Two choices for the coaching situation

[mcs333]

You lost me when you say "every rational person sees" what you mean to say is that if you don't agree with me your stupid!!

 

[Dogbreath2U]

That's one place where we do disagree. Calhoun hasn't exactly flooded the college basketball world with assistants who have been great head coaches. Maybe Howie, who was actually a holdover. Maybe Leitao, but he was at best ok struggling at Northeastern and Virginia and having some decent success at DePaul. Maybe the guy at Maine. Maybe Peikel. But none of them have been the guys who "can't miss." Or guys everyone knows will take the next step. In fact none really have. In part I think that's because Calhoun is the ultimate Alpha coach. He wants assistants who do as their told, not ones who create on their own...though I concede that is just an impression, nothing I can prove. Hobbs had some brief success at GW and might be the best of the lot, but its a slow race. Not sure there is any reason to think Ollie will be any different. the fact that he played in the NBA means he was a talented guy, not that he understands coaching. If you could point to a couple ofCalhoun assistants who people are talking about I might be inclined to go with his recommendation. But while the Oak itself is mighty, the coaching tree is pretty sickly.

I also think, nelson, that a public fight between Manuel and Calhoun over who gets to name a successor will be bad for Calhoun. If he wins, the national perception is he's a bully to the end, and frankly, he weakens Manuel for future actions. If as you speculate he is trying to force Manuel to fire him, he damages the AD and makes it harder to bring in the right kind of coach and assures that for at least a few years UCONN will struggle. And if he wins and his hand chosen successor turns out to be a bust, he gets at least part of the blame. And as I noted above, it isn't like Calhoun can point to 10, or even 3 highly successful former assistants.

I agree with nearly all of this post. I think that Jim Calhoun should stay as long as his health allows him to, but I am not a fan of his naming a successor in waiting or of his continuing to have any kind of active role in directing the team after he leaves. I would love to have him have an "ambassador" role or some such, but the new coach needs to be the head coach.

 

[upstater]

nelson you have a pretty interesting definition of "very successful." Leitao had 2 NIT trips sandwhiched around 1 NCAA trip in his 3 years at DePaul. Ok but hardly the stuff of legends. He wasn't awful by any means but he wasn't exactly Jim Calhoun either... He had 1 good season, his second at Virginia but after that it pretty much went to hell and his last year there was the worst in 30 years for Virginia. he now coaches the Maine Redclaws in the NBA d-league. Hobbs had a breif run at GW, where there was lots going on in terms of what the University was . I said I think it is possible he was the best of the bunch, which is not exactly a high standard. They weren't all busts, just average to slightly above average basketball coaches. that isn't what UCONN needs as its replacement for Jim Calhoun...

Coaching at GW is very different than coaching at UConn. There's no telling how good a guy like Hobbs would be elsewhere. Besides, we're not talking about Hobbs--we're talking about Ollie. Two different people.

 

[RS9999X]

Larry Brown, the 71-year-old Hall of Famer, joked about his age and said he looked forward to coaching "quality basketball with quality student-athletes" at a school that has long struggled to be relevant in Dallas and nationally.


Brown brushed off questions about how long he would stay at SMU, saying he thought the Mustangs had the resources to compete in the Big East when it joins the conference in 2013.

"When I look in the mirror, I get kind of scared," Brown said. "But inside, I feel like I can do this forever."

Brown is the only coach to win both an NCAA championship and an NBA title.

Brown is taking over a program that has revamped its facilities and has lots of top high school talent nearby. Standing outside the half-century-old Moody Coliseum, which is set to undergo $40 million in renovations, Brown said he saw the arena as "the same kind of facility" as Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke's home court.

"Walking around this campus, if we can get a kid to visit here, I can't imagine him going anywhere else," Brown said.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Someone wins a title every year - not sure what your point is.

My point is that, as far as recruiting, it matters a great deal what the kids think.

 

[Fishy]

My point is that, as far as recruiting, it matters a great deal what the kids think.

That's blindingly obvious, but isn't material to what I was talking about.

My point was that UConn should not let the perceived whims of high schoolers decide the fate of Jim Calhoun and force them to name a coach in waiting. People on sinking ships and nitwits on message boards can panic if they'd like, but people running athletic departments have to be a bit more reasoned.

 

[Gurleyman]

I don't know if this is enough to give him a college coaching job, but the fact that Ollie played in the NBA meant he was a talented guy. The fact that he stayed in the league for 16 years with what could be best be described as marginal NBA talent meant that he brought something else to the table - mainly, being able to mentor young players and be a positive locker room influence. Odds are he did a fair amount of coaching as a player, pulling young guys like Lebron and Westbrook aside at different times and teaching them nuances on how to read defenses, use screens, make adjustments, etc. In the latter stages of his career, he was probably far more assistant coach than player. It isn't like Ray Allen, who stayed in the league a long time because of his playing ability (even though he is a positive influence as well).

