Alford booted mid season

[almaman]

https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Report-Head-basketball-coach-Steve-Alford-fired-from-UCLA-503710911.html

[MusicCityBilliken]

Ghost of John Wooden.

He should have realized that, he had a nice gig at New Mexico.

[Pistol]

You can only fail upward for so long before it catches up with you.

[Cowboy]

-wow, I am trying to think of another college bball coach fired mid-season and can't recall one

 

[DeSmetBilliken]

I’ll always remember when his New Mexico team came to Chaifetz 6 years ago today and Alford picked up 2 technicals in about 5 seconds and got ejected.

[billikenfan05]

That's what happens when the shoe company recruits your players.

[Taj79]

UCLA is not a job I'd want.  Theirs is a history steeped in fame.  Never to be realized again.  I see it similar to SLU soccer.  Times have changed.  You can't expect a title every year.  Even Duke, with all its talent, and Kentucky too, don't win every year.  

[CBFan]

Coach Alford will coach again if he wants to coach again for a mid-level program.

I never thought LA was ever a good fit for a Midwest guy even though he coached in New Mexico.

He will do well in the MVC or other similar conferences.

 

[JMM28]

 

This is really strange to me. How does a program like UCLA not have chartered flights? Gun to my head, I would have guessed that UCLA had its own damn plane for mens basketball. 

 

[brianstl]

59 minutes ago, Pistol said:

You can only fail upward for so long before it catches up with you.

I not a huge Alford fan, but what does UCLA really expect?  Alford won two thirds of his games and made the Sweet 16 three out the five years he was their coach.  They should have never fired Howland.  Alford isn't Miller or Altman, but they are not going to get coahes at that level.  Hell, they had one in Howland and fired him.  Anyone who takes that job is one year missing the NCAA tournament away from being fired.

[billikenfan05]

7 minutes ago, JMM28 said:

 

This is really strange to me. How does a program like UCLA not have chartered flights? Gun to my head, I would have guessed that UCLA had its own damn plane for mens basketball. 

 

UCLA Basketball is pretty much SLU Soccer 

[Littlebill]

2 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

UCLA Basketball is pretty much SLU Soccer 

They made a final four with Love, Westbrook, and Afflalo

[slu72]

13 minutes ago, CBFan said:

Coach Alford will coach again if he wants to coach again for a mid-level program.

I never thought LA was ever a good fit for a Midwest guy even though he coached in New Mexico.

He will do well in the MVC or other similar conferences.

 

He'll likely get a P5 job. Think Crean, Barnes, Pearl as examples. He's taken UCLA to 2 sweet 16s. Hard to succeed at UCLA. Duke and UK will have similar problems once Coach K and Calipari leave. It's almost impossible to follow a legendary coach. Although, UCLA has had a long time and many coaches to get over Wooden. Wonder if Porter's name will be mentioned? More likely though they'll go after a guy like Wright. 

[billikenfan05]

4 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

They made a final four with Love, Westbrook, and Afflalo

We made the NCAA Soccer Quarterfinals in 2001 and 2003...

[Pistol]

7 minutes ago, brianstl said:

I not a huge Alford fan, but what does UCLA really expect?  Alford won two thirds of his games and made the Sweet 16 three out the five years he was their coach.  They should have never fired Howland.  Alford isn't Miller or Altman, but they are not going to coaches at that level.  Hell, they had one in Howland and fired him.  Anyone who takes that job is one year missing the NCAA tournament away from being fired.

I mean, I agree with this general sentiment but there is a certain level of program for which this is just reality now. Coaches aren't given nearly enough time to build their program their way. Fan bases will allow *maybe* one down year. I'm not sure there are any programs left in BCS conferences where fan bases have realistic expectations and will allow coaches time to build their program and/or succeed at a reasonable level that doesn't mean winning championships or being fired. (Maybe the secondary programs at more academic schools in power conferences, like Duke football or Northwestern basketball, but even those places are in the pressure cooker now.)

UCLA is an interesting case because they've got the burden of history and other programs have caught up and exceeded them, but there's absolutely no reason they shouldn't still be a top-tier program. Market, facilities, financial resources - it's the total package. And they're in a conference that is both a power conference and weak enough for a steady program to emerge every year. Arizona, Oregon, and UCLA should rule it year in and year out with occasional challengers.

That said, I don't think he's a good coach. He can recruit and then underperform with those players. It's been this way everywhere he's gone. He has never quite lived up to expectations anywhere.

[CBFan]

11 minutes ago, slu72 said:

He'll likely get a P5 job. Think Crean, Barnes, Pearl as examples. He's taken UCLA to 2 sweet 16s. Hard to succeed at UCLA. Duke and UK will have similar problems once Coach K and Calipari leave. It's almost impossible to follow a legendary coach. Although, UCLA has had a long time and many coaches to get over Wooden. Wonder if Porter's name will be mentioned? More likely though they'll go after a guy like Wright. 

Good points, one thing worth noting last season he lost 3 players because they were caught stealing in China and that will probably be looked at when considered for a coaching job in a P5 conference school.

[slu72]

2 minutes ago, CBFan said:

Good points, one thing worth noting last season he lost 3 players because they were caught stealing in China and that will probably be looked at when considered for a coaching job in a P5 conference school.

