SluSignGuy Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 'Biondi Effect' stands in way of the next coach at SLU By Bernie Miklasz ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 04/19/2007 Bernie Miklasz Sports Columnist Bernie Miklasz To succeed at St. Louis University the next coach must find a way to overcome "The Biondi Effect." That will be the most difficult challenge of this job. I'll explain: The Biondi Effect is named (of course) for the SLU president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi. A long time ago, he declared that SLU would have a Top 50 men's basketball program, but Biondi was slow to follow his pledge with true commitment. Promises are made, but SLU coaches eventually find themselves frustrated and demoralized. And the feeling of futility sets in. And I've seen this job gradually break down solid veteran coaches, and good men. Rich Grawer, Charlie Spoonhour and Brad Soderberg all reached various stages of exasperation. That frustration can stem from big things, such as the basketball budget. In 2006, the SLU's men's basketball-expense budget was $2.1 million. I went to midmajority.com to see what other Catholic institutions invested in basketball. And Marquette ($7 million), Georgetown ($4.9 million), Boston College ($4.7 million), St. John's ($3.7 million), Providence ($3.5 million), Xavier ($3.3 million) Creighton ($3.1 million), DePaul ($2.8 million) and St. Joseph's ($2.5 million) put more dollars in 2006 into men's basketball. Or the frustration can come from a hundred little things, such as the way the Billikens travel, or the way coaches are nitpicked over expenses. Because of the Biondi Effect, a SLU coach risks being overwhelmed by the small-time blues. Some of that is changing for the better. The new on-campus arena will also house first-class practice facilities, and that's an important upgrade. But that doesn't solve the problems. The Biondi Effect is why SLU must be very, very careful in choosing a new coach. Beware the former coaches who are ESPN stars. They have egos, are used to nice and cushy things and will demand power. There's no way a Rick Majerus can co-exist with Biondi. And SLU must also avoid potential burn-out guys (Pete Gillen) who may have lost their fastball. What SLU shouldn't do is get hung up on finding a "name" or a "star" or rule out bringing in a bright young assistant from a good program. That's what Southern Illinois University Carbondale did in hiring Bruce Weber from Gene Keady's staff at Purdue. And when needing to make subsequent hires, SIUC elevated assistants (Matt Painter, Chris Lowery) and achieved terrific results. What SLU needs from a new coach is energy, hunger and a relentless desire to recruit. SLU doesn't need some old coach coming in here to play the celebrity role and deposit a few additional paychecks before retiring. This job is all about recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. I said: recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. The next SLU coach will have to outwork everyone and do it happily. The next SLU coach needs to be familiar with the local recruiting terrain and be able to establish instant connections with high school and AAU coaches, and do for SLU what Lowery has done for SIUC. This area has around 10-15 legitimately good high school juniors who can impact a Division I college program, and SLU has to hire a recruiting maniac capable of landing area kids. And SLU needs a coach who will be largely immune to the Biondi Effect. It's easier for a young coach to work for Biondi than an older coach. Older coaches worry about perks, power, privilege, status. A young coach will be too busy coaching, recruiting and selling to pay attention to Biondi. Instead of brooding over Biondi, a young coach will be hanging out in local gyms, working those recruits. A young coach is too driven to get to places, trying to pull himself up, to concern himself with Biondi's attempts to keep him down. Let me put it this way: A young coach is too naive (in a positive way) to realize that the SLU job is a bad one, because of Biondi's harmful influence. What's the old cliché? That's right: Ignorance is bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SluSignGuy Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 I think Bernie is pulling from the forums with the midmajority.com stuff (Roy, your persistance has an influence there I bet). It is sort of insane how much coverage this is getting. SLU's silence is just making more people pay attention. If they can pull a rabbit out of their hat, it is all the better. It is intriguing to say the least. And, just for the inside baseball people (I doubt many care)....Billikens.com traffic was four times its norm yesterday. And today it is three times. My lordy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 I think this article is about Bernie pushing his agenda: C. Martin for the next SLU coach. All last season, his mantra was that SLU basketball is irrelevant, now he wants to name our next coach. Is he serious: "Beware the former coaches who are ESPN stars." If Majerus wants the job and we can meet his salary demands, the job is his, no "ifs ands or buts". Sure hiring Majerus comes with risk (see health issues) but the guy is more than "an ESPN star". Beyond the big personality that would be an instant magnet for media and recruits is that he has taken 15 