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2021 Coaching Carousel

92K views 764 replies 53 participants last post by  cmanoboards 
#1 ·
Been a couple of openings already. Latest is Northern Illinois fired their coach. Lamar Chapman the former Stony Brook assistant is the interim coach at the moment for NIU. I also was inspired to post this after seeing BC (a hot seat favorite) drub Miami last night...because both those coaches might not be coaching there next year. Larranaga might want to retire. He's 71 and is staring at three-straight bad years. He's had a good run there, but might be time to go.

Anyway here's what's officially open: Wichita State (abuse allegations), Penn State (abuse/racism allegations), Northern Illinois (performance?), Tennessee-Martin (sadly because their coach died), Texas State (abuse/racism allegations)

DePaul seems like a safe bet to open. Guys like Pastner at Georgia Tech and Brownell at Clemson are always options but that seems to yo-yo based on the day and how much they manage to win. Same for Maryland with Turgeon and the entire fanbase hating the guy. I could actually see him splitting especially if he only has 2 years left on his deal and just going and taking another job (go back to Wichita State? Maybe Iowa State or SMU opens?)

For the mid-major types, Fordham has to be a lock to make a change. Paulsen at George Mason is trending down...New Mexico was once good and now they suck and that program does have high expectations...as for the low majors? Binghamton! Not, Dempsey gets an extension thanks to that "sophomore promise!"
 
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#166 ·
If Bing doesn't reverse course and at least call Brown for an exploratory call, they are crazy and probably derelict in their duties. Where is that program going? Brown would win you 3 years out of 5 (contract) 20 games and be in the running for the AE with those facilities. Sure, things got stale at UA after 20 years, but he would be a very good hire for Bing.
 
#168 ·
Binghamton is not hiring brown. they just need to hire a guy who comes from a winning program with a track record of success as an assistant or head coach. it is a joke.

The only possible explanation is Pat Elliot is going to retire and doesn't want to hire a new coach for 5 years so instead gave level the interim so the next AD can pick the head coach. This way Elliot throws levell a bone because of the shu connection giving him a chance to remain head coach while also not locking a coach in for long term if he is leaving.
 
#178 ·
I just wanted to add my voice to that of those who have expressed disappointment in the University of Albany for not renewing Coach Brown. As a Vermont fan, Albany was one of our staunchest rivals for nearly a decade. Coach Brown is a very good coach and seemed to have grown into a very good ambassador for the program.

As much as I hated seeing Albany in championship games, I will miss seeing him at the helm of the Albany program. I hope that he finds a good place to land...perhaps even...UVM???
 
#184 ·
I just wanted to add my voice to that of those who have expressed disappointment in the University of Albany for not renewing Coach Brown. As a Vermont fan, Albany was one of our staunchest rivals for nearly a decade. Coach Brown is a very good coach and seemed to have grown into a very good ambassador for the program.

As much as I hated seeing Albany in championship games, I will miss seeing him at the helm of the Albany program. I hope that he finds a good place to land...perhaps even...UVM???
Brown went from a guy I couldn’t stand to a guy I grudgingly respected to a guy I actually like. I imagine he’ll do well wherever he ends up, and I’ll certainly be rooting for him.

One other note on Brown. When Josh Speidel had his accident, they started a Go Fund Me campaign and Brown was one of the first to contribute. That of course on top of the gesture last year on Senior Day.
 
#180 ·
Wow, go away for a few days and come back to this. Not surprised about Dempsey, kinda surprised by the quick transfer of authority to an interim HC. Not sure that is their best move for the program, but I'm sure it is from a financial perspective. And Brown...what??? I know the last 3 years have been tough, but damn. Clearly one of the best to ever wear a suit and tie on the sidelines in this conference with all the titles and victories. Who are they going to get that is any better? If he has had issues with the AD (most HC & AD relationships have struggles) and they got out of hand, I guess I can see that. But still, I'm not sure I like the direction here.
 
