2021 Coaching Candidate Thread (this time for reals)

[HJS]

If BC hired Amaker I hope they realize he has a better basketball program, brand name and support at Harvard than he’ll have at BC.

Agreed. BC did not even entertain (let alone support) Jimmy Mac when he didn’t want to play this year. Harvard, on the other hand, went above and beyond to guarantee that Amaker would finish the season undefeated.

[HJS]

Will Brown is available.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... h-20-years

[twballgame9]

Will Brown is available.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... h-20-years

Meh. He had a team with a kid that transferred to Nova and one that transferred to FSU and didn't win the America East before they left. That's more legit talent than BC and less results.

[sparky]

The CoachRumors twitter account, which is admittedly a little all over the place, chucked Damon Stoudamire and Jerome Tang's names into the mix.

[JesuitIvy]

wasn't the rumor last search go-round that Amaker asked for a huge amount of money? I seem to to recall people saying he came off as not having a legit interest in BC, but would have come over for big bucks.

[HJS]

wasn't the rumor last search go-round that Amaker asked for a huge amount of money? I seem to to recall people saying he came off as not having a legit interest in BC, but would have come over for big bucks.

That’s my general recollection. I believe there was also the demand that he be the only candidate talked to. Essentially, if you want me, I need to be your first priority in both attention and money. 7 years later, no one else has come knocking. I think both parties wished they handled it differently.

[eepstein0]

The CoachRumors twitter account, which is admittedly a little all over the place, chucked Damon Stoudamire and Jerome Tang's names into the mix.

Paul Hewitt and JTIII aren’t looking so bad anymore

[HJS]

Penn State trying to outdo Blauds.
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootb ... -know.html

[Logitano]

If BC hired Amaker I hope they realize he has a better basketball program, brand name and support at Harvard than he’ll have at BC.

Agreed. BC did not even entertain (let alone support) Jimmy Mac when he didn’t want to play this year. Harvard, on the other hand, went above and beyond to guarantee that Amaker would finish the season undefeated.

This.

[BCMurt09]

The Oracle of Fort Worth asked me on Twitter to tell you all that he thinks we're going to hire Gates.

[HJS]

Dennis Gates making the rounds as the favorite on Blogs: https://www.si.com/college/bostoncolleg ... s-favorite
https://twitter.com/EJHoffses/status/13 ... 1346966528

I know less than nothing about him. Seems the jump would be monumental coming from Cleveland State. Though, I like his time in Tallahassee. All that said, I don't know how you can have him be the head coach of a team where his wife is the #2 in the Athletic Department.

[BCMurt09]

Dennis Gates making the rounds as the favorite on Blogs: https://www.si.com/college/bostoncolleg ... s-favorite
https://twitter.com/EJHoffses/status/13 ... 1346966528

I know less than nothing about him. Seems the jump would be monumental coming from Cleveland State. Though, I like his time in Tallahassee. All that said, I don't know how you can have him be the head coach of a team where his wife is the #2 in the Athletic Department.

They all seem to think being married to the Athletics #2 makes him a shoo-in and not a huge liability.

[HJS]

Dennis Gates making the rounds as the favorite on Blogs: https://www.si.com/college/bostoncolleg ... s-favorite
https://twitter.com/EJHoffses/status/13 ... 1346966528

I know less than nothing about him. Seems the jump would be monumental coming from Cleveland State. Though, I like his time in Tallahassee. All that said, I don't know how you can have him be the head coach of a team where his wife is the #2 in the Athletic Department.

They all seem to think being married to the Athletics #2 makes him a shoo-in and not a huge liability.

Agreed. I could only really ever see it if it was the other way around... like if the assistant AD was married to Cuonzo Martin. Meaning we would have no shot with the guy, but-for the special connection. Not the school doing a favor for an employee. That said, in all fairness, I know nothing about Dennis. He could be the next great coach. And, if you truly believe that, you don't pass on him just because of the awkwardness that could result.

[twballgame9]

I dont know anything about him either but if we are reaching to Cleveland State to check off the head coaching experience box, I'll never read Blog Boys comment section again.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

Can we call him “Cleveland steamer?”

If so, I’m in

[2001Eagle]

Can we call him “Cleveland steamer?”

If so, I’m in

what would stop us?

[HJS]

I dont know anything about him either but if we are reaching to Cleveland State to check off the head coaching experience box, I'll never read Blog Boys comment section again.

