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Women's Basketball Coach Candidate Thread


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7 hours ago, steeleagle said:

I am guessing here, but one of the differences is that if Greene wants to talk to any HC or AC that may be in the NCAA tournament, he is having to wait till they are finished with their season. Whereas after GUs was fired there was nothing to keep Greene and company from reaching out to any coach, and then it being leaked out we are interested.

And, it is true Greene is very quiet when it comes to hiring info coming out of his office, even leaked.

I do like that, rather than past Auburn searches where something came out(wrong or right) from someone inside. 

That and there is another consideration also this year.  All the teams playing in the tournament are in a bubble of sorts.  Teams are going to be very careful and make every effort to not have to pull out of the tournament due to positive Covid tests.  Greene could go to San Antonio and speak with coaches and assistant coaches without much of a problem, but no team is going to allow an assistant to fly to Auburn or even Dallas or Houston and then rejoin the team.  The risk is just too great that they bring something back that gets spread around the team.

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8 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

What a difference in the Coach search when Gus was fired it seems like every 10 minutes we were told so and so is leading candidate none of which was based in factual information, now for women's basketball coach no information coming out.  I know there is no rush but I was hoping by now we would at least have heard that we were setting up a few interviews.  Greene seems to run a tight ship as we are not hearing unfounded stories in this search.

I'm pretty confident that they know who they are going to speak with about the position.  It's likely that they have already had some communication back and forth.  I said this in the comment above, but the tournament being in a bubble is also impacting who they can speak with when and where.  When looking for a football coach, they didn't have that to deal with. Teams were playing in bowl games, but there was no bubble and other than the game itself, most teams were staying on campus for as long as possible.  Another big difference is that, in football, agents are much more active in every level of communication between the school and their client. Some women's basketball coaches do have agents, but many of them do not.  None of the assistant coaches utilize agents.

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18 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

What a difference in the Coach search when Gus was fired it seems like every 10 minutes we were told so and so is leading candidate none of which was based in factual information, now for women's basketball coach no information coming out.  I know there is no rush but I was hoping by now we would at least have heard that we were setting up a few interviews.  Greene seems to run a tight ship as we are not hearing unfounded stories in this search.

This is true, but if there was any speculation about Harsin I don't recall it. I think Greene/Gough were pretty tight-lipped about the football too. That was another case where the alleged insiders just had to hear their own voices.

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45 minutes ago, Mikey said:

This is true, but if there was any speculation about Harsin I don't recall it. I think Greene/Gough were pretty tight-lipped about the football too. That was another case where the alleged insiders just had to hear their own voices.

This. Greene is very low key when he is coach searching, and does a good job of not spreading his info to others who might leak it, so it seems.

I'm glad, I am tired of all the leaks we used to get, and 99% were wrong especially now w internet sports writers. 

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3 hours ago, Mikey said:

This is true, but if there was any speculation about Harsin I don't recall it. I think Greene/Gough were pretty tight-lipped about the football too. That was another case where the alleged insiders just had to hear their own voices.

AG also knew that he had people inside the athletic department that were reporting to a couple of trustees and those trustees and boosters were putting pressure on Greene.   AG did not want to fire Gus and pay the buyout.  He stood his ground as long as he could until it reached the point that Pres Gogue basically told him that the pressure was too great and they needed to move on.  Greene then had a choice to make.  He could do whatever a small group of wealthy boosters told him to do or he could stand his ground and show that he was the AD. Keep in mind, he was under a great deal of pressure to name Kevin Steele head coach.   He wouldn't have been able to stand his ground without the support of Pres. Gogue.  I believe that Gogue was impressed that AG was willing to push back and do his job, which came with some risk.  Gogue has the political capital to make decisions and he made the right one by backing AG up and giving him the room he needed to operate. Greene then had to sink or swim.  In my opinion, everything AG did during that tense few weeks proved him to be an effective AD.  Having said that, the risk is still there.  If Harsin is a bust, Greene's days as Auburn AD will be numbered.  If he is successful, AG will have near total control of the athletic department for as long as he wants to be AD.

Every event I listed above may or may not have occurred exactly in that order.  My information comes from a member of the BOT and from several others in and around Auburn.  I'm not the type to get my feelings hurt if someone says one thing happened a little bit differently etc....  The point remains.. it was a test of leadership and AG, it appears, was up for the task.