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#190 ·
This, sometimes 20 years is just a long time. Doesn't mean he wasn't a great coach at the time and didn't have great success. The highs were incredible and memories will last a lifetime but the valleys were also long, may painful. The early departures and roster turnover, the large influx of JUCO's etc.

We don't know if we'll ever be as successful a program without him as with him. A lot of that depends on the institutional support but after 20 years, the reality is that it was time for a change I believe for all involved. Things have run their course, I feel strongly the a new voice was probably needed. I say that as a guy who has nothing but respect for the job that he's done. The last 3 years have been rough, even the last 5 (this contract) only got out of the quarters once. We haven't been competitive with the top of the AE in many years. It's time to try something else with all due respect to the coaches and student athletes who have toiled day in and day out.
 
#188 ·
Chauncey's bro done at Denver. 48-94 in 5 seasons:




Openings so far: Albany, Boston College, Fordham, Penn State, Northern Illinois, New Mexico, Denver, Tennessee-Martin (coach died), UT-Rio Grande Valley (coach died), Texas State, Portland...Goodman also said Indiana State is probably going to open too.

Armchair opinion on what to watch for by firing, retiring or the current coach jumping ship to another opening to avoid being fired: Miami, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, DePaul, Middle Tennessee, Illinois State, Central Connecticut, Washington, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
 
#191 ·
Openings so far: Albany, Boston College, Fordham, Penn State, Northern Illinois, New Mexico, Denver, Tennessee-Martin (coach died), UT-Rio Grande Valley (coach died), Texas State, Portland...Goodman also said Indiana State is probably going to open too.

Armchair opinion on what to watch for by firing, retiring or the current coach jumping ship to another opening to avoid being fired: Miami, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, DePaul, Middle Tennessee, Illinois State, Central Connecticut, Washington, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
BC needs to move quickly. If some of those jobs do in fact open this year, they will push BC even further down the pecking order. The groundswell in Indiana for the dismissal of Miller is pretty big and there are no shortages of media outlets mentioning it. I can't see him being the coach of the Hoosiers next year. I really expected him to do well there given his reputation and contacts, esp throughout the Midwest. Clearly I was wrong.
 
#189 ·
Since everyone is in their feelings, I guess it’s time to admit:

I’m a Will Brown guy.

Doesn’t feel like this is the right choice by Albany, but hope it works out for them (or not?) ;)
 
#194 ·
Curious to see where Brown lands; does he go after the Fordham gig? Not a lot of places out there for him to land right now. Maybe assistant somewhere or non-D1
 
#200 ·
Florida State has re-upped Leonard Hamilton, who is 72. He now has a contract through the end of the 2024-25 season at which point I assume he would retire.
 
#201 · (Edited)
I see Kevin Broadus logged into the Coaching Changes account to tweet:







Best part about that account now is they use the "only certain people can reply" or no replies function...basically so they can mouth off on whatever without getting hit in the comments. We all know Broadus' tenure and what it brought about. I think back on it now, and while what happened was still extremely shameful...I'm a bit more forgiving of Broadus these days (and like I said...since he's employed by another D1 school, so are a lot of others). To me, it's his bosses at the time who frankly deserve much of the blame. He was doing what they'd let him get away with.

The whole "it's impossible to win there" stuff I rarely buy, especially at the low levels of D1 like the America East. There are formulas...Will Brown did it, and he had his success. I look at Gallagher at Hartford. I truly think he is nothing special as a coach at all. But you know what? He found what works to play slightly above .500 ball overall, but 9-11 wins in conference and given the AE is one of the crappiest conferences in all of Division I because the lower half of the league is so so terrible, he's now with Brown out a top 3 coach in this league. He's doing exactly what Hartford wants him to do. I honestly don't think he'll ever actually get another head coaching job somewhere else. Never say never, but I'd be surprised. Say all you want about Odom's dad and connections, but truly his resume is one that doesn't scream "my dad was an ACC/SEC head coach who hooked me up with gigs my whole life" - and he has guys who just come in and fit what he's doing, and they get better while they're coached by him. Odom is destined for bigger things, but I think he amplifies what type of guy should be hired in this league.

