Elisha Justice or David Levitch would be a vast improvement over what we have now.
New Coach Top 5 Candidates....
- Thread starter KenSucky
- Start date
Ha! We said the same thing about Brohm didn't we?
We'll cross the next HC candidate bridge when we get there. For the time being, we need that mother effing Kenny Payne outta here.
Fire Payne!
Fire Payne!
Is impersonating a head coach a fire able offense? I’m wondering about what statements were made on his CV. Any of those intentionally misleading?
Pretty sure that Junior Bridgeman is the one holding the keys to Josh Heird’s handcuffs. If JH fires KP Bridgeman’s checkbook and backing goes away.
But, it’s time to choose between a powerful supporter and a coach who is making our program and national laughter stock.
But, it’s time to choose between a powerful supporter and a coach who is making our program and national laughter stock.
Nice thought, and under different circumstances Ben would be a great hire. Unfortunately, I am not sure we have enough time to allow a Div II coach to build his program. Aside from winning games, a new hire needs to attract sufficient fan support to attend home games now, not later.
Heird missed the best opportunity at the end of last season, by not finding a career job at the University that would allow KP a chance to resign with some dignity. Kenny is not only bringing further destruction to an already declining Program, he has destroyed any chance of having a coaching career for himself.
Another disastrous season will only eliminate additional season ticket holders that will be difficult to replace during a rebuild.
Not sure it is possible, but anything less than a Nate Oats type hire will be too late to save this program. Regrettably the analogy of Georgetown and Baltimore to UL and Louisville is rather predictable.
There is no more "program building" with college basketball, the portal and NIL.
There is no guarantee Nate Oats will be successful here, or Mussleman, or Drew, or Tang. I'm more comfortable with a guy who has shown extreme success and has sustained that success. Let me know when Oats has a championship ring. If you think we are outbidding an SEC school, you are whistling Dixie.
I would love a coach that has shown Championship sustained success. However those guys are now few and far between and are no longer leaving the school they won a championship with. They're staying put.
Satterfield PAID us more than enough to buy out Brohm. No net buyout.
Payne's buyout is $8 million now. Cronin's is astronomical WRT what we have in the bank.
I expect we will eventually hire a guy in the $3-4 million range and be told that's what U of L can afford...
Make Musselman and Oats say no. Even if they may be unattainable
Chris Beard is making 3.25 million this year at Ole Miss and that will increase by 100,000 every year he’s there. I say we could probably afford to get him away from there
bearcatsports.com
Ben McCollum
• Named head coach prior to the 2009-10 season (14 seasons)
• Career record of 365-86 (221-61 MIAA)
• 2022 NABC Division II National Coach of the Year (5th time - most in NABC Div. II history)
• 2021 NABC Division II National Coach of the Year
• 2020 NABC Division II National Coach of the Year
• 2019 John McLendon National Coach of the Year (all divisions)
• 2019 NABC, Basketball Times, HoopDirt.com Division II National Coach of the Year
• 2019 Kansas City Sports Awards Coach of the Year
• 2017 NABC and DII Bulletin Division II National Coach of the Year
• 11 MIAA Regular Season Titles (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
• Seven MIAA Tournament Titles (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023)
• 30-6 NCAA Div. II Tournament Record (2017 NCAA National Champions, 2019 NCAA National Champions, 2021 NCAA National Champions, 2022 NCAA National Champions)
• Eight-Time MIAA Coach of the Year (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• 2012, 2020 Clarence "Big House" Gaines National Coach of the Year
Ben McCollum
• Named head coach prior to the 2009-10 season (14 seasons)
• Career record of 365-86 (221-61 MIAA)
• 2022 NABC Division II National Coach of the Year (5th time - most in NABC Div. II history)
• 2021 NABC Division II National Coach of the Year
• 2020 NABC Division II National Coach of the Year
• 2019 John McLendon National Coach of the Year (all divisions)
• 2019 NABC, Basketball Times, HoopDirt.com Division II National Coach of the Year
• 2019 Kansas City Sports Awards Coach of the Year
• 2017 NABC and DII Bulletin Division II National Coach of the Year
• 11 MIAA Regular Season Titles (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
• Seven MIAA Tournament Titles (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023)
• 30-6 NCAA Div. II Tournament Record (2017 NCAA National Champions, 2019 NCAA National Champions, 2021 NCAA National Champions, 2022 NCAA National Champions)
• Eight-Time MIAA Coach of the Year (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• 2012, 2020 Clarence "Big House" Gaines National Coach of the Year
Beard would be light years better than Payne but is he worth the risk with his past troubles? I don't know. The next hire has to be rock solid. UofL can't have anymore scandals or other problems.
