Some questions about the last 2 coaches

[Guest BasketBull.]

Seth

1) Did he bring in enough talent for C-USA?

2) With B.B., Tron and company, could a better floor coach have made them an NCAA tournament team?

3) Why did he fail?

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Robert

1) Why couldn't he recruit better? (any speculations?)

2) Was he that good of a foor coach?

3) Why did he fail?

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What things will the next coach need to do at USF not to repeat the last 11 years of men's bball at USF?

[Held_AccountaBull]

question 1 is the answer to question 3. Bob failed because he couldn't recruit. he'd still be here if he could recruit. hopefully the new coach will be a much better recruiter

[SANJAY]

I think the program needs enthusiasm and direction.  Somebody to get out there and sell this program to high school coaches and players, and the general public.  Somebody to understand the realities of USF recruiting, bigtime conference but not a bigtime program.  Someone who is a good X and O coach, or brings such guys with him.  We need a high-energy guy who is out there building the program but good enough to be competitive and win with what is here.  

After looking at Greg's blog I think the Southern Illinois Coach would be good, if we could get him or a young hungry assistant like Billy Donovan was when UF hired him.

[Guest BasketBull.]

I think the program needs enthusiasm and direction.  [...] young hungry [...]

You make a very good point, SANJAY. USF isn't a place where a coach can just come in and sit at the throne and expect the goods to be delivered.

I'll give Seth credit, he was out there trying hard -even buying pizzas for starving fans to get them to come to the games.

Anyway, so, is recuiting job #1 at USF? Does that mean we require a young coach?

[Brad]

Seth

1) Did he bring in enough talent for C-USA?

Close.

2) With B.B., Tron and company, could a better floor coach have made them an NCAA tournament team?

Paired with a good psychologist and a tazer, yes.

3) Why did he fail?

To Seth's credit, I think he knew very few felt the enthusiasm he portrayed.  He couldn't win big games.  Support waned.  

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Robert

1) Why couldn't he recruit better? (any speculations?)

Not sure...perhaps it was  very hard to sell the vision he had.

2) Was he that good of a foor coach?

From what I saw he was alright.

3) Why did he fail?

He had borderline talent, borderline facilities, borderline support...add the misfortune, death and injuries and the recruiting gambles that did not pay off - he was toast.  He had no margin for error.

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What things will the next coach need to do at USF not to repeat the last 11 years of men's bball at USF?

1)  Lay out the plan - if it is 5 years make sure it is described as such

2)  Insist on adequate funding beforehand; assist in fundraising; demand MBB as a solid #2 in Athletics budget at USF

3)  Select a good team of assistants

4)  Coach and promote the team around the community.  Take ownership like (Grand)daddy Leavitt.  Don't be here for a stepping stone.  Commit to build a winner and enjoy your tenure HERE.

5)  Win games you're supposed to win.

6)  Most of all - be one hell of a recuiter.  A recruiter, not a salesman.  A recruiter.

Who knows what else?  Move off the indian burial ground?  Get the new hoops facility built somewhere else?  Join TheBullsPen.com for expert advice?  

[bulls96go]

^^^^E WILL NEED THE ADVICE

[Guest BasketBull.]

You should be the man in charge of the bball of the program, Bulliever!

1) Did he bring in enough talent for C-USA?

Close.

I agree. My point here is that if we bring in a great recruiter, he can do it, even when kids don't go to sleep dreaming of South Florida.:

Lesson: A person can recruit in Florida and build a program at USF.

2) With B.B., Tron and company, could a better floor coach have made them an NCAA tournament team?

Paired with a good psychologist and a tazer, yes.

Good point. Yes, they did have some game issues... Good grief. Remember B.B.'s free throw problems/technique?

I've always felt that that team was so close to making the tournament. Too bad we didn't have a better floor coach.

Lesson: we've got to have a good floor coach and someone who manages the team well. Just say no to weed!

3) Why did he fail?

To Seth's credit, I think he knew very few felt the enthusiasm he portrayed.  He couldn't win big games.  Support waned.

Talk about losing big games... Maybe winning at Wisconsin would have changed things. Who knows... Yes, many of us bought into his false enthusiam (false = lack of wins).  :'(

Lesson: The bottom line was that he couldn't win games. He had the talent and the fans but he never delivered the goods. And remember how his team was at their best during December?

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Robert

1) Why couldn't he recruit better? (any speculations?)

Not sure...perhaps it was  very hard to sell the vision he had.

Recruiting was like looking for water in the desert... But to his credit, we learned about the power of transfers (I'm serious here). My feeling was that he scared a lot of the kids off, in addition to not being a known commodity in coaching circles. Kids want recognition and not to be yelled at.

