Depaul and Majerus

[TheBigGuy]

I sure hope he doesn't leave, but if it comes down to that maybe it would be Porter at the helm. I don't think that's a bad option.

And who gives a crap what Slaten says anyways, he's one of those uber-Mizzou fans with nothing but hate towards SLU. Forget about him.

[kevinfootes]

Most of the good coaches can get the same pay somewhere else. Just like Majerus could have. He choose SLU for other reasons besides the money. You are going to have to really over pay for a proven coach or have to slightly overpay for an up and comer who may drop you for the big job he is gunning for in two years.

Basically running of Majerus over charter flights is stupid on so many levels and the most important to Biondi should be money. Running him off over this will cost the program more money in the long run than the charter flights would have.

How many open coaching positions that pay $1 million or more are out there each year? Maybe there are 50 or 60 jobs that pay that much (can anybody help with this?). In any given year, how many are actually open? While Majerus chose SLU for many reasons, money was certainly a part of it. Do you think he would have come here for less?

[joe_davola]

I sure hope he doesn't leave, but if it comes down to that maybe it would be Porter at the helm. I don't think that's a bad option.

And who gives a crap what Slaten says anyways, he's one of those uber-Mizzou fans with nothing but hate towards SLU. Forget about him.

PORTTTTTTTTTTTERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

[kevinfootes]

I sure hope he doesn't leave, but if it comes down to that maybe it would be Porter at the helm. I don't think that's a bad option.

And who gives a crap what Slaten says anyways, he's one of those uber-Mizzou fans with nothing but hate towards SLU. Forget about him.

I haven't listened to Slaten in quite some time. The last time I did he was not happy with mizzou over Norm Stewart and the fact that they didn't offer a scholarship to his son. He was down on all the local schools because he thought his son was some kind of big shot. Is he a mizzou booster these days?

[Quality Is Job 1]

IF Slaten and his source are accurate about Majerus's having contact with DePaul about their vacancy, is it possible that he was recommending Porter Moser for the position, not that he wants to go there himself?

[joe_davola]

IF Slaten and his source are accurate about Majerus's having contact with DePaul about their vacancy, is it possible that he was recommending Porter Moser for the position, not that he wants to go there himself?

Not only that...there are all sorts of possiblities...maybe he was looking at a couple players up in Chicago (we know he recruits there). It's possible, just maybe, that he knows other people at other universities. Rick has been around a long time. Good point on Porter, Thicks. That would be a great get for Porter, but I hope he takes over the reins here when Rick hangs it up in 6 or 7 years

[kmbilliken]

I wouldn't worry until someone with credibility says he's considering the job. Slaten is just a flamer. If there's no news, he'll make it up just to get some controversy going. That's how he gets ratings. I think that's exactly what he did here. There's an opening at DePaul. RM looks like he's got it going at SLU. Why not say Majerus is talking to DePaul? How can he be proven wrong? Coaches and schools deny mutual interest all the time until the deals are done. Slaten can just say of course they'll deny it, but I've got it from a credible souce they're talking. He creates a controversy, gets some ratings and keeps his job. Does anybody think Slaten would be above doing that?

[Taj79]

If anyone thinks that any sports program at SLU (all components coach included) is bigger than the school (Biondi) well, you haven't been paying attention all these years now have you?

Majerus was a big-time, national hire. Program wants big-time and national. For him to leave in any way other than hanging them up for good, will be looked at as another failure. Local hire (Grawer) failure. Regional hire (Spoon) failure. National up-and-comer (Romar) failure. Keeping in the then-family hire (Soderberg) failure. Big-time national hire (Majerus) failure.

Now, not all failures had the school on the blame line (Romar back to alma mater U) but in the long run, failures are failures. Porter would seem the next logical move but who knows. You can probably get him at more than half the price of Rick and he might be great and all and restore the mom-and-pop luster that Rick has knocked off our shingle. Hooah.

[slu72]

I wouldn't worry until someone with credibility says he's considering the job. Slaten is just a flamer. If there's no news, he'll make it up just to get some controversy going. That's how he gets ratings. I think that's exactly what he did here. There's an opening at DePaul. RM looks like he's got it going at SLU. Why not say Majerus is talking to DePaul? How can he be proven wrong? Coaches and schools deny mutual interest all the time until the deals are done. Slaten can just say of course they'll deny it, but I've got it from a credible souce they're talking. He creates a controversy, gets some ratings and keeps his job. Does anybody think Slaten would be above doing that?

