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BenFred Article 12/23


slu92

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Blake Ahearn (Memphis Grizzlies assistant).  Ben McCollum (Northwest Missouri St.).  Josh Schertz (Indiana St.)

Hiring a coach with 3 or 4 NCAA appearances but with no NCAA appearances but without the stench of failure at SLU would result in MBMs flooding the Billiken Victory Fund with dollars.  I totally get the allure of McCollum.  If he's the 2nd coming of Bo Ryan, he's a once in a lifetime hire.  If his system doesn't translate to D1, then he will be an also-ran.  High risk, high reward.

Oh, I forgot a guy on the under 55 list:
Chris Mack (9)

Travis Ford (7)
John Becker (5)
Bryce Drew (5)
Cuonzo Martin (4)
John Groce (4)
Andy Kennedy (3)
Pat Kelsey (3)

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1 hour ago, brianstl said:

Mack would be a great hire, but I don’t know if he would be interested.

Drew would have been the right hire the last time around and would again be a good hire.  
 

I don’t know if the administration would want to deal with the backlash that would come with hiring Becker.  Other than that He would be a good hire. 
 

I think Kennedy doesn’t get the credit he actually deserves as a coach, but he would be hard to sell to the fan base.  
 

I’m a pass on Martin and Groce.  The school isn’t going to hire a guy that washed out for Mizzou or the Illini.

I actually think the best thing might just be hiring a younger NBA or college assistant that is a strong teacher of the game, realizes everything about the college game is different now, isn’t set in their ways and is able to adapt to all the changes that are happening away from the court.  I would be fine with someone like Ahean, a name that came up over the off season.

We'd probably hire the F'er from Minnesota instead.

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7 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Blake Ahearn (Memphis Grizzlies assistant).  Ben McCollum (Northwest Missouri St.).  Josh Schertz (Indiana St.)

Hiring a coach with 3 or 4 NCAA appearances but with no NCAA appearances but without the stench of failure at SLU would result in MBMs flooding the Billiken Victory Fund with dollars.  I totally get the allure of McCollum.  If he's the 2nd coming of Bo Ryan, he's a once in a lifetime hire.  If his system doesn't translate to D1, then he will be an also-ran.  High risk, high reward.

Oh, I forgot a guy on the under 55 list:
Chris Mack (9)

Travis Ford (7)
John Becker (5)
Bryce Drew (5)
Cuonzo Martin (4)
John Groce (4)
Andy Kennedy (3)
Pat Kelsey (3)

This is oversimplification and patronizing.  The right coach could energize the fanbase and result in more donations. However, other changes are needed the head of the BVF and official voice of the Billikens both painted dire pictures of NIL. Where are they getting the talking points?  Who influenced the BVF to take the NIL strategy they've taken? Why is there very rare BVF publicity? That points to an ineffective AD.

I'm willing to roll the dice on unproven candidates at this point. It's a new era, coaches can completely change a team season to season. So 4 year investments aren't required. 

New ideas are required.

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10 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

This is oversimplification and patronizing.  The right coach could energize the fanbase and result in more donations. However, other changes are needed the head of the BVF and official voice of the Billikens both painted dire pictures of NIL. Where are they getting the talking points?  Who influenced the BVF to take the NIL strategy they've taken? Why is there very rare BVF publicity? That points to an ineffective AD.

I'm willing to roll the dice on unproven candidates at this point. It's a new era, coaches can completely change a team season to season. So 4 year investments aren't required. 

New ideas are required.

Hiring young, unproven candidates isn't a new idea.  It's basically how low-majors hire coaches.

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16 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

This is oversimplification and patronizing.  The right coach could energize the fanbase and result in more donations. However, other changes are needed the head of the BVF and official voice of the Billikens both painted dire pictures of NIL. Where are they getting the talking points?  Who influenced the BVF to take the NIL strategy they've taken? Why is there very rare BVF publicity? That points to an ineffective AD.

I'm willing to roll the dice on unproven candidates at this point. It's a new era, coaches can completely change a team season to season. So 4 year investments aren't required. 

New ideas are required.

We want an existing coach at a lower-level school who has talented players ready to play now; and preferably one who has shown some skill with X's and O's and with roster construction. We let the BVF do its thing on recruiting, we need a coach who knows which players to target, not just to sweet-talk high-rating players. Let the money talk.

 

Will Wade at McNeese is an obvious choice; if we can get Chris Mack that's a slam dunk IMO.

 

Utah State is the model of coaching hiring that we need to follow; he brought Great Osobor with him from Montana St. He had a team ready to play and win quickly. We need to do the same thing, and we need to sign contracts that don't put in outrageous buyout clauses like Ford has. I have no problem with changing to a new coach a few years later. If someone comes and takes him from us, GOOD that means we were playing well.

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28 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Hiring young, unproven candidates isn't a new idea.  It's basically how low-majors hire coaches.

Didn't say it was. You missed the totality of the statement to focus on a small detail in an effort to continue your narrative that Ford is good enough and we can't do better. 

