Credit to MBob

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Compare Pastner's first 5 years at Memphis to Drew's 5 at Valpo.

Pastner - 130-44 (75 win%) 64-18 in conference (78%)
Drew - 124 - 49 (72%) 65 - 19 in conference (77%)

Oddly similar aren't they

Sure, Pastner had his issues leading to problems the last two years, but those are issues we know about and can, and to some extent already have, address from the get go. Drew had only ever coached in college at the place he was already a legend from his playing days. He will likely have his own issues in his first big boy coaching gig that he'll have to deal with, and Vandy will be paying ~900k more per year on average while he does so.

A couple years back, Pastner was a hotter name than Drew is now, and people have overreacted to the issues he ran into at memphis. At equal money Drew might have been a better get. At 900k more? No way. Especially since imo Pastner is a better fit personality wise and has more of a connection to the region than Drew.

 

[jacketup]

I don't give much credit to MBob because I still think he messed this up.

The HC hire is a D. The asst hires avg out to a B-.
MBob missed on every guy he wanted to hire and in a panic hired Pastner as he was the only one willing to take the job. Memphis wanted to get rid of him so bad they basically paid $1.7MM to get him another job (500K forgo buyout and $1.255MM payout to Memphis).

i think the assts make alot of sense as a group and bring a wide range of experiences and strengths, but at least 2 of them i would have chosen someone else. The amount of time taken to get the hires made (which i think is largely due to the admin being very involved and likely nixing a couple of candidates) was too long and could have a short term negative impact on recruiting.

I think recruiting will improve, hopefully the staff gels and ends up being greater than the sum of its parts. There is a fighting chance the program could get to middle of the pack, but i'm still not overly optimistic. Just not drinking the kool aid quite yet.

What would you have done differently?
Do you know if Bobinski had the tools at his disposal to accomplish the outcome that you preferred?
Objectively, why would your preferred outcome produce a better result?

GT fans need to face reality. The sports programs at GT are in a downward spiral. The Clough and now Peterson administrations did not/do not care about winning. They seem to be of the "participation trophy" ilk.

I am no Bobinski fan, but before you criticize him you need to know if he has the resources to achieve a better outcome than he did. If he did not, are his hands tied by the administration so that he cannot have the resources?

Which GT sports programs are nationally relevant? Baseball and Golf. Who hired Danny Hall? Homer Rice. Who hired Bruce Heppler? Homer Rice.

We all know how abysmal basketball has been. For all the love of Paul Johnson on this board, the man is less than .500 over the last six years v. FBS opponents. He did not walk into a "cupboard is bare" situation. Hires under the Clough and Peterson administrations have generally been mediocre to poor.

I'll say it again: Bobinski did as well as he could under the circumstances. However, the circumstances under the current administration are not good circumstances. It's a fact we have to face.