I think Slaten's jumping on this weeks "let's bash RM" media campaign. If RM wants to dump us for DePaul, then it is what it is and there's little anyone can do about it. I would just hope whoever we'd get to replace him would be able to keep this team together and not have to start the rebuilding process all over again. That's why Porter would likely be his replacement. The DP job, however, seems to make little sense for him other than the prestige of coaching in the BE. It will take a pretty dynamic energetic coach to make DP respectable in the BE, read: a ton of hard work. Is that what he wants at this stage of his career? And you talk about travel headaches? Would he start arguing that DP quit the BE and jump to the Horizon league?

[Majerus Magic]

Majerus isn't going anywhere. Believe it or not, he is at his dream job right now (for his age).

He is at a small, Jesuit, Midwestern University where he doesn't have a lot of pressure to win. He can do things his way and he is the big man on campus.

Plus, he already has SLU turned around. That DePaul job is a train wreck and he knows that.

[kmbilliken]

If anyone thinks that any sports program at SLU (all components coach included) is bigger than the school (Biondi) well, you haven't been paying attention all these years now have you?

Majerus was a big-time, national hire. Program wants big-time and national. For him to leave in any way other than hanging them up for good, will be looked at as another failure. Local hire (Grawer) failure. Regional hire (Spoon) failure. National up-and-comer (Romar) failure. Keeping in the then-family hire (Soderberg) failure. Big-time national hire (Majerus) failure.

Now, not all failures had the school on the blame line (Romar back to alma mater U) but in the long run, failures are failures. Porter would seem the next logical move but who knows. You can probably get him at more than half the price of Rick and he might be great and all and restore the mom-and-pop luster that Rick has knocked off our shingle. Hooah.

Coaches don't last forever. I think Spoon was a success. Romar was a push. Grawer saved the program, then we screwed him. Soderberg was a mistake.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Coaches don't last forever. I think Spoon was a success. Romar was a push. Grawer saved the program, then we screwed him. Soderberg was a mistake.

I guess we need a John Wooden to meet Taj's standard.

[DoctorB]

I can't resist responding.

This is one of the silliest threads in recent memory. Whoever believes RM moving to Depaul "makes sense" needs years of therapy. On the contrary it makes absolutely NO sense.

On a related note: I attended the Fordham game, and 2 observations should cement my case:

1. the student support was excellent for such a non-descript and dysfunctional team (even worse that Depaul, in fact).

2. Our team is mighty close, folks. Mighty close. Add a few robust freshmen and notice how some of these kids are going through the roof in about 3 months of practicing with the team (JS being the most obvious example at the moment, but look out for CR and the others), and I would say no later than fall of 2011 this will be a very, very tough team to beat.

Yes, we are close. So why leave?? And finally consider the (lame) source. Again: it makes absolutely NO sense.

[GOSLU68]

Coaches don't last forever. I think Spoon was a success. Romar was a push. Grawer saved the program, then we screwed him. Soderberg was a mistake.

Grawer and Winfield had a good run but putting your

own kids ahead of the team smacks of guys who coach

their grade school's team so their kid can be the point

guard even if they are barely five feet tall weighing 120

pounds and waddle instead of walk. Winning only 5 games

in the last season just legitimized the decision and obviously

like with Brad there were no D1 coaching offers

not even UMSL or Wash U

[kevinfootes]

If anyone thinks that any sports program at SLU (all components coach included) is bigger than the school (Biondi) well, you haven't been paying attention all these years now have you?

Majerus was a big-time, national hire. Program wants big-time and national. For him to leave in any way other than hanging them up for good, will be looked at as another failure. Local hire (Grawer) failure. Regional hire (Spoon) failure. National up-and-comer (Romar) failure. Keeping in the then-family hire (Soderberg) failure. Big-time national hire (Majerus) failure.

Now, not all failures had the school on the blame line (Romar back to alma mater U) but in the long run, failures are failures. Porter would seem the next logical move but who knows. You can probably get him at more than half the price of Rick and he might be great and all and restore the mom-and-pop luster that Rick has knocked off our shingle. Hooah.

You're calling Spoon a failure? Are you implying that Romar was better than Spoon?

[Quality Is Job 1]

You're calling Spoon a failure? Are you implying that Romar was better than Spoon?

I don't think he's necessarily calling any of them a failure; rather, he's saying that SLU is not a national program (Top 40 or so) to stay as a result of any of those coaches' tenures.

