma mater, going 53-43 before resigning after the 2002-03 season.
Doherty recruited Sean May, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants, who helped the Tar Heels win this year’s national championship under coach Roy Williams.
Before becoming coach at UNC, Doherty coached Notre Dame for one season (22-15) and was an assistant for seven seasons at Kansas under Williams.
Florida Atlantic fired Sidney Green last month after his third straight losing season.
They’re into new at FAU. Three new university logos announced last Tuesday and now a new coach.
I wasn’t aware their teams were the Owls, at least Doh has a historical connection with the 49ers that way, other than not being selected as the 49ers’ coach back in 1996.
Look out dance team, he may claim you look like the Duke cheerleaders!
How many jobs did he end up interviewing for before landing at Florida Atlantic? I bet he wishes he took the James Madison job when offered a several months ago.
[i]Originally posted by LeftyNiner[/i]@Apr 18 2005, 08:40 AM
[b]How many jobs did he end up interviewing for before landing at Florida Atlantic? [/b]
Lefty, I know Doh also interviewed for the Stony Brook job, but they ended up hiring a George Washington assistant.
BTW, southern Florida shouldn’t be too bad. I’ve been to Harrisonburg, Virginia and it’s picturesque setting for James Madison. He’ll be okay at FAU - 25,000 students, Atlantic Ocean, golf, FAU dance team…
FAU isn’t a bad gig. Not the best in terms of media exposure/best basketball conference, but they seem like a “rising” program in terms of athletics. For one thing, they’ve got to have a ton of $$$ (or ability to raise $$$) because of their location in S. Fla. A year or two they hired Howard Schnellenberger to essentially start a football program from the ground up. They seem to be aggressive in that since.
From their website:
[i]Originally posted by FAU[/i]
[b]
“It is easier to build a program from scratch than to resurrect a dying program.” He joined the FAU staff May 1 with an unheard-of opportunity; build a football team from scratch. Since then, he has raised more than 10 million dollars and hosted a number of FAU Football television shows and a weekly radio show. Schnellenberger met with the FAU students once a week and took over 2,500 FAU student signatures, all in support of FAU Football, to the January 1999 Board of Regents meeting. Since that time, 25 recruits signed in his first FAU class, 30 in his second. When the team took to the field for its fiirst practice on August 12, 2000, 164 players were dressed out. FAU played is first scrimmage September 23 and continued with weekly scrimmages each week there after. His initial season at FAU, the team posted a 4-6 mark, including a 31-28 upset of the 22nd ranked team, nationally. Season two saw FAU end the season with a thrilling victory over FIU in the “Shula Bowl” and a 2-9 record.
[/b]
Had Lutz left, I don’t think Doh would have been a bad replacement. Probably could have got him cheap and he’s got to have ambition/out to prove people wrong.
I’m still much more happy that Lutz stayed, however.
FAU isn't a bad gig. Not the best in terms of media exposure/best basketball conference, but they seem like a "rising" program in terms of athletics. For one thing, they've got to have a ton of $$$ (or ability to raise $$$) because of their location in S. Fla. A year or two they hired Howard Schnellenberger to essentially start a football program from the ground up. They seem to be aggressive in that since.
From their website:
<!--QuoteBegin-FAU[/i]
[b]
“It is easier to build a program from scratch than to resurrect a dying program.” He joined the FAU staff May 1 with an unheard-of opportunity; build a football team from scratch. Since then, he has raised more than 10 million dollars and hosted a number of FAU Football television shows and a weekly radio show. Schnellenberger met with the FAU students once a week and took over 2,500 FAU student signatures, all in support of FAU Football, to the January 1999 Board of Regents meeting. Since that time, 25 recruits signed in his first FAU class, 30 in his second. When the team took to the field for its fiirst practice on August 12, 2000, 164 players were dressed out. FAU played is first scrimmage September 23 and continued with weekly scrimmages each week there after. His initial season at FAU, the team posted a 4-6 mark, including a 31-28 upset of the 22nd ranked team, nationally. Season two saw FAU end the season with a thrilling victory over FIU in the "Shula Bowl" and a 2-9 record.
[/b]
[/b][/quote]
FAU may have started out with a bang...but they're in big financial trouble now.
[url=http://www.ninernation.net/index.php?showtopic=2982&hl=FAU+football]Previous FAU discussion - Football 6.5 million in debt[/url]
"This is painful to listen to," Athletic Director Craig Angelos said at the meeting. "The business model on football was flawed from the beginning. As we birthed this baby called football, it started racking up debt."
[b]Florida Atlantic received more than 60 applications for the job, and the school interviewed about 22 candidates, athletic director Craig Angelos said.
“The best candidate was the last one we talked to,” Angelos said.[/b]
:rolleyes: Of course, FAU doesn’t “fire” coaches either, they reassign them to jobs in the athletic department. We shall see.
[b]At North Carolina, Doherty made $855,000 annually, led one of college basketball's storied programs and his teams played at home before more than 20,000 rabid fans who demanded excellence.
This time, he signed a seven-year deal with an annual base salary of $171,000 and inherits a program with only one NCAA tournament berth. The 2004-05 team played seven home games before fewer than 500 fans. In 12 seasons at Division I, the Owls are a combined 102-234, with only two winning seasons.
“It wasn’t about money. It wasn’t about level,” Doherty said. “If you have a passion for coaching basketball, you’ll coach in front of 20,000 people or 2,000 people.”[/b]
[i]Originally posted by HP49er[/i]@Apr 18 2005, 03:16 PM
[b]
[b]"It wasn't about money. It wasn't about level," Doherty said. "If you have a passion for coaching basketball, you'll coach in front of 20,000 people or 2,000 people."[/b]
[/b]
Or 200 people, apparently! :rolleyes:
Seriously, I head Matt on the radio earlier today. He’s sounds pretty excited to be back on the sidelines. He better enjoy his lone year in the A-Sun. The Sun Belt will be more of a challenge. At the end of the 2004-05 season, the A-Sun ranked 25th, while the Sun Belt 13th in the RPI.
[b]"It wasn't about money. It wasn't about level," Doherty said. "If you have a passion for coaching basketball, you'll coach in front of 20,000 people or 2,000 people."[/b]
[/b]
Or 200 people, apparently! :rolleyes:
Seriously, I head Matt on the radio earlier today. He’s sounds pretty excited to be back on the sidelines. He better enjoy his lone year in the A-Sun. The Sun Belt will be more of a challenge. At the end of the 2004-05 season, the A-Sun ranked 25th, while the Sun Belt 13th in the RPI. [/b][/quote]
Not far from the truth HP. FAU averaged 523 people for their home games last season. And ya’ll thought Halton was weak during the Christmas games.
