2021 Coaching Candidate Thread (this time for reals)

[Dick Rosenthal]

If Dennis Gates is the hire we might as well implode the whole program. I just watched Cleveland State play a UW Milwaukee team that has the rare distinction of being poorly coached and having no talent. And Cleveland State had to mount a furious, referee-assisted comeback to catch UWM with one minute left. A few observations: (1) he is terrible x and I’d coach, the talent disparity between Cleveland State and Milwaukee was considerable and he did a very bad job of putting his team in a position to take advantage of the disparity. He was bailed out by refs who started whistling the Panthers for stuff they had let go a few minutes ago and allowing Cleveland State to run a press that could best be described as a disorganized prison riot defense replete with uncalled submarines and clotheslines when the press broke down (as it did frequently). This had “League office put in a call at halftime to explain that the 1-seed can’t lose to the 8th seed or certain refs were going to have to find an even lower level league in which to ply their trade; (2) suffice to say the type of “kids” he is recruiting are not going to be warmly received by our admissions or a fan base that has at least a vague notion that our kids shouldn’t be throwing up gang signs after dunks. And don’t give me any bullshit racist stuff—this isn’t a black thing or even a how the guys look thing, it’s a “holy shit, I hope he has a recruiting pipeline into the a source where the kids, based on postgame interviews—can complete a discernibly English sentence; and (3) the Horizon League has to be one of the worst leagues in college basketball from a talent perspective. Usually, even in a low major game, you can pick out at least one kid who displays a level of athleticism and ability that suggests they could at least come off the bench at P6 program. That was nowhere to be found—even on a roster as desolate as ours, I don’t think the best player on the court could have played a minute. Point is, the jump from the Horizon to the ACC is like trying to jump from the surface of the Earth to the Moon and based on the first two points there is nothing to indicate he could make that cosmic leap.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

why had no one mentioned mark few? he seems like a good coach. The nerds could dress like jessup and call themselves “a few good men” and shout “you can’t handle the truth” or “the twos” or some dumb shit.

They should hire me as the search firm. I’ve not seen his name mentioned once

[ATLeagle]

The Athletic saying BC reached out to Thad Motta but he doesn't want to live in Boston. Also saying Schmidt will get a strong look.

That’s a shame on Thad Matta.

Thad Matta had a verbal agreement with Georgia a few years ago and then backed out at the last minute. He is clearly still dealing with issues regarding his health and is going to be very selective if he ever comes back.

[HJS]

Given where the program is, I think they should hire Mike Lonergan with assistants Jimmy Patsos and Mike Rice Jr.

That’s three accomplished New England coaches who would (a) be excited for the job, (b) not have to a buyout, (c) be within Leahy’s price range, (d) make the program the instant talk of all BB media (as opposed to being a forgotten entity) and (e) whip the program into shape by all means necessary.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Given where the program is, I think they should hire Mike Lonergan with assistants Jimmy Patsos and Mike Rice Jr.

That’s three accomplished New England coaches who would (a) be excited for the job, (b) not have to a buyout, (c) be within Leahy’s price range, (d) make the program the instant talk of all BB media (as opposed to being a forgotten entity) and (e) whip the program into shape by all means necessary.

Well, that would be quite a staff and I think we would win a lot of games and build a really good recruiting pipeline out of the WCAC. Of course, we have about as good a chance of hiring Pitino or Bruce Pearl, but I suppose you can dream. Just for those who might not know, Lonergan was fired despite posting back to back 20-win seasons at GW and opening his last season at GW 5-0 with the demolition of the UVA Cavs tossed into the mix before he was abruptly shit canned because he apparently liked to smack his players around when he was berating them with various racial insults. Mike Rice, Jr. played his college ball at the undergrad wing of the Diploma Mill, was considered an ace recruiter at St. Joe's and Pitt before doing very well winning with talent Mark Schmidt recruited to Robert Morris, parlaying it into two trips to the NCAAs before jumping ship to Rutgers. At Rutgers, he upgraded talent enough to move Rutgers from the absolute basement of the Big East to the bottom quartile of the conference and around a .500 record overall. There was a bit of excitement brewing until he got caught on videotape hitting his players, calling them racial slurs, etc. Now, in fairness to Jimmy Patsos, he never hit his players or berated them, and there is no denying that he was the recruiter behind Maryland's National Championship and run in the early 2000s. And he is absolutely plugged into the WCAC (he coached at Archbishop Carroll). Of course, he was also fired and subject to a show cause order (now expired) for paying players at Siena, so there is that.

[HJS]

Between BlogBoy and AngryDick... if you are going to crap on every coach who would win big, we are always destined to be a pablum program. Maybe Conte should start selling melba toast and sherbet. College BB is a cesspool and the only ones who succeed at the highest levels wallow in its filth. If you don't have the FBI trying to infiltrate your program, then you are doing it wrong and might as well hire a minority, female, trisexual so the school at least gets some wokeness points while getting blown-out by programs that are relevant to fans and the authorities.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Between BlogBoy and AngryDick... if you are going to crap on every coach who would win big, we are always destined to be a pablum program. Maybe Conte should start selling melba toast and sherbet. College BB is a cesspool and the only ones who succeed at the highest levels wallow in its filth. If you don't have the FBI trying to infiltrate your program, then you are doing it wrong and might as well hire a minority, female, trisexual so the school at least gets some wokeness points while getting blown-out by programs that are relevant to fans and the authorities.

