Poll: If You're the AD do you Fire this Coach? | The Boneyard

Poll: If You're the AD do you Fire this Coach?

Do You Fire this Head Coach

  • Yes, To Much Upheaval in Program.

    Votes: 36 60.0%
  • No, Has a Proven Record of Success.

    Votes: 24 40.0%

  • Total voters
    60
  • Poll closed .
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AD Barnhart definitely should fire Mitchell...but that's just the start. Next he should fire Calipari -who should have been banned from coaching years ago.

Finally, he should fire himself.

Then the three could hit the road together doing motivational/revival lectures. Barnhart could warm up the crowd with double-talk, Mitchell could weep about how he now takes responsibility for his sins, and Slicko could finish by promising that everything is coming up roses.
 

RockyMTblue2

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I voted Yes just for fun. It's a bad time to be looking for a premium new head coach. I wonder if Shea would head down there; not that they would want to select someone w/o head coaching experience. The AD said the other day that Mitchell is more than WCBB, he's family as he stammered through an incomprehensible bunch of blithering. Mitchell was equally the stammering deer in the head lights and was it yesterday that he said the key was to hire in some really talented assistants, begging the question of what have you been doing the last 5 years, trying to hire clueless assistants. The guy has no listening skills and an impenetrably dense ego. They're doomed.
 

EricLA

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Well, what's the reason for firing him? Are there any reports of players claiming abuse? what is the reason the assistants have left? Has his NCAA resume suddenly taken a tumble and Kentucky is out of the top 25 and missing the tourney? The answer to all those questions is no. So as much as I think there's something going on, I have no idea what it is, and you can't fire the guy just because a bunch of people quit the program...
 

RockyMTblue2

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Well, what's the reason for firing him? Are there any reports of players claiming abuse? what is the reason the assistants have left? Has his NCAA resume suddenly taken a tumble and Kentucky is out of the top 25 and missing the tourney? The answer to all those questions is no. So as much as I think there's something going on, I have no idea what it is, and you can't fire the guy just because a bunch of people quit the program...

Killjoy! Maybe Duke and Kentucky could trade coaches?
 

EricLA

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Killjoy! Maybe Duke and Kentucky could trade coaches?
LOL... I totally agree that something smells rotten in Lexington, but unless he's "done" something, you can't just fire him... At least not at this time...
 
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Well, what's the reason for firing him? Are there any reports of players claiming abuse? what is the reason the assistants have left? Has his NCAA resume suddenly taken a tumble and Kentucky is out of the top 25 and missing the tourney? The answer to all those questions is no. So as much as I think there's something going on, I have no idea what it is, and you can't fire the guy just because a bunch of people quit the program...
 
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I agree the coach should not be replaced. We do not have enough information why these people are leaving. Everyone wants to be National Champion, but few people want to put in the work required. This could be merely one of those situations.
 

UcMiami

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I refuse to vote! Given that no player appears to have complained about the coach makes it too hard to determine from outside what is wrong and whether he can again turn the situation around. He has achieved the best results by far of any KY women's coach in their history which is definitely a plus. The program appears to be self destructing but without some insider information I just can't say. Would I give him a contract extension, or renew his contract this year - nope. Would I fire him and pay millions remaining on his current contract without more information - nope.
 
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Can Matthew Mitchell survive as UK Hoops coach?

9 Ass't Caoches have left since 2011 and mass exodus of players this year. Recruiting probably will be down this year and future looks bleak if it is.
The most shocking thing is that the University of Kentucky officials seem to support this loser. Were I chancellor, the coach would have been gone long ago. It seems a similar problem exists at Duke. What are the university officials waiting for? I am delighted to get Stevens at UCONN, but the game needs great, competitive programs at Duke and at Kentucky.
 
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Well, what's the reason for firing him? Are there any reports of players claiming abuse? what is the reason the assistants have left? Has his NCAA resume suddenly taken a tumble and Kentucky is out of the top 25 and missing the tourney? The answer to all those questions is no. So as much as I think there's something going on, I have no idea what it is, and you can't fire the guy just because a bunch of people quit the program...
But you can find out what is taking place. there is a reason people leave like that, en masse. Particularly from Duke, as there are few finer academic institutions. Kentucky is in the spotlight
because of their amazing basketball tradition. When committed recruits bail out, there is something wrong. It is not simply co-incidence. If you make a successful product, and people suddenly stop purchasing it, you have to learn the cause. It has to be your first priority. And there seems no urgency coming from either school as to the root causation of these problems.
And, if all else fails, begin fresh.
 
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If it were only a few players who left, that would be one thing. But then there's this:

"Since the 2011-12 season, Mitchell has employed nine different assistants. This offseason is the second time in three years he’s had to replace all three full-time assistants."

Read more here: Can Matthew Mitchell survive as UK Hoops coach?

If he can't even keep assistant coaches, whom he has brought into a top-tier SEC basketball program, then there is clearly something wrong with the head coach. That's certainly strike two- at least.

