Calhoun doesn't need to announce he's staying. - LINK

Courant article

At last he said it. Manuel should have jumped all over this rather than using the "proceeding on the assumption" language he chose. From this point forward, the party line should be Jim Calhoun is our coach, no assumptions, no "mulling it over", he's our coach, period.

(That said, stepping down in September and making Ollie the head coach for the next year makes sense if we're not tournament eligible.)

Not to be combative, but if he were 100% sure he was going to coach next year, then he would have said it by now. If Coach K or Tom Izzo or Bill Self or any other coach in America were asked if he was coaching next year, they would say "Yes," not be ambiguous like this.

Chances are very good Jim is going to coach next year, but he is leaving himself an out here, so it's not unfair to be a bit unsettled.

but but but but but, did he guarantee that he would be our coach next year? did he give a blood oath? doesn't he know he's killing our ( errr his) program?

what's he waiting for now?

I love that pictures article they made, "10 coaches who could repalce Jim Calhoun" and the list includes George Blaney, Rick Pitino, and John Calipari

Sorry but I don't agree with you or Rico444. Especially when he makes the comment about not wanting to "leave the program in chaos". I think a comment like that covers a wide variety of issues from recruiting to current performance on the floor to a practice facility and, most importantly, to who will be his successor. He has invested too much time and effort; and has had too much success to make leaving abruptly even a remote issue(unless of course some serious health or other personal,non-basketball event comes into play). And the plaIn fact is he has shown us over and over again that it is not in his nature. He has never walked away from a challenge. I think he would probably reconsider the remark about settling things right after the Final Four; but that's where it stops. When he does decide to leave, the Connecticut men's basketball program will be full throttle and in very good hands.

GO HUSKIES!!!

This is Playground Stupid.

So let me see if I got this.

JC has the time to put together the sentence that "I have a contract for 2 years so I don't need to say I'm returning," but he can't drum up the motivation to say, "I'm definitely coaching in 2013."

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

It make-uh no sense.

Clearly, he's an honest man. Clearly, he doesn't want to say something that's not true. Kudos to him for that. But let's not kid ourselves. With all that's going on, he's leaving the door open.

It's like asking your wife if she still loves you and she says, "why would you ask that? We're still married right?"

Yes or No.

^^^^^

No

I think we're on the same side

the conspiracy theorist in me really thinks coach is trying to strong arm manuel and herbst and will announce in aug/sept that he isnt coming back. at that point, the administration will have no choice but to atleast make kevin ollie the interim head coach.

Coach is just playing with everybody - he loves the attention - maybe ? I love the guy and he can do it his way.

The point is you don't have to announce to your boss that you aren't quiting, why should he?

He can do that all he wants - the key is the "interim" part. It wouldn't prevent Manuel from performing a full search next year. And given the current "shortcomings" of our front court for next year, he wouldn't exactly be setting up Ollie to succeed. If Ollie gets the interim tag and we go 17-13, are people going to be banging down the alumni offices demanding that Ollie get the job permanently?

i dont think ollie will be the coach after calhoun. i think shaka smart is patiently waiting for the job and will get the offer. shaka has turned down offers including a big one from illinois. i think he will be the next coach in storrs and it will be next year or in two years when calhouns contract is up.

Its apparent he's planning on coming back, his statement is implied. I don't think its necessary to legally dissect this statement. He's coming back and if for some reason he's not, well then he's not coming back.

Also, he doesn't necessarily have to be the coach to not leave the program in chaos. There are other ways, I think, to accomplish this. Nonetheless he is a true-blood Husky and that's all that matters. Now can we all move on?

I'm fine with this way of thinking, and I agree with it to a certain degree, so long as you're OK with the fact that his non-committal stance is almost definitely hurting recruiting. I think he's earned the right to do whatever he wants, but I'm not going to sit here and pretend that what he's said is as definite as if he just came out and said "I will be coaching next year."

Is it DEFINITELY hurting recruiting? For this season, there is very little out there that will help UConn. We're talking 2012-2013 being just around the corner. The focus is on recruiting for the season after. If Calhoun starts making announcements about his return, then what is he going to say in the middle of next season when he is up against big schools in recruiting top recruits? Do you want him to announce in January that he is definitely returning for another year in order to shore up recruiting?

Put it this way, the moment Calhoun announces his precise intentions is the moment other coaches can say, "Why go to UConn, you don't even know who is there next year?" I'm sure they are saying that anyway, but they can't say it with 100% certainty. It makes sense to continue relationships with players, make assurances to them before they sign, but otherwise maintain the relationships as long as possible before you look them in the eye and tell them exactly what you are going to do.

I would say it is definitely hurting recruiting. Several recruits have mentioned it when giving their list of schools and talking about Uconn.

And no, I don't need him to announce in January that he's coming back. But March or April would be nice. He even had a quote saying he would make an announcement a few days after the national championship game after talking with Warde Manuel and Susan Herbst, that an announcement would be good for the school, in his words. That announcement never happened.

I think you missed what I meant. If he announces now that he's coming back, will he then be expected to reiterate it for the following season as well? That would put the pressure on him in January and the Spring when they are in the thick of recruiting.

The way I see it is this. If Jim isn't sure whether or not he wants to coach next year, then I don't have an issue with what he's doing, but being intentionally vague about his future WILL hurt recruiting. He even said so himself, that making an announcement a few days after the national championship would be in the best interest of the school. That's my only point.