I don't understand hires this - and this is nothing against you. This is a reasonable stance.
Dixon is a solid coach, but as an A.D. at a program like UofL that has been so down for the last few years, you have to think about creating excitement within the fanbase. You obviously want to also hire a capable candidate but you need someone that can sell tickets too. That the fans can believe in, and honestly, you'd rather have a coach who's young and never really had the opportunity to take his team to an elite level than an older coach who's consistently shown that he's never been able to do it.
Dixon's last really good season was 2010. He's 60-81 in the Big 12 over the last 8 years. He had a great start to his career in Pittsburgh and overachieved for his first 8 years. Since then, he's won 61%, and his average season record is 20-13. Which is fine, but that's the very definition of mediocrity. There's also the fact that he's coached 21 full seasons and been out of the first weekend 3 times and past the Sweet 16 once with 0 Final Fours.
It also doesn't make sense from a financial standpoint. You can't hire a coach with the intention that he be a stop-gap. Dixon was only 58 this past Summer and would command a 4+ million dollar salary. As we know all too well, getting rid of a coach without losing money is impossible. Keeping a coach happy and the program operating successfully on an expiring contract is also impossible. Hiring someone to "stabilize" the program was never a realistic possibility. You're better off shooting for the moon and failing than hiring someone you have 2 decades' worth of data on that shows they aren't what your program needs and they've never been.
PK is doing everything right with media and fan involvement and bringing in talent from the portal. Saturday's game was a setback and the lack of traction with 2025 recruits is a disappointment but it doesn't mean he's destined to fail. I still think he was the right hire and will work out. We just need to adjust some things and realize that fixing a program that has been as damaged for as long as UofL has might take longer than we like. As long as PK is saying the right things, working hard and the team believes in him and is playing hard then we have to give him our support and give him the time to learn and fix this. PK is learning on the job and while that's something we wouldn't have to deal with had we hired Dixon - PKs ceiling and potential as a head coach is miles above anything we could have hoped for from someone like Jamie Dixon.
