Coaching Candidates

[BigMouthBilliken]

Beggars can't be choosers guys

[johnbj14]

Despite the last two seasons, I feel that SLU is still an attractive job for young coaches. Great facilities, good conference, and good location for recruiting (St. Louis and Chicago not too far). I think we can land a solid coach who can really do something here. It is on the AD and Dr. P to make this happen.

[HoosierPal]

Paul Lusk will be available.

[CBFan]

illinois fans have told you they want Thad? Well I'm a SLU fan and I want Coach K as our coach. Does it mean anything?

I did not articulate my point so well just should have said no way for SLU because the BCS schools would be lining up for Thad. What do you think about Crutchfield? I like what I have read about him.

[CBFan]

Some of these candidates... you're dreaming, folks.

If we had found a way into the Big East a few years ago, then, yes.

Again... Majerus was a longshot lucky break for us.

Getting Majerus always gives me hope that is could happen again. Do you see someone like Crutchfield coming to SLU?

[slu72]

Majerus' hire was the result of all the stars aligning at just the right time. There doesn't appear to be another Majerus type out there right now. Sendek would be the closest, but he's no Rick Majerus.

[Bobby Metzinger]

Majerus' hire was the result of all the stars aligning at just the right time. There doesn't appear to be another Majerus type out there right now. Sendek would be the closest, but he's no Rick Majerus.

We don't necessarily need another Rick. We just don't need another Jim Crews.

[brianstl]

Crutchfield could work out, but I don't think he is worth the downside risk. Him getting the job would come across (to me) as the program going cheap, crossing it's fingers and hoping it works out.

[SLURadioBoy]

I did a quick Google of Crutchfield and found a Q&A article with him. I found this answer below interesting. If he already has recruiting connections here, I can see that being a real plus. Although, I don't know if he has ever signed a player form here.

What would you say is your focus in recruiting?

We all recruit nationally. We kind of break up certain areas. I have Dallas and Central Texas. Lew does Houston. I’ll do the southeastern part of the country, a little in the Midwest. Steve has the Midwest. I have some kids in St. Louis and Minneapolis. Steve has the whole state of Kansas. We haven’t really broken up the states. I’m from Kentucky originally, so I’ll dibble-dabble in Kentucky. Lew pretty much does all the East Coast. . . . We’ve done it that way since we’ve been here. It’s not on paper. We just kind of just worked it out between us. A lot of people don’t do it that way. . . . We all kind of have our people around the country that we constantly stay in contact with.

[DeSmetBilliken]

I did a quick Google of Crutchfield and found a Q&A article with him. I found this answer below interesting. If he already has recruiting connections here, I can see that being a real plus. Although, I don't know if he has ever signed a player form here.

What would you say is your focus in recruiting?

We all recruit nationally. We kind of break up certain areas. I have Dallas and Central Texas. Lew does Houston. Ill do the southeastern part of the country, a little in the Midwest. Steve has the Midwest. I have some kids in St. Louis and Minneapolis. Steve has the whole state of Kansas. We havent really broken up the states. Im from Kentucky originally, so Ill dibble-dabble in Kentucky. Lew pretty much does all the East Coast. . . . Weve done it that way since weve been here. Its not on paper. We just kind of just worked it out between us. A lot of people dont do it that way. . . . We all kind of have our people around the country that we constantly stay in contact with.

I saw that too. Was wondering if he had a connection with guys like Gordon, Watson, Ramey, etc, but minimal amount of searching didn't turn up much.

[Bobby Metzinger]

Crutchfield could work out, but I don't think he is worth the downside risk. Him getting the job would come across (to me) as the program going cheap, crossing it's fingers and hoping it works out.

Better than a Doug Woolard "National Search" for a candidate to replace Romar. And by "National Search," what he really meant was looking down the hall in West Pine and finding Brad Soderberg. I'm all in for Crutchfield.

[brianstl]

Better than a Doug Woolard "National Search" for a candidate to replace Romar. And by "National Search," what he really meant was looking down the hall in West Pine and finding Brad Soderberg. I'm all in for Crutchfield.

So you are all in for the guy that got passed over for the Liberty job last year?

[slufan13]

I'd consider Crutchfield, but I still like the small-school head coach approach.

[willie]

So you are all in for the guy that got passed over for the Liberty job last year?

Maybe he drinks and smokes.

[MB73]

Getting Majerus always gives me hope that is could happen again. Do you see someone like Crutchfield coming to SLU?

Yes he has the kind of background that is a possibility, he has a good profile in some categories, but who knows if he is head coaching material? There is so much more to it. Does he have head coaching X & O capabilities, leadership skills, overall demeanor, org skills, attention to detail, energy, all of that, who knows? But to come from a big program with big time recruiting success and pipelines is a good start. Who really knows how much of the recruiting can be attributed to him? Insiders would know, not us. And if he has all the attributes above, he might want a better gig than SLU, so I would be skeptical about him.

IMO to think about all of this is pointless right now. But that is just me. Some who are being mentioned are absolutely NOT going to be interested in SLU, no way, some posters are not being realistic. And Crews might coach us next year, who knows?

