The Paul Hewitt Thread

[MasonFanatic]

Hi, my name is MasonFanatic. I've been sober for 11 days and ... and ... *breaks down* I LOVE YOU COACH HEWITT!

 

[Patriotfan49]

You can try to make this about me if it makes you feel better, but I have no say whatsoever in who our coach is or when he leaves. I'll support the current coaches and players until they're gone, and after that I'll support their replacements.

If you guys are that hungry for change, start a petition. Hell, Brian is on of our biggest donors and knows most of the administration personally, so I'm sure he'd be happy to hand deliver it to TOC or Cabrera himself.

Tom, this has nothing to do with you nor am I making it about you or making anything personal. Please dont assume because I reply to your posts, that Im talking about you specifically. Thats not what Im doing. I was just asking you a hypothetical/rhetorical question even though weve talked about this before and Im sure I already know your stance.

I know how you feel, and that chances are Hewitt will be here regardless. This isnt a us or them debate, its simply a conversation on a message board....and it seems most people regardless of how they feel figure that Hewitt will be around through his deal like it or not.

 

[99 Patriot]

I have certainly been on both sides of this argument, and really I still am, but let me pose this question... If you're the administration what's the payoff/victory to taking the risk of a buyout and bringing in a new coach?

This team in the last 8 years has been to the top of the mountain in college basketball. After a nice short-term stimulus, what changed? Attendance briefly spiked then regressed, donations went up some but not dramatically and national exposure slowly dwindled off. In the last 3 years donations continue to climb, we upgraded conferences and attendance has remained fairly consistent.

I'd say 80% of the bodies that come to Mason games would make the same decision to attend if we were 7-6, 12-1 or 1-12. They are people like Tom and me who see the games as opportuntiies to take their families out for a night, to support their alma mater or to just see a live sporting event. In some of Coach L's best years a January 3 game against a lowly opponent would have drawn the exact same crowd we had last night.

So passionate fandom aside, I'd like to hear someone's business case for why Paul Hewitt should be let go and we should eat the 7-figures he has remaining over the next 2 years despite the fact that our baseball stadium still doesn't have lights or restrooms and even our basketball team can't be heard on a radio in the DMV. Would landing the next Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart suddenly sell out every game or somehow shake several million more dollars out of the donor base?

 

[gmubrian]

Hi, Brian!

So, that means you are attending our HA meeting. How long have you been sober?

 

[gmutom]

I know how you feel, and that chances are Hewitt will be here regardless.

I realize debates here get divided up as people being pro-Hewitt or anti-Hewitt, but it's not that simple to me. Some fans act like cutting bait with our coach will solve everything, but my biggest fear is a mass exodus of recruits who signed to play here as well as current players (including Holloway, Marko and Jenkins).

There are many things about Hewitt that drive me nuts, but I wrestle with the alternative of starting from scratch with new coaches, players, schemes, etc. I hear the argument from his detractors that we will definitely suck if he stays, but I would be lying if I said I'm not intrigued by what he will do with 8 new players over the next two years. I don't think it's a given that he can't win here, and I do realize that puts me in the minority.

Either way, like Patriot 99 said, I'm a Mason fan through and through, so I'll continue to bring my family to the games and support whomever our coach is. In the meantime, I do admittedly find very therapeutic to come and bitch with fellow Patriots. haha

 

[gmubrian]

99, A business case may or may not be made for replacing him immediately. It would all depend on your assumptions for what happens with the replacement. You could get a good up and comer for a relative bargain and make up some of the money in years 3 and 4 of the contract. If he is successful after that, going to a the tournament on a regular basis, then you have your business case. Is that a likely scenario, I don't know, I am not an AD or university president and don't have easy access to enough numbers to answer that.

But, that is not the only scenario. If you see the issues most of us seem to be seeing, you can take steps that you have to take now in order to put you in a good situation down the road. I'll throw out another scenario as an example. As AD, you could convince your coach to bring in an up and coming assistant coach with the intention of grooming him to take the reins one day. Hopefully one that complements Hewitt's strengths. If after two years, Hewitt has not panned out, the assistant could take over the reins with minimal interruption. Hopefully the assistant would have a good relationship with recruits to minimize the damage during a transition.

I'd like to point out something to those of you saying you will come regardless of what happens. I used to think that as well. I have been one of the craziest fans of Mason basketball over the last decade. I have gone to great lengths to make every home game and a large portion of the away games. I am not setting out to boycott games or anything like that. I am just losing the passion for the games as I see the train wreck that we are becoming. It gets harder and harder for me to justify taking this time away from other things that are more important and/or more enjoyable. This is how rabid fans can ultimately become non-fans (unintentionally).

 

[gmutom]

As AD, you could convince your coach to bring in an up and coming assistant coach with the intention of grooming him to take the reins one day. Hopefully one that complements Hewitt's strengths. If after two years, Hewitt has not panned out, the assistant could take over the reins with minimal interruption. Hopefully the assistant would have a good relationship with recruits to minimize the damage during a transition.

Brian and I were talking on the phone about this scenario earlier, and I could see it as a viable option. It would give Hewitt the five years to fulfill his contract without having to worry about him being a lameduck in the fifth year, and the university wouldn't have to pay him off to leave early.

I think we all agree there needs to be a shakeup with the assistants, so it could work out well to bring in somebody who is qualified to become our next head coach should we decide to part ways with Hewitt. If for some reason Hewitt turns things around and the university wants him to stay, they can always extend him during or after the fifth year.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I'd like to point out something to those of you saying you will come regardless of what happens. I used to think that as well. I have been one of the craziest fans of Mason basketball over the last decade. I have gone to great lengths to make every home game and a large portion of the away games. I am not setting out to boycott games or anything like that. I am just losing the passion for the games as I see the train wreck that we are becoming. It gets harder and harder for me to justify taking this time away from other things that are more important and/or more enjoyable. This is how rabid fans can ultimately become non-fans (unintentionally).

