Huger Fired

[Buckeye Bullitt 93]

I would prefer young & hungry. Jans part ll if you will, without the bad stuff.

[dforde]

What about Marty Richter? He's an Assistant at Drake. They went 27-7 this year and are headed to the NCAA tournament. Has prior BGSU time here with DD. Great guy, great family.

[OptionQB]

A list I found from a handful of coaching twitter machine accounts I follow ...

Jerrod Calhoun, Youngstown Head Coach, won the regular season in their league
Ricardo Greer, Dayton Associate Head Coach
AW Hamilton, Eastern Kentucky Head Coach
Jordan Mincy, Jacksonville Head Coach
Jake Diebler, Ohio State Associate Head Coach and supposedly their top recruiter
Dean Oliver, Wisconsin Assistant
Greg Paulus, Niagra Head Coach

**I discussed with Brian yesterday over texts Marty Richter too as he was on tv

My preference of order . . .
1. Calhoun
2. Mincy, he pops up on A LOT of Rising Stars in Coaching lists, he's 36
3. Hamilton
4. Diebler, also not a fan of (insert rando B1G assistant) but he's from Upper Sandusky and would theoretically "get" BG
5. Marty
6. Greer

ANY of these top 6 would be GREAT choices

I don't know enough about Oliver to have an opinion. He like many of the above were very solid college players, I like the SWING offense but I am no fan of Greg Gard or their program.

Paulus, no thanks, wasn't a fan of him when he played. He hasn't won as a HC.

I think Mincy and Hamilton are BIG names to watch. They come from the Atlantic Sun where Austin Peay is from. Derek van der Merwe came from Austin Peay before Arizona. Chances are he has a TON of contacts throughout the league and could gauge those guys pretty well.

[Globetrotter]

A list I found from a handful of coaching twitter machine accounts I follow ...

Jerrod Calhoun, Youngstown Head Coach, won the regular season in their league
Ricardo Greer, Dayton Associate Head Coach
AW Hamilton, Eastern Kentucky Head Coach
Jordan Mincy, Jacksonville Head Coach
Jake Diebler, Ohio State Associate Head Coach and supposedly their top recruiter
Dean Oliver, Wisconsin Assistant
Greg Paulus, Niagra Head Coach

**I discussed with Brian yesterday over texts Marty Richter too as he was on tv

My preference of order . . .
1. Calhoun
2. Mincy, he pops up on A LOT of Rising Stars in Coaching lists, he's 36
3. Hamilton
4. Diebler, also not a fan of (insert rando B1G assistant) but he's from Upper Sandusky and would theoretically "get" BG
5. Marty
6. Greer

ANY of these top 6 would be GREAT choices

I don't know enough about Oliver to have an opinion. He like many of the above were very solid college players, I like the SWING offense but I am no fan of Greg Gard or their program.

Paulus, no thanks, wasn't a fan of him when he played. He hasn't won as a HC.

I think Mincy and Hamilton are BIG names to watch. They come from the Atlantic Sun where Austin Peay is from. Derek van der Merwe came from Austin Peay before Arizona. Chances are he has a TON of contacts throughout the league and could gauge those guys pretty well.

Thanks for adding the names. Really like Hamilton

My top two would be Calhoun and Hamilton.

Mincy had a bad year this year

[OptionQB]

Without watching or looking up the roster, he may have had injuries to overcome or something similar.

I know next to nothing about him, other than he's on quite a few lists of people that do this sort of thing for a living and he has extensive MAC experience as a player and assistant.

[Matty B]

One name I'm surprised I haven't seen pop up yet is Akrons associate HC Dustin Ford. He's been Groce's right hand man for years (followed him from OU > Illinois > Akron). Very fiery on their bench, had a lot of success and obviously knows the MAC and this region.

Would be a target but not sure if he would leave Groce?

[BillyLP]

Also gotta throw Steve Lutz in here from Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He's taking them to the tourney for the second year in a row. Was previously an assistant at Purdue. I can't find his salary but I HAVE to imagine we could pay more than TA&MCC.