[Cowboy]

Yes he has the kind of background that is a possibility, he has a good profile in some categories, but who knows if he is head coaching material? There is so much more to it. Does he have head coaching X & O capabilities, leadership skills, overall demeanor, org skills, attention to detail, energy, all of that, who knows? But to come from a big program with big time recruiting success and pipelines is a good start. Who really knows how much of the recruiting can be attributed to him? Insiders would know, not us. And if he has all the attributes above, he might want a better gig than SLU, so I would be skeptical about him.

IMO to think about all of this is pointless right now. But that is just me. Some who are being mentioned are absolutely NOT going to be interested in SLU, no way, some posters are not being realistic. And Crews might coach us next year, who knows?

-from all indications, that would be a very, very bad thing

[CBFan]

Yes he has the kind of background that is a possibility, he has a good profile in some categories, but who knows if he is head coaching material? There is so much more to it. Does he have head coaching X & O capabilities, leadership skills, overall demeanor, org skills, attention to detail, energy, all of that, who knows? But to come from a big program with big time recruiting success and pipelines is a good start. Who really knows how much of the recruiting can be attributed to him? Insiders would know, not us. And if he has all the attributes above, he might want a better gig than SLU, so I would be skeptical about him.

IMO to think about all of this is pointless right now. But that is just me. Some who are being mentioned are absolutely NOT going to be interested in SLU, no way, some posters are not being realistic. And Crews might coach us next year, who knows?

Good points and coach Crews could keep his job. I think if Coach Crews can manage to get to a 500 record in conference then I think he gets another year. I am all over the place with the coach because I have not forgot beating Butler three times and VCU twice that resulted in the A10 tournament win. Then you have this year where the team plays so bad and looks so helpless and I just want the coach to go.

[TheA_Bomb]

There's not enough discussion of The Next SLU Head Coach Drew Diener. Hop on the DienerExpress toot toot all aboard leaving KC arriving STL March 2016

[billikenfan05]

There's not enough discussion of The Next SLU Head Coach Drew Diener. Hop on the DienerExpress toot toot all aboard leaving KC arriving STL March 2016

DIENERMOBILE

[Billiken Law]

So you are all in for the guy that got passed over for the Liberty job last year?

Coaches don't get jobs for many reasons other than not being good enough and sometimes those who get "passed over" actually turned the job themselves.

[brianstl]

Coaches don't get jobs for many reasons other than not being good enough and sometimes those who get "passed over" actually turned the job themselves.

This is obviously correct. There is much I like about Crutchfield. It comes down to how much risk you are willing to accept. Right after Rickma, i would have been much higher on a guy like Crutchfield.

[DoctorB]

Good points and coach Crews could keep his job. I think if Coach Crews can manage to get to a 500 record in conference then I think he gets another year.

While the first sentence is certainly plausible -- he could keep the job, for a variety of reasons -- it's the second sentence that forced me to sign in and say this:

.500 in A10? which bizarro world are you currently inhabiting? do you say that, having watched any recent games (other than the outliers?)?? Because, based on the Dayton game, I am back to my position of a couple weeks ago; I seriously doubt if we can win another game.

As for the contract, I will say this: $$ is so tight right now at SLU, that it's hard to capture in words, but trust me on that. Thus: it is sadly the $$ factor alone, that may force another year or even 2 for Crews. that is all...

[WestCoastBilliken]

While the first sentence is certainly plausible -- he could keep the job, for a variety of reasons -- it's the second sentence that forced me to sign in and say this:

.500 in A10? which bizarro world are you currently inhabiting? do you say that, having watched any recent games (other than the outliers?)?? Because, based on the Dayton game, I am back to my position of a couple weeks ago; I seriously doubt if we can win another game.

As for the contract, I will say this: $$ is so tight right now at SLU, that it's hard to capture in words, but trust me on that. Thus: it is sadly the $$ factor alone, that may force another year or even 2 for Crews. that is all...

How is money so tight right now at SLU?

SLU is already bleeding students dry with its tuition rates (35K a year now, no idea, but its absurd) and annual tuition hikes of 3,4,5%, while continuing to accept more and more % of applicants every year and putting out an inferior product (ranking) for the past 8 years. And where is our NCAA money going to?

[DoctorB]

long story short: numbers are down, way down, for this year's enrollment; talk on campus is that there is about a $5 million shortfall and the "sturm und drang" is very real, right now. Meanwhile the cranes are building new dorms. (I had no vote on that decision.) These alarming numbers are not a one year anomaly: they project to be down over the next 5 years. Admissions is having a meltdown. This is probably going to lead to a national crisis in higher ed (numbers of graduating students are just down across the board) and there is no quick end in sight. Many smaller, less endowed and less ready to handle it colleges will probably not survive this next 5-10 years period.

ps: You think it's just SLU? funny stuff -- SLU, along with many other schools, is "already bleeding students dry with its tuition rates" -- true, dat. Go see The Big Short. Not only will it make you want to throw up -- and prosecute half of Wall Street -- but one of the guys who predicted all that recently said something along the lines of the next big crisis will be higher ed: student loans, failing universities. ..... things are going to get much worse, folks. Hope I'm wrong; but I doubt it. that is all...

[johnbj14]

Reading this as a current student worries me greatly based on the amount of debt I'm incurring to go to SLU. If SLU's degree value plummets that really won't be a good thing for any of us.