Coach Ford

[Clock_Tower]

At this time with school beginning to start, with the passage of the season ticket deadline and now with the early commitment of Goodwin for next year's class, it seems like a good time to give initial thoughts on Coach Ford:

1.  I am certainly pleased with his coaching staff.  Time will tell, but Coach clearly has a plan in selecting proven, experienced coaches with East Coast, A-10 and now local ties.  These are not former head coaches or Midwest based like RM selected (Biancardi, Moser, Whitesell. Crews) but they do complement Coach Ford and provide him with experience and strength/depth where Coach's own skills might be less strong.  Corey Tate is a huge get not only for Goodwin (sounds like he was leaning toward SLU/Ford prior anyway) but b/c he is a St. Louis native, Mizzou alum/former player and is well connected/respected in the AAU community.

2.  I am pleased with both the apparent quality of the new players but also the mix of age/experience of the new players.  RM had his methods, was hired too late to have brought in immediate help like Ford has done but RM also had several misses regarding JUCOs or transfers which could have increased the speed of his rebuild.  Had we landed a SR transfer, a veteran foreign player, Harrelson or any of the JUCOs we chased,..Time will tell but I do like the guys Coach Ford has landed and do believe that a rebuild will take place sooner than under RM.  Whether we can return to RM heights in another question, but better than expected so far.

3.   No mis-steps or blunders to date.  Coach Ford just continues to add and put pieces together after deleting some of Crews' players, says the right things, is getting his name out to the press and is setting the right tone for the program.  Winning will truly change the SLU image but so far Coach Ford has been solid.

4.  Contrary to some of our local "experts" who have already questioned what Coach Ford was doing or not doing, turns out he has been working both hard and smart -- with both locals and non-locals. He and his staff have, in fact, been out "to see the guys play".  We also have seen,first hand, that being the first to follow a kid or that 3 year relationship is not needed if you have a quality product to offer. Not saying we should ignore kids until the last moment; however, at the end of the day, maybe it was not our former coaches were lazy, were such bad judges of character, did the wrong things in recruiting as much as that they simply didn't have the quality product sell.  I am not impressed with Kim Anderson or Groce - and for that matter, never respected Soderberg or Crews as a top basketball coach -- and as it turns out, I was/am not alone.

Congratulations Coach Ford.  

[Old guy]

I can fully agree with your post Clock, nicely done. One point that needs to be made is that RM, as it turned out, really did not have any time available for recruiting misses, he had to ramp up right away and just ran out of time to do it. We will never know what he could have done with our program had he had a few more years to live. 

[NextYearBill]

He will go down as the greatest coach in SLU history.

[SLU_Nick]

Honestly, at this point, I would like to hear from anyone that thinks Coach Ford has earned anything less than an A+

It was absolutely maddening to see Crews sign recruits that no one else wanted and expect to actually be able to put a team on the floor to compete. 

Even if he is an awful in-game coach, the talent will still ensure that we arent losing to Morehead St at home by 20. 

Coach Ford should get us into the tournament in 2017 and beyond and then we roll the dice from there...

[RiseAndGrind]

I've been reading up on Coach Ford and two things  that stuck out to me: 1) he's not good at coaching bigs; and 2) He could never get quality bigs at OK State. 

It seems like Ford has solved his first problem with D.J. Foreman, and (if the reports are true) is working on his second issue by hiring Corey Tate. 

I was not excited about the Ford hire, but he's proven me wrong... so far. A +. 

It's crazy how well Tate's hiring has been received by the local basketball community. I almost don't care if he can coach as long as he continue to building relationships in St. Louis and deliver recruits. 

[slufan13]

His X's and O's/in-game coaching will be interesting to see, but he's putting together a roster that might be able to survive his other shortcomings. Maybe we'll underachieve based on our talent, but if Ford is putting together a roster that makes the Tourney ever year, I won't be too upset. Part of the Tourney is just luck anyway.

