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Just now, kshoe said:

Why would that be wishful thinking? We need Dayton, VCU, etc. to be as good as possible.

Maybe you misunderstood my comment, I agree, that's why want to Archie stay at UD. I was disappointed when Shaka left. These coaches further the credibility of the conference.

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Today's PD reports the U of Missouri state wide system is looking at $31 million 'withholds' in the current fiscal year and a possible cut of $56.3 million more for next year.  Yet, according to the PD, Mizzou has approval to more than double the next hoops coach salary from Anderson's $1.1 m to $2.5 million.  Issues sound familiar?

[Tom Crean already makes north of $2.5 million, so Mizzou will have to squeeze the faculty and students hard to get enough to get him to relocate. For IU to fire Crean prior to July 1, they would owe him $4 million.  After July 1, IU's buyout decreases to $1 million.  Crean can walk on his own for $500,000, which one assumes would be handled by his new employer.]

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57 minutes ago, Billy Ken said:

I realize money doesn't grow on trees and I also realize the university knows this as well. I'm making a bigger point than this isnt just an athletics problem, it's a university problem. My whole life as a Bills fan has been just wait until next year or three years and we have so much potential. That's been over 50 years! The university has to prioritize athletics and they don't. Pestello had no clue what he was walking into and thats not entirely his fault. I do think he's made many mistakes though. He's basically kept all the same people Father B had in place. So here we are now and the same people that caused all the problems are now in charge to fix them? It makes zero sense. That I blame Pestello for, if we don't have the money why isn't he getting people that can fundraise in there? So now Father B has to come back and that creates a whole other story. It just seems like SLU can't get out of its own way. We are worried about Travis Ford leaving when no other Power 5 team a year ago wanted him and they could have got him. I like Ford, I do. But, I just wish athletics was in a stronger position within the university like a Villanova or a Georgetown. It just isn't. All we heard about was WBB going to the NCAA, that didn't happen. No offense but outside of UCONN, WBB usually isn't your tent pole sport. I guess I'm just frustrated bc I think ford has so much potential to help slu get back on track, the track record of the university and its leadership is what worries me more than loosing our coach.

 

Billy Ken.

Still trying to figure out where your real concerns are.  Directed toward Dr. P?  He kept the same people as Fr. Biondi?  Which people?  Board of Trustees?  Administrators? Faculty chairs?  Athletic department people? Chris May is going to keep the program running but is not the guy to revamp the athletic program.

You blame Dr. P for the general financial condition of SLU?  Anyone with facts as to how fundraising is now under Dr. P v. Fr. Biondi?  Normally, fundraising is not done to pay general out of control expenses but instead is done to build buildings and/or a specific purpose (endowment to $100 million).  Wonder how the Clock Tower Accord mess has affected donations. Those radical paid protestors sure helped ruin downtown Ferguson and Mizzou and to assume that SLU has not taken a negative hit is probably wrong.

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1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

Today's PD reports the U of Missouri state wide system is looking at $31 million 'withholds' in the current fiscal year and a possible cut of $56.3 million more for next year.  Yet, according to the PD, Mizzou has approval to more than double the next hoops coach salary from Anderson's $1.1 m to $2.5 million.  Issues sound familiar?

[Tom Crean already makes north of $2.5 million, so Mizzou will have to squeeze the faculty and students hard to get enough to get him to relocate. For IU to fire Crean prior to July 1, they would owe him $4 million.  After July 1, IU's buyout decreases to $1 million.  Crean can walk on his own for $500,000, which one assumes would be handled by his new employer.]

Actually, I think the NCAA - someone can correct me if I am wrong - doesn't allow the new school to pay the buy out.  Now boosters can pony the money up and give it to the coach in some way I get that.  The cuts in higher ed in Missouri are I believe systems wide so the Columbia campus while the biggest could get hit the hardest they will not shoulder the entire cut.  Also, the Curators are more connected to the  Columbia campus so often they squeeze places like Rolla, UMKC and UMSL worse in proportion.

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Billi Ken, if you have 50 years of waiting and watching SLU basketball, and feel frustrated by the lack of attention given to it by the administrations, this is something that I can fully agree upon. Moreover you sound like you are roughly my age so welcome to old age pardner. We live at an age (over 70) that gets people impatient and wishing for results now... I sympathize but there is nothing I can do about it.

I do like Pestello's style and think he is likely to take us further than Fr. Biondi, but that is just my opinion. You should feel free to try to kick some sense into me.

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40 minutes ago, Old guy said:

Billi Ken, if you have 50 years of waiting and watching SLU basketball, and feel frustrated by the lack of attention given to it by the administrations, this is something that I can fully agree upon. Moreover you sound like you are roughly my age so welcome to old age pardner. We live at an age (over 70) that gets people impatient and wishing for results now... I sympathize but there is nothing I can do about it.

