Here's the problem

[Stainmaster]

Steve Pikiell
Danny Hurley
Eric Konkol

Hurley is my #1 choice if a change is made. For the reasons I listed in those bullet points, I don't think he is coming here.

Pikiell may think his current situation is better.

Konkol is an interesting name. I'm glad you brought him up.

 

[JMick]

What if we end up making the tourney?

Just a hypothetical.

it depends on how. if we suck all year and win the conference tournament then he should still go

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

ed cooley?

 

[Matrim55]

Konkol is an interesting name. I'm glad you brought him up.

Might actually be my first choice to be honest.

 

[Tenspro2002]

There isn't much point to firing a guy mid-season, but if he wasn't on notice already, he damn well better be now.

I don't know if Benedict has expectations in terms of accomplishments that KO has to meet in order to keep his job, but the look and feel of the program needs to be a complete 180 from last year. Today was even worse.

 

[superjohn]

Hurley is my #1 choice if a change is made. For the reasons I listed in those bullet points, I don't think he is coming here.

Pikiell may think his current situation is better.

Konkol is an interesting name. I'm glad you brought him up.

Pikiell would put on his running shoes right now and run to Storrs if Benedict called him.

 

[Matrim55]

Auriemma, Ollie sign extensions with UConn. Read them in their entirety here
Should Ollie be fired from his position as head coach during the contract, UConn will owe him $600,000. If Ollie chooses to leave UConn for another NCAA Division I school, he or the new school will be responsible for paying UConn. If Ollie were to leave after this season, UConn would $500,000. This amount decreases in $100,000 increments until 2020-21, where UConn would receive $100,000 if he left that season to coach at another school.

Ok – that's actually a pretty low buy-out. For some reason I'd assumed it would be a larger (prohibitive) portion of his overall salary.

 

[Stainmaster]

Might actually be my first choice to be honest.

He would need to hire 1-2 assistants with heavy NE/NYC/East Coast recruiting experience.

 

[MadDogRevival]

Pitino is looking for a team

I mean, there's a chance that he didn't know, right?

 

[Matrim55]

He would need to hire 1-2 assistants with heavy NE/NYC/East Coast recruiting experience.

For sure, but part of what I like about his background is that he was a recruiter for Miami when they started to get good kids at the start of the decade.

 

[Stainmaster]

Pikiell would put on his running shoes right now and run to Storrs if Benedict called him.

I mean, I'd like to believe that's the case, but I think you're underestimating the program's ability to regain its prestige immediately after getting rid of Ollie. Even if he is an alum/former assistant I don't think Pikiell would want to partake in such a high-risk/low-reward clean-up job.

 

[Stainmaster]

For sure, but part of what I like about his background is that he was a recruiter for Miami when they started to get good kids at the start of the decade.

And LA Tech has looked incredibly competitive under him.

 

[Jaker]

I mean, there's a chance that he didn't know, right?

I hear he has turned a new leaf, wants a fresh start. LOL

 

[MadDogRevival]

Danny Hurley

Never.

 

[Rico444]

Okay. Are there any particular individuals you're interested in going after whom you think we could realistically hire given:

• Ollie's buyout $
• General athletic department financial woes
• Massive drop in prestige that's occurred under Ollie/since moving to the AAC
• Dumpster fire of a conference

Like I said before, if it has to be done, it has to be done, but I want to disabuse everyone of the notion that the new hire will be exactly what they are looking for.

I haven't given it any thought, because I haven't been seriously ready to move on before today. That doesn't mean what Ollie has done here is acceptable.

We still have a recognizable brand, and I guarantee you there are good coaches out there that would love to coach here. Our conference sucks, yes, but the UConn name still means something. That may not be the case in five years if Ollie is the coach that whole time. I don't say this lightly, but he's on the verge of running this program into the ground. We are well on our way to missing the NCAA Tournament for the third year out of last four. That is terrible.

 

[Kemba429]

I just dont understand how we got here. We went from being on the top of the world in 2014, to missing out the next year, winning the AAC, to going .500. How?

 

[MadDogRevival]

I hear he has turned a new leaf, wants a fresh start. LOL

Who are we to judge? I mean, it's not like our laundry is perfectly clean. Let's be reasonable here. Lol.