[slu72]

Let's wait and see before we judge his in game coaching abilities. Granted, it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to match Majerus in this aspect of the game, but he seems to be bringing in talent that can offset this deficiency. I'd give him an A+ for the simple reason Crews drove this program over the cliff into the abyss of irrelevance, yet Ford's gone out and landed what appears to be 3 quality transfers and the most highly recruited local kid this year. That's kind of like selling Jeff Gordon a beat up old Dodge Dart promising that you're going to do some work on it and turn it in into a Daytona winner.

[Billiken Rich]

I was not immediately thrilled with Ford but you can't argue with his recruiting success and the buzz it's generating.  Hopefully it can translate into wins on the court.  Hopefully Travis can lose the underachieving floor coach rep.     

[hsmith19]

57 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Let's wait and see before we judge his in game coaching abilities. Granted, it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to match Majerus in this aspect of the game, but he seems to be bringing in talent that can offset this deficiency. I'd give him an A+ for the simple reason Crews drove this program over the cliff into the abyss of irrelevance, yet Ford's gone out and landed what appears to be 3 quality transfers and the most highly recruited local kid this year. That's kind of like selling Jeff Gordon a beat up old Dodge Dart promising that you're going to do some work on it and turn it in into a Daytona winner.

He's lived up to his reported strengths, and then some. Now time to see if he can prove the reported weaknesses were wrong, or at least overstated.

The Crews thing cuts both ways. His incoming recruits (minus Goodwin) look so good partially because our last three or four classes were so bad. It's easier to sound like the Rolling Stones if you follow Nickelback.

[CBFan]

4 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

At this time with school beginning to start, with the passage of the season ticket deadline and now with the early commitment of Goodwin for next year's class, it seems like a good time to give initial thoughts on Coach Ford:

1.  I am certainly pleased with his coaching staff.  Time will tell, but Coach clearly has a plan in selecting proven, experienced coaches with East Coast, A-10 and now local ties.  These are not former head coaches or Midwest based like RM selected (Biancardi, Moser, Whitesell. Crews) but they do complement Coach Ford and provide him with experience and strength/depth where Coach's own skills might be less strong.  Corey Tate is a huge get not only for Goodwin (sounds like he was leaning toward SLU/Ford prior anyway) but b/c he is a St. Louis native, Mizzou alum/former player and is well connected/respected in the AAU community.

2.  I am pleased with both the apparent quality of the new players but also the mix of age/experience of the new players.  RM had his methods, was hired too late to have brought in immediate help like Ford has done but RM also had several misses regarding JUCOs or transfers which could have increased the speed of his rebuild.  Had we landed a SR transfer, a veteran foreign player, Harrelson or any of the JUCOs we chased,..Time will tell but I do like the guys Coach Ford has landed and do believe that a rebuild will take place sooner than under RM.  Whether we can return to RM heights in another question, but better than expected so far.

3.   No mis-steps or blunders to date.  Coach Ford just continues to add and put pieces together after deleting some of Crews' players, says the right things, is getting his name out to the press and is setting the right tone for the program.  Winning will truly change the SLU image but so far Coach Ford has been solid.

4.  Contrary to some of our local "experts" who have already questioned what Coach Ford was doing or not doing, turns out he has been working both hard and smart -- with both locals and non-locals. He and his staff have, in fact, been out "to see the guys play".  We also have seen,first hand, that being the first to follow a kid or that 3 year relationship is not needed if you have a quality product to offer. Not saying we should ignore kids until the last moment; however, at the end of the day, maybe it was not our former coaches were lazy, were such bad judges of character, did the wrong things in recruiting as much as that they simply didn't have the quality product sell.  I am not impressed with Kim Anderson or Groce - and for that matter, never respected Soderberg or Crews as a top basketball coach -- and as it turns out, I was/am not alone.

Congratulations Coach Ford.  

Good post clock I agree 100 percent.