teams to postseason tourneys with 11 of those being the NCAAs. The guy wins where ever he goes. How much TV exposure you think we get next season with Majerus at the helm? Boats full. If he wants the job, you hire the man and pray his health holds out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Apparently his health is not an issue now. The question that remains is just how serious he is about returning to coaching. Frank C says that he is a coach and coaches coach. Frank also said that Majereus was ready to take the Creighton job but then Altman changed his mind so that fell through. Frank said that Majereus wanted the job since he was very interested in working for the Jesuits - I guess he has some Jesuit connection. He would be a big name hire but how long he would stay would be the issue. With that being said, so he came and stayed two years - he would have elevated the program nationally and would allow SLU to then hire a new coach from a plus position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 >"Apparently his health is not an issue now. The question >that remains is just how serious he is about returning to >coaching. Frank C says that he is a coach and coaches >coach. Frank also said that Majereus was ready to take the >Creighton job but then Altman changed his mind so that fell >through. Frank said that Majereus wanted the job since he >was very interested in working for the Jesuits - I guess he >has some Jesuit connection. He would be a big name hire but >how long he would stay would be the issue. With that being >said, so he came and stayed two years - he would have >elevated the program nationally and would allow SLU to then >hire a new coach from a plus position." i couldnt have said that better myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Majerus is a name that would get the whole community excited. He might even be big enough to get serious interest from the '08 recruits. I can agree with some of Bernie's points about an older big name coach, but these guys are still competitive and they don't want to go out as losers. Besides they will hire AC's that will do most of the leg work. My biggest concern here is how much $$ will be put into the AC pool. Whoever is hired has to develop a good coaching staff. Good recruiters who can be promoted in the event the older guy decides to hang it up after 3-4 years. If Majeurus is serious about SLU, he will demand a budget commitment from Biondi and CL that would allow him to hire quality assistants and provide the dollars to recruit effectively. I don't think UB ever considered budgets when he took the job. He was too happy being selected. This cost him big time, as I think a large part of his failure was due to never having a good staff. Steve Spurrier was on the radio here last night. He said the one key to his success has been he's had some great AC's. He said they are the front line recuiters and without them a program cannot advance. Guys like Majerus and Gillen know this and it's doubtful they'll take it without such a commitment from the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 i am sure biondi knows this... as i said earlier, biondi is a straight up businessman... he knows how this move (brad's firing) is being perceived, and he will do what it takes to get this deal done; in part to it potentially paying off huge a few years down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu_tbone Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 As per wikipedia(take if for what its worth) Majerus was a walk on at Marquette and graduated from there in 1970, and was an assistant and HC there as well. Could that be the Jesuit connection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 >"As per wikipedia(take if for what its worth) Majerus was a >walk on at Marquette and graduated from there in 1970, and >was an assistant and HC there as well. Could that be the >Jesuit connection?" oh yes indeedy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milwaukee Billiken Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Majerus also graduated from Marquette University High School. Jesuit ties indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOSLU68 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 I am sure Biondi really cares about what BM thinks. BM acts in my opinion like someone who thinks he can dictate societal more's from the Sports Page. Let us see the two name brand high profile coaches who might be interested-BM seeks to discredit because they are so old and so ill they won't remember how to coach, recruit or get us on TV or get us to the NCAA tournament? If BM really had the magic potion that could fix SLU's BB program-he'd solve his own life and career problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 nice of BM to use these "stats" without declaring the pitfalls of these "stats" don't let the facts get in the way of a story BM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 And, just for the inside baseball people (I doubt many care)....Billikens.com traffic was four times its norm yesterday. And today it is three times. My lordy. The Board is running great execept that twice yesterday I got an ivalid web address sort of error when trying to post. It hasn't bogged down at all due to the traffic....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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