2026 Coaching Hires (the crazy season)

[Puppy Love]

Without the humor, much of what @Dillon77 said.

It only matters how outstanding it was for a coach in the A10 to have the win / loss records that she did. At the time you are referring to, the post-season opportunities for teams not making the NCAA from non-power conferences were less than now and making the WNIT at the time could be viewed as an accomplishment. And she gained experience - per what I said elsewhere - playing in a conference that plays a lot of the East Coast power teams in the OOC.

To be clear, I don't think coaches salaries should be what they are, but they are. It is a high salary but maybe that's what it takes to convince someone who almost certainly has had other options to get there.

I live about 20 minutes away from Kingston, RI. I think that any coach who pulls off any kind of winning team there has performed something of a miracle. It isn’t that it’s a bad place. There’s just nothing to make it stand out. It’s a bit far from Providence, the beaches are only a draw in the summer, winter weather is crappy. Other than a brief run for men’s basketball in the late ‘90’s, it isn’t really a basketball school. My hat is off to coach Reiss and I wish her well.

 

[southie]

Hey, hey., my Lone Star colleague..are you a little on edge after the Texas guys lost on a tip-in? 😉
From your perspective, I might see where you're coming from, but keep in mind that one reason so many of these mid-major coaches are valued is their ability to turn chicken into chicken salad. You might not dig the initial restaurant it was served in, but consider where it came from. Thar's hard work, my friend.

Did Florida, perhaps, bid against itself here? Possibly. But if they increased the NIL payout for her to get her to come and/or to succeed, then the overpay might be worth it.

Gosh knows the program pays out a lot of cash for most other sports....

Nope. My opinion of Reiss' resume' and Florida overpaying would be the same regardless of what happens in one men's basketball game.

I'm not sure how many current SEC head coaches Florida could have landed for $950k who have more impressive resumes' (post-season success) than Reiss' I'm sure there are a handful. Strictly comparing Reiss and Kristy Curry, I'd say South Florida landed the proven head coaching commodity with NCAA post-season success for $100k or so less than what UF will shell out.

 

[southie]

Without the humor, much of what @Dillon77 said.

It only matters how outstanding it was for a coach in the A10 to have the win / loss records that she did. At the time you are referring to, the post-season opportunities for teams not making the NCAA from non-power conferences were less than now and making the WNIT at the time could be viewed as an accomplishment. And she gained experience - per what I said elsewhere - playing in a conference that plays a lot of the East Coast power teams in the OOC.

To be clear, I don't think coaches salaries should be what they are, but they are. It is a high salary but maybe that's what it takes to convince someone who almost certainly has had other options to get there.

You really didn't answer my question, at least not directly.

Despite three seasons where Reiss won 21, 22, and 26 games, none resulted in an NCAA tournament bid. That tells me the (non-conference) SOS was very bad. Just looking at W/L record doesn't tell the entire story. The 2022-23 season where URI won 26 games and finished first in the conference regular season, they failed to win the conference tourney and secure the auto-bid.

So, in seven seasons, Reiss won one conference tournament title and it was this past season. If I were an A.D., I'd be looking at head coaching candidates' post-season success over their regular season W/L record.