[cheeseman]

Grawer and Winfield had a good run but putting your

own kids ahead of the team smacks of guys who coach

their grade school's team so their kid can be the point

guard even if they are barely five feet tall weighing 120

pounds and waddle instead of walk. Winning only 5 games

in the last season just legitimized the decision and obviously

like with Brad there were no D1 coaching offers

not even UMSL or Wash U

Grawer's problem was not his kid or Winfield's kid - after all Winfield's kid ended up at Missouri - the problem was that Biondi said in public that he wanted SLU to be a top 50 program and Grawer knew that Biondi would never pony up the money then to do that so when Grawer groused about it and he was not able to do what Biondi announced, his plight was sealed. Grawer also made the mistake of taking on marginal characters who could play basketball to try to get to Biondi's goal but Grawer was not the type of coach to cater to these types of kids and all he ended up with was head butting which eventually got a bunch of players to leave and left him holding the bag.

I agree with those who have said that RM at his age is not going to take over another program and start over - he has SLU right were he wants us and he wants to see it through. Besides, if RM tries to talk to any school without SLU's permission he would be violating his contract - he is not that stupid.

I am beginning to wonder if the charter flight thing based on what Billikan said about what was scheduled and what was not was something that RM knew about and figured he could deal with but when he had to actually get on the plane he realized that he did not want to deal with commercial flights. As what has been said previously - you can not just get 30 economy seats on a commercial flight today without scheduling it months in advance so this is not a new problem it has been known for sometime.

[jjray]

Majerus isn't going anywhere. Believe it or not, he is at his dream job right now (for his age).

He is at a small, Jesuit, Midwestern University where he doesn't have a lot of pressure to win. He can do things his way and he is the big man on campus.

Plus, he already has SLU turned around. That DePaul job is a train wreck and he knows that.

+1

[MB73]

Majerus isn't going anywhere. Believe it or not, he is at his dream job right now (for his age).

He is at a small, Jesuit, Midwestern University where he doesn't have a lot of pressure to win. He can do things his way and he is the big man on campus.

Plus, he already has SLU turned around. That DePaul job is a train wreck and he knows that.

You KNOW all of this? Must be nice.

Or are you just cocky and incorrect in thinking we are in a position of strength?

What if he doesn't like Biondi and the new cut backs in travel?

What if he does not like the A-10?

What about DePaul being in the Big East?

What about DePaul having a tradition of excellence (though down now)?

What about DePaul having a hot bed of recruiting in their own backyard, Chicago?

What if DePaul will pay him more?

What if DePaul will ensure that they will take charter flights ALL the time to maximize student athletes time in the classroom?

What if DePaul is close enough to Milwaukee to drive up and see his mother 1,000% more than he can now?

What if he thinks the Chicago media will let him focus on recruiting, developing, and coaching and not whine about him all the time?

What if DePaul embraces him and does not have 15-20 regular haters on the depaul.com basketball board taking cheap shots at him?

I say, I HOPE HE STAYS! HE IS THE PROGRAM. HE LEAVES NOW, WE ARE SCREWED. NEED ANOTHER 3-5 yrs, THEN TURN IT OVER!

[jjray]

Grawer's problem was not his kid or Winfield's kid - after all Winfield's kid ended up at Missouri - the problem was that Biondi said in public that he wanted SLU to be a top 50 program and Grawer knew that Biondi would never pony up the money then to do that so when Grawer groused about it and he was not able to do what Biondi announced, his plight was sealed. Grawer also made the mistake of taking on marginal characters who could play basketball to try to get to Biondi's goal but Grawer was not the type of coach to cater to these types of kids and all he ended up with was head butting which eventually got a bunch of players to leave and left him holding the bag.

I agree with those who have said that RM at his age is not going to take over another program and start over - he has SLU right were he wants us and he wants to see it through. Besides, if RM tries to talk to any school without SLU's permission he would be violating his contract - he is not that stupid.

I am beginning to wonder if the charter flight thing based on what Billikan said about what was scheduled and what was not was something that RM knew about and figured he could deal with but when he had to actually get on the plane he realized that he did not want to deal with commercial flights. As what has been said previously - you can not just get 30 economy seats on a commercial flight today without scheduling it months in advance so this is not a new problem it has been known for sometime.

With the cutback in flights at Lambert, it must even be tougher to get the entire team onto commercial. I would think it necessitates flying at odd hours when more seats are available.

[kevinfootes]

Grawer and Winfield had a good run but putting your

own kids ahead of the team smacks of guys who coach

their grade school's team so their kid can be the point

guard even if they are barely five feet tall weighing 120

pounds and waddle instead of walk. Winning only 5 games

in the last season just legitimized the decision and obviously

like with Brad there were no D1 coaching offers

not even UMSL or Wash U

Grawer won 5 games in his last year playing a bunch of young players who went on to be the core of the NCAA teams. Had the administration not screwed him on the Craig Upchurch deal it would have been a different story.

