Coaching Search Thread

[Herndon]

I get the nostalgia and fun of having a former player involved, but TBH that's like 12394th priority.

Get the best coach you can, REGARDLESS of who he is. I don't care if he personally screwed my wife while I was in the next room. If he's the best coach, that's who I want.

If it's a former player, great. Fun bonus, but it shouldn't factor into who gets hired if it doesn't help him win games. Fan excitement will come from wins. Fans aren't going to care if the guy coached at Mason if he's not winning, and they're not going to care where he played if he does win.

Spend the money. Invest in the program. Don't try to shuck and jive. Just be a damn athletic director and hire the best coach you can afford.

 

[mkaufman1]

I get the nostalgia and fun of having a former player involved, but TBH that's like 12394th priority.

Get the best coach you can, REGARDLESS of who he is. I don't care if he personally screwed my wife while I was in the next room. If he's the best coach, that's who I want.

If it's a former player, great. Fun bonus, but it shouldn't factor into who gets hired if it doesn't help him win games. Fan excitement will come from wins. Fans aren't going to care if the guy coached at Mason if he's not winning, and they're not going to care where he played if he does win.

Spend the money. Invest in the program. Don't try to shuck and jive. Just be a damn athletic director and hire the best coach you can afford.

Absolutely. If tony is the best fit and candidate great. But the initial excitement will go away quick if he sucks or anyone. Definitely go out there and get the very very best.

need a guy who can win at the a10 level.

 

[bravesfan]

Absolutely. If tony is the best fit and candidate great. But the initial excitement will go away quick if he sucks or anyone. Definitely go out there and get the very very best.

need a guy who can win at the a10 level.

It's clear to me that whoever they bring in there are two musts:

1.) Recruit at an A10 level. No excuse to be an A10 school and not have multiple three-star+ recruits. That was happening in the CAA...
2.) Repair relationships with former players. Lamar is an assistant at Paul VI and Team Takeover. He should be a force-multiplier for Mason. Surely there are others...

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

I'm torn. I'd absolutely love for a guy with connections to our past glory to be the coach. Everyone wants that feeling again and wants our former players to feel engaged with the program. However, it cannot be at the expense of not hiring the best candidate for the job. History is littered with examples of schools hiring based on nostalgia and it being a disaster. Get the best candidate. My only concern in this process is that we ditch the "we need a guy who has been a head coach before" qualification. It's ridiculous. There are plenty of schools at our level AND ABOVE who are successful without this needless qualification.

 

[Patriot8]

If Skinn weren’t a former player, he would still be a fantastic candidate. Him being a former player is simply an added bonus. We can’t discount the feelings of our alums. Whomever the new coach is must make them a priority.

 

[Enforcer]

Exactly, ya'll. Getting a former player is a "nice to have" but not a "need to have." Get the best candidate you can, and if it happens to be someone with past ties - it's a bonus.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Exactly, ya'll. Getting a former player is a "nice to have" but not a "need to have." Get the best candidate you can, and if it happens to be someone with past ties - it's a bonus.

I wouldn't mind former players coming to work around the new coach and program. I think it is important to have them involved. Just not necessarily as coach.

I think outreach and relationships should be maintained.

 

[KAOriginal]

My question is...since there are 2 sides to every story...what are the past players mad about? And what role are they playing in keeping the tension up?

 

[gmujim92]

I don’t think any of us need to worry whether due diligence is being done on this hire. It may not work out — and frankly Brad’s hiring record ain’t the greatest — but he’s not risking his job to bring in a guy for the sake of fan/alumni nostalgia.

He literally has to get this right. If Tony is the pick, I’m extremely confident it’s because Brad and Dr. Washington believe he’s the best guy for the job all things considered.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

I don’t think any of us need to worry whether due diligence is being done on this hire. It may not work out — and frankly Brad’s hiring record ain’t the greatest — but he’s not risking his job to bring in a guy for the sake of fan/alumni nostalgia.

He literally has to get this right. If Tony is the pick, I’m extremely confident it’s because Brad and Dr. Washington believe he’s the best guy for the job all things considered.

You are probably right - the timing of everything makes it seem they have been looking for a while.

If Tony Skinn comes in and lights everything up - it will not only be good for Mason Basketball - it would be one hell of a story.

 

[Patriot8]

I don’t think any of us need to worry whether due diligence is being done on this hire. It may not work out — and frankly Brad’s hiring record ain’t the greatest — but he’s not risking his job to bring in a guy for the sake of fan/alumni nostalgia.