I've never had to make a hiring decision in that sphere of importance like ADs do, but they are also paid bloated salaries to make that choice, so you'd think they'd have an idea of what's a fit at their own damn school. If you don't consult the people who do (and not the search firm used to hire you the AD as a kickback, either). Binghamton administrators might be permanently scarred by the Broadus stuff, which was a decade ago, they should get over it. There enough competent coaches (read: can win like 47-50% of your league games in a 7-10 year stretch) out there who can come in do what needs to be done in terms of graduating players and having model citizens. Get you someone who can do both...and is totally average or slightly above average at it.

I guess this is just a long way of saying this league doesn't have enough Will Browns or even John Gallaghers coaching at its schools, because if it did this league would be in a lot better shape. Imagine a world where the 10th place team in the league had 5-6 wins. That's what I'm getting at. Someone has to lose but don't be so so shitty at it, and that is down to coaching not stuff like institutional support etc.
 
#214 ·
I see Kevin Broadus logged into the Coaching Changes account to tweet:







Best part about that account now is they use the "only certain people can reply" or no replies function...basically so they can mouth off on whatever without getting hit in the comments. We all know Broadus' tenure and what it brought about. I think back on it now, and while what happened was still extremely shameful...I'm a bit more forgiving of Broadus these days (and like I said...since he's employed by another D1 school, so are a lot of others). To me, it's his bosses at the time who frankly deserve much of the blame. He was doing what they'd let him get away with.

The whole "it's impossible to win there" stuff I rarely buy, especially at the low levels of D1 like the America East. There are formulas...Will Brown did it, and he had his success. I look at Gallagher at Hartford. I truly think he is nothing special as a coach at all. But you know what? He found what works to play slightly above .500 ball overall, but 9-11 wins in conference and given the AE is one of the crappiest conferences in all of Division I because the lower half of the league is so so terrible, he's now with Brown out a top 3 coach in this league. He's doing exactly what Hartford wants him to do. I honestly don't think he'll ever actually get another head coaching job somewhere else. Never say never, but I'd be surprised. Say all you want about Odom's dad and connections, but truly his resume is one that doesn't scream "my dad was an ACC/SEC head coach who hooked me up with gigs my whole life" - and he has guys who just come in and fit what he's doing, and they get better while they're coached by him. Odom is destined for bigger things, but I think he amplifies what type of guy should be hired in this league.

I've never had to make a hiring decision in that sphere of importance like ADs do, but they are also paid bloated salaries to make that choice, so you'd think they'd have an idea of what's a fit at their own damn school. If you don't consult the people who do (and not the search firm used to hire you the AD as a kickback, either). Binghamton administrators might be permanently scarred by the Broadus stuff, which was a decade ago, they should get over it. There enough competent coaches (read: can win like 47-50% of your league games in a 7-10 year stretch) out there who can come in do what needs to be done in terms of graduating players and having model citizens. Get you someone who can do both...and is totally average or slightly above average at it.

I guess this is just a long way of saying this league doesn't have enough Will Browns or even John Gallaghers coaching at its schools, because if it did this league would be in a lot better shape. Imagine a world where the 10th place team in the league had 5-6 wins. That's what I'm getting at. Someone has to lose but don't be so so shitty at it, and that is down to coaching not stuff like institutional support etc.

For the first tweet they are utterly wrong. Binghamton maybe the best job in the league if the administration would allow it to be. Great school, great facilities, great fans.... If brown can win at albany and pikiell could win at SBU there is no reason someone cant win at binghamton. The funny thing is Al walker had Binghamton respectable and would have won one eventually and broadus would have won if he didnt bite of more than he could chew. Not only that in my opinion the league is so bad right now.

For the second tweet they are so right. Elliott is inept with this hire. I really want to call the president of the college and ask why. Why does our administration not care about our flagship program. I still cant believe this actually happened. i wish i had more money to donate so i could threaten to not give it anymore.
 