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1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

AG also knew that he had people inside the athletic department that were reporting to a couple of trustees and those trustees and boosters were putting pressure on Greene.   AG did not want to fire Gus and pay the buyout.  He stood his ground as long as he could until it reached the point that Pres Gogue basically told him that the pressure was too great and they needed to move on.  Greene then had a choice to make.  He could do whatever a small group of wealthy boosters told him to do or he could stand his ground and show that he was the AD. Keep in mind, he was under a great deal of pressure to name Kevin Steele head coach.   He wouldn't have been able to stand his ground without the support of Pres. Gogue.  I believe that Gogue was impressed that AG was willing to push back and do his job, which came with some risk.  Gogue has the political capital to make decisions and he made the right one by backing AG up and giving him the room he needed to operate. Greene then had to sink or swim.  In my opinion, everything AG did during that tense few weeks proved him to be an effective AD.  Having said that, the risk is still there.  If Harsin is a bust, Greene's days as Auburn AD will be numbered.  If he is successful, AG will have near total control of the athletic department for as long as he wants to be AD.

Every event I listed above may or may not have occurred exactly in that order.  My information comes from a member of the BOT and from several others in and around Auburn.  I'm not the type to get my feelings hurt if someone says one thing happened a little bit differently etc....  The point remains.. it was a test of leadership and AG, it appears, was up for the task.

If 99% of this is true then the following points could be made:

1. If AG really didn't want to fire Gus bc of the buyout, if he had won that battle, he basically would have been a lame duck AD, bc the response from most supporters and ticket holders would have been so negative towards him not pulling the trigger. He either would be looking elsewhere or be fired by the next year.

2. Most ADs sink or swim by their Football hire, if that ever happens under their watch. Especially if they are not entrenched thru years of being a part of the college. This is by far is biggest hire.

3. I give my school credit, they didn't go low in dollars when hiring a new staff. DOn't know if AD had input into their salaries but our football coaching staff are still in top 6-7 in college football coaches salaries?

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3 hours ago, steeleagle said:

If 99% of this is true then the following points could be made:

1. If AG really didn't want to fire Gus bc of the buyout, if he had won that battle, he basically would have been a lame duck AD, bc the response from most supporters and ticket holders would have been so negative towards him not pulling the trigger. He either would be looking elsewhere or be fired by the next year.

2. Most ADs sink or swim by their Football hire, if that ever happens under their watch. Especially if they are not entrenched thru years of being a part of the college. This is by far is biggest hire.

3. I give my school credit, they didn't go low in dollars when hiring a new staff. DOn't know if AD had input into their salaries but our football coaching staff are still in top 6-7 in college football coaches salaries?

But for a couple of very influential wealthy boosters, one of which is on the BOT, he would have given Gus another year largely due to the buyout, including assistant buyouts.  I know that to be true. Gogue would have protected AG from being fired, because the size of the buyout was staggering and he wasn't the biggest fan of making a move himself.  In a normal world, blowing that kind of money would be obscene, but we don't live in that world.  The BOT just begged Gogue to take back the President's position.  They won't push back too much with him right now. 

After a lot of lobbying by a couple of very influential people, Gogue relented and Gus was fired. The plan in place was to quickly name Kevin Steele HC.  What some behind the scenes didn't anticipate was the tidal wave of negativity and push back from the fan base when word got out that was going to take place.  Having to stomach that buyout was one thing, but doing it and not making significant changes didn't make much sense to many. Gogue did things his way at that point and allowed AG to do his job, which he did, and the rest is history.

We didn't go cheap, but we never do.  Bryan Harsin made $1.8 million last year at Boise. I doubt that we needed to pay $5 million and pay moving expenses to make it worthwhile, but we did. $5.25 million to be exact for 6 years with 70% guaranteed.  One day none of the schools will have the millions to spend that we do today, but until then it's nice.

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On 3/19/2021 at 1:31 PM, AU9377 said:

Just a small update.... There are now 2 other Power 5 jobs open, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.  Oklahoma would be the position to keep an eye on.  That is arguably the best job now open after Sherri Coale announced her retirement.  Auburn would be the second best job open, in my opinion.

That doesn't mean that some candidates wouldn't prefer the Auburn job over the Oklahoma job.  Some certainly would based on geographical location, conference, etc.  However, Oklahoma has had more recent success.

Washington also open, so 4 total power 5 openings. But I wouldn’t put them above us, either.

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13 hours ago, AUJarhead said:

Washington also open, so 4 total power 5 openings. But I wouldn’t put them above us, either.

I agree the Auburn job is a better job than Washington.  If I was choosing between Oklahoma and Auburn, I would choose the Auburn job, but I'm from Georgia.  My point was that someone living in Texas may see that very differently.

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I think the Troy Coach makes the most sense.  Prewett doesn’t come off as a leader to me, but fills the role as an assistant very well.  But a Pearl style of play would resonate and if results followed The Jungle would be a formidable place to play in WCBB.

