Ok I get it now. I disagree, but I get what you were saying at least. I would have agreed for JMU & Lewis last year, but I think there’s more firepower at JMU this year that COULD come through (fingers crossed).

i read that albany and their coach "parted ways" yesterday. he took them to the ncaa tournament five times in 20 seasons. i have no idea what the dynamics were there and who knows what might have been going on internally. apparently they had 2 players transfer to bigger schools and suffered from it.

point i'm trying to make is if a drexel coach wins 1 conference tournament he can probably stay forever.

(03-02-2021 07:45 AM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  i read that albany and their coach "parted ways" yesterday. he took them to the ncaa tournament five times in 20 seasons. i have no idea what the dynamics were there and who knows what might have been going on internally. apparently they had 2 players transfer to bigger schools and suffered from it.

point i'm trying to make is if a drexel coach wins 1 conference tournament he can probably stay forever.

If you want to talk about a guy who appears to have a lifetime coaching position without winning, its former Drexel star coach Bill Herrion. He won over 70% of his games at Drexel. He's been at UNH for 16 seasons. I don't think he's ever been to the AE Championship Game with UNH after getting there 7 times in 8 seasons with Drexel. His career coaching record is now under .500 and he just got bounced in the quarterfinals as a 3 seed. Makes you wonder what would have happened if he never left Drexel. Would he have been a more successful coach at Drexel that at ECU/UNH? Would he still be here?

what made him leave?

i'm trying to remember new hampshire being good at anything. i remember seeing their football team against delaware a year after their kicker missed a field goal to beat them. a model citizen/delaware fan decided to heckle him before the game.

UNH football is quite good most years under Coach McDonnell.

(03-02-2021 10:15 AM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  what made him leave?

Who knows? Could have been money. Could have been Dr. Zillmer who just became AD around the time that Herrion resigned. Could have been the desire for higher stature which is what most successful mid major coaches want. I was at his farewell banquet and he told those of us in attendance that "he accomplished all that he could at Drexel". This was 2 years before Drexel left for the CAA. Ironically, he left for a CAA school that was transitioning into Conference USA (stronger conference then than it is now) at the time, and ECU's departure from the CAA allowed an opening for Drexel to join. He didn't have success at ECU, and wound up back with his roots in both New England and back in America East.

(03-02-2021 10:23 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  UNH football is quite good most years under Coach McDonnell.

i'm talking ndsu, jmu, villanova, or delaware under keeler good. it looks like they made the semifinals at times but never broke through. there was a time where just fielding a team in the a-10 turned caa got you into the playoffs. it was frustrating as a lehigh fan and fun when they beat teams like richmond in the playoffs.

(03-02-2021 02:10 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 10:23 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  UNH football is quite good most years under Coach McDonnell.

i'm talking ndsu, jmu, villanova, or delaware under keeler good. it looks like they made the semifinals at times but never broke through. there was a time where just fielding a team in the a-10 turned caa got you into the playoffs. it was frustrating as a lehigh fan and fun when they beat teams like richmond in the playoffs.

I get your perspective. And hopefully you’ll allow me to say this without digging into stats to refute it. Helps that it’s Delaware hate. UNH football under McConnell is typically way better than any Keeler-led team.

(03-02-2021 02:10 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 10:23 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  UNH football is quite good most years under Coach McDonnell.

i'm talking ndsu, jmu, villanova, or delaware under keeler good. it looks like they made the semifinals at times but never broke through. there was a time where just fielding a team in the a-10 turned caa got you into the playoffs. it was frustrating as a lehigh fan and fun when they beat teams like richmond in the playoffs.

I love going to games at Lehigh. Such a picturesque setting.

i've been lucky enough to see football games in a lot of places...mostly down south. goodman stadium is still in my top 3 of places to watch a game.

not to turn this into an fcs thread...but my impression was keeler somehow wasn't good enough for delaware because they lost too many title games. they haven't been the same since. is that accurate? we made it down to the penn-ud game last year which penn should've won. they dominated most of the game and missed a 2 point conversion try to win.

my impression at ud is their expectations have always exceeded reality. great band though and good place to watch a game. we would stay in wilmington before the fall nascar race and they usually had a saturday night game.