BC isn't talking. In its absence, the void is filled by Bloggers who have opinions but no real information. Is there a prerequisite to be a head coach, a minority, young, successful, major conference experience, recruiter, runs a system, exciting offense? Maybe... but none of that is coming from Kraft or anyone knowledgeable of the situation at BC. The only thing I believe was handed out was the Benbow article about a minority being a strong preference.

The fact that we fired Christian has no impact on the timeline. We didn't fire Jimmy Mac because we wanted to get a jump on the process. We fired Christian because he lost the team and didn't want us to keep playing. We are under the same time pressure as Fordham, Albany and PedState... which means none. I'd expect that the day we hire a coach would be the same if the mid-season firing never happened.

As for Coach Steamer... I know nothing about him. However, if you are convinced he is some sort of rising superstar, you grab him and don't care about his wife's position or his mere 2 seasons as a head coach. Similarly, if you find an assistant that you similarly think is the next Coach K, you hire him regardless of the thin resume.

As for the minority angle, I think if we are making a shockingly good hire (like Willard), you can get away with the lack of diversity. But, with the world we live in, BC is too terrible a job to say the risk of an unproven minority coach outweighs an incrementally better boring White candidate (noting that neither Coen or Schmidt could win a statewide election in Blogboy's Blue Georgia). Yeah... Coach Coen can get us to 16 wins when Gates only can 13. 16 isn't 26... 16 vs 13 will do nothing for the fans or national perception. College coach hiring is not a pure meritocracy. Simply, making a boring hire of Coen/Schmidt would be met with Daz-like enthusiasm. Further, how could you think anything other than Howard Eisley has been determined to be a truly awful coach? Eisley is such a safe hire politically that going a different is an affront to his abilities (unless the hire is a homerun).

[Corporal Funishment]

The old staff had an Anglo, an Italian, a Pole, and an African American. It was probably the most diverse staff in America.

[twballgame9]

I dont know anything about him either but if we are reaching to Cleveland State to check off the head coaching experience box, I'll never read Blog Boys comment section again.

BC isn't talking. In its absence, the void is filled by Bloggers who have opinions but no real information. Is there a prerequisite to be a head coach, a minority, young, successful, major conference experience, recruiter, runs a system, exciting offense? Maybe... but none of that is coming from Kraft or anyone knowledgeable of the situation at BC. The only thing I believe was handed out was the Benbow article about a minority being a strong preference.

The fact that we fired Christian has no impact on the timeline. We didn't fire Jimmy Mac because we wanted to get a jump on the process. We fired Christian because he lost the team and didn't want us to keep playing. We are under the same time pressure as Fordham, Albany and PedState... which means none. I'd expect that the day we hire a coach would be the same if the mid-season firing never happened.

As for Coach Steamer... I know nothing about him. However, if you are convinced he is some sort of rising superstar, you grab him and don't care about his wife's position or his mere 2 seasons as a head coach. Similarly, if you find an assistant that you similarly think is the next Coach K, you hire him regardless of the thin resume.

As for the minority angle, I think if we are making a shockingly good hire (like Willard), you can get away with the lack of diversity. But, with the world we live in, BC is too terrible a job to say the risk of an unproven minority coach outweighs an incrementally better boring White candidate (noting that neither Coen or Schmidt could win a statewide election in Blogboy's Blue Georgia). Yeah... Coach Coen can get us to 16 wins when Gates only can 13. 16 isn't 26... 16 vs 13 will do nothing for the fans or national perception. College coach hiring is not a pure meritocracy. Simply, making a boring hire of Coen/Schmidt would be met with Daz-like enthusiasm. Further, how could you think anything other than Howard Eisley has been determined to be a truly awful coach? Eisley is such a safe hire politically that going a different is an affront to his abilities (unless the hire is a homerun).

I think Al being an African American and a pro was a huge boon to BC in an era where not enough black coaches get hired. I think that's a great idea. Limiting yourself to guys with head coach experience is stupid.

In other words, I'd be annoyed if Eisley is disqualified on the basis blog boy asserts. It's stupid.

[eepstein0]

Gates is a complete wildcard. Cleveland State was terrible before him so he didn’t ride someone else’s success there. The FSU experience is good as well. Cleveland St is a very different animal though than the worst team in the ACC.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Gates is a complete wildcard. Cleveland State was terrible before him so he didn’t ride someone else’s success there. The FSU experience is good as well. Cleveland St is a very different animal though than the worst team in the ACC.

