My McCullum Take

[Dmince]

Okay. I waited until the end of the season to reserve my judgement. I've got to get  back to work and wanted to get this off of my chest.

This guy can't win here. Not even enough to make it to the conference tournament. Playing in the BE is tougher, but not by that much.  Over the past several years we have played current BE teams in CUSA (Depaul, Louisville, Cincinati, Marquette) every season and routinetly played BE teams out of conference (CUSE, Providence, Pitt, etc.). I'd bet we had at least as good a winning percentage against them over the last 10 years prior to McCullum than we do after him. Other schools like Memphis, UAB, and Florida that we played ever year were top caliber programs also, now our OC schedule now is one of the weakest in the country.

Our top-25 wins are negated by losses to BCC, FIU, and TAMCC (0-3 over 2 the past two years). I'm sure our RPI has declined during McCullum's tenure, and that is the standard for judging programs.

So the schedule is not an excuse- we have gotten worse since McCullum has been here. Period.

As for the other excuses, every team goes through injuries and tribulations. Getting through them is part of a coaches job. if he can't handle it, then he is not a capable coach.

Saying that people are bad fans for wanting him out of here is ridiculous. Fans/boosters and their passion are what drives good programs. Its what college sports are all about. We are the stewards of the USF athletics. I think most people who care about USF athletics should want to see McCullum go and express their opinions about it. It is the right thing for the future of our program. So right a letter, pull Woolard aside if you see him at the grocery store, whatever. Don't be lewd and obnoxious but show your passion.

If they we him I'm not making a donation this year. Now I don't give the most money but I've donated every year since my graduation. I sacrifice to make my donation as does everyone else. All I ask is a commitment towards winning. I've reserved judgement every year eventhough I had an inkling, but this year is the straw that breaks the camel's back.  Ill probably still donate a little to football, baseball, and women's basketball but not to the general program. The apathy is very dissapointing and I'm not going to contribute to it by being an enabler.

At this point the "great guy" thing is irrelevant. Its not like this guy is building community centers and feeding the homeless, and even if he was, he is here to coach basketball. Being nice to people and shaking hands is great. I would rather have someone who is a little abrasive but wins at a high clip like Leavitt. It's not like either of them will win a civic award or end up in jail for murder.

Don't feel bad for McCullum if he gets fired. He will get bought out and basically have a year's vacation at $200K+. It is really a win win for him. Plus the guy would leave for a better program in a second if he could. Its just business. And now we have to make a business decision to bring in a better coach.

[flsportsfan83]

well said.

My take is we keep him, win 4 games next year and everybody in athletics is happy with the improvement.

[hightechbull]

Don't feel bad for McCullum if he gets fired. He will get bought out and basically have a year's vacation at $200K+. It is really a win win for him. Plus the guy would leave for a better program in a second if he could. Its just business. And now we have to make a business decision to bring in a better coach.

That is the best assessment I have read on this topic in a while.  If he gets fired, he gets a free vacation.  $200K+ is more than most USF graduates make in a year.

[Velcro]

I hope you hit it big at texas hold em tables so you can donate the extra 200k to do the buyout.  I don't see that happening.

[Brad]

well said.

My take is we keep him, win 4 games next year and everybody in athletics is happy with the improvement.

Why do you need to smear everybody?  

[Triple B]

well said.

My take is we keep him, win 4 games next year and everybody in athletics is happy with the improvement.

Why do you need to smear everybody?  

BHAD

[Cubanbull]

My take is very easy. I think he should go BUT if our university is going to spend half a mill on a buyout and then offer 250-300,000 to new coach and continue to underfund the program then we will basically throwaway half a mill to end up in similar circumstances.

IF our athletic dept is willing an able to spend at LEAST 500,000 to get a new guy and tell the guy we are raising the budget in basketball by 1 mill a year it will send the signs to coaches that we are SERIOUS about competing in BE. If not the sign is come to USF we are in BE but wont support you.

[TyBull]

1010am this am Jim Lighthall was speaking on the "yeahs & nays" of keeping or firing RMc. He was talking (debating) with M Pepper for over 1/2 an hour. Excellent points including names of possible replacements with "big conference" histories like a Mike Jarvis from St Johns & GW. The other option was a mid major coach (see RMc) . They do not think that an up & coming assistant would surfice in the Big East. They did mention that of the three "NEW" coaches in the Big East this year none of them made the BE Tournament.

The main points that I am getting to that they covered is:

The talent that he has coming in: Donte, the Aaron Holmes and the guard from Lake Wales (forgot his name). Lighthall said that these 3 are more athletic and talented than anyone curently on our roster. Plus this years improvement was 5 wins and a 5 win improvement next year puts us in the BE Tournament & a NCAA or NIT bid.

2) Lighthall said that the USF boosters (see money folks) are solidely behind RMc.

RMC has 2 years left on a approx. $400,000 a year contract. That is $800,000. Plus USF would have to kick up at least $1M for a "Big" name coach. That is heavy money for a school that is still paying the BE entry fee. And with the line that the Boosters are behind RMC, I think that he will be back for next year.

JMHO.....

[tampajo]

My take is very easy. I think he should go BUT if our university is going to spend half a mill on a buyout and then offer 250-300,000 to new coach and continue to underfund the program then we will basically throwaway half a mill to end up in similar circumstances.

IF our athletic dept is willing an able to spend at LEAST 500,000 to get a new guy and tell the guy we are raising the budget in basketball by 1 mill a year it will send the signs to coaches that we are SERIOUS about competing in BE. If not the sign is come to USF we are in BE but wont support you.

You must be an accountant. Revenue - expense = profit.  In this case, and all your other ones on this topic, you only talk about the costs and not the revenue aspect.  How can you not expect attendance to improve? Advertising? Scholarship support, at least in an amount of $400K if Mac leaves?  RIDICULOUS.  NO ONE HAS ANY INTEREST IN USF HOOPS ON THIS BOARD AND WE ARE THE MOST RABID FANS OUT THERE!!!  If we keep Mac, we spend his 200K a year and have no hope of it. If we eat it, and i'm sure the university can eat it, this is big business here, I would hope the next coach could easily raise enough revenues (see Lelo) PLUS interest in the program, to easily offset Mac's sunk costs.

This current state is freaking hopeless. Admit it.

[Cubanbull]

Maybe you want to reread my post. I think he should go BUT the history of our basketball program has been doing it on the cheap and what it has gotten us is a few good years mostly bad. the facts are that you usually get what you pay for and our school as stated in earlier posts have sucked in every conference it has been in winning less than 40% of games. Coaches that were succesful in previous stints come to USF and lose

So it simple we NEED to show we care for the program and pay for a quality coach of course IF we win  money and revenue will go up I NEVER said it wouldnt.

What i did say is if we dont spend for quality we will get same crappy results we have been getting.