BLIKNS Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Can`t remember for sure,but at one time I thought Bliss was a candidate.Sure glad we didn`t hire him.Man Baylor has some problems right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 i believe bliss was a "short list" candidate. but if my memory serves me correctly it pretty much came down to kevin stallings and romar and the story i heard was that it was probably stallings' job to lose and he was extremely demanding in his interview and was then shown the door. i think it is interesting that stallings has not lit the world on fire at vandy where i am sure the academic and integrity surroundings are very similar as at slu. our western board friend lobo might be able to shed some light on bliss for us as lobo has followed the new mexico program that bliss came from before he went to baylor. does this bliss stuff surprise you lobo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Kevin Stallings - Vanderbilt Bruce Webber - SIU Homer Drew - Valpo Barry Collier - Butler Bad Boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 So basically, we would have been better off with anyone BUT the guy we hired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 As I recall Bobby Knight visited NM and the local papers ran some stories that he may be interested in coaching at UNM and one of the appeals of NM was the great fly fishing. The next thing we knew Dave Bliss was interviewed and hired with Knight’s recommendation. Bliss had a fairly successful tenure at UNM, however he had some strong and vocal critics. They felt he scheduled too many cupcakes and was not adequately prepared for conference play and post season play. The UNM AD, Rudy Davalos, told me that SLU approached Bliss without UNM’s knowledge. This is not accurate, but just sour grapes. Bliss was not happy with his contract negotiations and was looking and the papers picked up on it. Baylor hired him for $600+K which was almost 2 x’s his salary at UNM. I heard that Bliss was on the short list at SLU, but not a serious contender which made me very happy. Historically, UNM has had more than its share of players who have had altercations with the law. However, the facts have been fairly open and discipline fairly timely. I think “Lobogate†continues to influence UNM and the local media. The general feeling is that Bliss was a “clean coach†at UNM and therefore surprised at the events at Baylor. I personally feel that Bliss was not forthcoming soon enough and that his coaching career is epilogue. I hope that Bliss was not involved, but it doesn’t look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Lobo, I agree with your take that Bliss was on SLU's list at the time of the Romar hire. Another name that came up during that time period was the then former St. John's HC Fran Franchilla (Sp?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 That may also be true and SLU was fortunate not to have hired Fran Franchilla. The good Friars at St. Johns had reasons for letting him go. There was a lot of turmoil under his reign at UNM. In fact, many Lobo fans wish Bliss was still the coach - that is until the most recent stories from Baylor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Lobo, What is amazing to me is some of these HC's are media darlings. Franchilla was one of them, Seth Greenberg is another. The thing that I find funny is that they can't coach their way out of a wet paper bag. Greenberg never did beat a Top 25 opponent his entire tenure at USF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Blkns, as I recall, Woolard met with Bliss at the airport in Houston but it never went much further then that. My sense was Bliss was just using the interview to help settle some difficulties he was having with the UNM administration. Immediately after that interview the AD at UNM had the negative comment that SLU was some sort of deadend for head coaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 In light of the fact that Charlie Spoonhour is at UNLV and Lorenzo Romar is at Washington, that statement by the New Mexico athletic director seems rather ridculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Spoon was retiring and Grawer had been fired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Absolutely .... as far as I can remember Randy Albrect went "down" to Meramac CC; Ron Coleman disappeared; Ron Ekker disappeared into the CBA hitherlands; Grawer got fired and went "down" to high school AD; and Spoon, as noted, retired. Romar is the only one who moved on and whether he went "up" has yet to be determined. At that time, I would have agreed with the UNM AD .... no matter how much it hurt. Facts supported it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 ... who moved on. I can only think of Randy Bennett going to St. Mary's. Derrick Thomas doesn't count because he moved off of Charlie's staff at UNLV and not while he was here. Lee Winfield doens't count because he was a package deal with his son as far as I'm concerned. So we are not a stepping stone job in any estimation .... either for head coaches or assistants, in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 I agree Schacz but you've got to ride the wave. Perry Clark was up and coming at Tulane and parlayed that into the Miami job. Zip. Look how far and how fast Matt Dougherty has fallen. I haven't even heard a whisper of his name since he got ousted at UNC. Does anyone else find that amazing? I would think that Bill Self is really riding the high tide most of all right now. Mike Crean could be another ... just depends on how much UM is willing to spend on him to keep him. I think this sconference has three upper echelon jobs ..... Cincy, Louisville and Memphis with Memphis being questionable. All the others seem to be "starter homes" ... jobs where folks seem to get started but are always looking to move on up. Maybe Lutz is an exception in Charlotte but I can't say that about much of the rest. Maybe even DePaul in the old days but what have they done lately. I'd rank DePaul in that class with G-Town, Seton Hall and some of the other Big East leftovers that used to be good but haven't really done a lot for anyone lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Ironic you say that about Dougherty. I just saw this article on ESPN.com about him. Looks like he's just taking a little vacation and seeing what opens up next year. http://espn.go.com/ncb/columns/doyel_gregg/1585546.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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