[hammb]

Lutz seems like he must be a damned good coach. He was making $250k at Purdue but I couldn't find what he's making now.

I'd love to have him but he is probably on a path to a big time job if he keeps up his success there.

[Falcon]

Sad to see Huger go as a person, but believe its the right move for the program to move forward. I see a lot of talk about Calhoun on here from Youngstown...I sure hope they DO NOT hire him. If you look at that Kenpom site ($19.99 for a year to join) his defense is damn near WORSE than Huger's was the past few years. I don't have interest in watching another 5 years of run and gun offense with no defense. Numbers are below:

Calhoun Defensive Rankings (Nationally)
2023: 265th
2022: 310th
2021: 310th
2020: 303rd
2019: 316th
2018: 338th

I hope they bring in a coach who can get us playing both sides of the ball. I seem to think that the teams that are competing on Saturday in the MAC Tournament typically are good defensively (I.E. Kent, Akron, Buffalo).

My vote would be for Jim Christian! Proven at the MAC level. 8 seasons in the MAC and ALL have been 20 win seasons. 6 of the 8 have been Top 100 defense in the nation. Not sure if he wants to go back to a head job again, but it would be a homerun hire.

[hammb]

Christian would be an interesting hire. He's owned the MAC and been unquestionably awful when trying to move up. He's older and I'm typically not a fan of retreads but I could get behind his history of MAC success. My major concern though is a late 50s coach who hasn't had a successful season since 2014. NIL and transfer portal has changed things mightily, so I'd worry about his ability to adapt.

What would be interesting about him is he'd be a guy that I simply can't see being hired anywhere else. If he was successful he'd probably finish his career here. Still, I think I'd prefer younger coach on the rise.

[maskedopining]

Christian would be an interesting hire. He's owned the MAC and been unquestionably awful when trying to move up. He's older and I'm typically not a fan of retreads but I could get behind his history of MAC success. My major concern though is a late 50s coach who hasn't had a successful season since 2014. NIL and transfer portal has changed things mightily, so I'd worry about his ability to adapt.

What would be interesting about him is he'd be a guy that I simply can't see being hired anywhere else. If he was successful he'd probably finish his career here. Still, I think I'd prefer younger coach on the rise.

Here are my PROs for hiring Christian:

He has, by far, the highest floor of any candidate that is realistic for this job. At BG, in its current state, I think that does mean something.

Less likely to move up after success, meaning he could build a winning cultural base this program has needed for 20 years. Possibly builds a coaching tree that helps minimize the risk of his age.

Good defensive coach that has done nothing but win at this specific level.

All of this may make for a less sexy or inspiring hire, so to speak, but a hire that represents a really good fit based on where this program is and what it currently needs.

[hammb]

Christian would be an interesting hire. He's owned the MAC and been unquestionably awful when trying to move up. He's older and I'm typically not a fan of retreads but I could get behind his history of MAC success. My major concern though is a late 50s coach who hasn't had a successful season since 2014. NIL and transfer portal has changed things mightily, so I'd worry about his ability to adapt.

What would be interesting about him is he'd be a guy that I simply can't see being hired anywhere else. If he was successful he'd probably finish his career here. Still, I think I'd prefer younger coach on the rise.

Here are my PROs for hiring Christian:

He has, by far, the highest floor of any candidate that is realistic for this job. At BG, in its current state, I think that does mean something.

Less likely to move up after success, meaning he could build a winning cultural base this program has needed for 20 years. Possibly builds a coaching tree that helps minimize the risk of his age.

Good defensive coach that has done nothing but win at this specific level.

All of this may make for a less sexy or inspiring hire, so to speak, but a hire that represents a really good fit based on where this program is and what it currently needs.

I don't entirely disagree with what you're saying, and might even agree that his floor is the lowest of any potential hire.