He literally has to get this right. If Tony is the pick, I’m extremely confident it’s because Brad and Dr. Washington believe he’s the best guy for the job all things considered.

And, if someone has already been identified, it’s worth noting that Seton Hall and Miami are both done playing, while Tennessee, LA Tech, UVA, Winthrop, etc are still playing. Longer this “search” goes, the more one could likely narrow it down.

 

[bravesfan]

I don’t think any of us need to worry whether due diligence is being done on this hire. It may not work out — and frankly Brad’s hiring record ain’t the greatest — but he’s not risking his job to bring in a guy for the sake of fan/alumni nostalgia.

He literally has to get this right. If Tony is the pick, I’m extremely confident it’s because Brad and Dr. Washington believe he’s the best guy for the job all things considered.

I agree. I'm sure if you got a few beers in him, Brad would tell you that he's already been at Mason longer than he envisioned...

 

[gmujim92]

I agree. I'm sure if you got a few beers in him, Brad would tell you that he's already been at Mason longer than he envisioned...

Absolutely, no football guy comes to a place like Mason to do anything but make connections and polish the resume for his next job. Best laid plans ...

 

[dr. gunnie]

If I'm Brad and if I'm serious about getting someone who can recruit the DMV, I'm talking to guys like Glen Farello and/or Mike Jones. I'm asking them for a list of two or three assistant coaches and two or three low level head coaches that they feel would be successful head coaches in the DMV. Go straight to the horses' mouth. They see all these guys in action, they know who the top dogs are.

Heck, maybe Farello or Jones impresses you enough and they get in the mix for the job.

 

[mkaufman1]

I agree. I'm sure if you got a few beers in him, Brad would tell you that he's already been at Mason longer than he envisioned...

Completely agree. But if he doesn't get Mason's key sport back to the NCAAs, its going to be very hard for him. Yeah he can point to the facilities improvement, but at the end of the day, "Helped Mason Mens/Womens NCAA basketball programs make NCAAs in X year (s)" is probably a very important sentence.

 

[bravesfan]

Completely agree. But if he doesn't get Mason's key sport back to the NCAAs, its going to be very hard for him. Yeah he can point to the facilities improvement, but at the end of the day, "Helped Mason Mens/Womens NCAA basketball programs make NCAAs in X year (s)" is probably a very important sentence.

Yup. It'll be back to Associate AD raising funds for him.

 

[Mason32]

If I'm Brad and if I'm serious about getting someone who can recruit the DMV, I'm talking to guys like Glen Farello and/or Mike Jones. I'm asking them for a list of two or three assistant coaches and two or three low level head coaches that they feel would be successful head coaches in the DMV. Go straight to the horses' mouth. They see all these guys in action, they know who the top dogs are.

Heck, maybe Farello or Jones impresses you enough and they get in the mix for the job.

Radford's coach? Am I missing something

 

[GMUgemini]

Radford's coach? Am I missing something

Dematha’s coach

 

[Herndon]

If Skinn weren’t a former player, he would still be a fantastic candidate. Him being a former player is simply an added bonus. We can’t discount the feelings of our alums. Whomever the new coach is must make them a priority.

What makes him a fantastic candidate? I'm genuinely ignorant. I see 3 years as an assistant at La Tech, and 2 years as an assistant at Seton Hall.

To me, that's "Ok", but it doesn't jump out to me as some fantastic resume. Does he have a reputation as a top recruiter? Is he the x's and o's guy for a particularly effective scheme?

Compared to a guy like Kelsey or Turner, it's sort of not even really in the same ballpark, to me.

What am I missing here?

*edit: jesus, wednesdays I am NOT awake yet. Kelsey, not Skelly*

 

[Pikapppatri8]

What makes him a fantastic candidate? I'm genuinely ignorant. I see 3 years as an assistant at La Tech, and 2 years as an assistant at Seton Hall.

To me, that's "Ok", but it doesn't jump out to me as some fantastic resume. Does he have a reputation as a top recruiter? Is he the x's and o's guy for a particularly effective scheme?

Compared to a guy like Kelsey or Turner, it's sort of not even really in the same ballpark, to me.

What am I missing here?

*edit: jesus, wednesdays I am NOT awake yet. Kelsey, not Skelly*

To be honest - I want them to commit to a really good salary and pull in someone who wants to dominate the A10. If they say they are going to up the pay and go for a coaching stud - I would start writing more checks