Dick Rosenthal {l Wrote}:thebs19 {l Wrote}:I'd be shocked if the Schmidt thing wasn't closed at this point. It used to be that he was so woefully underpaid that it'd be an easy sell. At this point, it'd be a downgrade program wise for him, and while he has a job for life at Bonas, he'd know he'd be trying to cash in for a slightly higher payday - that wouldn't be nearly as drastic an upgrade as it would've been had he come 3 years ago (given that he's renegotiated twice in the last 3 offseasons - believe he's at 800K now) - for a job where he'd last 3 years.
Schmidt would've been a gatekeeper to not let this thing go full retard, but its there, and he's not the one who's going to suddenly dig it out. Plus, he's a god in Olean among the Bona fans. Given its one of the smallest funded D1 institutions in the country, and by far the lowest in the A10, where he's already gotten it is pretty remarkable, but thats what Schmidt is: good with finding diamonds in the rough, getting more out of less, etc. He's not going to be the leader of some rockstar program or suddenly build a powerhouse. He uses 6 and 7 man rotations that rely a lot on just letting his 1 or 2 play makers make plays and not get in the way. He recruits big bodies who are underrecruited, teaches them a post move and works with them on hitting a 15 foot jump shot, and watches that formula work. Etc. Mid major life - especially the mid major life as a perpetual underdog - is a nice fit for what he's good at, without exposing what he can't do.
I agree that the window has closed on Schmidt but mostly for the following reasons: (1) Schmidt is pretty sure he has an NCAA tournament team next year and a favorite for the conference title; (2) the salary bump at BC would be minimal when cost of living is taken into account; (3) Schmidt has built a very nice pipeline to Nigeria that he expects will start delivering raw, but very athletic big bodies starting with this recruiting class; (4) as noted above, he is a God in Olean--and deservedly so considering that he took what was a program and school on the brink of dying and has turned it into a consistent top half/top 5 A-10 team despite being the smallest D-1 school of all; (5) he coaches in front of a raucous packed house of 6,000 every night--its an appreciably better atmosphere than Conte.
I do think it is funny that people assume that because he doesn't bring top 150 recruits to Olean, he could not recruit top talent to an ACC program. I've met the guy on a few different occasions and he is a pretty dynamic personality. I know the coaches at some of the power schools in DC-Baltimore love him (Mt. St. Joes, Bishop O'Connell, Dematha, Gonzaga) I just don't see how the fact that you can't talk a kid into Olean means you can't talk a kid into Boston and the ACC. Or consider it this way. Or look at it this way, despite being in Olean, he has recruited and developed an NBA 1st rounder which is more than can be said for some of the others listed (at least as head coaches). Truth be told, I think stylistically, Schmidt would be a lot like Coach Handsome--not the best Xs & Os coach, but a better recruiter than what we have had and someone who would find some diamonds in the rough--see Jaylen Adams, who I have news for you, would be a very good guard in the ACC.
I agree with everything you say here, Down to the Skinner comp. I wasn't trying to knock the guy. I think we've connected before on mutual Bona connections. I was saying he wouldn't come here at this point...and also I don't think he'd be the best choice for where the program is anyway(and would say the same about Al).
You basically need to completely rebuild the program from the bottom up. Facilities wise, fan base certainly- it probably takes a gimmicky system or a ridiculous Xs and Os guy because you're not getting any talent here and you're going to have to win and get people interested anyway to have any chance of ever starting to build a competitive recruiting pipeline and get donor support for facility upgrades.