One thing I would still point out though is that given the fact his last success was nearly a decade ago (and the changes to CBB in that time) I'm not of the belief that his floor (even if higher than others) is considered acceptable. His records at BC were awful, so I'm not convinced his floor is all that high, despite the MAC success he's enjoyed.

[maskedopining]

Hammb - you make several great points here as you you usually do. To put myself in a place of advocating for Christian for sake of extending this discussion, I would make the following points…

First, NIL is still a new, evolving concept. In fact, its effects, and, what is effectively implementing NIL is still evolving and being defined at the highest levels of college basketball. By extension this may mean that is even less defined at the mid-major level at this point.

Second, NIL and transfer are not entirely under the control of the coach. This is something that also is significantly influenced by the donor-class and corporate environment around the school, as well as the athletic/admissions/administrative mission and philosophy of the school.
So it’s not just the coach, it is the coach’s strategy aligning with the strategy of all of these other forces.

Third, I may be wrong, but I feel like Christian did have success with transfers when at Kent St. He also is in an administrative role with that program now that is having success with these aspects. Again, I will grant you I may be wrong here.

My previous post focused on the pros, but I think you adeptly pointed out some important cons. However, the NIL and transfer evolution is a really important aspect of this decision, so I thought it warranted extending our discussion here. Interested to see how you and others think about this.

[hammb]

To be clear, I'm not arguing against the notion of Christian either, just mentioning the qualms I'd have with him. He could absolutely be a HR hire. At BG, with our athletic budgets, I almost always lean towards the young guys that will win and move on. Even with that being my preference, I still could certainly see the appeal of a Solich guy that has likely used up all his chances at higher jobs so is the one to come here and win as long as he wants to coach.

Christian's track record in the MAC speaks for itself. Unfortunately his track record outside the MAC is as bad as his in MAC record is good.

With any coaching changes I will always believe none of US have a clue who is the best candidate for the job and it's pointless to argue as if we do. All we can do is compare resumes, but unless you actually watched these coaches at all of their various stops (and none of us do) the resume doesn't tell the whole story. For sure Christian is worthy of an interview if he's interested in getting back on the MAC sidelines. After that it's up to Van der Merwe to pick the right guy.

If I'm throwing out names I'd be curious what the story is with Massey @ UT. He's been up there for years, so maybe he's the guy in waiting when/if Kowalcyzk moves on, but he's 49 so if he's going to take a HC gig it should come soon. He's got a good track record as an assistant coaching guards at both St. Bonaventure & UT and has been the AHC at UT for the past 3 seasons, which you could argue is among the best 3 season regular season runs in MAC basketball history.

[maskedopining]

: D

To be clear, I'm not arguing against the notion of Christian either, just mentioning the qualms I'd have with him. He could absolutely be a HR hire. At BG, with our athletic budgets, I almost always lean towards the young guys that will win and move on. Even with that being my preference, I still could certainly see the appeal of a Solich guy that has likely used up all his chances at higher jobs so is the one to come here and win as long as he wants to coach.

Christian's track record in the MAC speaks for itself. Unfortunately his track record outside the MAC is as bad as his in MAC record is good.

With any coaching changes I will always believe none of US have a clue who is the best candidate for the job and it's pointless to argue as if we do. All we can do is compare resumes, but unless you actually watched these coaches at all of their various stops (and none of us do) the resume doesn't tell the whole story. For sure Christian is worthy of an interview if he's interested in getting back on the MAC sidelines. After that it's up to Van der Merwe to pick the right guy.

If I'm throwing out names I'd be curious what the story is with Massey @ UT. He's been up there for years, so maybe he's the guy in waiting when/if Kowalcyzk moves on, but he's 49 so if he's going to take a HC gig it should come soon. He's got a good track record as an assistant coaching guards at both St. Bonaventure & UT and has been the AHC at UT for the past 3 seasons, which you could argue is among the best 3 season regular season runs in MAC basketball history.

Yep, agree with you. It funny you can get caught up in discussions on this board and find yourself playing “make-believe AD” very quickly!