If SLU is unwilling to make some wholesale changes in personnel and/or the way the AD does business. I agree we're not going to do better.

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5 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Didn't say it was. You missed the totality of the statement to focus on a small detail in an effort to continue your narrative that Ford is good enough and we can't do better. 

If SLU is unwilling to make some wholesale changes in personnel and/or the way the AD does business. I agree we're not going to do better.

I've actually kept my personal coaching preferences to my self the entire time I've posted here, going all the way to Romar.  I don't control what coach SLU chooses to hire. I choose to root for the team we have on the floor.  But do I enjoy a good banter with my fellow MBMs about their preferences?  Sure.

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4 hours ago, stmdragons said:

I still want Ben McCollum. Not sure if that’s realistic or not, but he excites me far more than any of the coaches mentioned here aside from Mack. 

I think he’d be a great hire for a mid-major school like SLU but what’s his deal? Pretty sure I’ve read some posts on here claim he’s been offered P6 jobs in the recent past? Not a chance that’s accurate. As much as I’m sure he loves Maryville, MO and DII hoops, not a chance he’d still be there if a P6 school came calling. Jon Rahm joined LIV because he wants to grow the game, right?? Perhaps (most likely) I’m remembering it incorrectly and those posts said that some P6 schools simply kicked the tires.  Makes more sense because I’m sure the list of P6 schools hiring directly from DII is a very, very short list. Anyone have that list? Kim Anderson and…..

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4 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

As for a new AD?  Maybe the head assistant at JMU that AD seems to be killing it right now.  First year in D1 makes a bowl game and hosted Game Day.  Basketball team is undefeated.  Would need to see how their collective works (if they have one), game day operations, fund raising and marketing. But they're not some traditional D1 power and are thriving right now after their transition. The longtime JMU AD is retiring and they're looking to hire a new 1.

https://jmusports.com/staff-directory/geoff-polglase/3

Strategic planning, fund raising experience 

Not sure if an AD who has been at a football school would come to a non football school.  An assistant would.

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10 hours ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

I think he’d be a great hire for a mid-major school like SLU but what’s his deal? Pretty sure I’ve read some posts on here claim he’s been offered P6 jobs in the recent past? Not a chance that’s accurate. As much as I’m sure he loves Maryville, MO and DII hoops, not a chance he’d still be there if a P6 school came calling. Jon Rahm joined LIV because he wants to grow the game, right?? Perhaps (most likely) I’m remembering it incorrectly and those posts said that some P6 schools simply kicked the tires.  Makes more sense because I’m sure the list of P6 schools hiring directly from DII is a very, very short list. Anyone have that list? Kim Anderson and…..

The only schools that I remember him interviewing with were Illinois State and Green Bay this past offseason. I’m sure there were others, but I can’t imagine any P6 schools would roll the dice on a DII guy. 

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1 hour ago, stmdragons said:

The only schools that I remember him interviewing with were Illinois State and Green Bay this past offseason. I’m sure there were others, but I can’t imagine any P6 schools would roll the dice on a DII guy. 

McCollum hasn't received any P6 offers.  Most of his offers are from MVC and MAC schools like Buffalo & Evansville.

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On 12/22/2023 at 5:56 PM, TheA_Bomb said:

As for a new AD?  Maybe the head assistant at JMU that AD seems to be killing it right now.  First year in D1 makes a bowl game and hosted Game Day.  Basketball team is undefeated.  Would need to see how their collective works (if they have one), game day operations, fund raising and marketing. But they're not some traditional D1 power and are thriving right now after their transition. The longtime JMU AD is retiring and they're looking to hire a new 1.

https://jmusports.com/staff-directory/geoff-polglase/3

Strategic planning, fund raising experience 

First year in FBS. FCS is also D1.

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29 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Don’t know what it would take but the Fl Atlantic coach is killing it at a school where sailing and synchronized swimming were their major sports. 

Check out their schedule this year, it's tough. They did drop a head scratcher to Bryant but otherwise proving not to be a fluke.

Dude is going to get paid by a big time program most likely.

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1 hour ago, slu72 said:

Don’t know what it would take but the Fl Atlantic coach is killing it at a school where sailing and synchronized swimming were their major sports. 

The story of Dusty May, Florida Atlantic's coach, is fascinating.  He was a student manager under Bobby Knight at Indiana.  His coaching philosophy is essentially a carbon copy but probably without all of the profanity.  He considers St Mary's a realistic model for perennial success.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/22/florida-atlantic-basketball-dusty-may/

 

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15 minutes ago, TRN said:

Dusty May is probably pretty content to coach and recruit in Boca Raton, he’s got a good deal there.  When Woodson is done at Indiana he can go home.

If he loves the area he is living in, he might just be waiting for Larrañaga to retire.  Back in May, Larrañaga signed an extension through 26-27 which would probably be the end for him.  
 

Crazy thing is before the extension Larrañaga was making only $100,000 more than Ford.

 

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