 

[UConnStats]

Aside from scheduling insanely horrible teams prior to conference games, Pikiell has proven nothing. Rutgers sucked last year, and they suck this year. Too risky IMO, Hurley is a much better coach IMO.

 

[superjohn]

I mean, I'd like to believe that's the case, but I think you're underestimating the program's ability to regain its prestige immediately after getting rid of Ollie. Even if he is an alum/former assistant I don't think Pikiell would want to partake in such a high-risk/low-reward clean-up job.

I like Pikiell but we would get someone better than him.

 

[Horatio]

See if Geno will pull double-duty.

Geno won't help the poor shooting. No one can

 

[noeynox]

I was incredibly frustrated with last year, but wasn't ready to move on. I was incredibly frustrated this offseason, when a bunch of players left, but wasn't ready to fire him.

I'm still not ready to do that today, but I need to see a lot from Ollie this season in order to not want to move on from him in April, and today is just another example of the same awful coaching we've seen for the last few years.

No NCAA tourney and he needs to go. No more excuses.

 

[superjohn]

I haven't given it any thought, because I haven't been seriously ready to move on before today. That doesn't mean what Ollie has done here is acceptable.

We still have a recognizable brand, and I guarantee you there are good coaches out there that would love to coach here. Our conference sucks, yes, but the UConn name still means something. That may not be the case in five years if Ollie is the coach that whole time. I don't say this lightly, but he's on the verge of running this program into the ground. We are well on our way to missing the NCAA Tournament for the third year out of last four. That is terrible.

That's the reason Benedict has Ollie on watch and he had a very serious talk with him after last season. We can still get a big time coach but the longer we suck the harder that becomes.

 

[Stainmaster]

I haven't given it any thought, because I haven't been seriously ready to move on before today. That doesn't mean what Ollie has done here is acceptable.

We still have a recognizable brand, and I guarantee you there are good coaches out there that would love to coach here. Our conference sucks, yes, but the UConn name still means something. That may not be the case in five years if Ollie is the coach that whole time. I don't say this lightly, but he's on the verge of running this program into the ground. We are well on our way to missing the NCAA Tournament for the third year out of last four. That is terrible.

The problem is, Ollie has been merged with the brand. He was JC's handpicked successor, he gained a lot of media attention as the face of the program after the title, and the AD gave him a significant contract extension.

The brand has already taken a hit under the Ollie era, it's not a "wait 5 more years and then it'll really kill us" type of deal. The damage is already done. The magic, sparkly UConn dust isn't there anymore. We are what Ollie has made us, and the quality of coach we will end up getting to replace him will reflect that.

I know that's a really upsetting reality for some, but it is what it is.

 

[Stainmaster]

I like Pikiell but we would get someone better than him.

I seriously think you're underestimating how undesirable this job has become.

 

[polycom]

The only thing ollie should say to the media today is sorry that he didn't prepare his team to play. We know the talent isn't there but this is an abomination. Secondly Jalen Adams taking the 3 down 40 staring it down when he missed it disgusts me. But, we have a long season to go. I forgot who I made the bet with but I'll be donating to the Uconn Musculoskeletal Institute this week.

 

[superjohn]

I seriously think you're underestimating how undesirable this job has become.

I know how you feel, you've been saying it since last season. We disagree.

 

[MadDogRevival]

The problem is, Ollie has been merged with the brand. He was JC's handpicked successor . . .

If Ollie is, in fact, sacked after this season, I wonder what the general thoughts on JC's involvement in his hire will be. JC was a great coach - apparantly not so much a great AD.

 

[MadDogRevival]

I want to see SuperJohn and StairMaster wrestle. I mean, for real, not the fake stuff.

 

[noeynox]

I seriously think you're underestimating how undesirable this job has become.

They're paying Ollie wjat 3 million?

 

[Stainmaster]

They're paying Ollie wjat 3 million?

I don't have the numbers at hand, but the university's AD is in far more dire financial straits now than it was at the time the contract was signed. With both decreased ticket revenue in BB and FB and the ever-increasing revenue gap between the P5 and others, Ollie will be the last UConn head coach who gets that kind of money.