Now, the flip side of that argument is that a college coach has to wear many, many more hats than an NBA coach. NBA coaches aren't worried about their APR scores, how many text messages they're sending, schmoozing shady AAU characters for access to teenagers, or the fact that their freshman shooting guards are depressed because they were dumped.

 

[jibsey]

As much as I would like KO to take over the job I think he has to be evaluated as if he never attended or played for us. If he meets all of the coaching qualifications the connection is a bonus. Recruiting, teaching, in game coaching skills, management ability etc. In my mind he has to win on each of those when pitted against the best candidates available, and his level of experience to date probably doesn't allow that. On the other hand if Calhoun and the new AD can say after a full comparison analysis that he is truly the best candidate, then I'm OK with that.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

That's blindingly obvious, but isn't material to what I was talking about.

My point was that UConn should not let the perceived whims of high schoolers decide the fate of Jim Calhoun and force them to name a coach in waiting. People on sinking ships and nitwits on message boards can panic if they'd like, but people running athletic departments have to be a bit more reasoned.

So what happens next year? You think a bunch of Top 50 recruits are going to commit to a program where the coach has little chance of staying through to the end of their college career? What about the class after that? As far as they are concerned, Calhoun is already retired.

This isn't panicking. This is common sense, long-term planning that every business does when the boss is getting up their in years and has signaled that he will be hanging it up soon.

But maybe UConn knows better than every single other program that has done this. Syracuse and Purdue and FSU in football and Texas (football) are all idiots. They should have just run the program off a cliff and then figured out who to hire.

Luckily for us, I suspect Calhoun will solve our problem for us. If it becomes apparent that Ollie is not going to be the next coach, he will likely hang it up, maybe by the end of next year. As I have said before, I trust Calhoun's judgment in hiring the next coach more than Manuel's. Manuel's claim to fame was bringing Turner Gill to Buffalo. Gill had one winning season, courtesy of two hail mary's, and then left the program in pretty much the same shape he found it. Stellar job.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Why? The very traits that make Calhoun a great coach, IMO, would make him just about the worst person to decide his successor.

Is the AD at Buffalo really the right guy to make that call? Has this guy ever made a major hire in his career?

 

[Inyatkin]

Is the AD at Buffalo really the right guy to make that call? Has this guy ever made a major hire in his career?

You keep calling him the AD at Buffalo like that automatically makes him suspect. We hired a basketball coach out of Northeastern, you know.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You keep calling him the AD at Buffalo like that automatically makes him suspect. We hired a basketball coach out of Northeastern, you know.

That means they all must be good. Calhoun had quite a resume coming out of Northeastern, by the way. Warde Manuel's list of accomplishments is a bit shorter. More like a blank page.

 

[sportsjunky1]

Coach C should give the coaching job to his good ole friend/assistant and current Central Connecticut State University Men's Basketball Head Coach Howie Dickerman.He is a very wise coach that knows Uconn very well and knows what its all about at this school.He is also a very good recruiter and he did a very good job for Calhoun when he was here and has done a good job at CCSU. If Coach C doesn't want to pick a successor outside of the "Uconn Family" and if Ollie leaves for something else before Coach C leaves I would not be mad one bit if coach at least thought about giving the job to his good ole friend in New Britain. I do believe that Coach Dickerman has a lot of coaching in him and I think he would do great things at Uconn.My freshmen year at CCSU I had the chance to be a practice player for Coach Dickerman and I can honestly say he is a great coach. I have endless amount of respect for him. He deserves better then CCSU. (Basketball talent wise) I think if Coach C has to leave and he needs someone to fill the job that he trust Mr. Howie Dickerman is his guy!

 

[Fishy]

So what happens next year? You think a bunch of Top 50 recruits are going to commit to a program where the coach has little chance of staying through to the end of their college career? What about the class after that? As far as they are concerned, Calhoun is already retired.

This isn't panicking. This is common sense, long-term planning that every business does when the boss is getting up their in years and has signaled that he will be hanging it up soon.

No, it's panicking. And then whining - nice swipe at the AD there.

I'm not going to spend three seconds being impressed by what Syracuse or Texas or Florida State has done. Texas and FSU were locking up coaches who were going to leave - we're not nearly there with Ollie or anyone else - and Syracuse will likely be hiring Hopkins' replacement about three years after Boeheim retires. (If they even give the job to Hopkins...)

UConn is not about to start flailing about because, oh heavens, we might not impress the right three or four 17 year olds in 2013. That's short-term worrying, not long term planning.

When Calhoun retires, like most schools in similar spots, UConn will throw its money on the table and hire the best candidate they believe they can.

 

[Fishy]

Coach C should give the coaching job to his good ole friend/assistant and current Central Connecticut State University Men's Basketball Head Coach Howie Dickerman.

