Monday Basketball Thoughts

Coaching Carousel General NCS Basketball38

Earlier this week, BJD95 told me that he had quit looking for insights into the coaching search from media sources because they knew absolutely nothing.   In the unlikely event that anyone questions BJD’s conclusion, Ed Hardin manages to remove all doubt. 

I would discuss/dissect Hardin’s piece, but there isn’t anything there worth discussing.     Ed manages to contradict his title, “N.C. State’s coach search not so secret any longer” in just a few paragraphs when he admits that his best State source knows nothing.   So in the absence of facts, he then regurgitates media and message board speculation with a few comments about State’s last search thrown in for good measure.   All in all, a highly forgettable “commentary”.

The absence of hard data shouldn’t be an excuse for poor journalism or for rampant stupidity.   It should still be possible to intelligently discuss potential coaches, even if Debbie Yow never considers that particular coach.    BTW, endless repetition of your favorite coaches’ resume doesn’t qualify as intelligent conversation.  

So rather than rehash the resume of potential coaches, I thought that we should take a big picture view of Debbie Yow’s job.   By big picture, I don’t mean “Hire Shaka Smart NOW!!!!!”.     I mean from a general perspective, what do I expect from Debbie Yow in this coaching search?

If your answer is HIRE A BIG-NAME COACH…

Then turn in your password on the way out and wait on Hardin to retire.   You could take over for him and no one would ever notice the difference.

If your answer is HIRE A GOOD COACH, then you have moved above the Hardin Level (analogous to Boomer’s Mendoza Line), but we’re still not on the same page.    Every AD at every college and every general manager of any professional team WANTS to hire a good coach.   However, this simply isn’t as easy as the average fan makes it out to be.   Even Ron Wellman gets a clunker now and then.

Along with all of the mother-hood comments about professionalism, fund raising, and avoiding public ridicule like the last BB coaching search, Yow’s real job is to hire a coach with a resume good enough to indicate that he COULD be successful at State.   THEN her job switches to annual evaluations, the removal of ineffective coaches, and the rewarding of successful coaches.   None of these tasks are necessarily simple, but her salary pretty much eliminates the possibility of an easy job and a gentle glide into retirement. 

I always point to UVa’s hiring of Pete Gillen as a good coaching search that went wrong.   Based on Gillen’s resume, there was every reason for UVa fans to hope for a return to the high-water marks reached by Terry Holland.    But in the final analysis, a local (to me) sports radio host summarized the Gillen era with “The only thing that Pete Gillen ever succeeded at in C’ville was to make the Jeff Jones era look good.”  

So Debbie’s first job is to hire a coach that has been successful at his current job, whether that current job is at a BCS school or a mid-major.  Hopefully, her next job is to keep a successful coach happy without making a contract mistake like GT made with Hewitt or UVa made with Gillen.   But if the next coach falls short, THEN her job will be to remove him with the same professionalism that we saw with Sidney.  

About VaWolf82

Engineer living in Central Va. and senior curmudgeon amongst SFN authors One wife, two kids, one dog, four vehicles on insurance, and four phones on cell plan...looking forward to empty nest status. Graduated 1982

Coaching Carousel General NCS Basketball

38 Responses to Monday Basketball Thoughts

  1. swamppack 03/28/2011 at 10:51 AM #

    I’m glad that no media sources have been able to come up with anything concrete at all. It really does solidify the fact that DY is the anti-Fowler.

  2. topwater 03/28/2011 at 10:52 AM #

    The only thing that concerns me with this search is that the media has nothing to go on but what is posted on this site by people with no factual evidence of anything.

    I was locked in back in 2006 and couldnt get enough of it….but as a fanbase we are our own demise. It drives me crazy to hear UNC/DUKE fans say we are delusional…but some of these posts prove them correct.

    With that said….go DY! Makes me happier to hear everyone is “in the dark.” Cant wait for your presser!

  3. brown pelican 03/28/2011 at 11:08 AM #

    all candidates discussed to date as home run candidates are old enough to ‘remember when’—an understanding of the tradition we have lost over the past twenty years and an ability to commit to and ultimately recapture the energy (and talent!) necessary to consistently field a team that is highly competitive should be the ultimate criteria in selecting the new coach—if a younger coach like smart can ‘buy in’ here—we’ll have a shot at becoming something unique/authentic—a veteran coach?—only if they view nc state as their destination job

  4. boonami 03/28/2011 at 11:12 AM #

    Guys, I saw that Dayton Coach Brian Gregory is taking over at Georgia Tech. I hope we get some good news soon.

  5. Rochester 03/28/2011 at 11:23 AM #

    The GT hiring underwhelms me. I wouldn’t view that as a home run if he were our pick. I anticipate us doing better.

  6. boonami 03/28/2011 at 11:34 AM #

    ^agreed Rochester.

  7. LRM 03/28/2011 at 11:39 AM #

    ^It’s been no secret that Radakavich was going to make this hire on the cheap. GT spent all their funds getting rid of Hewitt, which was their own fault for locking him down at such a steep price for so long back in April 2004, when he was every bit the rage then that Shaka Smart is right now.

  8. albunde6 03/28/2011 at 11:41 AM #

    I was worried that GT had more money, sexier city, and that would be a tough thing for an A-list, B-list to turn down. I am not impressed by this selection. Could be proven wrong, but feel better about our situation.

    With TN and GT positions filled, if someone wants to make a move we are now the the top spot by default.

    Just an FYI about job search process. Successfull people don’t leave a job because they were overpaid and happy. It is always that you believe you are under appreciated or the challenge of new position. The belief that you can have more success at new position helps feed the ego. Money increase gives us a logical reason for what in many cases is an emotional decision.

  9. quypack93 03/28/2011 at 11:42 AM #

    Underwhelming or whatever, it doesnt matter now. Wait a year or so. This is not a beauty contest. It might turn out to be a great hire for them.

  10. McPete 03/28/2011 at 12:16 PM #

    “That said – I believe a clear homerun hire is at least 80-90 percent likely at this point. Feel very good.”

    BJD, belief as in faith? Or a deduction from some empirical data?

  11. Wufpacker 03/28/2011 at 12:48 PM #

    ” all candidates discussed to date as home run candidates are old enough to ‘remember when’—an understanding of the tradition we have lost over the past twenty years ”

    But some just barely. One of the reasons for the ever-increasing importance of making a good hire now rather than waiting another 6-10 years….or longer.

  12. PoppaJohn 03/28/2011 at 1:10 PM #

    Mike DeCoursy (sorry Mike, don’t care enough to learn how to spell your name) was just on DG – he waxed eloquent on what a ‘good guy’ Gregory is. Then he talked about how impressive Shaka is, and how he knew from when he met him that he’d be a Final Four coach someday. Clearly, comparing the two he thought Gregory was only ‘okay.’

    What a bag o’ wind.

  13. jazzman 03/28/2011 at 4:06 PM #

    Pack84 – Sean Miller has now publicly confirmed what his father said – that he will not be interviewing for the NC State job.

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