Ford........refreshing

[WVBilliken]

When has SLU had a coach that is as media savvy and community involved as Ford?  Maybe Spoon.  Love how he interacts socially and is involved in activities with the players.  Seems to really connect.  Been watching the Bills since the 1970's.  He is the most player friendly coach in my years of following the team.

Now lets get Watson or some other top recruit for that last spot.  How a coach interacts and connects with his players really counts.  And Ford does that.........

Edited September 1, 2017 by WVBilliken

[Taj79]

Spoon was more about Spoon in the media eye.  I could see Spoon playing the role ala Greenberg, Vitale, Corso and some of the others in the coach-to-sportscaster mode if that was where he wanted to go.  I know a lot of his players loved him.  Some likely did not.  But isn't that par for the course with even names like Auerbach,  Maguire, Knight, Majerus and others. 

I would offer that SLU has never had a coach like Ford as far as the youth and social media scene is concerned.  The world is a different place then when the coaching dinosaurs ruled the earth.  Given today's social climate, I don't think Paterno, Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant, Bobby Knight, Digger, [dead] and some of the others would adapt enough to not die a sooner coaching death.  I'd bet Wooden would.  I think Ford is young enough to see the handwriting on the wall as far as social ands recruiting change goes and can adapt and apply himself to it. 

Billiken coaches?  Who would adapt?  Albrecht?  Nope.  Coleman dand Ekker?  No way.  Grawer?  Maybe.  Spoon?  I think so but he was growing tired of it all when he left.  He had a chance to use the homespun but he wasn't very good on TV when I heard him.  Romar?  Don't think so.  Soderberg?  Nope, too boring for today's reality TV.  Same for Romar.  Majerus?  Dinosaur.  You'd get the goofy Rick at times and he'd be okay with the players he liked but I doubt all.  Sure, Ford stands out because there is nothing at SLU to measure him against.

 

If I were a coach today --- dinosaur.  No doubt.  I'd be too old for this shite and unwilling to change my spots.

 

[NextYearBill]

I think it helps that Ford has his own kids around college age.... He knows how to talk the talk 

[Pistol]

Romar was quite good with the press. Nobody but Spoon could be Spoon; that was a tough act to follow.

We haven't had anyone in the modern era with the energy and media friendliness of Ford. I've wanted a coach with that particular skill for a long time. Soderberg was polite but cold with the media; northern Midwest kind of thing. Which is a shame, because he could be perfectly gregarious a lot of times and I don't know why he didn't flex that muscle publicly more often. With Majerus, I could grit my teeth and tolerate it because he got results. With Crews, he did himself no favors. Every facet of the game, internal and external, had passed him by.

[slu72]

Ford is a breath of fresh air as compared to our previous coaches. He's trying to get the student body engaged in Billiken hoops for more than just the infrequent ESPN games we've had, but, instead, for every game. He also seems to be trying hard to get the whole area to support the program, as he gets out in the community more than our other HC's did. The only coach cited by Taj above who I think could/would provide the same enthusiasm is Zo, however, Zo was using SLU as a stepping stone to get back to the WC, so it would have been a half hearted attempt on his part.

While Spoon was a character, ie the aw shucks good ol' country boy, he appealed more to the overall St.Louis community than  the University community. I don't get the impression he put forth much effort to endear himself to the student population. When I was living in Ohio, I could pick up KMOX and the Randy Karraker/ Spoon show. Most of these programs had more to do with Charlie's days in Arkansas and his love for the Cards than discussions about Billiken hoops. I came away thinking Charley was St. Louis' answer to Garrison Keilor. I also recall B'roy saying once that while Charlie came across as an affable guy he was anything but if you accidently bumped into him in public.  

Rick by all accounts was all about basketball, however, some on here have posted that he was generally cordial to fans if they caught him at a local eatery. And remember the fiasco that was the Rick Majerus radio show? He pretty much showed up when he wanted to but was more likely to send Porter or Harriman to handle it. I do get the idea that Rick was fully devoted to his players, although he could be extremely harsh, and they felt likewise. Rick's job, as he saw it, was first and foremost to win games. He wasn't being paid to be a cheerleader or PR guy for the program. If winning was not good enough for you, than that's your problem not his, ie don't expect me to give you an autograph or talk hoops while I'm downing my second plate of Lasagna.

Dead was just that, dead from the neck up. Listening to him was like listening to paint dry.

It is refreshing to have a guy like Ford that appears genuinely to have the program's best interests at heart by reaching out to entire St Louis community. I'm sure he feels this will aid him in being successful in recruiting the local kids but also because he likes doing it.

[willie]

I had the good fortune to have had   lunch with Rick, the AD and one other booster. It was great. Rick could not have been more gracious. We talked about two things. Food and Basketball I   had to leave after 2 hours . He certainly was a complex man, but one who did change the mindset of SLU basketball. 

[ACE]

RM's work with local media was under-rated. Yes, he was weird about the weekly show for some reason, but no SLU coach ever did more local radio interviews than RM. His best work was the season following the situation, which was rough. He could have easily just bailed on the whole damn thing, but he worked hard that season to go all over local radio and sharing the message to the fans to hang in there... that we were gong to be vey good the next season. Of course, he turned out to be right.