Coaches on the Hot Seat

RamblinRed

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
5,756
GT isn't going to hire anyone who is not pretty squeaky clean. That takes care of about half the names on that list.
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
19,059
@CuseJacket, you know you're cool with me but that link was almost ban-worthy.

Scott f-ing Drew! On the "A" list? The dirtiest coach in bball. Of course he can recruit to Waco, TX. That's gotta be the worst lists I've ever seen w.r.t. prospective coaches. Then again, it was written by someone who lets people call him "Hokie Smash" so ... there's that.
How about just taking the link as setting expectations low and flushing out the Hell No list? Surprised Bob Knight wasn't included in a Can't Miss category.
 

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
Featured Member
Messages
14,576
Location
Atlanta
How about just taking the link as setting expectations low and flushing out the Hell No list? Surprised Bob Knight wasn't included in a Can't Miss category.

Ok, I guess you're off the hook. (y)

I'm surprised Jim Harrick didn't make the cut.
 

RamblinRed

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
5,756
Since we have now reached the point of the season where GT cannot win enough games where i think Gregory can save his job I will give my list of coaches. Over the next few days I will give some thoughts on each one. Some are guys I expect to hear talked about. Some are guys I like. Not all of these coaches are individuals I am overly interested in or expect to be involved. I will post more over the next several days on all of these coaches.

This list is in order of least years as a HC to most.

Coach Age School Record Yrs HC
Craig Neal 50 New Mexico 41-17 2
Brad Underwood 51 Stephen F Austin 52-7 2
Archie Miller 36 Dayton 82-43 4
Mike White 37 La Tech 94-37 4
Steve Prohm 40 Murray St 96-27 4
Shaka Smart 37 VCU 155-52 6
Josh Pastner 37 Memphis 145-56 6
Chris Mack 45 Xavier 120-63 6
Ben Jacobson 44 N Iowa 189-103 10
Gregg Marshall 51 Wichita St 391-157 17
Tommy Amaker 49 SH/MI/Har 325-213 18
Ben Howland 57 UCLA 399-208 19
Bob McKillop 64 Davidson 489-297 26
 

collegeballfan

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,694
From Bobinski's bio on ramblinwreck:
"In 2009, Bobinski hired Chris Mack as men's basketball head coach. He also hired Thad Matta as head men's basketball coach in 2001 and Sean Miller as Xavier's first associate head coach."
 

Ggee87

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,046
Location
Douglasville, Georgia
How about the coach from Rhode Island? Would that be a huge reach? I saw a game of theirs a couple weeks ago and thought they played pretty solid. Not super spectacular but... I could see potential. Not sure about their team makeup or competition level though.
 

RyanS12

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,084
Location
Flint Michigan
Since we have now reached the point of the season where GT cannot win enough games where i think Gregory can save his job I will give my list of coaches. Over the next few days I will give some thoughts on each one. Some are guys I expect to hear talked about. Some are guys I like. Not all of these coaches are individuals I am overly interested in or expect to be involved. I will post more over the next several days on all of these coaches.

This list is in order of least years as a HC to most.

Coach Age School Record Yrs HC
Craig Neal 50 New Mexico 41-17 2
Brad Underwood 51 Stephen F Austin 52-7 2
Archie Miller 36 Dayton 82-43 4
Mike White 37 La Tech 94-37 4
Steve Prohm 40 Murray St 96-27 4
Shaka Smart 37 VCU 155-52 6
Josh Pastner 37 Memphis 145-56 6
Chris Mack 45 Xavier 120-63 6
Ben Jacobson 44 N Iowa 189-103 10
Gregg Marshall 51 Wichita St 391-157 17
Tommy Amaker 49 SH/MI/Har 325-213 18
Ben Howland 57 UCLA 399-208 19
Bob McKillop 64 Davidson 489-297 26
As much as I want Marshall I'm going to be realistic and say White, Mack and Amaker are the 3 I think we have a shot with. I like Amaker. He's an ACC guy. He knows what it takes to make it in this league.
 