#202 ·
People gonna push "You can't win at Binghamton" and ignore Al Walker getting fired despite taking over a transitional D-1 program and having a >.500 record in AE play in 6 seasons.

I hate the term "sleeping giant" because most aren't giants to begin with. But I believe there is plenty of upward potential for someone attainable to win at Binghamton. Responsibly, and sustainably.
 
#203 ·
Some posters on the SBU boards who aren't that impressed with Geno think Long Island boy goes home would make for great story and would love to see Brown at SBU.

Ive never personally liked Will Brown from the time he was at Sullivan County CC. He is dour and has no personality. Having said that, if you watched an Albany playoff game, you knew Albany would be in striking distance with 5 minutes to go and he didn't care how they had to do it. He was completely happy with a grind it out slugfest where both teams were in the 50's. It wasn't pretty, but gave them a chance to win.
 
#206 ·
I think it's huge mistake for Albany to make this move and let go of Will. I think he has done a great job and I've always enjoyed watching him and his teams play. I loved going out to Albany for the tournament and met a lot of great fans like Albany Weave and Will Brown's dad. I hope that you guys get a great coach as you're a great and classy fanbase and deserve it.

Now we wait on what happens to the other three coaches whose contracts are up this year...

Duquette
Herrion
Kennedy
 
#207 ·
I think it's huge mistake for Albany to make this move and let go of Will. I think he has done a great job and I've always enjoyed watching him and his teams play. I loved going out to Albany for the tournament and met a lot of great fans like Albany Weave and Will Brown's dad. I hope that you guys get a great coach as you're a great and classy fanbase and deserve it.

Now we wait on what happens to the other three coaches whose contracts are up this year...

Duquette
Herrion
Kennedy
I Actually find it amazing that 5 coaches in the AE had their contracts expire after the season. That has to be a record.

100% agree regarding Brown.

I have to think all 3 of the above get resigned.
 
#216 ·
Absolutely a decent guy and very much what Binghamton needed to re-establish what the university wants from their athletic program. Binghamton fans/alumni who lived through the nightmare period of 2009-13 or so very much appreciate what Dempsey has done for the image of the Binghamton student-athlete. 10-11 years ago, just about every other AE school wanted to toss us out of the conference. His work is foundational, much the same way Al Walker built a solid foundation at the start of the D-1 era in Binghamton.

There seems to be a nice group of players in place who experienced the ups and downs of Covid along with the normal ups and downs of having a very sophomore-heavy team and kept fighting all the way through the season. Hopefully they can keep the core together, keep building and experience some success in the W column soon.
 
#215 ·
Will Brown was very good at Albany but he is unemployed because of will brown. This is not on albany. As Bosi has said his relationship with the AD was strained. They were not even talking that is how bad it got. you cant have a strained relationship with the athletic director when you lose in the quarters 5 out of the last 6 years. It is ok when you are winning but not when you are losing... reminds me of bobby knight a little bit. Just couldnt help himself at the end.
 
#217 ·
Letting a coach's contract expire seems like program suicide. It kills recruiting the last year or two and set's the program back at least a few years. I get that COVID changed things a bit and these decisions are financially driven, but a program that let's this happen is lost and really that's on the AD. UVM did this with their hockey coach and the program was dead man walking for two years while waiting for Sneddon's contract to expire.
 
#218 ·
I think hockey and basketball for schools at this level are different animals. Hockey typically gets earlier commitments because (1) recruits need to make the major junior vs. college decision and (2) even at the bottom of Hockey East each roster has guys with chances to go to the NHL, so the caliber of recruit is higher, mostly because there are fewer teams and a flatter disparity between the top schools and the bottom.

In basketball, perhaps UVM aside, most guys are settling for being in the AE. It's more of a matter of "who is available and doesn't have a higher offer" in the year before enrolling, rather than "people want to be here and will commit more than a year in advance." UVM can with a straight face go out and talk to kids a few years in advance. For most every other school it is more evaluating the talent that is left out there at the end to see who can play. And the real recruiting starts once they are enrolled to keep them from transferring up if they turn out to be any good.
 
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