Lesson: a tough guy act ain't gonna work at USF...

2) Was he that good of a foor coach?

From what I saw he was alright.

I thought he was all that and he had his moments, but in the end he proved to be so-so. A good floor coach will make the best out of the roster and adapt. A good floor coach would have not lost 7 in a row in the end and would have gotten this roster to the Big East Tournament...

3) Why did he fail?

He had borderline talent, borderline facilities, borderline support...add the misfortune, death and injuries and the recruiting gambles that did not pay off - he was toast.  He had no margin for error.

Man, we did we have bad luck or did we have bad luck?

I think he underestimated what he was getting into and did not take advantage of the move to the Big East (recruited better, etc.). His quotes in the paper clearly showed that he was shocked at the move and did not embrace it.

Coaching the old-fashioned way simply does not work in the Big East (building a program based on floor coaching with polite kids).

1) He was such an unknown among coaching circles and that hurt USF even more.

2) It was hard finding water in the desert...

3) Bad luck and more bad luck...

4) Adaptability. He had one plan and he stuck to it, even to USF's detriment.

5) Staff... No one did anything to improve recruiting.

6) He couldn't connect with the fans.

------------

What things will the next coach need to do at USF not to repeat the last 11 years of men's bball at USF?

1)  Lay out the plan - if it is 5 years make sure it is described as such

2)  Insist on adequate funding beforehand; assist in fundraising; demand MBB as a solid #2 in Athletics budget at USF

3)  Select a good team of assistants

4)  Coach and promote the team around the community.  Take ownership like (Grand)daddy Leavitt.  Don't be here for a stepping stone.  Commit to build a winner and enjoy your tenure HERE.

5)  Win games you're supposed to win.

6)  Most of all - be one hell of a recuiter.  A recruiter, not a salesman.  A recruiter.

Who knows what else?  Move off the indian burial ground?  Get the new hoops facility built somewhere else?  Join TheBullsPen.com for expert advice?  

Great answer!

And, yes, we need to start by removing those bones underneath the Sun Dome...  

1) We need a professional program builder, someone with prior experience and success. The Big East is no place to experiment...

2) We've got to find someone who everybody (recuits, fans, and other coaches) will say "wow!"... That's how much energy USF bball needs at this point. USF has to make the move now, or else people will look away say "pretender", again...

3) Athletics has to commit to our new staff. Both Seth and Robert were out there on their own...

   Money for a staff, recruiting, advertising... It's not about the head coach only.

4) The new coaching staff has to win. Period.

[Markeymark]

Robert

1) Why couldn't he recruit better? (any speculations?)

Not sure...perhaps it was  very hard to sell the vision he had.

Recruiting was like looking for water in the desert... But to his credit, we learned about the power of transfers (I'm serious here). My feeling was that he scared a lot of the kids off, in addition to not being a known commodity in coaching circles. Kids want recognition and not to be yelled at.

Lesson: a tough guy act ain't gonna work at USF...

I thought he had a decent plan to recruit solid guard play when he first arrived at USF. I'm speculating that whatever formula he had for success at WMU, he was going to carry over to CUSA. My guess is that if we had stayed in CUSA, things would have worked out fine. I don't think he was as successful recruiting kids for the Big East. For a school like USF to make a transition into an elite conference, we would have been better served with a guy like SG who is media savvy and plugged into the national scene.

2) Was he that good of a foor coach?

From what I saw he was alright.

I thought he was all that and he had his moments, but in the end he proved to be so-so. A good floor coach will make the best out of the roster and adapt. A good floor coach would have not lost 7 in a row in the end and would have gotten this roster to the Big East Tournament...

Agreed.

3) Why did he fail?

He had borderline talent, borderline facilities, borderline support...add the misfortune, death and injuries and the recruiting gambles that did not pay off - he was toast.  He had no margin for error.

Man, we did we have bad luck or did we have bad luck?

I think he underestimated what he was getting into and did not take advantage of the move to the Big East (recruited better, etc.). His quotes in the paper clearly showed that he was shocked at the move and did not embrace it.

Coaching the old-fashioned way simply does not work in the Big East (building a program based on floor coaching with polite kids).

1) He was such an unknown among coaching circles and that hurt USF even more.

2) It was hard finding water in the desert...

3) Bad luck and more bad luck...

4) Adaptability. He had one plan and he stuck to it, even to USF's detriment.

5) Staff... No one did anything to improve recruiting.

6) He couldn't connect with the fans.

He failed because he wasn't able to prepare for the Big East without experiencing a significant learning curve.

[dabull80]

move the players bench to the other side of the court.  simple but effective.

[Cubanbull]

I believe we did that before. if i remember correctly whn i was in school the team benches were in the south side of the arena.