If I were AD, I'd reach out to the transferring players and the coaches who defected from the program to find out directly what was wrong. The head coach says that they all left for different personal reasons. But the AD should test that claim by finding out the truth.

In contrast, Coach Geno has never seen a single defection from one of his assistant coaches. Each has left to become head coach somewhere, and left with his blessing, and even recommendation to the hiring university.
 
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I refuse to vote! Given that no player appears to have complained about the coach makes it too hard to determine from outside what is wrong and whether he can again turn the situation around. He has achieved the best results by far of any KY women's coach in their history which is definitely a plus. The program appears to be self destructing but without some insider information I just can't say. Would I give him a contract extension, or renew his contract this year - nope. Would I fire him and pay millions remaining on his current contract without more information - nope.
Exactly, no info, no vote.
 
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Well, what's the reason for firing him? Are there any reports of players claiming abuse? what is the reason the assistants have left? Has his NCAA resume suddenly taken a tumble and Kentucky is out of the top 25 and missing the tourney? The answer to all those questions is no. So as much as I think there's something going on, I have no idea what it is, and you can't fire the guy just because a bunch of people quit the program...

Some think where there's smoke there is fire. I don't jump on that band wagon. While it is not truly the legal process^*--I believe in innocent until proven guilty. He may be a Jerk--but who in those positions are not? Your Jerk may be my hero.
Thank you Eric for taking the thinking role.
*If the legal system thought you innocent until proven guilty--would most be in jail waiting to go to court? You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent-that's why you have to pay thousands to unprove your guilt.
 
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I refuse to vote! Given that no player appears to have complained about the coach makes it too hard to determine from outside what is wrong and whether he can again turn the situation around. He has achieved the best results by far of any KY women's coach in their history which is definitely a plus. The program appears to be self destructing but without some insider information I just can't say. Would I give him a contract extension, or renew his contract this year - nope. Would I fire him and pay millions remaining on his current contract without more information - nope.
Aw, come on now you are not supposed to think these things through--vote strictly on emotions. Another guy who thinks what is the world coming to????
 
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Not a yes or no question without more info. Investigate, then if you find "cause", fire him for cause and get out of the remaining contract. If not enough "cause", then get him some psychological/self-awareness coaching and give him one more year to start getting it back on track.

He HAS shown some innovation - he has one-upped Calipari and taken "one-and-done" to the next level with one-and-done assistant coaches!
 
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ad litem--One who speaks for those that can't speak for themselves--..(my definition)
 
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But you can find out what is taking place. there is a reason people leave like that, en masse. Particularly from Duke, as there are few finer academic institutions. Kentucky is in the spotlight
because of their amazing basketball tradition. When committed recruits bail out, there is something wrong. It is not simply co-incidence. If you make a successful product, and people suddenly stop purchasing it, you have to learn the cause. It has to be your first priority. And there seems no urgency coming from either school as to the root causation of these problems.
And, if all else fails, begin fresh.

All supposition. kids, like adults, when they get together can conjure up all kinds of reasons. There would be law suits , as you have seen in other colleges. Where there is smoke there is fire--sometimes the fire is just to keep warm. Some of the " recruits " probably think as you do and bail..
The guy has a proven record at KU--who would replace him?? No offense intended, you are entitle to your opinion.
 

RockyMTblue2

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No information? There is plenty of information. We don't have information about his contract and as UcM observed whether it is a for cause situation. We don't know if he has civil service status as for as personnel policies. But, common, put on your big boy pants, in coaching there is no "fair", it's what have you done for me lately. In Mitchell's case what he has done is embarrass his employer while underperforming. I don't buy "we don't have enough information." The biggest factor for the AD is what has the greatest potential downside for him: ask Mitchell to leave and hiring someone who can't right the ship or standing pat. This AD is standing pat and WCBB is not important enough for Pres. or Bd members to question it.
 
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Wbbfan1

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Those that are saying not enough information to make a decision, IMHO should be voting No to not fire Mitchell. Mitchell has had good success over the last 4 years or so, slightly less then Jeff Walz. However, I don't think he'll be able to sustain it, unless he brings in some high quality JUCO players next year.
 
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Exactly, no info, no vote.

But there is plenty of information in the public realm now. He is experiencing a shocking diaspora of critically important players, an out-migration that is unprecedented. And he has experienced extremely high turnover among his assistant coaches. It's not a matter of wondering if there is fire while looking at the smoke. There is a raging inferno emanating from that program.

Even if there is no more that can be discerned from the public record, and even if there were many different reasons given for the defections, the AD has to make a decision. Does the AD really care why exactly each and every player left the program? He's looking at tremendous instability, and it all gets back to the guy in charge- the head coach.

Even if he doesn't reach out to all or many of those who left, he's got enough information with which to make a decision- he knows that there is turmoil right under his nose.

No one would criticize him for making a change.
 
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