So while in a few tedious meetings this morning, I jotted down a list of names who, in my view fall under 1 of 3 categories
1. Need to Retire (had great careers but the performance has slipped mightily)
2. Should be fired as the performance is spiraling and no sign of recovery is seen but the contract or "optics" of the role will save them for another year or so.
3. Will be fired (performance is egregious enough and contract is either due to expire or close enough to warrant any buyout). Any AD who keeps this category should also be fired.
Category #1. Need to Retire
1.
Joe McKeown, Northwestern 13 yrs. He will be 68 in May and frankly his team is terrible.
2.
Doug Bruno, DePaul 36 years. Doug is 73 and has had a great career but his team is terrible and he has suffered mass defections the past two years. It's ok to retire and enjoy a broadcasting career.
3,
Kelly Graves, Oregon 10 years. Techinically he will be 62 in July and is a little young to retire but I am trying to let him "bow out gracefully" and let the school off the hook from having to fire him. Oregon moves to the Big 10 next year and I am not thinking he is up to the challenge. He has had MASS defections the past 4 years- the who recruiting class of 2020 (Scherr, Parrish, Watson, Dugalic, Paopao); class of 2021 Bigby, 2022 Jennah Isai, plus tranfers in of Rogers and Prince who transferred out. Mallory McGwire same recruiting class as Sabrina, transferred out after 2 years. And Yes,
@Bigboote Sabrina WAS EVERYTHING for that program, she made everyone better and was the face of not only Oregon, the PAC12 and WCBB as well. While Satou is a nice player, she's not a star and neither is Hebard. That said, Thanks Kelly but please bow out gracefully as it's clear players do not want to play for you.
#4.
Nell Fortner, Georgia Tech 5 years. She will be 65 in March and while GT needed her due to the abuse allegations and she is a class act, the fact is the program is mediocre at best and below what the school should expect.
Category #2. Performance is showing the spiral is not recoverable even if the AD doesn't want to admit it.
#1.
Kyra Elzy, Kentucky 4 years. mass defections, poor performance, no recrutiing but her contract is until 2027.
#2.
Kellie Harper, Tennessee, 5 years, zero HS recruiting, mediocre performance and dropping attendance from this once mighty program. Again, her contract is $1.1 mil per year and is until 2028.
#3.
Christa Gurlich, Texas Tech 4 years. Another hire who had to "right the ship" after abuse allegations but this once attendance stalwart needs to improve and Christa is not up to the challenge. She will not make the NCAAT but may make the WNIT for the second time. She will not be fired but the writing is on the wall.
#4.
Natashia Adair, Arizona State 2 years. Zero chance of her being fired but NOTHING looks like improvement is coming here. It is inevitable she have issues in the new league next year.
#5.
Joe Tartamello, St. John's 12 years. One of Geno's buddies that may be severely hampered by the school but it's been 12 years and what exactly has his built? He won't be fired but he will be middle of the pack AGAIN in a conference with 4 really bad teams.
#6.
Tina Langley Washington, 3 years. While I do think this is better than Jody Wynn, as NWHoop would say, how could it not be? Tina has been a disappointment but she's down on this list as doing better than the 5 ahead of her and her school will not fire her this year. She too is headed into new territory next year and will be eaten alive by the Big 10.
#7.
Coquese Washington, Rutgers, 2 years. I have no idea what possessed the RU AD to hire her without her proving her HC abilities at a mid-Maor. Her last 5 years at PSU were an abject failure. Why the AD thought spending 2 years at ND as an assistant enabled her to run a progam is odd. There have been a few coaches who failed at a P5, rebuilt their brand at a mid-major and then had or are having success at a P5 in the second go round, Kellie Harper, Felisha Legette-Jack to name 2. I think that is what Coquese needed to do but if the AD at P5 offers....
#8
Megan Gebbia, Wake Forest 2nd year. Starting 6-25 in conference play including 1-12 this year is a rough start to a career. The evidence is enough to tell me she's in over her head but it is only year 2 so she will not be fired.
#9.
Billie Chambers, Xavier 1st year. I know she has had injuries but man, is this team bad. This is by far the worst team in the P6. She is making Melanie Moore look good by comparison. But she too is #8 for a reason, it's her first year and she will be given the length of her whole 5 year contract....
Category #3. The list of coaches who really have shown very little to warrant keeping. This is not fair from a "wanting someone to be fired perspective" and is no way an indictment on their person, only a reflection of their job performance given their circumstances.
#1.
Amanda Butler, Clemson 6 years. She's 31-71 in the ACC. She made the NCAAT her first year and has done very little since.
#2.
Robin Pingeton, Missouri 14 years. She was on the clock to have to make the NCAAT but as noted, her AD has left. Will the new AD keep her? Probably not as her contract expires next year and from what I have is a reasonable buyout at $400K.
#3.
Joanne Bernabei-McNamee, Boston College 6 years. She showed initial promise but still hasn't made an NCAAT and she keeps losing her best players to the portal for whatever reason. The performance is getting worse, not better and it has been 6 years now.
#4.
Anthony Bozzella, Seton Hall, 11 years. Yes, he's another of Geno's friends and yes, I am sure many of my BY colleagues like the guy but face it, he has never made an NCAAT, he can't recruit, he gets marginal portal players and he's not all that great with the media. 11 years is enough time to know what you got and SHU knows what they have, will the AD do something?
#5.
Carolyn Kieger, Penn State, 5 years. She was definitely on the hot seat before the year and up until recently looked safe but her latest spiral may cause the AD to rethink.
#6.
Charmin Smith, California 5 years. She too was on the hot seat before the year and I don't think she's done enough to warrant more years, especially moving to the ACC next year but her team is playing better now. I will potentially update my view after the PAC 12 Tournament and hear what
@Plebe has to say after he has lunch with her in Vegas....
I am not trying to be harsh or mean but using W/L record or lmited success to justify my inclusion on the "hot seat". What say you?
. My brain won’t let go of such useless information.
Looks like we'll have to deal with her for another year in the SEC. They did defy expectations this season... instead of last place, they're currently 3rd from last in the SEC with remaining games against Ole Miss and LSU. 
