Ollie Officially Fired

[djct1999]

Just speculation here, but taking what @Chief00 said earlier about AD Dave already having somebody lined up, I wonder if a deal with Hurley is already in place. Maybe word got out in the program and could account for why URI has been shaky the past week or two.

But on another note, best of luck Kevin. I never got to see Calhoun coach, so KO is the first UConn coach in my memory. Thanks for the title.

At least for next year I'll have a reason to watch the games. I'd watch this year but it seemed like whenever we took a step forward, we took two back. If we even got that far. Hopefully whoever it is coaching next year makes it fun again. I haven't had hope with this program since Purvis' dunk against Kansas two years ago to cut the lead to 7.

Thanks again Kevin.

Chief isn't going out on a limb here. No sensible AD would make this move without assurances on the other end. Of course he has a verbal agreement in place. Maybe Hurley, but definitely someone.

 

[Chin Diesel]

So, while the cause/legal battle plays out they aren't paying any of KO's buyout???

May be a way if not only lowering final settlement but also buys time to line up more money.

 

[Sonova]

JC thought KO was qualified to run a major college basketball program. He was wrong.

Hindsight works better for my argument quite frankly...JC thought KO was the right guy in Sept 2012. He was right 24 months later. Was he not? Or were you bitching about KO’s hiring on April 7, 2014?

The problem was Kevin Ollie thought he knew everything from that point forward. We’ll never know how things would have played out had Ollie not won a championship. But he did. Pinning UConn’s fall on JC from that point forward is reaching.

 

[Jluc]

Rivals lists the URI recruiting class as the number 1 class of all mid majors...just sayin

 

[Excalibur]

To all those celebrating the firing with cause:

If it sticks there are some serious sanctions coming our way.

If Ollie wins a legal battle, Benedict and possibly Herbst will be gone.

Either way is messy. Pick your poison.

Much more worried about the latter than the former. The contract is clear that "violation of any NCAA rule" constitutes cause. I have no confidence that Benedict had his ducks in a row before moving. Two days isn't enough time to try to negotiate the buyout, so I'm thinking he erred in firing the first shot.

 

[Ha Who]

Where you saying that before they brought Edsall back? Which I also mentioned beforehand on this board.

Edsall is much younger. I love coach C but no

 

[Excalibur]

Never understood those who have the mindset that buyout clauses and the way a firing is handled limits ability to track future high level talent.

Highly successful coaches aren't worried about how their failure will play out. It's because they don't expect to fail. Sure, a good agent watches the coach's back but great coaches are focused on success and being compensated for success.

In that case, why have a buyout provision at all? They all have advisors, and they all care about this stuff. Trust me.

 

[whaler11]

@Stainmaster lol swanky

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Wow if I'm another coach how happy would I be if they are trying to find a way for "just cause" on a guy who player here and won a national championship? Red flag

I get what you’re saying but it isn’t a one way street happening here.

KO got his big $$$ contract because he was supposed to deliver. He didn’t. He failed badly. That’s on KO.

Any coach in consideration for this job who is bothered that UConn didn’t want to pay a coach who failed badly isn’t someone we want coaching here.

 

[Coach J]

I get what you’re saying but it isn’t a one way street happening here.

KO got his big $$$ contract because he was supposed to deliver. He didn’t. He failed badly. That’s on KO.

Any coach in consideration for this job who is bothered that UConn didn’t want to pay a coach who failed badly isn’t someone we want coaching here.

Or someone confident in his own ability to coach - now that would be a red flag.

 

[UConnNick]

Nobody outside UConn will care about this. They understand it is business and they won't know if it's justified or not. If there's absolutely 0 behind it, maybe it will raise a few eyebrows from potential coaches. But there have been enough rumors on here to make this not an unreasonable reaction by the administration, and that is all other coaches will care about. Were they reasonable? Was the last guy so incompetent or ill-behaving they should act to defend the school?

Maybe, or maybe not.

I agree the school had to take action, but the PR rammifications are troubling. Ask yourself this question. The NCAA investigation has been going on for many months, and the AD apparently knew it. If there really is a serious enough violation to void the buyout, why didn't they just fire him for cause a year ago? They either know something, or they're playing an elaborate and potentially dangerous game of chicken. Also, if our transgressions are that serious, why didn't we self-impose a postseason ban?

The same applies to any allegations of off court personal misconduct. If the school admin. knew, why wait until now to pull the trigger? It makes the President and AD both look incompetent.

If it degenerates into a legal mudslinging contest, everyone is going to notice because court proceedings are very public, and it's news. We'll have far more to worry about than a few gun shy potential coaching hires.

 

[80shusky]

See my post above.

You do still like that he coached a championship team here though right? I mean, is that important to you? Would you take that knowing that we would end up where we are now?
There are 317 D1 basketball programs in existence today who have never won a championship.

 

[intlzncster]

What's Navy? A middling at best football program, but with a good market. So is UConn.

If we can keep football and baseball in the AAC, Big East for basketball would be great. Don't think it makes sense if football doesn't stay in the AAC.

You think the BE is going to jump on that? They would think UCONN is holding out for a P5 bid in a few years. Why would they want to be a stop gap for UCONN?

 

[MadDogRevival]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

 

[SouthBayHusky]

""

 

[intlzncster]

I'm still not sure how pointing out the hyprocrisy in knocking Ed Cooley's NCAA tourny win total while advocating for a guy with the exact same NCAA tourny win total has anything to do with the fact that I would liked to have seen Kevin Ollie get one more year as head coach. And according to your internet posting rulebook I'm apparently not allowed to point out that hypocrisy based on wanting Ollie back? OK pal.

Different starting points. Hurley is leading much, much lesser programs than Cooley.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@Tenspro2002 I've been banging the fire KO drum for the past couple of years right there with you and while KO showed he wasn't ready to lead a program, I do think he was the perfect guy through 2012-2014.

Not sure where to give credit or place blame on Calhoun for that. He forced the schools hand and in retrospect it didn't necessarily work out, he did get us a title. Not sure there were a lot of other coaches out there that would have done the same. Lightning in a bottle for sure, but it did work once.

 

[huskymedic]

They either know something, or they're playing an elaborate and potentially dangerous game of chicken.

From updated Courant article:

>>NCAA reps were on campus Feb. 27, a source said. In order to announce its was firing Ollie “for cause,” Benedict must be confident he has enough proof to make it stick.<<

 

[Bomber36]

I just heard Bill Rafftery say he was shocked Ollie was fired. Time to retire Bill.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I'm sure DB had his ducks in a row before he pulled this trigger. It'll be very interesting to see how this all plays out. I do feel bad for KO, but this season was the final nail in the coffin.

 

[GotNets?]

Screwed?

You know NOTHING about what cause may exist and his performance the last 2 seasons was terrible. Perhaps you should get some facts and then come back.

—

I love the ol’ “get some facts” talk.

To that end, if there’s information to be shared regarding the violations/cause, then by all means, please share. All I’ve heard is summer training sessions, which frankly sounds less than pedestrian. I’m always willing to consider “the facts” when posting on an open message board though ...

Until then, I’d posit that we both know nothing (same as everyone else) and that the facts point to the school wanting to avoid paying him due to the underlying fiscal situation. This “cause” seems to be convenient for the administration in that respect, which is why I say he was screwed.

He certainly bears much of the responsibility for the team’s success / lack thereof though. However, if I was a coach, I would be very suspect of an administration that would go to those lengths. Savage was the word someone used.

In fact, I liked the earlier point that if he is successfully fired for cause then that must mean some sort of sanctions, which is terrible. If he’s able to win a lawsuit showing that his firing was egregious, then Herbst and DB would likely be in the crosshairs, although I’m not positive. Can someone elaborate on this point, please?

I would have greatly preferred a negotiated buyout if he had to go. Getting litigious with your NC winning coach has to be a black eye for future search efforts is my point. If he’s not actually guilty, then the school looks bad, incompetent, or worse.

 

[uconnfan68]

UConn has to be careful with this. If the cause relates to something not egregiously wrong, Ollie will fight it hard. Could get ugly. Ollie could further hurt UConn if he ever saw anything wrong while he was not head coach. Would not be surprised by threats of leaking dirty laundry. An ugly public divorce with Ollie could also negatively impact the hiring of a new coach. The UConn administration must tread lightly on this process so it does not blow up in its face.

I can’t believe someone that bleeds blue would do that. Hope they’re all adults.

 

[80shusky]

@Tenspro2002 I've been banging the fire KO drum for the past couple of years right there with you and while KO showed he wasn't ready to lead a program, I do think he was the perfect guy through 2012-2014.

Not sure where to give credit or place blame on Calhoun for that. He forced the schools hand and in retrospect it didn't necessarily work out, he did get us a title. Not sure there were a lot of other coaches out there that would have done the same. Lightning in a bottle for sure, but it did work once.

This is kind of what I have been trying to articulate for a while in different discussions.. No matter what you wanted prior to today or what your opinion was of KO or of Calhoun's influence in getting him hired as the coach, it lead to a championship. And not over cupcakes either. Good teams, great programs and top coaches were defeated along the way. There is no diminishing this fact. Now that the University is moving on can't we as a fan base at least appreciate what it lead to, what it gave us as a program and not crap on the guy on the way out the door?

 

[auror]

Maybe, or maybe not.

I agree the school had to take action, but the PR rammifications are troubling. Ask yourself this question. The NCAA investigation has been going on for many months, and the AD apparently knew it. If there really is a serious enough violation to void the buyout, why didn't they just fire him for cause a year ago? They either know something, or they're playing an elaborate and potentially dangerous game of chicken. Also, if our transgressions are that serious, why didn't we self-impose a postseason ban?

Obviously I don't know the answer because we don't know enough about the investigation. But the AD does know. This is the course of action he took.
So either the violations split the difference between being severe enough to void the contract but not severe enough to fire him immediately and self-ban OR they're minor but he feels they're a reasonable enough justification to use as leverage to negotiate. I assume these are the 2 scenarios you claim are playing a "dangerous game", but as I said earlier, i think you grossly overestimate the amount of negative PR and hiring backlash that comes from stuff like this. We're a top 20 program, from which a coach has a chance to win a title. Those jobs don't grow on trees. Coaches will take the chance as long as the administration has acted somewhat reasonably and predictably, even if it's not a paragon of fairness or going to win an employer of the year award. In addition, PR relevance is relevance. The day they stop covering our drama is the day I really worry about the future of the program.

If it degenerates into a legal mudslinging contest, everyone is going to notice because court proceedings are very public, and it's news. We'll have far more to worry about than a few gun shy potential coaching hires.

What was the last court mudslinging buyout dispute in sports you remember? Pitino hasn't actually gotten to court and I can't remember any others. They either don't actually happen because almost everyone negotiates and settles or they're a lot quieter nationally than you'd think.

 

[auror]

He certainly bears much of the responsibility for the team’s success / lack thereof though. However, if I was a coach, I would be very suspect of an administration that would go to those lengths.

But you'd take the job anyways because there's less than 20 programs that will pay as well, have nicer facilities, have a higher profile, or give you as good a chance to win the title and maybe 1-2 hiring any given year.