I was not thrilled with the hiring of coach Ford. 

Because of the points mentioned I am thrilled to have coach Ford as the SLU coach.

I give coach Ford a A+ on his body of work so far.

I understand why Chris May made the choice of coach Fore and if this does not work out and coach Ford does not get SLU to the big dance then I will still back Chris May's decision.

Coach Ford has brought the excitement of Billiken Basketball back.

Coach Ford has also has brought back the chance to one day get to the final four.

One more drink of Kool-Aid, I believe the excitement will motivate the current roster and deliver a 500 season.

 

[slu72]

A .500 season with this roster would mean Travis Ford is a better game coach and teacher than Rick Majerus. I don't think God could coach this year's team to a .500 record. Sorry, God, I haven't lost faith but somethings, well, let's just say are not even divinely possible.

[cgeldmacher]

I think the job he has done recruiting is incredible for several reasons:

1. Crews left us with a bare cupboard.

2. Recruits have to be looking at the past two years of 11 win seasons and thinking that next season will be the same.  Why would they want to join that situation?

3. Ford himself had just been fired.  Our program, which had already been a failure for the past two seasons, could be perceived as having just been taken over be a guy coming off of failure at OK St.

4. The program has never really had the best relationship with local coaches and AAU teams.

Despite all of the above, he comes in and recruits a nice looking freshman and three transfers.  These recruits lead to Ford getting a top 50ish recruit.  I'm still having trouble believing it.

Thank God that none of the other local teams, Mizzou, Illinois, Carbondale are any good.  If we take off in two years, we could make ourselves the predominant program in the region.

 

[3star_recruit]

Early on in Ford's tenure at OK State he also received high marks.  That's why the AD overreacted and gave him that gaudy contract extension. 

Unfortunately stacking the roster with 6-3 to 6-6 freewheeling players and letting them play didn't lead to consistent success in the Big 12.  If VCU's program is any indicator, however, that approach could reap huge dividends in the Atlantic 10.  The quality big men that Kansas, Texas or Iowa State could throw at Ford's frontlines don't exist here.  Pulling in a quality power forward transfer every couple of years and matching them with a stretch 4 is enough to field an above average frontline in this conference.  Travis Ford and the A-10 is a match made in recruiting heaven.

[JMM28]

Ford is on whatever the sports radio station in STL is called today. 

Said he celebrated on Friday in Cabo with family -they were on vacation. Can't talk specifically, but very thinly veiled. 

Talking about recruiting hometown guys - went to lunch with Larry the other day, but talked about how he chose to come back to STL after his playing career. Mentioned Claggett and others in that topic. Large area but small town feel - going to recruit nationally but wants guys from STL who want to stay home and be local legends. 

Lived at the Cheshire Hotel for the past 3 months. 

Talking about gonig to Vegas for the tournament. Nothing exciting - just that the team never really leaves the MGM Grand...stay there, play there, eat there. 

Bunch of other basic fodder, hardest place to play, so on and so forth. 

Talked about Corey Tate. Relationship person. Held on to the position to figure out what he needed. Wanted someone with great STL ties. Didn't want someone with only ties to one specific program - HS, AAU. Said Tate gets along with all the programs. Gateway, Jets, Eagles, HS - has relationships with everyone. Not just one. 

Asked how it came about with Tate - being assistant at Mizzou coming to SLU. Ford says hes known Tate since his JUCO coaching career. When he decided he wanted a guy with STL ties. Tates name kept coming up. Family lived here. Approached him. Not an easy decision, but this is home. Excited to be a part of a program in his hometown. 

Said he had to go drop off a briefcase somewhere in East St Louis. 

[Cowboy]

57 minutes ago, JMM28 said:

 

Said he had to go drop off a briefcase somewhere in East St Louis. 