Who was Julian Winfield playing in front of that was better? Kevin Grawer wasn't an all-american by any means, but he played for Tulsa after leaving here.

No D1 coaching offers? Lee Winfleld was an assistant at mizzou after leaving here. Grawer was under consideration for a job or two, but wound up taking the best job in high school sports in the St. Louis area and didn't have to move his family. I don't know the number right now, but at the time the Clayton High AD job paid more than $100K and was probably a better job than UMSL or Wash U. Plus, Grawer still ran camps/CYC coaching clinics, etc. He did just fine. He probably got a pension out of the Clayton job.

[jjray]

You KNOW all of this? Must be nice.

Or are you just cocky and incorrect in thinking we are in a position of strength?

What if he doesn't like Biondi and the new cut backs in travel?

What if he does not like the A-10?

What about DePaul being in the Big East?

What about DePaul having a tradition of excellence (though down now)?

What about DePaul having a hot bed of recruiting in their own backyard, Chicago?

What if DePaul will pay him more?

What if DePaul will ensure that they will take charter flights ALL the time to maximize student athletes time in the classroom?

What if DePaul is close enough to Milwaukee to drive up and see his mother 1,000% more than he can now?

What if he thinks the Chicago media will let him focus on recruiting, developing, and coaching and not whine about him all the time?

What if DePaul embraces him and does not have 15-20 regular haters on the depaul.com basketball board taking cheap shots at him?

I say, I HOPE HE STAYS! HE IS THE PROGRAM. HE LEAVES NOW, WE ARE SCREWED. NEED ANOTHER 3-5 yrs, THEN TURN IT OVER!

Dude, you need to cut back on the caffeine. The DePaul thing is a joke.

[kevinfootes]

I don't think he's necessarily calling any of them a failure; rather, he's saying that SLU is not a national program (Top 40 or so) to stay as a result of any of those coaches' tenures.

What are you talking about? He uses "failure" about 10 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's count...

"Majerus was a big-time, national hire. Program wants big-time and national. For him to leave in any way other than hanging them up for good, will be looked at as another failure. Local hire (Grawer) failure. Regional hire (Spoon) failure. National up-and-comer (Romar) failure. Keeping in the then-family hire (Soderberg) failure. Big-time national hire (Majerus) failure.

Now, not all failures had the school on the blame line (Romar back to alma mater U) but in the long run, failures are failures. Porter would seem the next logical move but who knows. You can probably get him at more than half the price of Rick and he might be great and all and restore the mom-and-pop luster that Rick has knocked off our shingle. Hooah."

[slufanskip]

You KNOW all of this? Must be nice.

Or are you just cocky and incorrect in thinking we are in a position of strength?

What if he doesn't like Biondi and the new cut backs in travel?

What if he does not like the A-10?

What about DePaul being in the Big East?

What about DePaul having a tradition of excellence (though down now)?

What about DePaul having a hot bed of recruiting in their own backyard, Chicago?

What if DePaul will pay him more?

What if DePaul will ensure that they will take charter flights ALL the time to maximize student athletes time in the classroom?

What if DePaul is close enough to Milwaukee to drive up and see his mother 1,000% more than he can now?

What if he thinks the Chicago media will let him focus on recruiting, developing, and coaching and not whine about him all the time?

What if DePaul embraces him and does not have 15-20 regular haters on the depaul.com basketball board taking cheap shots at him?

I say, I HOPE HE STAYS! HE IS THE PROGRAM. HE LEAVES NOW, WE ARE SCREWED. NEED ANOTHER 3-5 yrs, THEN TURN IT OVER!

What if you actually are his mother? Talk about a man crush

[Quality Is Job 1]

What are you talking about? He uses "failure" about 10 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's count...

"Majerus was a big-time, national hire. Program wants big-time and national. For him to leave in any way other than hanging them up for good, will be looked at as another failure. Local hire (Grawer) failure. Regional hire (Spoon) failure. National up-and-comer (Romar) failure. Keeping in the then-family hire (Soderberg) failure. Big-time national hire (Majerus) failure.

Now, not all failures had the school on the blame line (Romar back to alma mater U) but in the long run, failures are failures. Porter would seem the next logical move but who knows. You can probably get him at more than half the price of Rick and he might be great and all and restore the mom-and-pop luster that Rick has knocked off our shingle. Hooah."

Believe it or not, I can read. (Maybe better than you ) He's still not calling all of the coaches a failure, but he's saying that SLU's attempts to elevate to permanent prominence and relevance (i.e., wake the sleeping giant) have all failed.