Thread to come up with our own list of candidates we could realistically get that may succeed here. For each, offer up some information along with a fair pros and cons list.
First offering -
Matt Driscoll (Head Coach, Univ. of N. Florida Ospreys)
Has done pretty well at a school that has virtually no resources. I’ve watched them play multiple times in person and the brand of basketball is exciting. UNF runs the floor. Guard play is emphasized, but much of that may have to do with the fact that UNF and other A-Sun schools can’t get decent big men.
UNF has only been D-I since 2005. Prior to Driscoll, they were 20-96 in D-I…so 70-84 is a marked improvement.
Not a huge improvement from a public speaking standpoint (sways, seems a little nervous, talks fast, coach speak/cliches) - [/font] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzvTNU7iCLU[font=sans-serif]
Teams tend to be inconsistent from game to game, not from an effort standpoint, but just basketball skills.[/font][font=sans-serif]
Record isn’t stellar. No way to sugar coat it, this would be a somewhat risky hire.[/font][font=sans-serif]
No splash factor. Not a very well- known name in the cbb community, although he does have some recognition here in Jacksonville. Opinion of the UNF diehards I’ve talked to is positive, but most have not much positive history to compare him to.[/font][/size]
Byron Dinkins with 1 stipulation, he must have assistant with HC experience. Truthfully, if we hire another assistant w/o HC experience, this should be a requirement.
[quote=“2k, post:3, topic:28598”]Byron Dinkins with 1 stipulation, he must have assistant with HC experience. Truthfully, if we hire another assistant w/o HC experience, this should be a requirement.
[quote=“NewNiner, post:4, topic:28598”]Some other ideas:
Bob Hoffman (Mercer).
Last 3 years- 27-11, 24-12, 19-6 (in progress)
Brian Wardle (Green Bay)
Last 3 years- 15-15, 18-15, 19-5 (in progress)
Gary Waters (Cleveland State)
Last 4 years- 27-9, 22-11, 14-18, 17-9 (in progress)
Todd Kowalczyk (Toledo)
Last 3 years- 19-17, 15-13, 20-3 (in progress)
Greg Lansing (Indiana State)
Last 4 years- 20-14, 18-15, 18-15, 18-6 (in progress)
Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin)
First year: 22-2 (has a lot of experience as an assistant, though)[/quote]
Wardle wouldn’t work. Galen would take his headphones off and lock him down all over again. We’d never win at home.
This may be a general observation that is 100% incorrect but it seems to me that guys who are assistants for 10+ years who then become head coaches (at any level and in any sport) very rarely succeed as head coaches. The point being, what didn’t they know after 5 years of being an assistant that they learned in the following 5 years? Not every coach is head coach material. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule but this is just something I’ve observed.
Another interesting observation is the “fire the coach, hire the opposite style of coach” theory. If you listen to the Dan Patrick Show you’ve probably heard him talk about this before. Basically teams will have a fiery, exciting coach (i.e. Lutz), things go south, they fire that coach and hire the opposite personality, a mellow “player’s coach” (i.e. Major).
It will be interesting to see if the pattern continues with our next men’s basketball head coaching hire.
[quote=“49erAlumnus, post:6, topic:28598”][quote=“NewNiner, post:4, topic:28598”]Some other ideas:
Bob Hoffman (Mercer).
Last 3 years- 27-11, 24-12, 19-6 (in progress)
Brian Wardle (Green Bay)
Last 3 years- 15-15, 18-15, 19-5 (in progress)
Gary Waters (Cleveland State)
Last 4 years- 27-9, 22-11, 14-18, 17-9 (in progress)
Todd Kowalczyk (Toledo)
Last 3 years- 19-17, 15-13, 20-3 (in progress)
Greg Lansing (Indiana State)
Last 4 years- 20-14, 18-15, 18-15, 18-6 (in progress)
Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin)
First year: 22-2 (has a lot of experience as an assistant, though)[/quote]
Wardle wouldn’t work. Galen would take his headphones off and lock him down all over again. We’d never win at home.[/quote]
:))
I remember taunting Wardle from 104 back in the day!!
