Coaching Changes 2018-2019

[molly jabali]

Think Roy will gracefully retire in the near future? Can't think of a better replacement or a better fit than Beard to UNC..

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Beard I LIKE!!!!!!

[CharlieHog]

Arky fan is beginning to be concerned that they might not be able to hire a coach as good as the one they just fired.

I was pretty ambivalent about firing Mike Anderson for this very reason (I wasn't confident we could do better).

But, at the end of the day, I don't believe Mike Anderson was ever going to win a national championship here so what difference does it make? To me being bad and being mediocre are exactly the same. Either you're competing for a NC or not and if you're not then we might as well try the next guy.

In fact sometimes being bad is better than being mediocre because it forces the athletic administration to make a change. Bret Bielema had 3 mediocre seasons of 7-8 wins, finishing no better than 3rd in the SEC West, but it took a 1-7 conference season to finally get him fired. Is Chad Morris any better? Who knows, but Bielema was never going to win here so, as the kids today say, "thank u next."

[JVShocker]

Question: Is that the main reason coaches (like Anderson) are fired? Because they just don't believe he can win a National Championship? Just seems odd to me. The number of teams that can win a title is small, and it just takes so much to "go right" for it to happen. On any given night, I mean, any team can beat another anymore - or so it seems. No lie - I never thought WSU had a chance to win a title, but was just surprised and so happy for the team and Marshall that almost did. Mostly I just really enjoy watching GOOD basketball.

[CharlieHog]

Question: Is that the main reason coaches (like Anderson) are fired? Because they just don't believe he can win a National Championship? Just seems odd to me. The number of teams that can win a title is small, and it just takes so much to "go right" for it to happen. On any given night, I mean, any team can beat another anymore - or so it seems. No lie - I never thought WSU had a chance to win a title, but was just surprised and so happy for the team and Marshall that almost did. Mostly I just really enjoy watching GOOD basketball.

Everybody has their own expectations, of course. I expect the Arkansas basketball program to *compete* for a national championship. I agree that a lot has to go right to actually win it but we should be in the mix most years. We have not been in the mix, at all, in eight years under Mike Anderson.

IMO that should be the expectation when the athletic department fully funds the sport, pays the coach a competitive salary, and invests in facilities. All of that costs money and that money comes in large part from the fans. If we're just out here having fun then hire somebody on the cheap and lower ticket prices.


What it means to be "in the mix" is of course open to interpretation, too.

[Dan]

Getting to the tournament most years and making a run Into the sweet 16 or further is success, IMO. If you can make a Final 4, you have a coach you wanna keep forever because he’s a guy that can take you the distance,

[WichitaStateGuy]

Barnes staying at Tennessee

[pinstripers]

Barne$ $taying at Tenne$$ee

[BostonWu]

In fact sometimes being bad is better than being mediocre because it forces the athletic administration to make a change. Bret Bielema had 3 mediocre seasons of 7-8 wins, finishing no better than 3rd in the SEC West, but it took a 1-7 conference season to finally get him fired. Is Chad Morris any better? Who knows, but Bielema was never going to win here so, as the kids today say, "thank u next."

My concern with any mild success this season with baseball and Todd Butler. Now's not the time for mediocrity to cloud judgment. Charlie can you guys take him back?

[Aargh]

I offered that on the Hogville board when they were talking about Marshall. They were familiar with Butler, but did not want him back. I wonder why? (Not really).

[CharlieHog]

One time when Butler was our hitting coach I ran into him at the bowling alley here in town. My husband and I run a Hog baseball message board. It's a very small board but at that time it was really the only spot to talk Hog baseball and I know that players, parents, etc read it. Other boards, like Hogville, were completely football and basketball focused. (In fact that's why I got started reading Shockernet regularly in the first place, because it had college baseball discussion. About the only message boards to read about college baseball were Shockernet, LSU's tiger droppings, and Gene's Page.) Anyway that day at the bowling alley, Butler made a point to come over and talk to us and tell us that the negativity on our board about our hitting was hurting recruiting. Lord knows what he thinks y'all are doing to recruiting. lol

[ShockerFever]

Are you suggesting that Butler reads message boards?

Sweet. I may need to up my ante there and really let the truth come out.

[Stickboy46]

UCLA is hiring Cronin

[wsushockerdude]

Mick Cronin to UCLA.

[Horn28Clem30]

Wow, was he even mentioned prior to today? That's definitely a blow to the American.

[Mr. Obvious]

That’s too bad. Good coach.

[JVShocker]

Tough coach to play for. Too bad for our conference. Guy won games. I just don't know - seems like a strange hire.

[Shox The Revenant]

I’m not sure that’s a great fit. Those Californians are Liberal hippies dreaming about rainbows, unicorns, time-outs for their children, hyper political correctness, peace and love. Cronin’s temper and style may rub the fans and players the wrong way.

[choida]

That's exactly what they need... Wake up.. shake up... Hopefully he lasts.. Good luck ( taken voice)

[JVShocker]

And careful what you wish for. Checked out one of the topics on their board(s) and there was one topic that basically said "tell us what you hate about Mike Cronin" in here and keep all the other threads on topic. I'm guessing a lot of fans don't see either the half full or half empty glass, they just don't see a glass. Wow. Very very strange.

[choida]

This is a sad day... Dude was big time... Not in terms of winning in the big dance... But he got the best out of his teams and it was like that spider Man meme that has two spider mans pointing at each other... Like looking in the mirror... He was almost a carbon copy of Gregg Marshall and his coaching strategy... This hurts our league... hopefully they find a great replacement...wow