Bitch, please. If you want to hire a guy like Patsos on a staff where the rest of the staff has no ethical issues in their closet, fine. Go right ahead. You can probably squeeze him past Leahy as a redemption project. But there is a reason Lonergan and Rice haven't even come close to getting a sniff at a job since they were shit canned. Now, if you consider some of the low standards of conduct for coaches in the Big 12 and SEC, and neither of them got a sniff from any job openings in those conferences, do you think there is any chance in hell that Leahy or the BOT would sign off on that hire? We are not talking about what I, or anyone posting wants, we are talking about what is possible in the real world.

I thought Rice was overrated--most of his success came from coaching the roster Schmidt assembled at Robert Morris before leaving for Bonnies--but Lonergan was a very, very good coach who won despite the absolutely shitty facilities at GW. The problem is that his players revolted and the claims of physical abuse were confirmed by the subsequent investigation. My guess as to why Lonergan has never even been considered despite the fact that he is a great coach and would have certainly been considered for any Baby Rapist job in college basketball had things not blown up on him, is that the Big 12 and SEC ADs who have taken a pass figure his strength as a recruiter is finished, as it is pretty easy to recruit against a guy when you can tell a prospective recruit "Google him. See why his last group of players refused to play for him despite being a Top 25 team at a program where that almost never happens."

[HJS]

You seem to care more about this search than the coach we ultimately hire. Nonetheless, the problem ultimately is that BC never wants to do what's necessary to win. I'm sure you would find problems with Kelvin Sampson, Clem Haskins, Dave Bliss, Kevin Ollie and Billy Gillespie.

[Corporal Funishment]

I'm mildly intrigued by exploiting the market inefficiency that arises from exclusively hiring coaches who were fired for using racial slurs. We should be able to hire good coaches from top-to-bottom of staff for below-market rates, no?

[cremins]

I know Eisley hasn't been a head coach yet but doesn't he have what we are looking for. young, bc player on successful team, black, nba, has connections to nba and was assistant coach
in nba and assistant coach at Michigan. if he could get the right staff, maybe keep Spinelli on, maybe even take Dudley on his staff somewhere. seems like a no brainer except for the head
coach experience. witht he right staff he can learn to be a good head coach. I am sure felder and the langfords and heath would love to play for an alum with nba experience.

on another note, you got to think this is dudleys last year in the nba, there is no way we are going to wait till end of july to take a chance on a player who has no
coaching experience right?

[HJS]

I know Eisley hasn't been a head coach yet but doesn't he have what we are looking for. young, bc player on successful team, black, nba, has connections to nba and was assistant coach
in nba and assistant coach at Michigan. if he could get the right staff, maybe keep Spinelli on, maybe even take Dudley on his staff somewhere. seems like a no brainer except for the head
coach experience. witht he right staff he can learn to be a good head coach. I am sure felder and the langfords and heath would love to play for an alum with nba experience.

on another note, you got to think this is dudleys last year in the nba, there is no way we are going to wait till end of july to take a chance on a player who has no
coaching experience right?

What coaching experience did Bob Cousy have when we hired him?

[Onyx Blackman]

Why would we take a chance on a guy with no coaching experience when Kevin Bannon is available?

[HJS]

Why would we take a chance on a guy with no coaching experience when Kevin Bannon is available?

If there was ever a person that could arouse TRE's interest in the flaccid program, Bannon would be the man.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

no better way to break in a new indoor practice facility than with some nekkid wind sprints. cockandballs dangling and jangling as the players make their way down the court. this would be better attended than when the locker rooms and showers were christened in the yawkey center

[eepstein0]

Can watch Dennis Gates tonight on ESPN

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

Can watch Dennis Gates tonight on ESPN

do you think his wife will be there?

also - if he loses tonight, i will wait until the evening to post in the other coach hiring thread

[BCMurt09]

Can watch Dennis Gates tonight on ESPN

do you think his wife will be there?

also - if he loses tonight, i will wait until the evening to post in the other coach hiring thread

The prevailing mood on BC Twitter is that, as a result of last night's win, we have missed out on Gates and he will head to greener pastures than BC. Which, if that's the case, great.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

Can watch Dennis Gates tonight on ESPN

do you think his wife will be there?

also - if he loses tonight, i will wait until the evening to post in the other coach hiring thread

The prevailing mood on BC Twitter is that, as a result of last night's win, we have missed out on Gates and he will head to greener pastures than BC. Which, if that's the case, great.

including your boyfriend? usually when he makes a lead pipe lock prediction, he stands by it... even when it turns out to be wrong.

also - if we don't get a coach because he didn't find a way to lose to a 10-18 horizon league team in the championship game, it might be time to aim higher. and does that one game really matter when 8 or 9 days from now the cleveland steamer is likely to lose by 30 to iowa or ohio state or texas or something.

la morale (to quote your boyfriend) - twitter is stoopid

[claver2010]

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

new job, don't care

[BCMurt09]

We're really about to hire Dennis fucking Gates aren't we

[Onyx Blackman]

Maybe we were waiting for Cooley's season to end.