The Horizon League is pure, low grade garbage. This isn’t the Horizon League of the early 2000s, Valpo, the best program in the League bailed. UWM returned to its moribund state the minute Pearl left. UWGB, which had been the historical second pillar to Valpo has cratered. When a conference goes and gives Robert Morris a sweetheart deal to join because you expect it will be one of your conference powers, you are terrible.

I suppose it’s nice he has made Cleveland State a power in a terrible, terrible conference. It’s better than not making Cleveland State good in a terrible, terrible conference, but honestly, it’s a less exciting and less promising hire than Jim Christian and would demonstrate that Leahy doesn’t give a shit, Kraft is Butt Cutt Part Deux and I want a holograph of George C Scott playing Patton to announce the hire while describing what Scipio Africanus did to Carthage at the end of the Battle of Zama.

[HJS]

Gates is a complete wildcard. Cleveland State was terrible before him so he didn’t ride someone else’s success there. The FSU experience is good as well. Cleveland St is a very different animal though than the worst team in the ACC.

The Horizon League is pure, low grade garbage. This isn’t the Horizon League of the early 2000s, Valpo, the best program in the League bailed. UWM returned to its moribund state the minute Pearl left. UWGB, which had been the historical second pillar to Valpo has cratered. When a conference goes and gives Robert Morris a sweetheart deal to join because you expect it will be one of your conference powers, you are terrible.

I suppose it’s nice he has made Cleveland State a power in a terrible, terrible conference. It’s better than not making Cleveland State good in a terrible, terrible conference, but honestly, it’s a less exciting and less promising hire than Jim Christian and would demonstrate that Leahy doesn’t give a shit, Kraft is Butt Cutt Part Deux and I want a holograph of George C Scott playing Patton to announce the hire while describing what Scipio Africanus did to Carthage at the end of the Battle of Zama.

I agree with everything you wrote except the comparison of Jimmy Mac. Gates’ resume has absolutely nothing in common with that of Christian. Christian wasn’t a major league recruiter for a top program. He didn’t spend decades moving around as an assistant. JC spent his entire career in the MAC, became a head coach in the MAC failed at TCU and then went back to the MAC.

Gates’ time at Cleveland Steamer is an anecdote. Nice that folks think he’s doing a good job, but no one really gives a shit and he’d never get a job based solely upon the past 2 shortened seasons. Gates gets his next job on the strength of his time as an assistant. Which... gets back to teddy’s point... that considering Gates but not assistants is nonsensical (given that Cleveland St isn’t a real job and his 25 games is as meaningful as none).

To explain it more fully in terms you can better understand...
You can’t say you won’t consider guys who only have been assistants but then consider head coaches in the Horizon. It is such a bullshit standard, it really isn’t one. Kinda like how, Duchie can’t claim he had high standards in his hookups. Because, based upon what he’d roll home from Molly’s, there were no standards.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Ok, but I feel like if you are hiring Gates over Eisley, who is generating a good deal of buzz as a recruiter at Michigan in his own right and also brings the cache of being the PG on one of the best teams BC ever fielded (might not be as good as Cousy, Davis or Williams best, but they went as far as their competition for the title) and has the added bonus of being able to tell kids what it takes to play in the NBA for a decade plus, you should expect a level of enthusiasm that is the same as the Christian hire. Gates is going to need an enormous amount of help from his assistants—as is Eisley—why not invest in the alum in that instance? Shit, I’d consider Duds under such circumstances as well—give him an old hand and an ace recruiter and I have a hard time thinking that Duds wouldn’t kill it as a face of the program coach. The only drawback there is I think Duds wants an NBA gig and is likely to get it sooner rather than later.

In any case, if BC is going to go cheap, they might as well go hire Coen. He’d be an upgrade over Christian—he was a successful assistant at BC—and would likely take the job (I have good reason to think Schmidt has no interest if that is the direction, so he is no longer a fallback option). We will be marginally better in our irrelevancy, which might be less painful than a full Battle of Zama situation. I wouldn’t really care, but IB’s pain would amuse me.

[twballgame9]

There is zero reason not to hire Eisley over the rest of these names. And a few years running a program at what is essentially a different level should not move the needle. What Eisley can tell recruits about what BC was and what the path to the NBA is, is far more valuable.