I do like Pestello's style and think he is likely to take us further than Fr. Biondi, but that is just my opinion. You should feel free to try to kick some sense into me.

As someone who has also watched Billikens Basketball for 50 years administration support has never been better. I do not believe the program lacks anything. Ford will get his locker room. Pestello is at every game. I believe he understands the importance of athletics on the university. The days of paying for ice cream are gone. 

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3 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Billy Ken.

Still trying to figure out where your real concerns are.  Directed toward Dr. P?  He kept the same people as Fr. Biondi?  Which people?  Board of Trustees?  Administrators? Faculty chairs?  Athletic department people? Chris May is going to keep the program running but is not the guy to revamp the athletic program.

You blame Dr. P for the general financial condition of SLU?  Anyone with facts as to how fundraising is now under Dr. P v. Fr. Biondi?  Normally, fundraising is not done to pay general out of control expenses but instead is done to build buildings and/or a specific purpose (endowment to $100 million).  Wonder how the Clock Tower Accord mess has affected donations. Those radical paid protestors sure helped ruin downtown Ferguson and Mizzou and to assume that SLU has not taken a negative hit is probably wrong.

My concern is that while I really like Coach Ford, I wish he was never here in the first place. If Jay Wright left Villanova, Travis Ford would not get that job last year or even right now. If Mark Few left Gonzaga, no way Ford gets the job. Pestello has not put in the financial muscle to athletics, athletic facilities and just overall. This is my point. We should not have to be worried about a coach leaving SLU, but we do because of empty promises. Biondi said we would be a top 50 program, the on campus arena is the silver bullet, etc. AD was a Biondi hire. Hired Crews, who nobody wanted, don't care about coach of the year stuff, how did that work out for us? Nobody was knocking down Stone's door, she could of been had by anyone and let's be honest WBB was basically a club team before she got here but they all said NCAA or bust this year. Looking at wnit in reality. That's fine it's WBB. I'm just tired of the promise of all the potential SLU has when same mistakes happen over and over in cycles throughout the years. Not even blaming AD, I'm sure if he had a bigger budget he can hire better people. This is on the higher ups 100%. Just drive out to St. Mary's, Bayless, Vianney, SLUH, Burroughs, MICDS. D-2 Lindenwood all have better baseball fields and the baseball program is beating Norte Dame and Oklahoma St so far and St. Louis is baseball center of the country. Can you imagine bringing in a kid from one of those schools and he sees that field compared to his high school field? Sorry if I'm ranting here just trying to drive home point that it takes university muscle and smarter people to take SLU to next level to tap that potential. It cannot be that hard. I love SLU and I just want it to be top shelf and something whole city is proud of! 

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Agree with most of your points ken. Though I disagree with trying to compare us to Gonzaga (Few could leave whenever he wanted Gonzaga just lucky he doesn't want to) and Villanova (much much better bball history than us). Wichita state is in a similarly unique situation. Money can't solve everything - Marquette spends more than pretty much anybody and they lost their coach to VaTech which was weird.

Agreed it's frustrating athletics isn't taken as seriously as some of us wish. I'm in the camp that we need to take soccer and baseball far more seriously and I wish we would add hockey and lacrosse teams. Especially if we're an A10 (east coast) school. Those two sports would bring us front of mind way more often on the east. I  personally think reaching out to all the ex NHL players in the area and funding a hockey team wouldn't be crazy hard, especially if you use Scottrade for games.

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18 hours ago, brianstl said:

You know who isn't having enrollment problems?  Creighton.  The team that got that last Big East spot on Biondi's watch.  Creighton had record enrollment last year and near record enrollment this year.

I have three lovely Montmorency trees in my yard. Make the best pies in the world. You'll have to wait about six weeks, but the results of picking them are much more beneficial.

http://offices.depaul.edu/enrollment-management-marketing/enrollment-summary/Documents/EMM Enrollment Summary2016_FINAL.pdf

http://www.marquette.edu/oira/enrl-dash.shtml

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1 hour ago, Billy Ken said:

My concern is that while I really like Coach Ford, I wish he was never here in the first place. If Jay Wright left Villanova, Travis Ford would not get that job last year or even right now. If Mark Few left Gonzaga, no way Ford gets the job. Pestello has not put in the financial muscle to athletics, athletic facilities and just overall. This is my point. We should not have to be worried about a coach leaving SLU, but we do because of empty promises. Biondi said we would be a top 50 program, the on campus arena is the silver bullet, etc. AD was a Biondi hire. Hired Crews, who nobody wanted, don't care about coach of the year stuff, how did that work out for us? Nobody was knocking down Stone's door, she could of been had by anyone and let's be honest WBB was basically a club team before she got here but they all said NCAA or bust this year. Looking at wnit in reality. That's fine it's WBB. I'm just tired of the promise of all the potential SLU has when same mistakes happen over and over in cycles throughout the years. Not even blaming AD, I'm sure if he had a bigger budget he can hire better people. This is on the higher ups 100%. Just drive out to St. Mary's, Bayless, Vianney, SLUH, Burroughs, MICDS. D-2 Lindenwood all have better baseball fields and the baseball program is beating Norte Dame and Oklahoma St so far and St. Louis is baseball center of the country. Can you imagine bringing in a kid from one of those schools and he sees that field compared to his high school field? Sorry if I'm ranting here just trying to drive home point that it takes university muscle and smarter people to take SLU to next level to tap that potential. It cannot be that hard. I love SLU and I just want it to be top shelf and something whole city is proud of! 

Billy Ken.

Still trying to understand.  Yes, the level of support for athletics is weak.  At the same time, SLU did get out its checkbook for RM, did hire a strength and conditioning coach, did hire academic tutors, did purchase charter flights (initially at least) and did begin paying assistant coaches competitive wages and apparently is doing the same thing for Coach Ford.  Also, while I do not give AD Chris May a pass for hiring Coach Crews, I do give him and SLU props for not waiting to get another year out of his contract before firing Crews - again something SLU has never done.  Are we a Top 50 program?  No... but things could sure be worse -- we could regress back to the days under Romar and Spoon.  And if Coach Ford leverages SLU over the next next 2 or 3 years to increase his financial package, then at least our program will likely respond to keep him a little longer we will then be in a more stable position then (as opposed to now) and also be better willing and able to pay our next head coach going competitive going rates - prices only go up and up.  Now, if I understand you correctly, you would rather these improvement take place before the hiring of our head coach?  IMO, that is not realistic.  I would rather our program be reminded now what a Top 50 program really takes, start making improvements and implementing a long range plan now with Coach Ford at the helm (and cashing in on NCAA Tourney money again next year) than trying to upgrade everything now to Top 50 status with an average head coach at the helm.

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Blli Ken is out of patience, wants no more waiting, wants the Bills basketball program to be equal to Vlillanova's NOW. I really do not think so. I think we should be happy that things are moving in the right direction. Even if we got Stone by pure luck and serendipity we have her and the WBB is strong this year. Ford looks good to me, and next year could be really a very good year for Bills BB. Chris May has a lot in his plate to deal with, and so does Pestello. I think the basic thinking of the administration is to fuel organic growth, primarily in the academic area, and then to maintain growth in the Athletic area. If they have to eliminate programs they will, or so they are saying. To put it all together, I see Pestello's administration as seeking consensus and speaking mildly about changes.  I do not see it as weak in resolve or sense of direction. I believe they are indeed proclaiming a policy of strong academics with strong programs first, and then strong Athletics also with strong programs. This will take some time to do and a lot of internal jockeying among the principals who should be (and apparently are) scrambling for available funds and preference. I am happy with Pestello and see good things coming. From a corporate point of view I think they are doing the right things to tidy the ship after Biondi, even if they need to bring him out to help raise money. I think they are flexible enough to reach their goals and capable enough to formulate the right way to achieve them.

I honestly think that we should look at the Bills basketball program in the context of the overall University needs, resources, and desired goals, not as an entity which is separate and semi independent from the University.

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1 hour ago, Clock_Tower said:

Billy Ken.

Still trying to understand.  Yes, the level of support for athletics is weak.  At the same time, SLU did get out its checkbook for RM, did hire a strength and conditioning coach, did hire academic tutors, did purchase charter flights (initially at least) and did begin paying assistant coaches competitive wages and apparently is doing the same thing for Coach Ford.  Also, while I do not give AD Chris May a pass for hiring Coach Crews, I do give him and SLU props for not waiting to get another year out of his contract before firing Crews - again something SLU has never done.  Are we a Top 50 program?  No... but things could sure be worse -- we could regress back to the days under Romar and Spoon.  And if Coach Ford leverages SLU over the next next 2 or 3 years to increase his financial package, then at least our program will likely respond to keep him a little longer we will then be in a more stable position then (as opposed to now) and also be better willing and able to pay our next head coach going competitive going rates - prices only go up and up.  Now, if I understand you correctly, you would rather these improvement take place before the hiring of our head coach?  IMO, that is not realistic.  I would rather our program be reminded now what a Top 50 program really takes, start making improvements and implementing a long range plan now with Coach Ford at the helm (and cashing in on NCAA Tourney money again next year) than trying to upgrade everything now to Top 50 status with an average head coach at the helm.

