Coaching movement that might affect SLU

[brianstl]

If Travis did get the Mizzou job, he couldn't bring his nephew as part of his staff.  The UM System has nepotism rules that would make it impossible.

[wgstl]

7 minutes ago, ACE said:

If Ford continues to kill it on the recruiting trail, as fans, we need to be ready that locally these "rumors" of Ford leaving will be floated out there by SPUMAC and Illinois cheerleaders. Recognize it for what it is.

I think next year when Tford see's the fetz at around 8k he'll be more vocal about staying for a bit. 

[Glorydays2013]

Michigan 22 Illinois 9

This could be the day we see a Groce firing

[Box and Won]

1 minute ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Michigan 22 Illinois 9

This could be the day we see a Groce firing

Michigan is wearing their practice uniforms in the game.

[Pistol]

3 minutes ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Michigan 22 Illinois 9

This could be the day we see a Groce firing

 

[cheeseman]

41 minutes ago, Bills_06 said:

But Groce has the top kid in the state coming in along with the 6th and 7th ranked kids in the state according to 247 for the 2017 class.  Ford wasn't an extremely well received hire I would say when he was hired here but with the talent he's brought in, the excitement is coming back and the fact he can win with talent in the A10 compared to the big 12 where all teams have talent.  In the B10, all teams have talent.  Illinois even thinking about firing Groce and getting Ford makes zero sense so like I said, you have to question if his sources are just saying Ford just to stir things up.  

The Mizzou beat writer for the KC star was asked about Ford when he was on the radio here a few days ago, said Mizzou would have to be told no by their first 5, 6, 8 even 12 options before Ford is a serious candidate.  And that's a school that has zero positives going for them in basketball right now and Ford at least makes some sense since they always want to keep St. Louis kids there which Ford has done here and SEC isn't an extremely strong basketball conference.  Illinois is a decent team with a really good recruiting class coming in, Ford makes no sense as an option.  

I actually think the KC guys are more plugged in then the StL guys who report.  Not sure why but they always seem to have better info.

[BillsBeliever!!!]

Michigan is completely whomping Illinois with no sleep while practically playing i their underwear. Illini need to fire Groce...

[Old guy]

I really think the subject matter regarding Ford is neithe Mizzou or Illini, but rather what can be done to make sure Ford stays at SLU and commits to develop its basketball program to a level of national prominence. Thai is what really concerns all of us. Of course, leaving to go somewhere else ends this opportunity for SLU

In order keep Ford at SLU, we have to gain his commitment to the University and feed his conviction that THIS IS where he wants to be. The key person that will carry the responsibility to obtain this highly desirable outcome is, in my opinion, Chris May, who I have never met. Can he be successful in keeping Ford at SLU? I do not want to rain on anyone's party but a lot of the stuff that has been said about Chris May (consensus builder, not likely to take risks, a mild type of person) may not be what is needed to keep Ford at SLU to transform its basketball program into national prominence. That is, unless Ford himself for whatever reason decides SLU is the right place for him to make his mark upon College Basketball. Of course, this last option represents the optimal solution for SLU and for all of us because it comes from Ford himself and does not require a facilitating intermediary. How likely it is to happen, I have no idea.

[Glorydays2013]

Wait a min, something that wasnt talked about Re Crean, is that would leave the IU job open. Coaches will be scrambling to get that position

[DeSmetBilliken]

Until we see or hear of more developments, the idea of Ford going to Mizzou or Illinois should be viewed as a non-issue. For all that has been mentioned about Dave Matter saying on Bernie's show this morning that Travis was a candidate, Matter also published an article this morning about the Mizzou search, and unless I missed it, Travis Ford's name was not in the article. 

I've never conducted a coaching search, but I'd assume they vet more than just a few potential candidates. A search firm probably casts a very wide net to gauge interest. At the same time coaches (or their agents) might view having their name floated as a way to leverage a contract extension or more perks at their current school, so their agents respond that they might be interested. Technically, that could be deemed "mutual interest."

