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(02-12-2019 12:57 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  We also need to cultivate Birmingham. Right now the high school coaches are hot garbage except for a few. There are diamonds in the rough out there and if we are going to take a chance on a kid it should be from here and not California or wherever. I had lunch with a former NCAA coach last week and we discussed this about Birmingham. I would also focus on Memphis and New Orleans.

This is a pretty interesting idea. Just curious, why not Atlanta? Too much competition?

Quote:Folks, we have to think outside the box to draw your average fan. The traditional way won't work here. period! We can't run a boring style. We have to be exciting to get people off their couch and play stations. We have to market outside the box type thinking. We need to call Art Clarkson and beg him to be a consultant. We need to cultivate sponsors to promote bobble head night, rally towel night, ball cap night, James Spann is the man t-shirt night or whatever! You get my point.

I think you get into this when you're trying to fill the final 1k-2k seats. I know I've nerded out a few times bringing up the attendance data, but UAB will average 5k+ if they do either of the following:
1) Top-100 in KenPom & Make the NCAA Tournament
2) Top-50 in KenPom & Make the NIT

I think UAB should focus on winning and making the tournament, and then focus on filling out the remaining seats after that.

Quote:Oh and all those bitching about scheduling talk to the AD. He is the one mandating regional scheduling which severely cuts down on opportunities for quality H&Hs.

I actually have done this quite a bit. I sent Mark a ton of data last year with suggestions on improving OOC scheduling and attendance. We had a pretty lengthy phone call about it, and the end result was him implying that he couldn't do anything about it. I'm not really sure what else I can do.

Quote:Oh and all those bitching about scheduling talk to the AD. He is the one mandating regional scheduling which severely cuts down on opportunities for quality H&Hs.

I actually have done this quite a bit. I sent Mark a ton of data last year with suggestions on improving OOC scheduling and attendance. We had a pretty lengthy phone call about it, and the end result was him implying that he couldn't do anything about it. I'm not really sure what else I can do.
[/quote]

So one guy says that the AD controls scheduling. Another poster said Mark told him directly that he couldn't do anything about scheduling games.


which is it?

(02-12-2019 02:05 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  

Quote:Oh and all those bitching about scheduling talk to the AD. He is the one mandating regional scheduling which severely cuts down on opportunities for quality H&Hs.

I actually have done this quite a bit. I sent Mark a ton of data last year with suggestions on improving OOC scheduling and attendance. We had a pretty lengthy phone call about it, and the end result was him implying that he couldn't do anything about it. I'm not really sure what else I can do.

So one guy says that the AD controls scheduling. Another poster said Mark told him directly that he couldn't do anything about scheduling games.


which is it?
[/quote]

Part of it could be our HC has no connections, too.

(02-12-2019 12:19 PM)jaymay2525 Wrote:  Nored has family in Indiana around Butler. He wasn't a scorer at all, but a defensive lockdown and assist man. Might not have fit Davis's recruit big names, sign leftovers lol

Nored was a scorer in High School, I'm guessing he didn't have to be at Butler. I wish he was 8-10 years older and had been coaching at D2 nowhere state for 4-5 years :-/

(02-12-2019 02:10 PM)BlazinBham Wrote:  

(02-12-2019 02:05 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  

Quote:Oh and all those bitching about scheduling talk to the AD. He is the one mandating regional scheduling which severely cuts down on opportunities for quality H&Hs.

I actually have done this quite a bit. I sent Mark a ton of data last year with suggestions on improving OOC scheduling and attendance. We had a pretty lengthy phone call about it, and the end result was him implying that he couldn't do anything about it. I'm not really sure what else I can do.

So one guy says that the AD controls scheduling. Another poster said Mark told him directly that he couldn't do anything about scheduling games.


which is it?

Part of it could be our HC has no connections, too.
[/quote]

Most likely.

It worries me a lot that our AD didn't make Eshan change his staff after year 1. It was so obvious to basketball people that he was in way over is head and nothing was done about it. We had everything from multiple opposing coaches talking about how easy were were to game plan against, to a recruit's high school coach saying "This ain't even basketball" (and no, we did not end up signing said recruit) to the obvious results on the floor from a team that won 26 games the year before.

Seeing how the past two years unfolded and not forcing at least a change in assistants is borderline negligent by our AD. I don't know if he's dealing with a sunk cost fallacy because he's the one who made the hire, if he doesn't see the problem thats staring him in the face, or if he just doesn't care. Whatever it is, the fact that he let it fester this long combined with how he handled the search last time (interviewing people without the search committee knowing, refusing to interview people the search committee recommended, having a "I know more than everyone else about this and don't require your input" attitude, etc.) Well, let's just say that I'm not very thrilled about how the process will work even if we do make a coaching change, and I don't think it's a slam dunk that we do.

Fr

(02-12-2019 02:15 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  It worries me a lot that our AD didn't make Eshan change his staff after year 1. It was so obvious to basketball people that he was in way over is head and nothing was done about it. We had everything from multiple opposing coaches talking about how easy were were to game plan against, to a recruit's high school coach saying "This ain't even basketball" (and no, we did not end up signing said recruit) to the obvious results on the floor from a team that won 26 games the year before.

Seeing how the past two years unfolded and not forcing at least a change in assistants is borderline negligent by our AD. I don't know if he's dealing with a sunk cost fallacy because he's the one who made the hire, if he doesn't see the problem thats staring him in the face, or if he just doesn't care. Whatever it is, the fact that he let it fester this long combined with how he handled the search last time (interviewing people without the search committee knowing, refusing to interview people the search committee recommended, having a "I know more than everyone else about this and don't require your input" attitude, etc.) Well, let's just say that I'm not very thrilled about how the process will work even if we do make a coaching change, and I don't think it's a slam dunk that we do.