Eric

Retired Co-Founder
Messages
12,734
I'm on the fence with Amaker, he scares me a little...don't think would he an awful hire though.
 

orientalnc

Helluva Engineer
Retired Staff
Messages
9,589
Location
Oriental, NC
Here are some brief facts about the coaches on Red's list:

Craig Neal: Six year contract = $950K + 140K in incentives per year. Steve Alford was making $2M before jumping to UCLA.
Brad Underwood: Eight year contract = $400K; most in Southland conference.
Archie Miller: Contract extended last year thru 2019 at estimated $335K + incentives.
Mike White: Six year contract extended last year = $600K. NOLA native. He & wife both Ole Miss grads. Was Ole Miss asst for eight years. His dad is AD at Duke.
Steve Prohm: One year left on $300K contract. His wife is a Murray native and MSU grad.
Shaka Smart: Contract = $1.5M. He turned down a raise last year & asked that the money be spent on VCU basketball program.
Josh Pastner: Contract = $2.65M thru 2020.
Chris Mack: Contract = $860K. Ohio native and XU grad. Wife is a Dayton grad. Grew up in Cincy. Turned down Cal job.
Ben Jacobson: Eight years left on escalating $575K contract. North Dakota grad. Never lived outside northern plains.
Gregg Marshall: Contract = $1.75M. Quote: "We can obviously make runs in the NCAA tournament from Wichita State."
Tommy Amaker: Contract estimated at $1M. Did he turn down job at BC or was it never offered?
Ben Howland: Not currently coaching. Why?
Bob McKillop: Contract = $500K and says he is not leaving Davidson, NC.
 

orientalnc

Helluva Engineer
Retired Staff
Messages
9,589
Location
Oriental, NC
And maybe he could bring Chris Lewis

He scares me a little bit as well. What he's done at Harvard has been incredible but he could only make 1 tournament in 10 years at seton hall and Michigan
In defense of Amaker, he inherited a mess at Michigan and Seton Hall is a tough place to recruit guys not from that area.
 

RyanS12

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,084
Location
Flint Michigan
In defense of Amaker, he inherited a mess at Michigan and Seton Hall is a tough place to recruit guys not from that area.
Yeah. Michigan was dead in the water when he took over there. He had about as good of a chance there as BG did here. Seton Hall he pulled in a top 5 class but I don't think he was ready for that level of coaching at the time. I like what he's done at Harvard. He's did a great job coaching the kids up and has brought in a few players that could start in the ACC.
 

orientalnc

Helluva Engineer
Retired Staff
Messages
9,589
Location
Oriental, NC
On Craig Neal: His son plays PG for UNM, but was injured in their third game this season. Not played since. Was averaging 17 ppg at that time.
 

RamblinRed

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
5,756
Oriental did a great job of giving all the contract details. I was going to provide that but now I don't have to.

First 2.

Craig Neal - former GT player, 2nd year as HC, lost a heartbreaker in OT night. 41-17. Finished 2nd in Mountain West in Yr 1, won conference Tourney, made NCAA.
Struggling a little this year after losing the core of last year's team and then his son in game 3 this year.
Frankly, may not look alot different than current GT teams. His teams have been slightly better offensively, about the same defensively and similar tempo to GT under Gregory. Would almost certainly take the job and work his tail off. Actually the most interesting question here would probably be - would his son, Cullen, follow him and would NCAA grant him immediate eligibility. Cullen can play all 3 perimeter positions and is a likely starter.
I like Noodles, but he is not in my current top 5. The selling point to the fanbase is obvious here.

