MAC Coaching Carousel: Strange?

[Rollo83]

OU hires Jim Christian? So OU goes the retread route? Really? Christian was a good "caretaker" of the program Gary Waters built at Kent State. But at TCU he went 56-73.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... -ohiocoach

Central Michigan hires Keno Davis? He has one good year at Drake (2007-2008). Yes, one year and then jumps to Big East gig at Providence...where he goes 46-50 over three years and gets fired in 2011. Worked some games on the Big Ten Network this year. I guess he was honning his coaching skills while in the booth?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... igan-davis

Is this what we have to look forward to in post-Orr world at BG? So OU and CMU hire former Southwest Conference and Big East failures. What makes schools think that guys who haven't had success in a major conference are going to be successful in the MAC? That's why I never liked the Orr hiring from the begining.

[OptionQB]

What is Christian suppose to do in the Big XII? I would rather recruit at the "hot" MAC program rather than try and take players from Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Kansas State. The move makes sense for him and a lot of sense for Ohio to get someone with MAC experience and bring him back to where he was successfull. Maybe he was a caretaker, but I would be pleased with the hire.

Keno Davis was a rising star in 2007-08 and then never put it together at Providence. I do see where you're coming from on this one, but damn . . . Drake, Providence and Mount Pleasant can you think of three worst places to try and recruit to?

[guest44]

I'd take both over Louis Orr. I like both hires.

[Siborg]

Sometimes finding a coach who had success at smaller schools, then struggled at the bigger schools can be a good thing. Now he knows the grass isn't always greener in the BCS. Its the same hope I have for Clawson. He got a sour taste of the SEC and now he may not be so quick to jump ship, assuming he finds success here.

Orr is similar and I still have hope, albeit waning, that he finds long term success here.

[Eagle66]

OU hires Jim Christian? So OU goes the retread route? Really? Christian was a good "caretaker" of the program Gary Waters built at Kent State. But at TCU he went 56-73.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... -ohiocoach

Central Michigan hires Keno Davis? He has one good year at Drake (2007-2008). Yes, one year and then jumps to Big East gig at Providence...where he goes 46-50 over three years and gets fired in 2011. Worked some games on the Big Ten Network this year. I guess he was honning his coaching skills while in the booth?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... igan-davis

Is this what we have to look forward to in post-Orr world at BG? So OU and CMU hire former Southwest Conference and Big East failures. What makes schools think that guys who haven't had success in a major conference are going to be successful in the MAC? That's why I never liked the Orr hiring from the begining.

Stan Heath was the one who benefitted most from Water's recruits. He was a one and done and was fired at Arkansas after 5 years. Christian was at Kent for 6 seasons. He definitely continued to put out good teams even with his own recruits. He is also has the best winning % in MAC history I believe.

In both Ohio & CMU's cases, I guess its a matter of which way would you rather go. Just my opinion, but Ohio's AD chose someone with head coaching experience (something that an Ohio head coach hasn't had coming into the job) over the young "up and coming" assistant. I think Shaus wanted to make sure he maximized the talent returning this year, without having to let a new head coach (i.e. Jeff Boals or Dustin Ford) get acclimated to being the lead guy. I know most Ohio fans went ran the gauntlet of emotions when Christian was hired... shock, to fustration, to acceptance, to excitement. We'll see how it turns out. As an Ohio fan, my biggest concern was his reliance on JUCOs at Kent.

As for post-Orr, I think BG will definetly be able ot attract one of those "up and coming" / "hot" assistants, should your AD choose to go that route. I honestly don't know much about your current AD and their track record for hiring coaches. However, you do have great facilities. I came up for the Ohio game and I liked the way the Stroh center had the practice courts attached, and the scoreboard was awesome (not so much the outcome of the game though ). I have a feeling you guys feel the same about Orr as Ohio fans did about O'Shea. Anyway, I'm sure you dont want to hear much else from another fan. Good luck next season.