Name the next head coach (a GMUJim tribute album)

[GSII]

And I think it helps he has experience in our target market for out of state students. As does Bobby Hurley.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Career record is just under .500 but he seems to do a decent job getting overseas players to a place like Albany (or at least Australian players). Like that he cares about the academic side as well with all the AE All Academic team players. Turns 44 later this year.

Only one regular season championship....

 

[Masonfan55]

Career record is just under .500 but he seems to do a decent job getting overseas players to a place like Albany (or at least Australian players). Like that he cares about the academic side as well with all the AE All Academic team players. Turns 44 later this year.

Only one regular season championship....

You bring up a good point about career record. Has had some ups and downs but at a place like Albany (only been division 1 for roughly 15 years) you can throw out his first 4 or 5 years as he basically had to build the program from the ground up

 

[GSII]

Albany has won the league 4 out of the last 9 years.

I dont think this is true.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Actually, it is. They've been the AE rep in the NCAA tournament 4 times since 05-06. 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014. After this year, it will either be 5 of the last 10 or 4 of the last 10. currently it is 4 of the last 9. (Conference tournament titles)

The probably I have is the lack of success in regular season. Puts together great runs in their tournaments...but I'd like to see more success in regular season. But that's being nit picky.

 

[JimP]

I know GW has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but it's the same league that Lonergan came out of to coach them. It certainly seems Brown could handle a better league too. Might be nice to have a guy who coached against Lonergan in the past. It'd be interesting to see their records against one another when they both coached in the AE.

On another note, one of the best GMU games I saw live was up in Vermont against a Lonergan coached team. Overtime W for GMU several years ago. I recall Lonergan's post game comments annoying me, he was quite bitter about the loss. He said something like "This is George Mason, not some national power." in the local paper.

On a final note, Burlington is a great little city.

 

[Vurbel]

The good news is that it almost doesn't matter who is brought in cause it will be an improvement. It's just a matter of some are a little better than others.

 

[psyclone]

The good news is that it almost doesn't matter who is brought in cause it will be an improvement. It's just a matter of some are a little better than others.

So I guess that Brian Gregory, a semi-successful coach at Dayton who looked to be a reasonable hire for Georgia Tech, is doing better there than Hewitt did? Not so much.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Off the wall idea....

....looking over Rhode Island I see Luke Murray is an assistant there now. His dad, of course, is Bill Murray. Maybe if we tell Bill that Luke will get his first head coach job if Bill is willing to cut a check......

Nah.

 

[KAOriginal]

So I guess that Brian Gregory, a semi-successful coach at Dayton who looked to be a reasonable hire for Georgia Tech, is doing better there than Hewitt did? Not so much.

My take is Gregory is being paid less than Hewitt so they should be happy. LOL.

 

[wijg]

So I guess that Brian Gregory, a semi-successful coach at Dayton who looked to be a reasonable hire for Georgia Tech, is doing better there than Hewitt did? Not so much.

That touches on an excellent point. How much damage did Hewitt do to GT versus what he has done to Mason. GT seems to have been able to ride out the Hewitt damage from a donor base perspective, and I suspect their fan base will come back quickly with wins. In my novice look, Gregory seems to not be a huge recruiter, so, in retrospect, might not have been a good follow on to a failed coach given GT's place in the ACC.

As for Mason, I don't think recruiting will be as big a deal for the A10 as it is in the ACC. I don't know that our donor base has been hurt too badly yet, but it probably has put a cap on the growth. Given where we are in the infancy of our athletic donations, that makes it worse. Fan base is where we may have taken our biggest hit. Look how long it took to grow our fan base. How long will it take us to grow our fan base back to the last years of the Coach L era?

The total damage may take longer term for us to reverse. but, I don't think the coach will have as hard a time to turn the team around.

 

[psyclone]

Here's what I could find on Gregory"s salary
http://sportscompensation.com/former-dayton-coach-brian-gregory-hired-by-georgia-tech/

Despite the 1 million total, it could be substantially cheaper than Hewitt's (1.1 M) insofar as he would continue to get that total amount after being fired for 6 or 7 yrs.
There were a lot of "variable costs" in Gregory's salary (notably Radio/TV for 600K that presumably wouldn't go with him).

 

[Dawgs99]

What if Tom Crean gets fired at IU? any takers? I know techincaly he would be a "retread" but he would feel different than Hewitt did when we took him.

 

[Walter]

What if Tom Crean gets fired at IU? any takers? I know techincaly he would be a "retread" but he would feel different than Hewitt did when we took him.

Normally, I would say no way to any retread. BUT . . . absolutely.

I hear he is going to Alabama though. So before any Anthony Grant talk starts, NO WAY!

 

[Dawgs99]

Agree on the Anthony Grant comment....I want no part of him. Tom Crean has really done a great job at IU from steering them out of the sanctions and having them back in the national picture, but those fans are like Notre Dame football fans in that the first sign of a drop off they want you gone.

 

[Vurbel]

So I guess that Brian Gregory, a semi-successful coach at Dayton who looked to be a reasonable hire for Georgia Tech, is doing better there than Hewitt did? Not so much.

That's why I said almost. Notice I didn't say every human being on the face of the earth.

 

[psyclone]

That's why I said almost. Notice I didn't say every human being on the face of the earth.

True....but Brian Gregory wasn't just a random draw from a pool of every human being on the face of the planet. He appeared to be a very qualified coach with a reasonable track record at a quality A10 school.

My larger point is that getting it right on the next hire isn't as easy as us armchair ADs would like to believe.

 

[KAOriginal]

My larger point is that getting it right on the next hire isn't as easy as us armchair ADs would like to believe.

No its not. And without detailed analysis, I am always sketchy eyed on the hiring and firing of these ACC coaches. The fans are relentless, and I wonder if sometimes they pull the trigger too early. In the ACC you're not going to become #1 overnight, not anymore.

To me it would be more credible to fire Hewitt after coming out strong and then whimpering out, then Gregory who comes in plods along and then finally get its right. But the question is how long os too long?

Someone find me the next Tony Bennett for Mason please....

 

[GSII]

Actually, it is. They've been the AE rep in the NCAA tournament 4 times since 05-06. 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014. After this year, it will either be 5 of the last 10 or 4 of the last 10. currently it is 4 of the last 9. (Conference tournament titles)

The probably I have is the lack of success in regular season. Puts together great runs in their tournaments...but I'd like to see more success in regular season. But that's being nit picky.

I took it as winning the reg season vs winning the conf tourney. WInning the league to me means the reg season.

 

[Vurbel]

True....but Brian Gregory wasn't just a random draw from a pool of every human being on the face of the planet. He appeared to be a very qualified coach with a reasonable track record at a quality A10 school.

My larger point is that getting it right on the next hire isn't as easy as us armchair ADs would like to believe.

There is no but. I said that almost anyone would be an improvement. Then you took it to a whole new level. If arguing with somebody over a computer is your deal then fine, but at least do it for something they actually said. If you make up things it kills your argument. Just some advice.