Here's an example from our search last year. Someone posted here that they were a relative of a coach that had been contacted by our search firm. That coach apparently indicated interest. I spoke with the poster here reporting this development via the private message function, as they didn't want to go into much detail on a public forum. I'll add that this coach never appeared in any media reports on our search. In fact, Stu Durando reported that he hadn't hea of SLU considering any assistant coaches (this candidate was an assistant). Of course, this report here could've been made up, if it could be an example of the type of wide net that is cast in these things. The difference with Ford is that as a local coach, his response to such a query gets mentioned in the media as "mutual interest."

[gobillsgo]

54 minutes ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Wait a min, something that wasnt talked about Re Crean, is that would leave the IU job open. Coaches will be scrambling to get that position

Jim Crews is a lock for the IU job. 

[TheChosenOne]

In my opinion, there are too many people saying that they are hearing Ford is expressing interest in Mizzou and other potential openings for it to be nothing. We had also heard not long ago that Ford was not thrilled with things here at SLU, so this should come as no surprise. As far as Ford the candidate though, I can't imagine he is overly high on the list of many high major programs at this point. A year from now that may be a completely different story. Regardless, I like the odds of Ford being around SLU for at least another season. Not sure beyond that.

[aj_arete]

2 hours ago, brianstl said:

If Travis did get the Mizzou job, he couldn't bring his nephew as part of his staff.  The UM System has nepotism rules that would make it impossible.

There might be a way around that. When Barry Odom hired his brother on his staff, it was done through AD Jim Sterk. Couldn't he do the same for Travis Ford? http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu_football/odom-hire-doesn-t-violate-nepotism-law/article_4bbd3f84-cc57-5f51-9993-81f3fb3e7604.html

[brianstl]

5 minutes ago, aj_arete said:

There might be a way around that. When Barry Odom hired his brother on his staff, it was done through AD Jim Sterk. Couldn't he do the same for Travis Ford? http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu_football/odom-hire-doesn-t-violate-nepotism-law/article_4bbd3f84-cc57-5f51-9993-81f3fb3e7604.html

It isn't the state law that should be the problem.  That would get around the hiring part of the Missouri law and the hiring part of the school's nepotism policy,  It is the school's nepotism policy.  Honestly, I don't know how Odom's brother can be on the staff and the school can claim to be enforcing it's policy. 

https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/collected_rules/personnel/ch320/320.040_nepotism

I son

[cheeseman]

2 hours ago, Bills_06 said:

But Groce has the top kid in the state coming in along with the 6th and 7th ranked kids in the state according to 247 for the 2017 class.  Ford wasn't an extremely well received hire I would say when he was hired here but with the talent he's brought in, the excitement is coming back and the fact he can win with talent in the A10 compared to the big 12 where all teams have talent.  In the B10, all teams have talent.  Illinois even thinking about firing Groce and getting Ford makes zero sense so like I said, you have to question if his sources are just saying Ford just to stir things up.  

The Mizzou beat writer for the KC star was asked about Ford when he was on the radio here a few days ago, said Mizzou would have to be told no by their first 5, 6, 8 even 12 options before Ford is a serious candidate.  And that's a school that has zero positives going for them in basketball right now and Ford at least makes some sense since they always want to keep St. Louis kids there which Ford has done here and SEC isn't an extremely strong basketball conference.  Illinois is a decent team with a really good recruiting class coming in, Ford makes no sense as an option.  

Sorry Bill 06 - computer gremlins at work.

 

I am not sure where this Ford is not happy at SLU thing has come from.  Who actually said that and did it actually carry any credence?  It seems that this rumor is taking on a life of its own.

[ACE]

49 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

In my opinion, there are too many people saying that they are hearing Ford is expressing interest in Mizzou and other potential openings for it to be nothing. We had also heard not long ago that Ford was not thrilled with things here at SLU, so this should come as no surprise. As far as Ford the candidate though, I can't imagine he is overly high on the list of many high major programs at this point. A year from now that may be a completely different story. Regardless, I like the odds of Ford being around SLU for at least another season. Not sure beyond that.