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My daughter and I have been using this site to keep track of coaching changes, as there have been several coaches she's been talking to that have resigned/retired/fired.

https://wbbblog.com/womens-basketball-coaching-changes-tracker-2021/

Also helps her track which coaches she needs to begin reaching out to.

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1 hour ago, auburnphan said:

I think the Troy Coach makes the most sense.  Prewett doesn’t come off as a leader to me, but fills the role as an assistant very well.  But a Pearl style of play would resonate and if results followed The Jungle would be a formidable place to play in WCBB.

I'm just not sold on the Troy coach. Nothing specific, other than it concerns me that a coach that stays at TRoy for 9 years, hasn't been looked at for better P5 programs. She also hasn't dominated  her league. She only recently has won the league. She is a little older too, since she is in her early 50's.

I think there are better programs that we can pull someone from...unless ofc they start to turn us down. 

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1 hour ago, AUJarhead said:

My daughter and I have been using this site to keep track of coaching changes, as there have been several coaches she's been talking to that have resigned/retired/fired.

https://wbbblog.com/womens-basketball-coaching-changes-tracker-2021/

Also helps her track which coaches she needs to begin reaching out to.

Thanks for posting.   This is another that I find helpful. The transfer market is going to be crucial if any new coach is going to succeed quickly.

http://boards.rebkell.net/viewforum.php?f=2

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1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

I'm just not sold on the Troy coach. Nothing specific, other than it concerns me that a coach that stays at TRoy for 9 years, hasn't been looked at for better P5 programs. She also hasn't dominated  her league. She only recently has won the league. She is a little older too, since she is in her early 50's.

I think there are better programs that we can pull someone from...unless ofc they start to turn us down. 

I do think that she would do a better job coaching the fundamentals of basketball than the last staff and I do respect what she has accomplished.  That said, I also agree that there are several other people that I would speak with that would, in my opinion, be stronger candidates.

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33 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

This is a good read. His playing and coaching career have been on the West coast, but as an off the radar AC, he has been an incredible recruiter.

https://www.insider.com/sabrina-ionescu-satou-sabally-oregon-coach-mark-campbell-head-coach-2021-3

That's a great read, thanks for posting.  Looking at their roster, I'm surprised how much come out of state - and not just out of state but regional, but of their 13 players, but 5 from Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana, with 2 more from Ohio and Texas.  Their freshman out of Illinois is one of the best high school players I've ever seen in person. 

Quote

"Wherever Mark goes, I'm a fan," Ionescu added. "I'll be a fan forever wherever he goes because of who he is and how successful that program is going to be ... Any team that is passing on him or has passed on him is making a mistake and the next team that's going to take a chance with him as head coach is making the right move."

I'd love Auburn to take a shot with him, but I think Sam is our guy (and who I don't think would be a step down, either)

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2 hours ago, steeleagle said:

I'm just not sold on the Troy coach. Nothing specific, other than it concerns me that a coach that stays at TRoy for 9 years, hasn't been looked at for better P5 programs. She also hasn't dominated  her league. She only recently has won the league. She is a little older too, since she is in her early 50's.

I think there are better programs that we can pull someone from...unless ofc they start to turn us down. 

I absolutely agree with you and hope Greene gets his top coach choice.  I guess, I was more so saying I wouldn't be disappointed and would be happy with the choice if it was.  To be fair Bruce is 61 now and was in his early 50's when he got here as well.  But point taken!!

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7 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

I absolutely agree with you and hope Greene gets his top coach choice.  I guess, I was more so saying I wouldn't be disappointed and would be happy with the choice if it was.  To be fair Bruce is 61 now and was in his early 50's when he got here as well.  But point taken!!

I understand what you're saying too, but I don't look at Pearl the same way based on his age.

He was already an established successful P5 HC at Tenn when he was in his 40's so he had already proven his ability to recruit and coach at this level.

The Troy coach has NEVER coached at a P5 school or even assisted at one. 

I just think we should try for higher profile P5 coaches at the top of our list.

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21 minutes ago, AUJarhead said:

That's a great read, thanks for posting.  Looking at their roster, I'm surprised how much come out of state - and not just out of state but regional, but of their 13 players, but 5 from Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana, with 2 more from Ohio and Texas.  Their freshman out of Illinois is one of the best high school players I've ever seen in person. 

I'd love Auburn to take a shot with him, but I think Sam is our guy (and who I don't think would be a step down, either)

I agree. Sam is such an obvious choice, regardless of the metric used.  I just hope that someone in the AD's office doesn't over think the decision.  It isn't often that an AD has the ability to make a hire that the fan base will fully support, where the candidate is fully qualified based on his experience and the candidate has a unique connection to the program.  The hire would be be a no risk hire for AG to make and be applauded for.  I just hope he realizes that.