I stared at that for the longest time wondering how to respond.

Here's someone who wants to replace a 69-year old coach with a 67-year old coach as part of a youth movement. How do you respond to that? Making fun of him almost seems cruel in a stick-through-the-bars sort of way. Debating it with him is completely pointless, and yet not debating it just feels so completely wrong. So it can't be mocked or argued or ignored - it is the most perfectly imperfect post I have ever seen.

It's broken my spirit - I'm throwing my computer in the pool.

 

[Huskygamble19]

1) Calhoun can run out his contract, or stay as long as he wants for that matter, and Kevin Ollie is named Coach-in-Waiting.

2) Calhoun needs to leave ASAP, no later than at the end of next season, with his successor announced as soon as possible at the end the season next year, which means the coaching search begins quietly right now.

Any other solution is a bad one for UConn. A 70 year old coach playing an annual "will he/won't he come back?" for the next two years will leave the program in shambles. Recruiting falls off with every old coach. Calhoun may be one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history, but he is not a magician. Players make their own decisions, and it is going to be very hard to attract talent for next year's class with the coaching situation the way it is.

UConn has 3 players: Daniels, Boatright, and Calhoun, that are not going to be Juniors or older next year. UConn may get a 6'11 project for next year, and Bradley technically has 3 years of eligibility left. UConn's 2013 class is looking promising right now, but I don't see it developing the way we want unless there is a more permanent coaching solution by the fall.

It is possible that Calhoun sees the same thing that I, and every rational person, sees, and is putting Manuel in a situation where he has to either announce Ollie is the CiW or fire Calhoun. I don't have the answer to that, but I am confident that this team will be lucky to win 14 games in 2 years unless the coaching situation is resolved.

there is always George Blaney in a pinch

 

[nelsonmuntz]

No, it's panicking. And then whining - nice swipe at the AD there.

I'm not going to spend three seconds being impressed by what Syracuse or Texas or Florida State has done. Texas and FSU were locking up coaches who were going to leave - we're not nearly there with Ollie or anyone else - and Syracuse will likely be hiring Hopkins' replacement about three years after Boeheim retires. (If they even give the job to Hopkins...)

UConn is not about to start flailing about because, oh heavens, we might not impress the right three or four 17 year olds in 2013. That's short-term worrying, not long term planning.

When Calhoun retires, like most schools in similar spots, UConn will throw its money on the table and hire the best candidate they believe they can.

This argument is similar to the kind the Edsall Apologists used to make. All the bad stuff I am predicting is going to happen, but UConn should not do anything about it. In this way, their is no objective measure of success since we are setting the bar so low that UConn can't help but reach it.

You are acknowledging that UConn will not have good recruiting classes during Calhoun's drift towards retirement, and at the end of the process, the roster will be a collection of leftovers around Boatright and Calhoun, if they even stick around to play on a team like that. The team will suck for several years coming back from that situation, if the Buffalo AD makes a GREAT hire (less than 50/50 in my opinion). This plan is a commitment to 4-5 years of bad basketball, if it can even be turned around.

OR, follow my advice and make Ollie the Coach in Waiting. Recruiting will hold up. Lets say Calhoun leaves in two years. The program will still be competitive and then Ollie gets a couple of years to show what he can do. Even if he doesn't cut it, the program is in much better shape than the "drive off a cliff" plan, and will be able to attract a better coach at that point in time.

OR, follow my advice in push Calhoun out the door within the next year. There will be a couple of lean years, but really only 1.5 lost recruiting classes. The better coaches should be able to recover from that quickly.

Nope, let's commit to a plan that is guaranteed to drive the program off a cliff, piss off the legend, making the next next coach unviable, and gives us a 50/50 chance of permanently damaging the program. Great idea.

 

[RuffRuff]

Trust Calhouns judgement like his judgement in assistant head coach? That of which showed to be horrible decision making this past year. Listen, the guy is a great coach but not all world everything. We owe the guy a ton but let's not start branding him god, something this board loooooves doing. This is about making a smart decision, not annointing Jim CAlhoun a saint and all empowered.

 

[Waquoit]

My point was that UConn should not let the perceived whims of high schoolers decide the fate of Jim Calhoun and force them to name a coach in waiting.

But isn't JC pushing the coach-in-waiting?

 

[8893]

Calhoun is a great coach, he isn't a wizard.

Are you sure of this?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

This argument is similar to the kind the Edsall Apologists used to make. All the bad stuff I am predicting is going to happen, but UConn should not do anything about it. In this way, their is no objective measure of success since we are setting the bar so low that UConn can't help but reach it.