Brad Underwood. Stephen F Austin. Brad is one of my outside the box candidates. Have no idea if he would be interested - though I suspect he would jump.
He is a KS ST grad. He had been a HC at 2 JUCO's - Dodge CC in Kansas (where he was a pedestrian 62-60) and Daytona CC in Florida (where he was an excellent 76-24). He left Daytona to join Frank Martin's staff at K ST. Followed Martin to South Carolina. He was there for 1 yr when he was hired for the SFA job (he had no ties specifically to the school or previous coaching staff). Took over an already good program - prev coach was hired by Texas ST, but they have been on fire since Underwood took over. His 44-6 mark after 50 games is the best first 50 games by a head coach in men's Div 1 history. Currently 52-7 as a Div 1 HC.
SFA before Underwood was more of a slow tempo, tough defensive team. Under Underwood they have been really good offensively (1.12 ppp over 2 seasons, mediocre defensively and moderate tempo).
SFA made the NCAA Tourney last season and beat VCU before losing to UCLA. SFA lost its first conference game yesterday since Underwood took over (had been 30-0 up to that point in conference over 2 yrs).
He's more of a Plains background, but does have some experience in the SE. Would almost certainly jump at the job and would not be very expensive (has a 8-yr 3.2M contract - $400K yr).
Southland is a low level conference so whether he could recruit to a ACC level would be a question.
Like I said, if you want to think outside of the box, this would be an interesting choice. Selling point to the fanbase would be his overall and conference record.
 

RamblinRed

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
5,756
Next 3

Archie Miller - Dayton. 4th Year, 82-43. 1 NCAA (Elite Eight), 36 yrs old
Youngest coach on my list. Has ACC experience as both a player and asst at NCSU. Also was an asst at Ohio St and AZ.
Similar to Brad Underwood his teams have been really good offensively - 1.10 ppp and mediocre defensively and moderate tempo.
As mentioned his contract was for $335 yr - that was before getting an extension and raise last year. No details but I'd bet he is in the 500-600K range.
Has one of the better coaching pedigrees, Dayton insiders do not expect him to put down roots there - they expect him to leave for a Power Conference league.
Done a really nice job with a shorthanded team this year and is likely headed back to the NCAA.
Negative is until this year he hasn't finished higher than 5th in his conference. How would the fanbase feel about pulling from the same school twice (I don't think an AD will think about it for more than 60 seconds if he thinks he is the right coach). Given his ACC experience and pedigree (both family and coaching stops), I would be very interested. I think he would take the GT job. Likely wants an ACC job eventually. In my top 5.

Mike White - La Tech, 4th Yr, 94-37, 37 yrs old, 2 NIT, Finished 1st in conference regular season twice (WAC). Undefeated in CUSA this season.
As mentioned by oriental Mike is the son of Duke AD Kevin White. His experience is all in the SE, but not ACC. His teams are ok both offensively (1.04 ppp - 4 yr avg) and defensively (.976 ppp allowed) and play fast (69.1 posessions per game). Would bring a different style game to the Tit.
He's another one that is going to move up soon. If not at GT, probably at an SEC school. His negatives are no ACC experience (though you think his dad can help) and no NCAA yet - though he has dominated his conferences 3 out of 4 years during the season. In my top 5 and with a 6 yr 3.6M contract certainly affordable.

Steve Prohm - Murray State, 96-27, 40 yrs old, 1 NCAA Tourney, 1 CBI Championship, Finished 1st in Ohio Valley Conference all 3 years, undefeated in league play this season so far.
I didn't have him on my initial list but added him after DTM mentioned him. He and White are quite similar. Another one who is good offensively (1.07 ppp 4-yr avg), mediocre defensively (1.00 ppp allowed) and plays quick - though not as fast as White (66.7 possessions per game). Has made the NCAA with a first round loss and won a CBI Championship. Grew up in Dalton, GA and played at Emory until transferring to AL to be a student manager so he could get into coaching. His only real negative is no ACC experience.
Despite his wife's ties to the area I expect him would take the GT job if offered given his GA background. Another in my Top 5.

All 3 of these 4th yr coaches are unlikely to be at their current schools more than another yr or 2. All 3 are having strong seasons with legit NCAA hopes. All are likely to have there names mentioned for jobs this offseason.
 
Top