We hear it all the time. During games, on message boards, and from opposing fans — when will we ever move on from our two head coaches? Below we post an exchange we recently had with one of our readers. A very interesting dialogue that we'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on. Check it out below!
Roll Tribe Roll.
Article:
https://wmsportsblog.com/2017/12/13/wmsb...nd-shaver/
Oh gawd
How about, "What do you think W&M needs to do to win fb and mbb championships/ncaat?"
JL isn't going anywhere until he says so and we are lucky to have had TS for as long as we have. If we ever play in the ncaat, Shaver will be on a plane to some major program within a week.
"Below is an exchange we had via Facebook with an educated Tribe fan who offered some valid, logical points and concerns on the matter."
Educated Tribe fan? Some would say that that is redundant. Others might say that it is not.
My god, who on earth is saying we should get rid of Shaver? Tony is a saint for putting up with the lack of funding and bottom of the barrel support for the program that he does. He's done an incredible job with no resources whatsoever.
Could WM find a better coach out there? Potentially yes if it actually committed to having a well supported basketball program. But even in that eventuality, it's probably like a 30% chance at most that whoever replaced Shaver has more success than he has. And given that all success we have had in the last decade is virtually entirely due to Shaver persevering in the face of adversity (and no thanks to the school, although it sounds like a few on this board have certainly done some great work), we should be begging him to stick around as long as possible.
If Shaver leaves and support for this program remains constant, we are going straight back to the basement of the (now-weaker) conference.
We have lived in a very, very unusual environment for the last 15-30 years. How many programs have the same head coach as we've had with Laycock and Shaver? Almost none or none (I'm too lazy to research it). Every time you fire and hire a coach you are making a bet on each decision that a) you fire a coach who later goes on to better things, and b) you hire a good coach as a replacement. Even if you hire a good coach in replacement, how long will they stay? How good was VCU with Smart? How about Richmond with Rocco? They don't always stay around for ever.
I think we should count our blessings.
While I get frustrated from time to time with our athletic performance and express it on this board by criticizing the coaches, my frustration is nothing compared to the frustrations that the coaches have to deal with in performing their duties with the resources that they are given to work with and the expectations that are placed upon them.
I would like to express my gratitude for their loyalty and dedication to the College and the young men that they mentor. Well done gentlemen!
What I would like to focus my frustrations upon is the mindset that so severely limits their resources because we've always done it this way...