You are acknowledging that UConn will not have good recruiting classes during Calhoun's drift towards retirement, and at the end of the process, the roster will be a collection of leftovers around Boatright and Calhoun, if they even stick around to play on a team like that. The team will suck for several years coming back from that situation, if the Buffalo AD makes a GREAT hire (less than 50/50 in my opinion). This plan is a commitment to 4-5 years of bad basketball, if it can even be turned around.

OR, follow my advice and make Ollie the Coach in Waiting. Recruiting will hold up. Lets say Calhoun leaves in two years. The program will still be competitive and then Ollie gets a couple of years to show what he can do. Even if he doesn't cut it, the program is in much better shape than the "drive off a cliff" plan, and will be able to attract a better coach at that point in time.

OR, follow my advice in push Calhoun out the door within the next year. There will be a couple of lean years, but really only 1.5 lost recruiting classes. The better coaches should be able to recover from that quickly.

Nope, let's commit to a plan that is guaranteed to drive the program off a cliff, piss off the legend, making the next next coach unviable, and gives us a 50/50 chance of permanently damaging the program. Great idea.

My goodness, you really don't think very highly of Warde Manuel huh? Do you really think he's going to come to Uconn and replace Jim Calhoun with Tim Cluess? AD's worry about their own resumes just like everyone else and this decision may end up defining Manuel's tenure at Uconn. I'm pretty sure he wants to get it right.

I'm no insider, but I don't think it takes one to see that the next coach at Uconn, in all likelihood, is either going to be Kevin Ollie or an absolute slam dunk hire like Shaka Smart or Sean Miller. Indications are that Manuel wants to go for the slam dunk and Calhoun wants Ollie. But it's not going to be Tim Welsh or Norm Roberts.

I'd also bet (and I believe there was even a Boneyarder who stated this as fact) that Calhoun is telling recruits on the sly that Ollie is being groomed to be the next head coach. Calhoun isn't stupid, he knows he has to have an answer when a recruit asks him that question.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

My goodness, you really don't think very highly of Warde Manuel huh? Do you really think he's going to come to Uconn and replace Jim Calhoun with Tim Cluess? AD's worry about their own resumes just like everyone else and this decision may end up defining Manuel's tenure at Uconn. I'm pretty sure he wants to get it right.

I'm no insider, but I don't think it takes one to see that the next coach at Uconn, in all likelihood, is either going to be Kevin Ollie or an absolute slam dunk hire like Shaka Smart or Sean Miller. Indications are that Manuel wants to go for the slam dunk and Calhoun wants Ollie. But it's not going to be Tim Welsh or Norm Roberts.

I'd also bet (and I believe there was even a Boneyarder who stated this as fact) that Calhoun is telling recruits on the sly that Ollie is being groomed to be the next head coach. Calhoun isn't stupid, he knows he has to have an answer when a recruit asks him that question.

Sean Miller is coming to UConn? Why not just hire Mike Krzyzewski? Maybe UConn can get Shaka Smart, if it moves quickly. By next year at this time, he will be gone. Guys like John Groce and Tim Miles are getting scooped up by programs that can pay a lot more than we can. Would you consider either a homerun hire?

I am sure Calhoun is doing that. The question is whether recruits will believe him.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Sean Miller is coming to UConn? Why not just hire Mike Krzyzewski? Maybe UConn can get Shaka Smart, if it moves quickly. By next year at this time, he will be gone. Guys like John Groce and Tim Miles are getting scooped up by programs that can pay a lot more than we can. Would you consider either a homerun hire?

I am sure Calhoun is doing that. The question is whether recruits will believe him.

Of course I don't consider Groce or Miles a homerun. By the way, the only reason Illinios "scooped up" John Groce was because they got turned down by Shaka Smart. And Tim Miles is now the head coach at Nebraska - you think Shaka is going to take a job like that? If Shaka would turn down Illinois, what job is going to open up in the next 12 months that he would take? And please don't say Virginia Tech.

 

[Connrack]

I don't think it would be horrible for his legacy at all. I trust Calhoun's judgment on the next coach more than I trust the AD from Buffalo's.

I look at Calhoun's situation as similar to that of an entrepreneur who has built up a successful company and is looking at the winding down of his career. He has a difficult time breaking away from a life-investment, a source of pride. He wants his accomplishment to endure. He wants the succession of leadership to remain in the family. These situations often fall disappointingly short of what was hoped for. And even the most ardent supporters of Calhoun must admit, the guy sees shadows. I have greater trust in AD Manuel's decision making in this matter.

 

[Excalibur]

Trust Calhouns judgement like his judgement in assistant head coach? That of which showed to be horrible decision making this past year. Listen, the guy is a great coach but not all world everything. We owe the guy a ton but let's not start branding him god, something this board loooooves doing. This is about making a smart decision, not annointing Jim CAlhoun a saint and all empowered.

This. Calhoun's track record is terrible, which is better than the blank page of the current AD. Nelson loses.