The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-27-2018 06:03 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Out of curiosity I looked at career winning percentage of NCAA D1 coaches (active and retired). Of the 250+ coaches listed (there are many ties), Mick currently stands at #111. Now that may sound "average" but you're talking thousandths of a percentage point separating coaches on the list. Here are a few names with career winning percentages below Mick:

113. Ray Meyer (DePaul)
114. John Chaney
115. Don Haskins (UTEP)
117. Jim Harrick
120. Skip Prosser
125. Tubby Smith
126. Mike Brey
128. Steve Fisher
138. Steve Alford
141. Norm Stewart (Missouri)
142. Gene Keady
150. Bruce Pearl
153. Bruce Weber
157. Kelvin Sampson
158. Rick Barnes
169. Ben Howland
172. John Thompson
176. Pete Gillen
177. Fran Dunphy
182. Gary Williams
196. John Beilein
201. Kermit Davis (MTSU)
205. Jim Valvano
214. Mark Gottfried
228. Frank Martin
237. Steve Lavin
242. Lon Kruger
249. Buzz Williams

I don't want to spend the time and energy comparing conference regular season titles, conf. tournament titles, NCAAT runs, national championships, etc., in order to keep this simple. Mick has had solid overall success in his 15 year coaching career and should continue to win at Cincinnati at a good clip. His success in the tournaments (conference & NCAAT) has been less so. We had one FF and 3 E8's in Huggins' 16 years here. However, those occurred during his first 7 seasons and the next 9 seasons resulted in only one S16 appearance. So looking at it strictly from the NCAAT lens, in almost 30 seasons Cincinnati has one FF, 3 E8 and 5 S16 appearances. For comparison's sake, here are some other programs NCAAT runs over the past 30 years:

Duke 5 Nattys/10 FF/13 E8/21 S16
UNC 4 Nattys/11 FF/14 E8/18 S16
Kentucky 3 Nattys/8 FF/15 E8/18 S16
Kansas 1 Natty/7 FF/13 E8/19 S16
Zona 1 Natty/3 FF/9 E8/16 S16
Indiana 0 Nattys/2 FF/3 E8/9 S16
Ohio St. 0 Nattys/2 FF/4 E8/7 S16
Exavier 0 Nattys/0 FF/3 E8/8 S16
Purdue 0 Nattys/0 FF/2 E8/8 S16
Pitt 0 Nattys/0 FF/1 E8/5 S16

The only reason I bring this up is it points to more than just coaching. IMO, long term, high level success is also based on elite players, conference affiliation, facilities, budgets, etc. While we've had some moments during the past 30 years, I just don't see where we will have an elite level of success that can be sustained without a major uptick in conference affiliation and player talent. I don't see our program in its current state making many deep tourney runs nor winning a national title. Again, that is not what I hope for but I'm stepping back and really looking at this realistically speaking.

So this brings me back to Mick. He's not going anywhere for now unless he chooses to move on. There is no way our university is going to can him with his overall success but even more so for the fact that he has run a clean program and kept the ship steering through calm waters. My question is, hypothetically speaking, if we would get a new coach at some point in the future would our success look any different overall? Again, I'm not talking about in one particular year but over a period of time. To me, that is the hard question that has to be answered over the next several years. IMHO, if we are really honest about it, we may not like the answer.

Great post and I mostly agree. I would only add that I am totally opposed to a raise or extension by UC at this point. Honor the raises/bonuses specified per his current contract until recruiting improves or he coaches the team to at least another Sweet Sixteen. P5 programs aren't waiting in line to hire him and he earns better than most any G5 or New Big East coach. If he wants to coach in the A10 or way out west, have at it.