I don't want to be an apologist for the athletic program but I don't understand your post. You say the financial support for the program is weak then you list all of the things we are doing. What aren't we doing that we should be? As far as Fords financial package I don't think any of us has a clue. Again what aren't we doing? 

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The unsubstantiated IU rumor board The Hoosier.com is saying Crean will be out before the NIT.  So Mizzou, there you go.  Don't screw it up. 

The leading candidate, per the board is Alford, who apparently remains at odds with UCLA brass.  Youneverknow. 

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On 3/11/2017 at 5:02 PM, willie said:

I don't want to be an apologist for the athletic program but I don't understand your post. You say the financial support for the program is weak then you list all of the things we are doing. What aren't we doing that we should be? As far as Fords financial package I don't think any of us has a clue. Again what aren't we doing? 

 

Willie.

Actually, I was trying to get Billy Ken's take on what SLU has promised but not delivered.  So far, he has shared some but not all.  As things now stand, it simply appears that quite a few people are simply not happy about the reality that Coach Ford (even after only 1 year of losing basketball - mostly with the leftovers from Jim Crews) has options, is being noticed and is not going out of his way to calm everyone down on Lindell Blvd, that Coach Ford is happy and fully committed for now.

As to my comments?  Sure.  Our overall sports program is still closer to that of a "Mom and Pop" program and needs major work and investment if we are to become equal to that of the Big East and/or Power 5.  For instance, we have one heck of a head baseball coach who, when he is not recruiting and winning games, apparently is helping fundraise and build the small training facility which can be used for offseason training and during colder/rainy days.  Thank God for small steps.  But unless you have experience in club/select baseball (my 15 year old son has played for the St Louis Prospects - and prior names these past 4 years, the better local 16, 17 and 18 year olds have better training facilities than SLU baseball.  And many high school fields are as nice, or nicer, than SLU's home field.  And until you have been to Creighton's home baseball field (home of the College World Series), or Louisville's baseball home baseball field/stadium, you have no idea how far behind the times our baseball program really is.  In short, our baseball team is still training in facilities like our basketball team used to train in -- West Pine gym!!   And not just baseball.  The other "revenue sport" at SLU is soccer.  Where is the soccer stadium our storied program deserves -- a 10,000 seat stadium with indoor training fields, locker rooms, etc.

As to men's basketball, hopefully the chartered flights have resumed, the staffing needs needs remain addressed and Coach Ford's team lounge area is not behind schedule. And if so, then only 1 of our sports programs is on track.

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9 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

As to my comments?  Sure.  Our overall sports program is still closer to that of a "Mom and Pop" program and needs major work and investment if we are to become equal to that of the Big East and/or Power 5.  For instance, we have one heck of a head baseball coach who, when he is not recruiting and winning games, apparently is helping fundraise and build the small training facility which can be used for offseason training and during colder/rainy days.

Seriously if anyone on here has a connection to SLU AD or anyone with SLU sports, take a look at what the Marquette president did with their training facility. They are going to make a huge training facility in conjunction with the Milwaukee bucks. Perhaps we could do the same with the new MLS or Cardinals?

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Surely you know that the University is not in a spending or expansion mode nowadays. The chances of spending megabucks in terms of a training facility of any kind is nil at this time. This does not mean it is a bad idea to go into partnership with some of the professional teams (if they will have us) in such a project.

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6 hours ago, Old guy said:

Surely you know that the University is not in a spending or expansion mode nowadays. The chances of spending megabucks in terms of a training facility of any kind is nil at this time. This does not mean it is a bad idea to go into partnership with some of the professional teams (if they will have us) in such a project.

OG

I sure hope you are wrong on this.  The University does have financial issues... but these issues appear based upon the school's policy of continuing academic programs and staffing without meaningful re-evaluation over the years.  Certainly, Fr. Biondi reworked and invested in the infrastructure/campus over his 25 years but I don't believe similar investment and review was placed in the academic offerings, faculty and staffing.  Finally, that is now taking place.  Certain faculty and staff will be upset, but SLU needs to make tough decisions and move on.

But just because the University have issues on certain fronts does not mean that the University will (or should) impose a freeze on all campus wise spending.  Certain departments did extremely well over the past 25 years while others did not.  Certain departments are revenue raisers and others are not.  Certain departments bring visibility, prestige and donations and others do not.

At the end of the day, the sports programs at SLU (excluding men's basketball for the moment) are certainly not up to the standards of being a Top 50 University and not up to the standards of the Big East or other such institutions.  IMO, terminate the less popular academic offerings, eliminate some faculty and their staffs and then initiate a campaign to bring the athletic department up to the standards of a Top 50 University - and IMO, this would include an off season training facility for baseball and the other sports..

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