ADMI is here for the photo ops and the doughnuts. He may end up being as bad for the Athletic Department as Herman Frazier was.

Recent background article on Ole Miss coaching search:

The Oral History of the Coaching Search That Led to Kermit Davis

Lot of comments from AK about leaving Ole Miss as well as this interesting excerpt about their finalists:

Ole Miss had zeroed in on Davis after rounds of interviews, including one with East Tennessee State’s Steve Forbes. Matta, Crean, Hardaway and Forbes rounded out the list of finalists.

I guess Forbes is off the Verbotten list. He might make a good candidate.
Or is he still too tainted?

Sorry for double posting but I thought my other one with all of the quoted text was long enough. This is where I'd narrow the focus:

1) Ask Gregg Marshall which of his guys is ready to be a head coach. His tree has been great. The coaches produce results, and are loyal.

2) Hire a retread. Andy Kennedy, Mark Fox, Shaka Smart or Mike Anderson (depending on how they finish their seasons), etc. College basketball is littered with retreads working out well right now, especially in the south. There are also a ton of examples also not working out, but we seem to be in an era where retread hires are producing results.

3) Hire an up-and-coming coach. I'm personally the least into this one since it seems lose-lose. You hire a low-major coach to come here, that means they're clearly just using UAB as a stepping stone, and they leave as soon as they have success. Or they're a successful low-major coach but can't make the transition. Either way, you're looking again in 4 years. I'm not naive to think UAB gets someone like Bartow again, especially not in 2019, but I hope they're careful to select someone that leaves the program better than they found it. If you go this route, the SoCon is littered with coaches most likely making around half of what UAB could pay. A specific example of someone from this area would be Chris Jans from NMSU. I think he's only making 290k for the Aggies, so UAB could definitely make it worth his while. He's from the Gregg Marshall coaching tree and has had success in each of his 3 seasons as a head coach. He also has some "baggage" which could keep him off the radar of larger jobs for a while.

(02-12-2019 02:05 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  So one guy says that the AD controls scheduling. Another poster said Mark told him directly that he couldn't do anything about scheduling games.


which is it?

It really is both. My understanding is that while our AD sort of micro manages the football schedule, he let's/makes our basketball staff assemble the basketball schedule while vetoing parts of it that he doesnt like.

When Mark says "I can't do anything about it" thats his code for "You poor, cheap, stingy blazer fans are the only thing keeping me from being the greatest AD of all time."

I like the Nored suggestion just because I believe at some point hes going to be a successful head coach. I just dont know if were the team that can afford to take a chance on him right now. I still believe AK would be a good hire but it really depends on what other candidates they get.

(02-12-2019 02:25 PM)BlazintheATL Wrote:  I like the Nored suggestion just because I believe at some point hes going to be a successful head coach. I just dont know if were the team that can afford to take a chance on him right now. I still believe AK would be a good hire but it really depends on what other candidates they get.

I do too but I think a lot depends on what it would take to hire Andy. I don't think of him as a splash hire we should break the Haase barrier on.

(02-12-2019 02:05 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  

Quote:Oh and all those bitching about scheduling talk to the AD. He is the one mandating regional scheduling which severely cuts down on opportunities for quality H&Hs.

I actually have done this quite a bit. I sent Mark a ton of data last year with suggestions on improving OOC scheduling and attendance. We had a pretty lengthy phone call about it, and the end result was him implying that he couldn't do anything about it. I'm not really sure what else I can do.

So one guy says that the AD controls scheduling. Another poster said Mark told him directly that he couldn't do anything about scheduling games.


which is it?
[/quote]

It’s actually the Board telling the AD to cut costs so hence he can’t do anything about it. That’s why I said the program needs money and in another thread I included scheduling. It takes more money to fly a team to
Play a home and home with say Nevada than it does to pay New Orleans to come in to Bartow.

Not suggesting AK but another pro with him is he would come for less and would likely stay long term even if it when is successful IMHO. If I went retread he would be at the top of my list for that reason and he also is more up tempo than Haase or current staff.

Andy Kennedy. Andy Kennedy. Did I mention Andy Kennedy?

(02-12-2019 02:05 PM)THE_LEGEND Wrote:  So one guy says that the AD controls scheduling. Another poster said Mark told him directly that he couldn't do anything about scheduling games.


which is it?

There is no reason that it can't be both. AD's make schedule deals. There is no one else in the athletic office doing it. That said, if the AD is limited to scheduling locally because we don't have the budget to fly to games, he's limited to A. games with teams who are close B. who have open dates that match ours C. who are willing to schedule us.

Always remember that it takes two to schedule a game. When you are not a big name draw, that isn't always easy. Now limit the options further financially.

Lord knows that I'm not a Mark Ingram loyalist, but his hands are tied and he has one foot in a bucket on this. That said, I think he's also the walking exemplar of the Peter Principle in action.

Isn’t part of his job to sell the program and get boosters to help out in situations like these? I’m not saying he could solve all the problems we have, but he can do more.

He does not have Clark to sell basketball, and Ehsan's pull is negligible at the moment. I'm hoping that some of the old line big basketball boosters decide that enough is enough and get behind funding a change.

That may just be a pipedream, though.

(02-12-2019 03:44 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Not suggesting AK but another pro with him is he would come for less and would likely stay long term even if it when is successful IMHO. If I went retread he would be at the top of my list for that reason and he also is more up tempo than Haase or current staff.

Yep! And recruits know him as the successful former Ole Miss coach. He has probably recruited some 2020 or 2021 players...

This is a depressing thread, I really hope no one show up on anyones jobs and start talking about replacing them.
Let the season play out and if a change is needed then send in your checks to buy the coach out...