[quote=“49erCC, post:12, topic:28598”][quote=“Crusader, post:2, topic:28598”]I think we’ve tried hiring an unknown HC from Florida several years ago.
As I recall, that didn’t go too well[/quote]Florida Southern if I recall[/quote]
You are correct.
My fault for not being clearer…I should have said an unknown HC from a school in Florida
Pat Kelsey. Was in our top 3 with Hopkins and Major during our last coaching search. Was the guy I hope we hired then and I know many others liked him. Was disappointed when interest waned and he stepped away from coaching for a yr or 2. He was a well respected assistant for 2 very successful High Major programs and now has head coach exp since we were last interested. He is young for his extensive experience and seems like a high energy, charismatic passionate coach and does not seem socially awkward like our current coach. How in the world was Judy blown away with AM’s interview/personality. Kelsey is known as a master salesman with recruits and always thought this guy could sell to a fanbase as well. He has personally recruited a bunch of guys that are in the league now. He is now a head coach right up the street making less than we could pay him and he probably knows the area and the recruiting pipelines better than almost anyone else we could realistically hire. He would be good bang for the buck.
[quote=“SteauA, post:8, topic:28598”]This may be a general observation that is 100% incorrect but it seems to me that guys who are assistants for 10+ years who then become head coaches (at any level and in any sport) very rarely succeed as head coaches. The point being, what didn’t they know after 5 years of being an assistant that they learned in the following 5 years? Not every coach is head coach material. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule but this is just something I’ve observed.
Another interesting observation is the “fire the coach, hire the opposite style of coach” theory. If you listen to the Dan Patrick Show you’ve probably heard him talk about this before. Basically teams will have a fiery, exciting coach (i.e. Lutz), things go south, they fire that coach and hire the opposite personality, a mellow “player’s coach” (i.e. Major).
It will be interesting to see if the pattern continues with our next men’s basketball head coaching hire.[/quote]
Not necessarily the case and especially in football. Nick Saban was an assistant for 16 years, Jimbo Fisher 19 years, and even our own football coach was an assistant for 20 years.
I love threads like this. After we fired Lutz we had 2 different threads filled with people wanting to hire Mike Rice. Wouldn’t that have been great?
I was probably the first person to mention Pearl a few weeks ago.In the scheme of things his transgressions were very minor,in my mind.He wasn’t paying kids or grabbing them by the neck.And for anyone who knows the SEC,you know how little of a basketball school UT was before he got there and how much excitement he generated…and he won!
For those that say we could not afford him…my response is CAN WE AFFORD NOT TO BRING IN SOMEONE LIKE HIM …and watch the continuing spiral of apathy and poor performance in our bball program.Sometimes you’ve got to spend $$ to make $$.
Whether he’d take the job as a stepping stone to something bigger…THAT SHOULD BE THE WORST PROBLEM WE HAVE.
Bigger problem is that by canning Major Judy would be admitting that she failed and unless she’s thinking about retiring soon,I don’t see that happening.
[quote=“lucky57, post:18, topic:28598”]I was probably the first person to mention Pearl a few weeks ago.In the scheme of things his transgressions were very minor,in my mind.He wasn’t paying kids or grabbing them by the neck.And for anyone who knows the SEC,you know how little of a basketball school UT was before he got there and how much excitement he generated…and he won!
For those that say we could not afford him…my response is CAN WE AFFORD NOT TO BRING IN SOMEONE LIKE HIM …and watch the continuing spiral of apathy and poor performance in our bball program.Sometimes you’ve got to spend $$ to make $$.
Whether he’d take the job as a stepping stone to something bigger…THAT SHOULD BE THE WORST PROBLEM WE HAVE.
Bigger problem is that by canning Major Judy would be admitting that she failed and unless she’s thinking about retiring soon,I don’t see that happening.[/quote]
+1 (except I brought this up years ago) But yes completely agree. I don’t know if he wants to coach again, but if so this would be a great spot. His teams have lost to us enough times where he certainly knows who we are.
Also a name brand coach will bring in recruits. SMU went after Larry Brown, they got good recruits as a result, now in the top 25.
:-* ^-^ :eek: