Someone explain why we are chasing Coach off?

[Zionn]

I get the giddiness from the Tweet and that Smart might have interest in UCONN one day, but why we chasing off JC right now? Does he at least not deserve the right to make it his call?

Funny how quickly a thread about Neils and AO gets deleted when it comes to talk of future, but we can go one for days and days about staff.

 

[Castlevania]

Because the staff are paid professionals, and the players are just kids.

 

[UconnFanInNYC]

When coach doesnt say anything it leads us to speculate.

 

[Walker11]

I don't think I saw a single comment running off coach in that way-too-long thread.

 

[NHUConnfan]

Listen, Shaka Smart to UConn is just a pipedream at the moment. I mean...I'd love it to happen...but as long as Calhoun stays at UConn, we'll worship the man who brought us THREE national championships. No harm done. Calhoun will be the head of the ship until he quits or dies. End of story.

 

[Dann]

alot of ppl have joepa thoughts now. not what happened the past year but how he stayed to long at psu. he became just a media head but not much else. ppl don't want jc to hang around if he can't be effective and the health issues are what brings that up for debate. jc isn't the same media head as joepa and ppl fear it will be a mess. joepa was a nice guy and jc looks for blood. we had alot of talent on this roster so this year was a bummer in most eyes of fans. i think considering the ups and downs seasons wise the last 4 years(a ff, a nc, a nit and a ncaat 1st), the ncaa stuff, the apr stuff a new ad, a new pres and so on that ppl are just freaking out a bit about the future of the program. eventually the new staff is def something up for great debate and talk but i think people are fotgetting
-we are building a new pf
-jc has a contract till 15
-there is alot of talent here and great coaches

shaka is a hot name right now that may not be on the market in a couple years so ppl are going to worry that a guy that young with his resume/potential won't be around in a couple years and we would have missed an opportunity. i'm fine with jc till 15 and family after that, but alot here are more shook then me when it comes to all the other stuff surrounding this team. to each his own opinion wise on the future of out program. i trust jc will do the right thing for him and this program and so far from what it seems, i trust susan will have things the way she wants also.

 

[uconndoit]

I get a little bit annoyed when people talk about JC's health as an issue. True, he has be sidelined a few times over the years but he seems to be in fine health today. The back thing was a one-off deal and the cancer bouts have been dealt with. As it stands, JC appears to be ready, willing and able to continue leading this team with the same fire and passion as ever.

 

[jibsey]

Story today about Shaka staying put. He already makes well over 1 million so he must like where he is.

 

[tzznandrew]

I get the giddiness from the Tweet and that Smart might have interest in UCONN one day, but why we chasing off JC right now? Does he at least not deserve the right to make it his call?

Funny how quickly a thread about Neils and AO gets deleted when it comes to talk of future, but we can go one for days and days about staff.

I don't think they're running JC out. I certainly would not want that to happen.

This Shaka Smart stuff excites me for a couple of reasons:

• A major, up and coming coaching prospect, apparently has UConn has his ideal coaching destination. Think about that. It's amazing.
• We all know that JC is one of the greatest coaches of all time, and want him to stick around as long as possible. But we also know that he will retire one day. The fact that Shaka seems to have passed on Illinois, potentially with an eye to UConn, means that JC can coach another year with there still being good options on the table. Honestly, if Shaka takes the UConn job, what jobs are going to open up that are better? UNC will stay in-house. Duke will likely as well. Kansas won't be open for a while. UCLA may be open, but Shaka has no west coast alliances. It just seems that if we were to get a more proven commodity, success would make it the perfect storm for him to stay here for the longer haul.

I want JC to pass 900 wins. I want him to see us through all of the issues. I want him to retire on his own terms.
I also want to continue our track-record of success after he leaves.

 

[caw]

I don't think they're running JC out. I certainly would not want that to happen.

This Shaka Smart stuff excites me for a couple of reasons:

• A major, up and coming coaching prospect, apparently has UConn has his ideal coaching destination. Think about that. It's amazing.
• We all know that JC is one of the greatest coaches of all time, and want him to stick around as long as possible. But we also know that he will retire one day. The fact that Shaka seems to have passed on Illinois, potentially with an eye to UConn, means that JC can coach another year with there still being good options on the table. Honestly, if Shaka takes the UConn job, what jobs are going to open up that are better? UNC will stay in-house. Duke will likely as well. Kansas won't be open for a while. UCLA may be open, but Shaka has no west coast alliances. It just seems that if we were to get a more proven commodity, success would make it the perfect storm for him to stay here for the longer haul.

I want JC to pass 900 wins. I want him to see us through all of the issues. I want him to retire on his own terms.

I also want to continue our track-record of success after he leaves.

Assuming two things, BE doesn't collapse as a BB conference (or UConn goes to another major conference) and the basketball facility is built:

UK - This could be a problem if Calipari leaves for the NBA, this might be the only major program ahead of UConn with an opening and if they wanted Shaka Smart they would go hard after him. They have no lineage to follow and would probably offer a ton. They might prefer Stevens or someone else when that time comes. It may not be for 10 years, but it could be this summer.

IU - Crean is youngish and should be there for awhile plus I imagine Stevens is higher on the list. Historically a better program than UConn.

Cuse - staying internal, lateral move at best

Zona - set for awhile (assuming current coach doesn't leave for another big time program like UConn), lateral move at best

UL - set for at least a few more years, lateral move at best. They would probably like Shaka Smart or Stevens (lots of teams do) and they can offer a ton of money.

Michigan State - set for a few more years, they might interest him, lateral move though.

As mentioned:
UNC: internal
Duke: internal or Stevens
Kansas: set for now
UCLA: this is interesting, they would probably chase a west coast guy first, but there is no telling. I'm not sure it's a better program (ATM) than UConn anyway.

Those 10 plus UConn are probably the top 11 programs in the country. I can't see (barring some crazy collapse or some absurd amount of money) a coach leaving UConn for any other program.

 

[Kitaman]

I don't think anyone is chasing him off, it would be nice though if he officially announced soon. Until then it makes it too easy for speculation to crop up, which is what you are seeing.

 

[cohenzone]

I don't know of anyone actively or at least publicly calling for him to retire. But it's pretty natural for there to be discussion about it based both on his health issues, of which there have been several over the last few years, as well as the program related issues. Of course none of us on the outside know exactly what JC is thinking, but it seems as though even if he would like to retire, he doesn't want to leave while the program is still suffering sanctions. It's just not his personality, to his credit. My only hope is that when he does decide to retire, he makes his announcement to be effective right after a season ends unless his health forces him to retire unexpectedly at some other less favorable time.

But I definitely do not favor him being the one to anoint a successor. This is business, not royalty. Advisory role, fine and probably desirable, but the AD is the one who needs to make the decision without any pressure from an outgoing coach and be responsible in the best interest of the university and the program.

 

[ASweet3781]

But I definitely do not favor him being the one to anoint a successor. This is business, not royalty. Advisory role, fine and probably desirable, but the AD is the one who needs to make the decision without any pressure from an outgoing coach and be responsible in the best interest of the university and the program.

Agreed.

 

[traitor71]

No one is "chasing coach off" for . But he will have to retire at some point, so why is it a bad thing to speculate about a guy like Shaka Smart? Do you want to be FSU under Bowden or Penn State under Paterno when those guys were at their end? That's where you end up when you blindly hold on to the idea that (insert name of coach here) deserves to "leave when they want".

 

[willie99]

I'm not chasing coach off, I want him to stay for as long as he chooses. And if you listen to his words, he gives all kinds of hints that he's not going anywhere.

It's just media hyperbole driving the story, yet again

 

[Jonathan]

I was wondering where my Neils' post went.

JC said a few months ago that the obligation to serve his suspension this year was a "major factor" in his decision to return for the 2011-2012 season. With the suspension served, continuing health problems, a dwindling team, ineligibilty issues, and a dead conference, why would he want to come back?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I get a little bit annoyed when people talk about JC's health as an issue. True, he has be sidelined a few times over the years but he seems to be in fine health today. The back thing was a one-off deal and the cancer bouts have been dealt with. As it stands, JC appears to be ready, willing and able to continue leading this team with the same fire and passion as ever.

I want to Calhoun to stay as long as he wants to, but his health is a huge issue.

He missed the meat of the BE schedule this year and misses games nearly every season including NCAAT games in 2009.

I'd go as far to say that health is the only issue when it comes to Calhoun, because he sure as hell can still coach.

 

[junglehusky]

I understand the OP's reaction... last summer when JC was going through his decision process, and during this season when he had his back injury I was taken aback by the seeming casualness that some UConn fans were tossing around names like KO, Smart, and Brad Stevens on the boneyard and on twitter. It had the feel of your cousins openly having a conversation about "what are we gonna do with Grandpa"... but now that it's been a little longer it's not so shocking (to me) to be talking about the next head coach at UConn. One reason for a bit of optimism about the process (whenever it happens) is that we seem to be in a better position with Warde Manuel and Susan Herbst than we would be if we still had Jeff Hathaway and Mike Hogan. Obviously too early to know for sure how it'll turn out but based on the kinds of general comments that were released to the press after Manuel's hiring, he at least sounds like he can handle the search / hiring process in a professional way and get the right guy for UConn.

 

[uconndoit]

I want to Calhoun to stay as long as he wants to, but his health is a huge issue.

He missed the meat of the BE schedule this year and misses games nearly every season including NCAAT games in 2009.

I'd go as far to say that health is the only issue when it comes to Calhoun, because he sure as hell can still coach.

He's no spring chicken so he's going to have health problems here and there (dehydration, flu, whatever) but this season's health problem was not indicative of the future and he hasn't started "slowing down". I do agree that health is the only issue - but I think it's not a big one and definitely not significant enough to force JC into retirement. Yes, not only can JC still coach - but he just won a gd NC for sake!

 

[UConn5]

I would like to attempt to re-characterize the "giddiness" about Shaka potentially holding out for the UConn job. I'll start with the fact that I am not sure that I would want Shaka in place of Ollie. Ollie has NBA experience and perhaps embodies what Calhoun does for players better than anyone Calhoun has coached.

That being said, I don't think that people are trying to run JC out of town because Shaka may have interest. What I think people are excited about, or at least what they should be excited about, is the fact that one of the hottest up and coming coaches would view UConn as a job that is good enough to turn down $2.5 million a year to hold out for. I think that the thinking is that if Shaka feels that way then UConn will be ok going forward. Recently rumors have surfaced that Ollie ultimately wants to end up in the NBA. Clearly 99.9% of the people on this board have no way of knowing how KO really feels. We know that he has been telling recruits that he'll be there for the long term, but there is no way of really knowing.

It is nice to hear that someone like Shaka would love the UConn job and may be willing to turn down Illinois for that chance. I still would rather have Jim Calhoun as UConn's coach, even if he only has a few years left.

 

[iam76]

can he recruit? Cause mr Ollie can...

 

[UConn5]

can he recruit? Cause mr Ollie can...

I don't doubt that Shaka can recruit very well. But I do think that Kevin Ollie may be able to recruit better, especially given the fact that he played in the NBA for over 10 years. KO has a legitimacy that Shaka can never achieve because he was not an NBA player. KO loves UConn, Shaka views UConn as a destination job...different mentalities.

When the time comes, I still think the choice is Ollie. I don't think Ollie would take the job if he envisioned himself leaving after a short period of time for an NBA assistant job. At this point we all know 4 things about KO:

1. He loves UConn/Jim Calhoun
2. He really likes the state given that he has relocated his family here
3. He can recruit; and
4. He has been telling recruits he will be here for a long time

If given the choice between Ollie and Smart, I'd choose Ollie as long as I knew he wasn't trying to bolt for the NBA after 3 years.

 

[zls44]

How can anyone on here pick a guy with zero coaching experience over a guy who led an 11 seed to a Final Four through the First Four? How?!?!?

 

[UConn5]

I will readily admit that there is no track record off which to base preferring Ollie over Smart. But I want Ollie to work out, I think its clear that JC wants Ollie to work out, so that is what I would prefer. I would be objectively happy with either scenario, just would prefer the JC tree to continue to workout for UConn. I know this was just a rumor but I think the biggest thing, should this situation arise, is KO's commitment to staying at UConn.

If it was between 2-4 years of Ollie or 10 years of Shaka, I would choose Shaka but I would really like for Ollie to work out.

 

[Jonathan]

As much as I love Ollie, I just don't know how realistic it is. He doesn't have any experience. I'm also wondering why (if they wanted him to be the head coach) they didn't have him fill in earlier in the year when JC was having back problems. At this point, I think it might be time to look outside the organization. I do love Ollie though.

Also, not to start an argument, but what does NBA experience have to do with being a good coach?