(02-28-2020 09:53 AM)dan10 Wrote:  He is not going anywhere soon. Next year will be quite telling what his future may or may not hold in my opinion. But I would say his seat at Drexel is cold to moderately cool

I think this all was answered the past three nights.

For sure, but next year if his team doesnt lose a terrible amount will have high expectations so he will still be looked at. If the team starts strong next season I would expect an extension mid-season. I imagine he bought himself more time regardless, the only question mark is the new AD. Many ADs want their own coaches. That is an unknown at this point

One winning season and you want to extend him?

Sorry to be the drain poster, but I would take the national attention and resources that come from this tourney appearance and begin the search for a new direction.

(03-10-2021 04:41 PM)relaxing Wrote:  One winning season and you want to extend him?

Sorry to be the drain poster, but I would take the national attention and resources that come from this tourney appearance and begin the search for a new direction.

I didnt say that at all. I said what I think will happen or what is expected to happen based on the past. The AD position will mean a lot as to the direction this program goes. If this team doesnt build on this season next season, I still think it needs to be looked at real hard. But its hard to justify letting a coach go 1 season after making its schools first tournament appearance in 25 years, too. Its a tough position to be in. If its earlier in a contract you have time to evaluate whether its a fluke or not, late in a contract you have to make that decision with maybe 1 more season to see if it was a fluke or a true step forward. I dont think we can truly answer that question right now.

Fact is this season was screwed up all over. Many thought this was a team that had a real chance to dance and was celarly 1 of the 2 best teams preseason. Prior to the CAAT we won 3 true road games in conference. There were signs of true progress we all expected. Ratings on offense and defense made leaps too, even when some results didnt go our way. Were there still some same concerns from past seasons ,(turnovers, inept offense for stretches, ability to collapse in 2nd halves) yes there were. But this season progress was seen, real progress, which is what everyone wanted this season with this roster. We saw it and then got rewarded by getting hot at the right time. He has earned some level of patience to see if this was real or just a fluke. The demeanor of the players last night after the game and after each game (and during) shows that Spiker is building great teamwork. They play for each other. For a program, that has to mean something too.

Could this send us down the same trap/rabbit hole we did with Bru and his NIT appearances? Sure. But there are worse places we could be as well. Spikers approach to officials is an easier sell too. Both are pretty good ambassadors toward the school.

If it were up to me I would see how next season goes. If this progress is sustained I would offer a 1 year extension to see if he has lifted the program. Recruiting will get better from this, so seeing that out some is important too. If the team really takes a step back (and not because of defection), I think you have to really consider your options

Also I think it matters who the coaching pool is. If it is big name/hot Assistant from a big program that may sway an AD to go with someone else if next season isn't going well.

am i reading right that the conversation is replacing spiker...or at least considering going in a different direction?

i'm more concerned about him leaving us. is this a new philly thing where winning a championship as a head coach...at a place that never wins a championship...doesn't mean anything?

i wouldn't give spiker a bryce harper 10+ year contract. 3-5 years would be fine with me though. this guy played a pandemic perfectly. i don't see this as "lightning in a bottle" as people like to say. he's positioned to have this team good for at least the next 3 years with this freshman class. you have to believe the championship is only going to help recruiting.

Yes hiroshima, that is the discussion. If this team had won 1 game or 0 games in the CAAT how would you feel about where we are as a program? There were legitimate concerns here. So the discussion now is truly does the championship save him or how much extra time does it buy. He was never going to be fired after this year with 2 years remaining. My point is this is a tough year to win because of having only 1 season to make a decision on him whereas if he wins last year or 2 years ago you have time to really decide whether it was lightning in a bottle or the team has truly taken the next step. This year was always a critical year (year 5 of a coaches tenure where its all his own guys). They stepped up late for sure. They need to come back strong next year showing this run is for real and wasnt just a great blip, in my opinion, and probably others

If you factor in the CAA Tournament....
Zach Spiker was the best coach in the CAA this year....
let me repeat...
Zach Spiker was the best coach in the CAA this year.

