Coaching Hot Seat and Searches

[jdcatty]

I disagree with the "we are Arkansas, we can expect less" attitude.  But that's just me.

[animal]

CFN has an article today about the top 50 basketball schools. The criteria they used were 20 win seasons and NC's. We ranked #23. Illinois was just ahead of us. Also ahead of us were Okie St (20), Utah (T18), Memphis (17), ND (13) and BYU (11). Top 10 were obvious.

Weird. I don't know that we are TOP 10 job and probably haven't been in a decade or two. That being said it's still in my mind a TOP 20 job especially given our recent deep runs in the dance. Memphis, Notre Dame, and a couple others may win a lot in the regular season but haven't really done shit lately.

In basketball especially you can win even from a mid-major. We've had mid-majors and high seeds get all the way to the final four in recent years so much so that it's not even a fluke thing anymore. This parity creates situations where coaches can get paid very well and not move around as much. 

If you look at the list of current college basketball coaches there is an overwhelming amount of turnover since 2021. Simply put I don't know that a lot of coaches are ready to bounce from their gigs. You'll have guys that are one or two and done because they can't turn down the money at a big gig and that's what will happen for Arkansas' eventual hire most likely. We'll either over pay for an established coach like Smart, McDermont, Dixon or we'll spin the wheel on a younger guy. Possibly Wade if he's even hireable. If Wade cannot even recruit during the summer isn't that like a bad thing?

[DirkPiggler]

Clarifying my stepping stone comment: there are less than 10 schools nationally that can realistically get and keep a coach for more than 5 years.  Arkansas ain't one of those for a multitude of reasons.  That isn't a knock on Arkansas.   It just is what it is.   

Go get the best guy you can get.  Period. 

I disagree that we can't keep a coach for that long, or that we can't be a destination job, at least in basketball.

But you're right that we can't make that a consideration in hiring.  Hire the best we can find regardless of ties to this or any other school.  If he wins enough and isn't a complete nomad it's likely that he will stay as long as we want, with only a small handful of jobs having the ability to entice him to leave. 

[Trigger7672]

Just find someone who can lock our im state talent up in 2025 and 2026. We need to get Burgess, Sealy, and Shawn Andrews son. I think Muss was going to whiff on all of those guys unless Ronnie saved him.

[flash23]

Notre Dame just has to get sucked off in every sport, it seems. They haven't won a championship in almost 100 years (pre-NCAA tournament), only has 1 final four (1978), and has won 64% of their games. They've also been playing basketball 30 years longer than us.

I would agree that we're top 20 at worst. Obviously the post Nolan era to pre Muss era knocked us down a bit, but Muss is right that we can win after him. Arkansas basketball is not Arkansas football. We produce enough good in state talent that you can develop a solid team around, especially with the transfer portal now.

Arkansas can be a destination job. We're not a blue blood, but we're just as good of a job as anyone outside of that.

[BleedinRed]

I disagree with the "we are Arkansas, we can expect less" attitude.  But that's just me.

who is expecting less?  I'm arguing that we should go get the best coach we can.   You are arguing we shouldn't hire that guy because despite him having no ties to Kentucky he might leave in two years.  

Why would he do that if we are one of the best programs?

[Trigger7672]

Name a coach at random, if he kicked enough ass here and Kentucky was looking to hire a coach in two years it's highly likely they would come after that coach. Worrying about Beard going to Kentucky in two years is a dopey argument for not wanting Beard.

[flash23]

I can see not wanting 2 coaches leaving you for another school two years apart, one being an inferior USC. Kentucky makes sense, but not USC.

[Pig Benis]

Like most of these searches I think you can probably believe about 50% (or less) of what is being reported. That means Beard was real at the interest on UA's part. I can totally believe the UA people thought they had it in the bag. Walker's interest in the UA is probably real and he probably did get a courtesy minority interview special. Tang was a name everyone on here was ok with a week ago and yesterday suddenly he was trash. I can believe he wasn't really a target and invented by the beat writers for clickbait. His agent used all that shit and got that guy a raise...that's what agents do.

Is HY completely out of his element? We'll find out with this hire. Maybe we go cheap knowing there is a strong chance we have to go big on a football search by the fall. If that's the case I'm betting HY isn't the one shopping.

Tang's $6MM buyout tells me he was never an option. We're not paying that.

[animal]

Yeah I still don't believe a non-compete was what shut that down. Maybe a large buyout package did. Maybe Ole Miss cupped his balls for him. Who the fuck knows. We didn't get him. 100% of the time when people come out and say it's in the bag...fails every time on the 1st name. Save for maybe Mike Anderson.

[Trigger7672]

I can see not wanting 2 coaches leaving you for another school two years apart, one being an inferior USC. Kentucky makes sense, but not USC.

I'd rather risk that than be in a situation like we are in football where we suck and we're stuck with a lame duck coach no one wants.