 

-Illinois fans, JMM is being serious

[cheeseman]

Hopefully they all picked up on the joke.  Nobody could have predicted Ford being this successful this quick.  He has done an amazing job recruiting.  Maybe his style will be a better fit in the A10 but we will just have wait and see how he coaches during the season.  I was not a big fan of hiring him but I was willing to give him a chance when they did.  So far I am impressed.

[CBFan]

3 hours ago, slu72 said:

A .500 season with this roster would mean Travis Ford is a better game coach and teacher than Rick Majerus. I don't think God could coach this year's team to a .500 record. Sorry, God, I haven't lost faith but somethings, well, let's just say are not even divinely possible.

LMAO, good one 72, thanks for bringing me back to earth after overdosing on the Kool-Aid.

[Clock_Tower]

Again, I truly believe the returning players will play better for Coach Ford and staff than they did under Crewsplatt who simply sucked all the fun out of the game.  At the end of the day, basketball is still a game.  Yes, hard work and discipline are needed, but when you don't respect your coaches and you aren't having fun, you simply don't play well or win many games no matter who the competition is. Again, no McDonald's All-American level of play from last year's guys -- but there is more talent than we have seen or should I say have seen in spurts and at times.

[NextYearBill]

I am in the camp of seeing a lot of improvement in the current team.... Ever had a terrible boss get fired and someone you like get promoted or hired.... Makes a big difference

[TheChosenOne]

12 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

Again, I truly believe the returning players will play better for Coach Ford and staff than they did under Crewsplatt who simply sucked all the fun out of the game.  At the end of the day, basketball is still a game.  Yes, hard work and discipline are needed, but when you don't respect your coaches and you aren't having fun, you simply don't play well or win many games no matter who the competition is. Again, no McDonald's All-American level of play from last year's guys -- but there is more talent than we have seen or should I say have seen in spurts and at times.

While I certainly agree with this, I still really question what that means from a record standpoint given the level of talent on the roster.

[cgeldmacher]

47 minutes ago, NextYearBill said:

I am in the camp of seeing a lot of improvement in the current team.... Ever had a terrible boss get fired and someone you like get promoted or hired.... Makes a big difference

+1

[almaman]

3 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Again, I truly believe the returning players will play better for Coach Ford and staff than they did under Crewsplatt who simply sucked all the fun out of the game.  At the end of the day, basketball is still a game.  Yes, hard work and discipline are needed, but when you don't respect your coaches and you aren't having fun, you simply don't play well or win many games no matter who the competition is. Again, no McDonald's All-American level of play from last year's guys -- but there is more talent than we have seen or should I say have seen in spurts and at times.

as I chug my last cool aid boilermaker style reading this it makes me want to shout out for the love of Indiana I think Crawford is going to do all he can to keep from having another losing season. I can't imagine him andTF not hitting it off. I'm thinking it will be opposite of the Lisch, Majerus relationship.

[Quality Is Job 1]

2 hours ago, almaman said:

as I chug my last cool aid boilermaker style reading this it makes me want to shout out for the love of Indiana I think Crawford is going to do all he can to keep from having another losing season. I can't imagine him and TF not hitting it off. I'm thinking it will be opposite of the Lisch, Majerus relationship.

Do you perhaps mean Liddell/Majerus relationship?  There didn't appear to be, on the court, any tension between Lisch and Majerus.  Tommie Liddell, III, on the other hand....

[thetorch]

29 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

Do you perhaps mean Liddell/Majerus relationship?  There didn't appear to be, on the court, any tension between Lisch and Majerus.  Tommie Liddell, III, on the other hand....

Lisch was much more coachable than Liddell but he wasn't happy about his role change when Majerus took over either.  Was less vocal about it.

[almaman]

59 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

Do you perhaps mean Liddell/Majerus relationship?  There didn't appear to be, on the court, any tension between Lisch and Majerus.  Tommie Liddell, III, on the other hand....

I never thought KL was treated much better than a step kid his senior year. I know TL III and him clashed.