(01-27-2015 10:49 AM)TribeNiner Wrote:  Rice: Mike Rhoades' team has struggled in his first year; but Rice had a long way to go. Additionally, Rice has been showing signs of improvement being competitive in their last 10 games and winning 2 out of their last 3. Rhoades appears to be a good fit for the Owls and has them playing better each game.

Thoughts: Safe

Rice fans are very excited about Rhoades. If there's a danger for him, it's that expectations are getting really high for the next 2-3 years...

(01-28-2015 09:06 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 08:05 AM)Theflash Wrote:  Serious question... how much time should a new coach get? 3yrs. ? 4yrs.? People were ready to run Harper off in mid December this yr. It's year 3 for him. It takes time to get out messes some of these coaches make.
I say 4 yrs. if progress is being made, kids are going to class, showing class on and off the floor, etc.
What say you?

It depends on the crap the new coach inherits. In Charlotte's case it was pretty bad. However, no more than 4-5 years. By then, you know what you have.

This point is debateable however as Major took over after Lutz last team finished 19-12, with most everybody coming back.

(01-28-2015 10:09 AM)919R Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 09:06 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 08:05 AM)Theflash Wrote:  Serious question... how much time should a new coach get? 3yrs. ? 4yrs.? People were ready to run Harper off in mid December this yr. It's year 3 for him. It takes time to get out messes some of these coaches make.
I say 4 yrs. if progress is being made, kids are going to class, showing class on and off the floor, etc.
What say you?

It depends on the crap the new coach inherits. In Charlotte's case it was pretty bad. However, no more than 4-5 years. By then, you know what you have.

This point is debateable however as Major took over after Lutz last team finished 19-12, with most everybody coming back.

I think it was pretty bad when you consider the academic shape that Jones was in, lack of a PG outside of Briscoe, etc. Not to mention the lack of recruiting, implementation, etc., that could go on after he was hired. I knew that was going to be a rough year no matter what. And when you go 10-20, 13-17, 21-12 (and NIT) in your first three seasons, you are certainly trending in the right direction (plus the staff's recruiting has been great and I've been a fan of the scheduling- see this year for example).

None of that, however, addresses the late season swoons of the last couple of years nor the lack of conference titles and NCAA tournament berths. I'm not so delusional as to demand that we dominate every year; but once a coach is entrenched, I expect Charlotte to be right in the thick of it until the end, with the occasional title and the occasional bad season. NCAA tournament berths 3/5 years doesn't seem unreasonable to me once the new coach is established. Granted, it may have been more reasonable in the A-10 than CUSA, but I still think we need to be in the mix.

And none of this addresses his health issues and how that is affecting his ability to perform the job. I hope he has a full and speedy recovery; but, if basketball is taking the toll on him that it appears to be, he may need to step away from the game for his own sake.

Full disclosure- I like Major and I think he is better than most Charlotte fans give him credit for; but I'm ready for a new direction.

(01-28-2015 10:09 AM)919R Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 09:06 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 08:05 AM)Theflash Wrote:  Serious question... how much time should a new coach get? 3yrs. ? 4yrs.? People were ready to run Harper off in mid December this yr. It's year 3 for him. It takes time to get out messes some of these coaches make.
I say 4 yrs. if progress is being made, kids are going to class, showing class on and off the floor, etc.
What say you?

It depends on the crap the new coach inherits. In Charlotte's case it was pretty bad. However, no more than 4-5 years. By then, you know what you have.

This point is debateable however as Major took over after Lutz last team finished 19-12, with most everybody coming back.

That team also closed out their season with Lutz losing like 7 of the last 8 with 4 in a row at the end. Maybe the beginning of the year was just a fluke, just like Major's early season successes have been.

I think if that team had won even just a couple more of those games to close out the season, Lutz would have kept his job.

In the end, Lutz's biggest downfall wasn't his coaching. It was hiring friends and former players as assistants that did a very poor job recruiting. Major's problem is the exact opposite. Solid recruiting, piss poor coaching.