[HJS]

The person who is never wrong was not wrong again. Congrats to BCWOFW and his continued relationship with murt... not that there is anything wrong with that.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

We're really about to hire Dennis fucking Gates aren't we

casting couch works both ways

this will be another failure of a hire and will send me back into my groundhog den both for this board and for donating to the school. uninspired and destined for failure. i'll be back to eat crow if i'm wrong - i don't expect that to be a problem

[innocentbystander]

The person who is never wrong was not wrong again. Congrats to BCWOFW and his continued relationship with murt... not that there is anything wrong with that.

BCWOFW = Boston College Wizard of Fort Worth?

[BCMurt09]

The person who is never wrong was not wrong again. Congrats to BCWOFW and his continued relationship with murt... not that there is anything wrong with that.

If we hire Gates, please shoot the messenger

[HJS]

We're really about to hire Dennis fucking Gates aren't we

casting couch works both ways

this will be another failure of a hire and will send me back into my groundhog den both for this board and for donating to the school. uninspired and destined for failure. i'll be back to eat crow if i'm wrong - i don't expect that to be a problem

I'm not terribly certain that Gates is the hire yet (despite the Tweeter buzz). That said, I actually don't have a terrible objection to it.

We have spent the past searches that resulted in the hiring of consecutive coaches who were well-liked, respected, had a long of history of running successful programs, who cared about their players and worked their way up the ranks. Don and JC were universally considered "good guys" and they were effing horrible. I view Gates as a boom/bust type of candidate who could potentially be a homerun/lightning-in-a-bottle type. Or he could suck and fail miserably. But, if he busts... it isn't any different than what we have been dealing with from his the "safe" established predecessors.

I would have preferred someone from the A10, BE or Power 5. But, outside of that, I wanted to swing for the fences. Guys like Coen, Amaker or Hewitt were the worst way to go... Gates is pretty much the polar opposite of them.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

We're really about to hire Dennis fucking Gates aren't we

casting couch works both ways

this will be another failure of a hire and will send me back into my groundhog den both for this board and for donating to the school. uninspired and destined for failure. i'll be back to eat crow if i'm wrong - i don't expect that to be a problem

I'm not terribly certain that Gates is the hire yet (despite the Tweeter buzz). That said, I actually don't have a terrible objection to it.

We have spent the past searches that resulted in the hiring of consecutive coaches who were well-liked, respected, had a long of history of running successful programs, who cared about their players and worked their way up the ranks. Don and JC were universally considered "good guys" and they were effing horrible. I view Gates as a boom/bust type of candidate who could potentially be a homerun/lightning-in-a-bottle type. Or he could suck and fail miserably. But, if he busts... it isn't any different than what we have been dealing with from his the "safe" established predecessors.

I would have preferred someone from the A10, BE or Power 5. But, outside of that, I wanted to swing for the fences. Guys like Coen, Amaker or Hewitt were the worst way to go... Gates is pretty much the polar opposite of them.

except firing him also means likely firing the award winning Jr AD - which would take longer than simply firing a coach that's way over his head a year or two in

[BCMurt09]

We're really about to hire Dennis fucking Gates aren't we

casting couch works both ways

this will be another failure of a hire and will send me back into my groundhog den both for this board and for donating to the school. uninspired and destined for failure. i'll be back to eat crow if i'm wrong - i don't expect that to be a problem

I'm not terribly certain that Gates is the hire yet (despite the Tweeter buzz). That said, I actually don't have a terrible objection to it.

We have spent the past searches that resulted in the hiring of consecutive coaches who were well-liked, respected, had a long of history of running successful programs, who cared about their players and worked their way up the ranks. Don and JC were universally considered "good guys" and they were effing horrible. I view Gates as a boom/bust type of candidate who could potentially be a homerun/lightning-in-a-bottle type. Or he could suck and fail miserably. But, if he busts... it isn't any different than what we have been dealing with from his the "safe" established predecessors.

I would have preferred someone from the A10, BE or Power 5. But, outside of that, I wanted to swing for the fences. Guys like Coen, Amaker or Hewitt were the worst way to go... Gates is pretty much the polar opposite of them.

We needed the basketball version of hiring Hafley. Immediate excitement, buzz, and a true belief that he would bring us back. I get none of that with Gates, made worse by the fact that we're all saying "Well he could be great...or he could suck." We can't afford to be shrugging and saying "he could suck" when its been 12 years since we've been in the NCAAs, 15 years removed from a time where the NY Times picked us to *WIN* the tournament.

If this program sucks for another three years we may as well join the Patriot League and use 25's $250 to build something else on campus because a basketball facility won't be worth it. Worse is if he's more of a Daz type and we spend 7 years hoping he breaks through the ceiling.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

nepotism provides some pretty sweet job security, so i would assume the daz model at the very least