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https://theathletic.com/4277912/2023/03/...and/?amp=1

Is that true about AK? Seems weird bc I heard nothing to this effect after last season..

That doesn't surprise me at all, as i never thought he was gonna be a long time UAB coach. This is stepping stone back for him, instead of a chance to stay at UAB till retirement. Ole Miss would be stupid not to try and get him back

So much for AK being a UAB "lifer." He will leave for the first decent P5 opportunity he gets. Disappointing if true.

Gonna piss some people off, but Andy has a better agent and in a better spot that Bill Clark was. Bill's camp, not sure who in it, would always leak if he was even thought of in an opening. AK is doing it different as his intent is to leave, not get more $ to stay at UAB. If you are looking to stay, you play the PR game to get your name out there so that your own school will extend you to keep you. That has made the fact that no info about any of this with AK is so shocking to us. We are used to the HBC path of constant talk and constant name out there. The fact that this is just now being mentioned this long after, means Andy it gone, just give it some time...we are not his future plans.

(03-09-2023 01:25 PM)jaymay2525 Wrote:  That doesn't surprise me at all, as i never thought he was gonna be a long time UAB coach. This is stepping stone back for him, instead of a chance to stay at UAB till retirement. Ole Miss would be stupid not to try and get him back

Looks like they're going to get Chris Beard

Depending on how long Huggins wants to keep coaching I could see AK as the next West Virginia coach, if that's too long he will be back in the SEC.

Thankfully the SEC coaching exodus was last off season and it just seems like Ole Miss will be the only SEC opening if memory serves right

Disappointing if true. “Bartow standard” doesn’t scream running for the next best thing as soon as you can.

Of course, I can’t blame him if he gets a better opportunity and he is a very good coach… but don’t gaslight us with all the Bartow standard talk if leaving quickly is truly your intent.

I don’t buy it. Agent doing his job, nothing more

Maybe he will schedule UAB when he replaces Nate Oats

(03-09-2023 02:28 PM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  I don’t buy it. Agent doing his job, nothing more

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but that's what I am thinking too.

Would be extremely odd to go from never hearing one scrap of a rumor about him leaving to he's looking to get back into a power conference ASAP and wants to leave UAB.

Why wouldn't he have left last year? G5 coaches leave as soon as they get to an NCAA tournament all the time, and he is also proven, veteran, good coach, not an upstart whippersnapper.

Anyways, he's a good coach. I expect his name to be out there. I don't expect him to stay with us until he retires, although I am starting to think I would want that. If he wants to leave - fine. Just don't gaslight us with talk of the Bartow Standard and returning to the former glory of yore. That doesn't happen if you leave after 3 years.

If there were any truth to AK being in deep talks with a school, I think it would be evidenced through a tank job at the tournament. I'm like Answer--I'm surprised about the reporting saying he was in "deep talks" last year (and no, we are not the same person ). That being said, AK and his family are very happy in Birmingham, and there's a part of me that says he thinks like us. This is his school and his program now, and he could see out his old coach's legacy and build this thing really big. Is it worth uprooting your life to risk getting struck by an errant tortilla and finishing 8th in the Big XII?

I think people accuse me of people multiple people because we all have similar, but sometimes differing, and also good and insightful, opinions haha

All of which points to an agent running his mouth to a reporter, doing his job.

It has always been my worry that when West Virginia comes a knocking after Huggins retires, that AK would jump at the opportunity. Really couldn’t blame him it’s one of the best jobs in the BIG 12. I pray AK stays but I recognize it is unlikely. Eventually he will be offered a big time job. The optimistic side of me agrees with what many have said, it is clear that he is invested in UAB. The fairytale story would spending the rest of his career here and rebuilding the program back to the Bartow Standard. I certainly think the move to the AAC helps our chances of keeping him. Texas Tech would have to, in the words of Will Wade. “Give him a good ass offer”

Now Grant McCasland on the other hand is a great coach, has Big XII experience, and could really use a distraction this week.

Personally, I think Andy wants to be at UAB and wants to retire in Birmingham, though I am sure there are a few jobs that might be tough for him to turn down. I think what he says about the Bartow legacy is sincere--and I know for a fact that he has almost a reverence for Coach.

By the way, Coach Bartow had many conversations over the years about other jobs, and basically agreed to take the Kentucky job in 1985, before changing his mind on the drive home from Lexington. And I know for a fact that he was always concerned about keeping himself relevant for other jobs. That was before agents and the big money that is thrown around today for coaches.

So don't act like if Andy talks to someone from another school he is somehow not living up to the Bartow standard.

Coach told me out of his own mouth that he should have taken the Kentucky job. He could have taken Wake Forest as well, if I recall correctly.

Honestly, I don't get the West Virginia thing. He has no history there. He's gonna leave Birmingham and go to tropical and exotic Morgantown, WV because....the guy he worked for 15 years ago coached there? And it isn't exactly like WVU is some basketball powerhouse.

(03-09-2023 03:42 PM)bftb Wrote:  Personally, I think Andy wants to be at UAB and wants to retire in Birmingham, though I am sure there are a few jobs that might be tough for him to turn down. I think what he says about the Bartow legacy is sincere--and I know for a fact that he has almost a reverence for Coach.

By the way, Coach Bartow had many conversations over the years about other jobs, and basically agreed to take the Kentucky job in 1985, before changing his mind on the drive home from Lexington. And I know for a fact that he was always concerned about keeping himself relevant for other jobs. That was before agents and the big money that is thrown around today for coaches.

So don't act like if Andy talks to someone from another school he is somehow not living up to the Bartow standard.

I never said that, and if you think I did, you are twisting my words.

I said leaving after 3 years and trying to leave ASAP for the next big thing are not consistent with the Bartow Standard. And NO, I am not saying that is what AK is doing, but that is what the article insinuated, which is why I posted it.

Keeping yourself relevant for bigger jobs, even talking with people about open positions is fine. It means you are being successful.

There's a big difference there. It's about intent. I was surprised by the article, because it seemed different from everything I've heard and read about AK's intent with UAB. That's why I posted it - To get other's opinions.