Maybe, but if schools can overlook Pearl's and Sampson's violations, I don't see three kleptomaniacs impacting Alford too much. Unless, of course, he was in the store with them.

[CBFan]

Just now, slu72 said:

Maybe, but if schools can overlook Pearl's and Sampson's violations, I don't see three kleptomaniacs impacting Alford too much. Unless, of course, he was in the store with them.

Funny made me laugh,  I did not articulate at all, what I meant was that he lost 3 good players due to that non-sense by the kids.  In spite of it his team made it to the big dance and they are down this season so it might work in his favor is what I meant.

[White Pelican]

I stole this from elsewhere, assume it's correct:

Alford, 54, leaves UCLA with a 124-63 record in five-plus seasons at the school. He led the Bruins to the NCAA tournament in four of his five full seasons in Los Angeles, including three trips to the Sweet 16, but failed to engineer a deep tournament run.

I don't think he's gonna have any trouble finding a good gig somewhere.

[slu72]

5 minutes ago, CBFan said:

Funny made me laugh,  I did not articulate at all, what I meant was that he lost 3 good players due to that non-sense by the kids.  In spite of it his team made it to the big dance and they are down this season so it might work in his favor is what I meant.

Understood. Again, I'd wager he lands softly at a P5. Aren't a lot of guys out there w/ his resume, even though it's not up to UCLA standards. 

UCLA will once again be trying to convince their crazed fan base they'll hit a grand slam here. So, who are the big names that might be swayed: Pearl, Wright, Sampson come to mind. However, Pearl and Sampson do have some dirty laundry. Do they try and lure Stevens  away from the Celts? That would be a Hollywood type hire for sure. Does Stevens, even want to leave the NBA? No idea. Pitino? Nope he's toxic to college hoops right now. Few and Marshall? Both seem quite comfortable with their situations and likely won't be influenced by LA's bright lights and big $$, which they will need in CA.  

[brianstl]

1 minute ago, slu72 said:

Understood. Again, I'd wager he lands softly at a P5. Aren't a lot of guys out there w/ his resume, even though it's not up to UCLA standards. 

UCLA will once again be trying to convince their crazed fan base they'll hit a grand slam here. So, who are the big names that might be swayed: Pearl, Wright, Sampson come to mind. However, Pearl and Sampson do have some dirty laundry. Do they try and lure Stevens  away from the Celts? That would be a Hollywood type hire for sure. Does Stevens, even want to leave the NBA? No idea. Pitino? Nope he's toxic to college hoops right now. Few and Marshall? Both seem quite comfortable with their situations and likely won't be influenced by LA's bright lights and big $$, which they will need in CA.  

UCLA won't consider Pearl or Sampson.  Jay Wright and Brad Stevens aren't leaving their jobs for UCLA.  First, UCLA isn't going to pay their next coach enough to pry either of those guys away.  Second, the Nova job and definitely the Celtics jobs are better than what the UCLA job is currently. Stevens probably has the best job in all of basketball right now.

[Basketbill]

1 hour ago, Cowboy said:

-wow, I am trying to think of another college bball coach fired mid-season and can't recall one

 

“Innocent” Rick Pitino was fired prior to basketball game starting but Practice had started.

 

[billiken_roy]

34 minutes ago, brianstl said:

UCLA won't consider Pearl or Sampson.  Jay Wright and Brad Stevens aren't leaving their jobs for UCLA.  First, UCLA isn't going to pay their next coach enough to pry either of those guys away.  Second, the Nova job and definitely the Celtics jobs are better than what the UCLA job is currently. Stevens probably has the best job in all of basketball right now.

if i recall, the state of california has some very limited salary rules for employees.  thus it requires some very creative contracts to be able to lure a top coach.   not that it cannot be done, just saying it becomes a legal challenge that undoubtedly makes negotiations tricky for the level of coach that is used saying, "here's my price.  match it..."   not that ucla wont, just saying it becomes complicated.  some coaches likely dont want to get in the middle of that.  that is purely my speculations but just saying.  

[ACE]

1 hour ago, DeSmetBilliken said:

I’ll always remember when his New Mexico team came to Chaifetz 6 years ago today and Alford picked up 2 technicals in about 5 seconds and got ejected.

Yeah, when I saw "Alford booted" in the headline, that's what I thought of. It was on New Year's Eve, we absolutely dominated a pretty good New Mexico team holding them to 46 points. Alford got tired of watching his team get dominated, so decided to bail. Gutless.

[Pistol]

28 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

if i recall, the state of california has some very limited salary rules for employees.  thus it requires some very creative contracts to be able to lure a top coach.   not that it cannot be done, just saying it becomes a legal challenge that undoubtedly makes negotiations tricky for the level of coach that is used saying, "here's my price.  match it..."   not that ucla wont, just saying it becomes complicated.  some coaches likely dont want to get in the middle of that.  that is purely my speculations but just saying.  

His base salary is over $2.6 million. His buyout will be $3.7 million.

I looked at his contract a little bit and am curious as to what CA regulations you're talking about that would make them have to get creative. Having seen plenty of other compensation structures for big-time football and basketball coaches at state schools, it doesn't look any different from what you'd see elsewhere.