davidnark Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 In time, the outrage over the timing and approach to the firing will wear off. Plus, most everyone would have been surprised to see Brad land any more impact players this Spring. In the big picture, however, it now appears that SLU has a big backer that won't settle for the Soderberg mediocrity and is willing to back his views with big bucks. After the last nine years of mediocrity, this program has lost all buzz and attraction with the local media and fans. This is set up for the powers-to-be to make a splash with a new hire that will excite the fan base going into the new arena project. Soderberg just didn't have personality to excite the fanbase and recruit the star players. THIS PROGRAM DESPARATELY NEEDED TO BE SHAKEN UP! If any news is good news, then SLU has just succeeded by being the talk of the town and the college basketball world this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I would save the optimism to see how this all plays out. Right now we are a joke in town and in college basketball circles. Next season has been written off. The administration has shown nothing so far to lead me to believe the hiring process will not be botched in the same way Brad's dismissal was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Totally screwed Thorpe and Walker. Nice of Biondi to put them in the lurch after the coaching situation has been settled around the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 Give them some time. You don't agree to buyout an existing coach unless you are willing to pay big bucks for a new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws26 Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Exactly! If the way they fired Brad is any indication of how well they're dotting i's and crossing t's then we're in trouble. There's no plan just knee jerks.. I hope there isn't a larger mess underneath all of this and we aren't stuck with the asst as an interim coach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 That part stinks, but I think the timing part is largely being overplayed. Most of the coaching vacancies were filled within the last three weeks. Do you think all of those coaches have already filled their staffs? I like both of the current assistants and hope they land on their feet in good jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws26 Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 or pay little bucks to a no name or a current asst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Just because they are willing to spend big bucks doesn't make me confident they will make the right choice. In fact the actions at SLU the past couple days (not the firing, but the timing and the actions that followed) lead me to conclude the opposite will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Oh yeah? Point me to one move in the athletic department that would lead you to believe they know there a$$ from a hole in the wall. Hey, maybe it will play out, but what is the reasoning behind believing that? I see none. Also, I don't think it's as great as some that Biondi is willing keep VERY key employees out of this decision and will cave to a booster with demands. I have nothing by high praise for CL. I've haven't seen anything to prove otherwise. How can you advocate keeping her in the dark? And if you do, should she not be fired? If ever there is a time to work very closely with the athletic director, this is it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Most of the staffs have been completely filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Hopefully the new HC will keep one of Thorpe or Walker to help with the transition. I'd keep Walker for local recruiting. Angres should get his salary paid through the end of next season whether he is retained or not. It would be the right thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 david please come back to this post the day we hire the likes of majerus and we are assured that the athletic dept has doubled in size and experience, the athletes have been moved to the penthouse suites of the coronado, and all the new assistants have new cell phones with unlimited minutes and text messaging. the fact we find out today that we dont even have a coach lined up leads me to believe that this is a disgruntled high roller that likely got p!ssed off because he wasnt allowed to be an insider with soderberg and he showed him. the timing is autrocious and will not be overcome with an assistant coach, a low major head coach promotion or some worn out over the hill has been trying to make one more deposit in a 401k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Foolish people doing foolish things at foolish times may lead to greatness???? I guess there is a chance that an infinite number of chimps pounding an infinite number of typewriters will produce Shakespeare........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfan4life Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Maybe Majerus is a good fit He does look kind of like a billiken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 if this was a good move or not or perhaps great or perhaps complete shyte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 In light of the fact that you have been calling for Brad's head for a long time it is easy to see why you absolutely love this move. The problem is that for those of us who have been fans for decades, this seems like just another point where we start over and "build" a program. As a Billiken fan, that seems to be out fate. In talking to some people today it seems to me that Father Biondi may have had some issues with Brad as a coach and if that is the case then he, as the head man with the financial success of the new arena in the background, has the right to fire the coach. But the way this was handled is an embarrassment to the university and if we do not get an excellent new coach who keeps all of our players and gets some new recruits and goes to the NCAA next year then we are just back to starting over with a new coach. I am really sick of this coaching merry go round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 I love the "I have been a fan for x years" argument. The length someone has been a fan has little to do with how qualified they are to judge the state of a program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobile-iken Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I think several people on this board are blowing this way out of proportion, I seriously doubt that SLU is either an embarrassment or a laughing stock as some have suggested. We care about what happened and how it happened because we are fans, some in the A10 probably care because they are our conference mates, but outside of the A10 this is a non-story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SluSignGuy Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Other than the Soderberg extension, what has been a bad hire by Levick? I don't like that she was out of the loop or the timing necessarily. However the Shimmy hire gives me confidence in Levick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Is that directed at me? If so, I completely agree with you. I was saying that I have a lot of confidence in Cheryl. She hit several milestones for our non-revenue sports. She got our arena built. She has stood up to every major media personality in STL. She should be listened to and at least been a major part of this. I'm pretty confident that if she was, it wouldn't have gone down like this. My thing was that if Biondi is going to keep her out of the loop on something like this, why even retain her? She's the best thing this athletic program has going for it and Biondi may have effectively driven her out as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 right now, it would take an impressive candidate to be above angres thorpe imo. thorpe would likely make sure the current players and relephorde and mitchell all stay put. thorpe might actually be able to close the deal on another recruit or two. it might not be a bad idea since apparently nothing was in place before they pooped in their lunch box, to name thorpe the coach for 2007-2008 to be reviewed in april 2008. it would take some of the desparation out of the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 >right now, it would take an impressive candidate to be above >angres thorpe imo. > >thorpe would likely make sure the current players and >relephorde and mitchell all stay put. > >thorpe might actually be able to close the deal on another >recruit or two. Roy, you have got to be kidding me. The program took a step backward by settling for an assistant coach of head coach who didn't meet expectations at SLU (Romar). This decision killed interst in the program over the last five years. To settle for an assistant coach of an even less successful head coach would be program suicide. This hire is not about what recruits to sign this month; it is about building excitement and success for the program over the next several years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 first off, i didnt say give him the job permanently. i said for a year to put ourselves in position to 1. not rush the decision and 2. not put ourselves in a desparation mode. second, if you cant see the long term effects of letting recruits walk, star players walk and not signing another recruit and how that sure as hell wont build any excitement than i cant help you. of course after hiring the head coach from florida atlantic or the assistant coach from mississippi, and the exact above happens and we are winning under 10 games next year, i am sure you will blame it all on brad soderberg. the truth is you hated soderberg so badly that you are apparently willing to play russian roulette with the program now. that is scary! this hire needs to be a homerun because of the stupidity of the timing of the move. thus, i want to control damage first and then second hire a real coach. not some desparate move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 SLU is a private institution, thus the notion that they owe the general public a press conference is kinda silly. Media will be media though. On KFNS they kept asking for the reason.......ah read the press release they felt Soderberg was not the caliber of coach to challenge for titles. What I see going on is those that want to discuss the merits of the firing and the timing are reasonable and other are trying to make hay with the laughing stalk idea.....well, Arkansas did alright with hiring Pelphrey. Using the search firm is a good idea, heck even Kentucky did that, but whattya know they offered to their #1 and #2 candidates. David how long a person has been a fan certainly matters from a perspective standpoint. I would not have fired Soderberg with the information that I have, I suspect missing on these spring targets, and perhaps even hearing that 2008 class is not enthralled with the situation at SLU has more to do with the firing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 The flaw in your entire argument is your OPINION that a coach brought in from the outside won't be able to retain the current talent and bring in better new talent. My OPINION is that a good hire has a very good change of retaining the existing talent and a much better chance than Brad or Anges had of landing very good talent in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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