Sadler isn't on the hot seat. The situation he was given is much similar to that of Todd Monken.

"We're Old Mother Hubbard, and only Jeremiah Eason is in the cupboard."

(01-28-2015 10:09 AM)919R Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 09:06 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 08:05 AM)Theflash Wrote:  Serious question... how much time should a new coach get? 3yrs. ? 4yrs.? People were ready to run Harper off in mid December this yr. It's year 3 for him. It takes time to get out messes some of these coaches make.
I say 4 yrs. if progress is being made, kids are going to class, showing class on and off the floor, etc.
What say you?

It depends on the crap the new coach inherits. In Charlotte's case it was pretty bad. However, no more than 4-5 years. By then, you know what you have.

This point is debateable however as Major took over after Lutz last team finished 19-12, with most everybody coming back.

Recruiting was a mess though (he had one commit from a player that was not highly regarded at all and appeared to have little else on tap), and the way that season ended, the 19-12 record was not representative of where the team was at the end of the year.

It doesn't really matter though. Major has now had plenty of time to build something and the failure of these past two years is on him.

(01-27-2015 09:17 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(01-27-2015 05:04 PM)Timo99 Wrote:  If Charlotte doesn't have a new coach next season, I will be very sad.

I suspect you shall be quite sad then.

Fans, including me, said the same thing about the previous coach and then he got fired a few days later. I actually think he might be let go. The program certainly needs it. Enough empty seats are showing up at games that it's getting pretty embarrassing for the AD. But we'll see, a lot of folks seem to think the big money donors are fine with it, and that the AD can live off student fees.

(01-28-2015 01:32 PM)9erken Wrote:  

(01-27-2015 09:17 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(01-27-2015 05:04 PM)Timo99 Wrote:  If Charlotte doesn't have a new coach next season, I will be very sad.

I suspect you shall be quite sad then.

Fans, including me, said the same thing about the previous coach and then he got fired a few days later. I actually think he might be let go. The program certainly needs it. Enough empty seats are showing up at games that it's getting pretty embarrassing for the AD. But we'll see, a lot of folks seem to think the big money donors are fine with it, and that the AD can live off student fees.

I hope so too, but it'll look really bad from a PR perspective. I mean, we'll be going after a new coach after firing our previous one while out for medical reasons. Folks will more than likely focus on that and not his performance as coach.

(01-28-2015 01:45 PM)VA49er Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 01:32 PM)9erken Wrote:  

(01-27-2015 09:17 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(01-27-2015 05:04 PM)Timo99 Wrote:  If Charlotte doesn't have a new coach next season, I will be very sad.

I suspect you shall be quite sad then.

Fans, including me, said the same thing about the previous coach and then he got fired a few days later. I actually think he might be let go. The program certainly needs it. Enough empty seats are showing up at games that it's getting pretty embarrassing for the AD. But we'll see, a lot of folks seem to think the big money donors are fine with it, and that the AD can live off student fees.

I hope so too, but it'll look really bad from a PR perspective. I mean, we'll be going after a new coach after firing our previous one while out for medical reasons. Folks will more than likely focus on that and not his performance as coach.

I think it'll be positioned as Major's health is preventing him from coming back. It'll look like he is stepping away, that way if he ever gets back into coaching, he won't have a record of being fired and we won't look like ******** for firing someone that is having health problems.

Best case for Charlotte is Major is unable to perform his abilities and there is a settlement via insurance and we aren't on the hook for firing him. That gives us more $$$ (theoretically) for our next coach.

It was essentially NIT or bust this year for the staff and the NIT isn't happening. Time to move on and try to hold on to the young pieces we have.

31 posts in this thread and 15 are by Niners. That should tell you something. Alan Major's seat has not gotten any less hot in the last few weeks. I think his only two shots at keeping his job are some sort of legal protection since he is on medical leave, or an all but impossible to imagine run to the NCAA tournament. Smart money is on him cleaning out his office in late March.