[Borenutz]

Even looking at a couple of schools with better prestige than us, UCONN and UNC both hired relatively low profile coaches. I'm sure they had did their homework, had their short lists, whatever, but even those top 10 schools weren't plucking p5 coaches, just doesn't typically work like that. We've never done that in the past. Wasn't how we got Eddie or Nolan. Go find the right guy that's a good fit and they will want to build and put their stamp on a program and typically stay put so long as you pay them well and give them the resources needed, which we do. I think Muss is an outlier in that he hops around,even when successful and paid competitively.

We're not in a position we were post Nolan with a cloud hanging over our program, but this is a critical hire, where you don't want to end up with a John Failphrey. There's plenty of good options and this is why an AD makes a shit ton of money.

[BASS]

HY seems more interested in winning the negotiating table than winning on the field.

He fucked up the kiffin hire and the Beard hire twice.

He needs to understand the coaches that you want have all the power and leverage and he's just the dumbass that gets to call the shots because somebody has to be.

Until he realizes that and starts acting accordingly, he's going to be a shitty ad.

[BASS]

More names to toss against the wall...I'm not done yet. I feel like if I post enough maybe the ChatGPT search firm will spider this information back to headquarters.

Bryan Hodgson was on the Oats staff at Bama and Buffalo, current A-State coach. Got them to 20 wins in Year 1. Maybe a bit young for the prime time but could be a guy moving up the ladder.

Mark Pope...maybe time to get him a raise too.

Daniyal Robinson (think he worked under Moser as well as played under him) Known as an excellent recruiter.

Josh Schertz (Indiana State) fixing to be Saint Louis coach

Keith Smart (if we're down to this shit maybe give Smart a shot?)

Bucky McMillan (Samford)

Amir Abdur-Rahim (South Florida 25 wins year 1), built Kennesaw State into...something

Ryan Odom (VCU) moving up the ranks, son of Dave Odom who was a long time head coach.

Hunter should hire you instead of a search firm

[flash23]

Could y'all imagine our fanbase trying to pronounce Amir Abdur

[The Whyte Boar]

He fucked up the kiffin hire and the Beard hire twice.

He needs to understand the coaches that you want have all the power and leverage and he's just the dumbass that gets to call the shots because somebody has to be.

Until he realizes that and starts acting accordingly, he's going to be a shitty ad.

He negotiates like the coaches owe us something.  These guys already have "fuck you" money and don't need much excuse to say it and stay where they are.

[Mazeppa Pompazoidi]

I think it is important to note that we don't know if the NC even was real. 

We don't know jack shit about what's going on behind the scenes.  Most everybody on this board is getting upset over a bunch of internet speculation.  HY is getting raked over the coals because of a bunch of hyperspace bullshit.  I would suggest some of you take the strongest chill pill you can find until the hire is done and then you can bitch, cry, wail, and moan to your heart's content. I'm not a big HY fan because of the Pittman extension, but until the hire is made, I'm not ready to call him a disaster either. 

In today's game, NIL rules and because of that, a lot of power has been taken out of the AD's hands and has been given to the boosters.  Booster A will give $$$ for certain coaches, but not others.  Booster B doesn't like the coaches booster A does and will only give $$$ for other coaches, and so on and so on.  The AD has been relegated to trying to hire the coach that would attract the most NIL money.

[BleedinRed]

We don't know jack shit about what's going on behind the scenes.  Most everybody on this board is getting upset over a bunch of internet speculation.  HY is getting raked over the coals because of a bunch of hyperspace bullshit.  I would suggest some of you take the strongest chill pill you can find until the hire is done and then you can bitch, cry, wail, and moan to your heart's content. I'm not a big HY fan because of the Pittman extension, but until the hire is made, I'm not ready to call him a disaster either. 

In today's game, NIL rules and because of that, a lot of power has been taken out of the AD's hands and has been given to the boosters.  Booster A will give $$$ for certain coaches, but not others.  Booster B doesn't like the coaches booster A does and will only give $$$ for other coaches, and so on and so on.  The AD has been relegated to trying to hire the coach that would attract the most NIL money.

100%

[buff2.0]

And our boosters are mostly retarded

[Texzilla]

We don't know jack shit about what's going on behind the scenes.  Most everybody on this board is getting upset over a bunch of internet speculation.  HY is getting raked over the coals because of a bunch of hyperspace bullshit.  I would suggest some of you take the strongest chill pill you can find until the hire is done and then you can bitch, cry, wail, and moan to your heart's content. I'm not a big HY fan because of the Pittman extension, but until the hire is made, I'm not ready to call him a disaster either. 

In today's game, NIL rules and because of that, a lot of power has been taken out of the AD's hands and has been given to the boosters.  Booster A will give $$$ for certain coaches, but not others.  Booster B doesn't like the coaches booster A does and will only give $$$ for other coaches, and so on and so on.  The AD has been relegated to trying to hire the coach that would attract the most NIL money.

This.  As a program we have everything a good coach needs to win.  It's a top 20 program with solid tradition but enough distance from Nolan and Eddie to make new traditions.  The money is great.  Great place to raise a family in a day wives don't have to move every year or two. 

It has been knocked a kilter by NIL and the portal, and the importance of boosters.  It's the problem with the ncaa rules.  They have created a monster.