[HJS]

Ok, but I feel like if you are hiring Gates over Eisley, who is generating a good deal of buzz as a recruiter at Michigan in his own right and also brings the cache of being the PG on one of the best teams BC ever fielded (might not be as good as Cousy, Davis or Williams best, but they went as far as their competition for the title) and has the added bonus of being able to tell kids what it takes to play in the NBA for a decade plus, you should expect a level of enthusiasm that is the same as the Christian hire. Gates is going to need an enormous amount of help from his assistants—as is Eisley—why not invest in the alum in that instance? Shit, I’d consider Duds under such circumstances as well—give him an old hand and an ace recruiter and I have a hard time thinking that Duds wouldn’t kill it as a face of the program coach. The only drawback there is I think Duds wants an NBA gig and is likely to get it sooner rather than later.

In any case, if BC is going to go cheap, they might as well go hire Coen. He’d be an upgrade over Christian—he was a successful assistant at BC—and would likely take the job (I have good reason to think Schmidt has no interest if that is the direction, so he is no longer a fallback option). We will be marginally better in our irrelevancy, which might be less painful than a full Battle of Zama situation. I wouldn’t really care, but IB’s pain would amuse me.

There is zero reason not to hire Eisley over the rest of these names. And a few years running a program at what is essentially a different level should not move the needle. What Eisley can tell recruits about what BC was and what the path to the NBA is, is far more valuable.

Coen is a nonstarter. If nothing else... optics. IB hysterics aside (though that cuts both ways in that he'd be a prominent fan). Being a marginally better coach who can guide us to an 11th place ACC finish is not going to move the needle. Like Schmidt, you could've hired him after Don. But, he shouldn't be an option for a full rebuild.

Gates vs Dudley vs Eisley... from a resume perspective, Eisley is the clear winner. That said, you always have to leave open the possibility of a up-and-comer. I'm not saying Gates is one... heck, I'm not agreeing that he is even a candidate. All I'm saying is that a younger coach with a thinner resume should still be considered to see if they are a superstar in the making. To that end, that has been the reason I have always supported a Duds candidacy.

[2001Eagle]

There is zero reason not to hire Eisley over the rest of these names. And a few years running a program at what is essentially a different level should not move the needle. What Eisley can tell recruits about what BC was and what the path to the NBA is, is far more valuable.

Yup. If Gates is the hire it’s because BC is small time and cheap. There’s still a chance that BC gets lucky and he succeeds but it’s still not the right move if you’re really committed to giving this program the resources to succeed.

[innocentbystander]

In any case, if BC is going to go cheap, they might as well go hire Coen. He’d be an upgrade over Christian—he was a successful assistant at BC—and would likely take the job (I have good reason to think Schmidt has no interest if that is the direction, so he is no longer a fallback option). We will be marginally better in our irrelevancy, which might be less painful than a full Battle of Zama situation. I wouldn’t really care, but IB’s pain would amuse me.

I know you are just having fun Dick. You don't really mean this but if it happened, I would lose my shit. Actually I would lose my shit if any school picks him up. I suppose the least painful it would be for me is if the school that grabbed him is your school.

Did you or Duchie know or even have any classes with Amy Poehler?

[HJS]

There is zero reason not to hire Eisley over the rest of these names. And a few years running a program at what is essentially a different level should not move the needle. What Eisley can tell recruits about what BC was and what the path to the NBA is, is far more valuable.

Yup. If Gates is the hire it’s because BC is small time and cheap. There’s still a chance that BC gets lucky and he succeeds but it’s still not the right move if you’re really committed to giving this program the resources to succeed.

Woah... hold on... I love the guy, but... How is Eisley NOT small time and cheap? He is the third paid assistant on Michigan's staff. BC offering $600k doubles his salary. Eisley is easily the cheapest option of all candidates. Gates gets paid more and would cost a buy-out.

Gates could be great or be terrible. He is a lottery ticket and literally NO ONE on here knows anything about him. Zero. People on here really don't know anything about Eisley either. They probably haven't even listened to his interviews on YouTube. In my mind, the only difference between Eisley and Gates is that Eisley knows BC and would stay if the lottery ticket hit.

[BCMurt09]

There is zero reason not to hire Eisley over the rest of these names. And a few years running a program at what is essentially a different level should not move the needle. What Eisley can tell recruits about what BC was and what the path to the NBA is, is far more valuable.

This.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

you forget that the guy that knows everything and predicts everything correctly all of the time says it is gates.

that's enough to make me nervous that it will actually be gates.

if it is gates, i will post nothing to the basketball board but long, thick, glistening, vein filled cocks because that's what this program deserves. in fact, that is too good for this program but it will bother the rest of you more than anything else and THAT is what this program deserves