Thornton Melon {l Wrote}:I just don't understand Kraft taking the job knowing he wouldn't be replacing a FB coach for a while but knew he'd be replacing a BB coach, going out and not having some room to get a legitimate hire. Now, I say that thinking Eisley is a legitimate hire, but I would be shocked if he wasn't going after a big fish. Just reputation alone for his career he has to try and play with those guys.
McDermott obviously would be an awesome hire and in the COVID soaked world would likely be able to avoid media scrutiny for a while, but we don't get guys like that, I'm assuming Schmidt is in the strong running because Pearlman just endorsed him.
The Miller brothers also look getable (Archie is being run out of Indy and Sean just go smacked with a half dozen Level 1 violations).
There isn’t a lot of big fish out there. I agree that Kraft wants to make a splash in his new job. It makes his fundraising efforts (which he really gets paid to do) immensely easier if he hits a home run in this hire.
But, this board has yet to pinpoint a single coach who everyone would be excited for. BB is a weird sport and certain coaches do well everywhere and others only excel when they fit the program. Some feel that a coach losing at a school with endless resources (or in the pros) means they can’t do it at BC. However, I think some of these coaches simply are adept at doing more with less. Accordingly, I’d be excited for guys like Anthony Grant or Archie Miller or Shaka Smart or John Groce or Mike Hopkins. I also think that the program could benefit from hiring a name (even if it is someone the 6 people on this board would hate)... that includes guys like Steve Alford, Frank Haith, JTIII, Tom Crean, Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, Bobby Hurley or Wojo.
At the end of the day, this isn’t Kraft’s first job search. He was partly hired based upon his strong football searches at Temple. I think we should view things through his eyes instead of ours. Can he fundraise on the heels of announcing Bill Coen as the next head coach? Nope. Not until Year 4 when the 63-year-old is finally turning things around (while considering retirement). However, he can engender some excitement from alums who aren’t Hoops Weirdos by hiring someone casual sports fans have heard of. He can ask for money to support a guy like Howard Eisley. And, he can fundraise by radically accelerating an up-and-comer to give rah-rah speeches and inject energy (essentially the BB version of Jarmond). I’d be surprised by a good, solid, respected, long time ball coach from a lower level... that’s essentially what we’ve had with Don and JC. While getting someone to bring this program to respectability (so we can have a better hire next go around) is a strategy, I don’t think it is a sound one for an AD who likely won’t be here long enough to see that play out.
Btw... you said Pearlman... did you mean Goodman? Goodman is who was involved with tarnishing Skinner’s legacy and bemoaned the JC firing. He is the last person to have connections with BC.