Who said that? One of the MBMs speculating on here? 

[2010andBeyond]

I'll offer a third here. Does anyone have actual evidence ford is unhappy with/at slu?

[NextYearBill]

what are the eating options in Fusz these days?.... if they took out the KFC Express i could see why Ford might be unhappy #triplecrunchzinger

[rgbilliken]

6 minutes ago, NextYearBill said:

what are the eating options in Fusz these days?.... if they took out the KFC Express i could see why Ford might be unhappy #triplecrunchzinger

Not sure what they have at this point, but I thought they took out the KFC around my senior year (2012) but pretty sure it's gone now regardless of when they took it out. Last time I was over there like a year or two ago (?) they had Jamba Juice in Fusz though

[NextYearBill]

2 minutes ago, rgbilliken said:

Not sure what they have at this point, but I thought they took out the KFC around my senior year (2012) but pretty sure it's gone now regardless of when they took it out. Last time I was over there like a year or two ago (?) they had Jamba Juice in Fusz though

best days of my life were hoop'n at the rec, loading up on pizza hut/kfc express, then going back to the crib to spark it up 

[rgbilliken]

Just now, NextYearBill said:

best days of my life were hoop'n at the rec, loading up on pizza hut/kfc express, then going back to the crib to spark it up 

Are you sure we weren't friends when we were at SLU? Lol. JK, I didn't hoop. I'm 5'2" with zero coordination.

[bauman]

1 hour ago, TheChosenOne said:

In my opinion, there are too many people saying that they are hearing Ford is expressing interest in Mizzou and other potential openings for it to be nothing. We had also heard not long ago that Ford was not thrilled with things here at SLU, so this should come as no surprise. As far as Ford the candidate though, I can't imagine he is overly high on the list of many high major programs at this point. A year from now that may be a completely different story. Regardless, I like the odds of Ford being around SLU for at least another season. Not sure beyond that.

Where did you hear that TF was "not thrilled" with things here at SLU?  Who said what?  I haven't heard anything like that.

What I have heard is that he was very thankful to be hired by SLU.  Frankly, I'm sick of all this BS.  C Gervino was on Frank's show today and said that Ford had expressed interest in the Mizzou job.  I think that is also BS.  Of course, Gervino said he got that info from a reliable source who couldn't be named. 

Do any of you really think Ford wants to walk away from the 4 transfers and two outstanding recruits in addition to CAG's stated interest in making the Billikens St. Louis team?  Really?

[brianstl]

2 minutes ago, bauman said:

Where did you hear that TF was "not thrilled" with things here at SLU?  Who said what?  I haven't heard anything like that.

What I have heard is that he was very thankful to be hired by SLU.  Frankly, I'm sick of all this BS.  C Gervino was on Frank's show today and said that Ford had expressed interest in the Mizzou job.  I think that is also BS.  Of course, Gervino said he got that info from a reliable source who couldn't be named. 

Do any of you really think Ford wants to walk away from the 4 transfers and two outstanding recruits in addition to CAG's stated interest in making the Billikens St. Louis team?  Really?

Frank said on Monday that he heard there was mutual interest between Ford and Mizzou.  Does anyone actually think that Frank would go on the air with that before he talked it over with Travis?  Anyone?

I doubt there is real interest from either side, but I don't doubt for a second that both sides have their reasons for letting this stuff hang out there.  Mizzou's reasons are obvious.  My guess is Travis is trying to create leverage to try to get some things changed or planned changes accelerated at SLU.

[TheChosenOne]

1 minute ago, brianstl said:

My guess is Travis is trying to create leverage to try to get some things changed or planned changes accelerated at SLU.

Agreed. Unless he does get a bite from one of these high major programs....

[waldo027]

I had mixed feelings on Wackadoo's in the BSC back in the day. I liked the atmosphere but the service was absolutely terrible. When it became Salsarita's, I liked that more. The nachos and quesadillas were pretty good, and you didn't have to wait for your food as you basically served yourself.