That's not a "stance." The financial elements are FACTS.
Athletics has no money to pay more buyouts. And these guys have proven that they pay them and lose MORE money in the process.
Buyouts only work if you're smart using them. We're not smart at anything, obviously...
I still don’t know where the money is coming from to buy him out. I still don’t know who this fan base will embrace. I think Beard is the most logical but like people have said there is risk there as well.
With that said I definitely believe if he doesn’t get these kids playing better they are going to have to figure out how to get it done. No way you can retain him if this continues.
I remember when we fired an incompetent coach, and this fanbase thought the new AD was crazy for hiring some no-name guy from Utah State.
The fanbase will embrace Anyone who will win games.
The fanbase will embrace Anyone who will win games.
If he stays and we have another year like last, we will lose most of the current players and I can't imagine how kp could entice anyone to come play for him.
The ones that show up will but I can tell you I know some life long season tickets holders that have told me they're done and won't come back. 2 of those were 6 figure donors. Mostly over how the KP hiring went down..
Beard is the most affordable at this rate, unless we can pull out a bunch of money from the side somehow. I think Beard would do wonders with a core of Skyy, Tre, Mike, Dennis, BHH, JJ, Ty-Laur, Curtis, and Kaleb. Pretty similar roster structure to his would have been 2022-23 team. That would be amazing if the next coach, whoever it is, could keep those 9 guys
Lets stop thinking "most affordable" and think who's best to restore U of L basketball back to prominence? Answer: Mick Cronin. He has ties and the resume (sounds like someone I know who coaches football).
I think Cronin would be a good option, but didn’t he just sign a huge deal with UCLA?
I’m just not extremely sold on Cronin coaching anywhere outside of UCLA. I think being the UCLA coach has helped him attract California talent on the position he holds alone. If he were still at Cincinnati I don’t know if he would be pulling in the same players. Beard, on the other hand, took Texas Tech to the title game and has put more than a few players in the league. Almost every single one of his teams is competitive year round as well.
I'll play. What are Chris Beard's ties to Louisville? Didn't we run two coaches out suspected for being crooked?
Is it a prerequisite that the next coach has to have personal ties to Louisville or something?
It's not but just look at the football situation. We thought we sank as far as we could after BP's last year and it was obvious that CSS was not the answer and it was also apparent he was not going to be long term answer here. Bring in a guy with local ties and a relationship to the community. That's what separates Louisville and other head coaching jobs. You got to find a coach that wants to be here long term (like Denny) and not use Louisville as a stepping stone (CBP, CCS, John L, Corso). It's going to take someone who will be committed both to the University and the community. When you look at those criteria, there are really few options. Just for the record, I was in favor of keeping David Padgett instead of Chris Mack. I know a lot of people think that if Padgett was a good coach he would have landed somewhere else. I think he was right for the program and Mack was a false idol. You hire someone like Beard and you just continue disrespecting the legacy of Crum.
Ok those are some good points. On my end though, I just want to see a winning program. I'm done with the feel good stories and the legacy hires.
UofL basketball has obviously fallen a bit but it's still a top 10 job. It's not the same as our football program. UofL basketball is a destination job and doesn't really require a coach with local ties.
Agreed. Fallen for sure but still a top program. Louisville basketball is a destination job.
Mack on paper seemed to be a homerun hire, but it was compounded by the fact, he (his wife) wanted to be here. Delve closer into his resume and he was seemingly a good hire, not a great hire. Payne was literally forced on us and there was nobody in the administration to say no, he just doesn't have the experience to be a HC. The only commonality is that he played here almost 37 years ago... The only connection really was to give a former Cardinal a head coaching job, not that he could restore U of L basketball back to prominence.
This is a mess. This is why KP hire was extremely risky. I always thought it would either be wildly successful or a huge failure. There was no middle ground. So far it has been a huge failure.
Now we are entering a phase of college basketball where they older coaches are settled. They may have to find a legit up and coming coach. Veteran coaches just don’t bounce any more if they do you have to have the $$$$ to buy them out and pay them handsomely,
Beard and May is where I would start.
Now we are entering a phase of college basketball where they older coaches are settled. They may have to find a legit up and coming coach. Veteran coaches just don’t bounce any more if they do you have to have the $$$$ to buy them out and pay them handsomely,
Beard and May is where I would start.
This statement is a bit ambiguous. As a program, we still have a shred of national cred left. As a team and staff, in this moment in time, we really couldn’t be much lower. So, in that sense, we have fallen more than just a bit. We keep KP much longer and we risk whatever program respect we have left.
I'm strictly talking the job itself. It's still one of the best and still desirable to many coaches IMO. I'm not saying UofL can get whoever they want though.