I never thought I'd say this but I can feel my enthusiasm bleeding away as well.

 

[Scythe]

Typically winning = visibility which in turn is marketing for the university. If you put out a poor product your visibility decreases and you start losing return on your investment. The return is typically in many different areas, enrollment, licensing deals, donations, etc.

I would have no heartache if they ended Hewitts tenure prematurely.

 

[gmujim92]

This exact situation is why I, and many others, were concerned about hiring a guy who had been fired from his previous job to replace the most successful coach in the history of our program.

Let's think about all that has gone wrong for Hewitt in his 3 years as Mason's coach:

* Luke transfers
* DJ gets suspended for a semester
* Close, but no cigar on Quarterman
* Unfocused Gray winds up in doghouse
* J2 gets concussed, misses 20 games
* Copes is an underperforming knucklehead, suspended twice
* JA injured in offseason car accident, can't play, looks to transfer

Seriously, the guy thought he was walking into a ready-made winner. Instead, just about everything that could go wrong has.

Maybe I'm wrong, but if Hewitt was a young guy we had hired as a first-time HC, I have to believe we'd all be much more empathetic with his plight and patient while he got things going.

But because what we're seeing is much of the same stuff the GT fans were complaining about, it's hard to have faith that it's going to get better with him at the helm.

As critical as I've been of Hewitt, a part of me feels bad for the guy. It's like his tenure was doomed from the start.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Larranaga was a very tough person to follow as coach -- the expectations were always going to be somewhat unrealistic, no matter what he did.

 

[Scythe]

The big thing is we have GT as a use case, and everything that went wrong for them is going the same way for us under Hewitt. It's hard to look away and claim injuries and whatever are the cause of our current downfall thanks to that.

 

[gmubrian]

Jim-I am assuming your choice of things that have gone wrong for Hewitt were things out of his control since it was a very limited list. If that is the case, I would argue that most of those Hewitt had at least some involvement in what the outcome would be (obviously not the J2 concussion). As I mentioned earlier, you can argue away his ownership of any individual event. It is the sheer number of events (and a track record from a previous job) that is concerning to me. Where there is smoke, there is fire...

 

[gmutom]

Larranaga was a very tough person to follow as coach -- the expectations were always going to be somewhat unrealistic, no matter what he did.

Not to mention that most of the issues Jim documented above were with Coach L's recruits. Coach L very well could have gotten more out of guys like Gray, Edwards, Vertrail, Paris and Williams, but they just didn't mesh for one reason or another with Hewitt.

I know it only creates heartache, but I can't help but envision what would have happened had Luke stayed and DJ not gotten suspended. That would have been one hell of a team.

Oh, well ... woulda coulda shoulda...

 

[gmubrian]

... woulda coulda shoulda...

That is the motto of the recently formed HA group. I see you have been attending our meetings.

 

[gmutom]

That is the motto of the recently formed HA group. I see you have been attending our meetings.

Unfortunately, you hold your meetings at masonhoops.com, so I have no choice but to attend.

 

[GMUgemini]

Would landing the next Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart suddenly sell out every game or somehow shake several million more dollars out of the donor base?

We're never going to sell out the Patriot Center every game, but landing a Brad Stevens success will certainly increase attendance and donations.

Attendance right after our Final Four year was 6,834 13 games, total attendance 88,837. Had we sustained the kind of success Butler or vcu has had, I'd say we'd at least maintain that level.

Last year we had 5,161 per game 16 games, total attendance 82,579.

So, let's extrapolate how much lost potential ticket revenue we had sliding back into mediocrity. 82,578 x $18 per ticket = $1,486,404. 6,834 per game for 16 games = 109,344. Ticket price of $18 per game = $1,968,192.

Difference = $481,788. We multiply that times two years (left on Hewitt's contract) and you get $963,576 just from ticket sales.

Now, I know this is entirely hypothetical and our attendance had fallen about 1,000 per game when Coach L left, but you talked about a Brad Stevens/Shaka Smart level of success, which means top 25 teams, deep runs into the tournament, 25+ win seasons, multiple BCS wins every single year, so the bar for your hypothetical success at Mason is pretty high.

 

[Bricker]

Well said. Everything about Hewitt is safe. He doesn't win big, but he doesn't lose big either. His career defines "middle of the pack," outside of his Final Four run, of course.

Exactly. That's the tragedy of it all. He comes off as a good guy (no yelling or sideline shenanigans, chair-throwing). He wins sometimes. He runs a clean program as far as anyone knows.

Unfortunately (and I hope to Allah that this isn't true) I think Hewitt's the kind of guy who can hang around forever at a place like Mason. This year's excuse is easy-- new conference. Next year? Young team, lost scorers, etc. Year after? Uhh... injuries-- but I signed another 4 star recruit. The cycle continues...

But who knows-- maybe TOC retiring or the new Cabrera regime will really shake things up. Maybe. I hope... please.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

TOC will not be hiring the next Mason basketball coach in my opinion.

 

[GSII]

Hi, I'm GSII. I've been sober since Hewitt got here. I knew he wouldn't work here. For whatever reason then. But now, its clear the same old problems are being played out. Bad coaching, bad roster management, bad motivating/focus. It's all bad. Hewitt got lucky in his career and people respect him for that and for him being a great guy. But he's never worked for a real coach. He's just been lucky recruiting kids that mask his bad X's and O's. Plain and simple.