For anyone interested, the below are just a couple examples of why he is such a good fit for Auburn and this position.

http://www.southeastoutlook.org/news/article_276da7a6-c142-11ea-adc4-5368409be30a.html

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2017/03/11/louisville-assistant-coach-sam-purcells-passion-helps-fuel-cardinals/98853336/

 

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5 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I understand what you're saying too, but I don't look at Pearl the same way based on his age.

He was already an established successful P5 HC at Tenn when he was in his 40's so he had already proven his ability to recruit and coach at this level.

The Troy coach has NEVER coached at a P5 school or even assisted at one. 

I just think we should try for higher profile P5 coaches at the top of our list.

That is going to be the interesting part.  How attractive of a job is the Auburn Women's Head Basketball Coaching position

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1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

I agree. Sam is such an obvious choice, regardless of the metric used.  I just hope that someone in the AD's office doesn't over think the decision.  It isn't often that an AD has the ability to make a hire that the fan base will fully support, where the candidate is fully qualified based on his experience and the candidate has a unique connection to the program.  The hire would be be a no risk hire for AG to make and be applauded for.  I just hope he realizes that.

For anyone interested, the below are just a couple examples of why he is such a good fit for Auburn and this position.

http://www.southeastoutlook.org/news/article_276da7a6-c142-11ea-adc4-5368409be30a.html

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2017/03/11/louisville-assistant-coach-sam-purcells-passion-helps-fuel-cardinals/98853336/

 

All this logic means it will never happen. :)

 

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Troy lost to Texas A&M 84-80. Even the announcers commented how some very screwy calls went A&M’s way down the stretch. 
 

Two things impressed me about Rigby’s team:

1. They play fast but with control. The goal is to get up as many shots as possible and  cause havoc on defense (think of a Coach Flo team that actually runs an offense and doesn’t turn it over themselves). Very fun style of play. 
2. They kept their composure at the end, especially when A&M got away with a no call on an over and back that would’ve given Troy the ball down two with 6 seconds to play. 

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2 hours ago, all4AU said:

Troy lost to Texas A&M 84-80. Even the announcers commented how some very screwy calls went A&M’s way down the stretch. 
 

Two things impressed me about Rigby’s team:

1. They play fast but with control. The goal is to get up as many shots as possible and  cause havoc on defense (think of a Coach Flo team that actually runs an offense and doesn’t turn it over themselves). Very fun style of play. 
2. They kept their composure at the end, especially when A&M got away with a no call on an over and back that would’ve given Troy the ball down two with 6 seconds to play. 

Correct they play fast and score a lot. This has been mentioned before they are the #3 scoring offense in the NCAA, and the #1 in rebounding team for 4 years. I can only imagine that she has done this with a budget to recruit that is next to nothing. As for never coaching at a P5. Well, Oats at UA was a high school coach 6 years ago. She to was a high school coach that has won at every level she has coached at. At some point I would think that a P5 will eventually take a chance on her. Auburn makes sense. She can recruit Alabama and the south. 

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15 hours ago, all4AU said:

Troy lost to Texas A&M 84-80. Even the announcers commented how some very screwy calls went A&M’s way down the stretch. 
 

Two things impressed me about Rigby’s team:

1. They play fast but with control. The goal is to get up as many shots as possible and  cause havoc on defense (think of a Coach Flo team that actually runs an offense and doesn’t turn it over themselves). Very fun style of play. 
2. They kept their composure at the end, especially when A&M got away with a no call on an over and back that would’ve given Troy the ball down two with 6 seconds to play. 

I believe that she is a quality coach that had done a great job everywhere that she has been.  That said, some of the things you list are also what worries me about Rigby's style of play.  My concern is whether or not it will translate to the SEC.  They played a great game against a very good Texas A&M tea a few days ago.  They could have won that game.  However, this is how they fared against other good teams over the past few seasons.

2020 Ms State 103, Troy 76

2019 Duke 89, Troy 85

2018 Fl State 103, Troy 67

2018 Ole Miss Troy 71, Ole Miss 54

2017 Tulane 106, Troy 75

2017 Tennessee 131, Troy 69

I realize that you can't recruit the type of athlete at Troy as you can at Auburn or the schools on this list.  Being disruptive and including some offense can win a lot of games.  It won a lot of games for Terri Williams-Flournoy at Georgetown.  Rigby may be capable of doing what it takes to modifying that style of play, I don't know.  I'm not totally against hiring her, I am just pumping the brakes a little.

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