The fact was that Drexel was the only team in the CAA not to have an in season shut down due to Covid. That wasn't an accident. He preached to his players and staff the importance of staying safe and how necessary it would be to win a championship. And despite how screwed they got during the scheduling, he kept his players focused toward their ultimate goal.

Comparing Bruiser vs. Spiker..
I really think that if Bruiser were the coach this year, he would have been playing the media circuit, doing every interview he possibly could to tell everybody how screwed up things are and how his team was the victims and got totally screwed.
Zach did none of that. He told his team basically, it is what it is, and you still need to stay safe and stay focused, as we keep practicing, and if we do that, we have a chance to be successful.

Next year will be a huge year for Zach and the coaching staff. They must keep their foot on the gas pedal, and keep bringing in a stream of top level talent and work their way up to the top of the CAA standings on a regular basis, starting next year. That's what it takes to build a program.
Then in the next year or two, we will know for sure if he's the guy to remain at Drexel long term.

(03-11-2021 06:00 AM)dan10 Wrote:  If this team had won 1 game or 0 games in the CAAT how would you feel about where we are as a program? There were legitimate concerns here.

we didn't. we won 3 games in 3 days and a conference championship. i'm ready to erect a statue for the guy honestly. denise dillon, zach spiker, and nihill as you walk into the dac. i'll put the brakes on though and agree you don't want to get too wrapped up in this.

here are some of my concerns with spiker and how i think most of them have been answered...

1. recruiting - easily the biggest one. it was pretty obvious from the first game when oden, bell, and even williams hit the floor that we finally brought in some legit players. i might be getting carried away again here but i see some of damion lee in bell. needs to improve his shooting and i think he's smaller...but just as athletic. the title should make us more competitive for talent locally. hopefully less reaching into canada or overseas for guys like wynter.

2. talent development - i'll be honest. okros drove me nuts at times early in the season. his shooting turned around, he's a better defended, and is even trying to drive a bit. bell got better as the season progressed. we got solid minutes out of perry. bickerstaff is developing a post game (and still has a high ceiling). walton was a threat from three.

a drexel team got better instead of worse as the season went along. that is historic...and it was done mostly through practices. think about how challenging it must have been to keep this kids motivated all winter.

3. substitutions - he pushed all the right buttons in the tournament. put guys in the right positions like okros hitting those threes in the first half to get us back in the game. perry gave us energy off the bench. he went with the freshmen (still would like to see more oden and even williams) and just generally went with his more talented lineups that i've been asking for.

4. game management - i wasn't thrilled about how much we slowed the game down against elon. thought it might have been better to push since they were on their 4th game. also wasn't thrilled he went with a defensive lineup in the last 5 minutes. thought he should have kept the pedal down. it seems like spiker wants to get a lead and sit on it which i don't know how i feel about.

you know what though? it worked. jurich shut down #11 for the most part. it may cost him at some point. at least i'm getting a feel for what spiker is about since he's finally coaching meaningful games with players who have some tools to compete. he's not take a knife to a gun fight any more.

he was advertised as a run/gun coach so the way we're playing now tells me he's able to adapt...another excellent quality.

5. injuries - we didn't have any to key players. less games made a difference i'm sure...but they were scrimmaging and given our improvements we couldn't have just been sitting around chilling. guys were working. not sure what we did different strength and conditioning wise if anything.


so put that all together and i'm thrilled. i don't feel like this is the time to have any discussion about needing a new coach. jb mentioned bad luck in another thread. i think you make your own luck with all of the above. there's a reason bruiser still hasn't seen the ncaa tournament and definitely not a good run even with indiana and kentucky.

you're watching a great coaching staff. enjoy them. we deserve credit for being patient with spiker and this is our reward.

(03-11-2021 08:34 AM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  i don't feel like this is the time to have any discussion about needing a new coach.

I actually agree. It was bumped so we are commenting, thats all. Nobody here is calling for his head any more at this point after this monumental achievement. But this thread was started this season for a real reason. Its still worthy of discussion as to the direction we are headed and whether this was an accidental blip due to covid or if its real progress. Next year will be quite telling.