If you were the Coach/AD what would you do differently?

[Globetrotter]

If you were the Coach/AD what would you do differently?

It is apparent to me we need a new head coach. If you were the AD what would you look for in a head coach?

If he was fired tomorrow and you took over as head coach what would you do differently with this roster?

[Globetrotter]

As far as where to look for a coach, I would go someone who got a chance at a higher level, preferably Big 10 and was fired. I think we are a very good destination for a few things 1) low stress-there is no media covering the team so that helps and it's very hard to get fired, you have time 2) BG the city isn't flashy but it's a great place to have a family 3) You have a pretty decent history of star players here and an NBA player right now 4) Frack Money (which I don't fully understand).

If not that grab a Big ten assistant coach from a winning program.

Some guys who were fired in recent years that might be interesting if not interested. Steve Wojo, Sean Miller, Archie Miller (2021).
Assistants MSU: Doug Wojcik, OSU: Ryan Pedon

[Globetrotter]

If they made me coach starting tomorrow (they shouldn't I am dumb and emotional about my Falcon hoops) I think I would start with a lineup of Curtis-Morgan-Plowden-Matiss-Reece.
Positives would be you would have two people who can handle the ball, rebounding would be great, you have 3-4 scorers, Length 6'3-6'4-6'6-6'9-6'9, Offense is easy to set up. The problem is continuously spacing and ball movement leading to terrible shots. You want to open up the lane for your best scorers (Plowden 16.3 over the year-Gordon 12.8 over last 5 games). Matiss is shooting 50% on 3s this year and has just 16 shots....that's sad. I would just put him in one of the corners on offense and run the ball through the other 4.
Negatives would be defense. You would have to hide Matiss. The other 4 are athletic enough even if not great defenders. Maybe put him in the middle in a 1-3-1 or something. His length would help him there.
Diggs and Turner are your top backups followed closely by a healthy Matheny. Fulcher next as long as he is in control. His motor and upside are huge if he settles down. Mills and Young have bright futures and can fill in as necessary. O'Neal plays the 5 at times when but probably not much as Matiss and Reece still rotate there a bit in the middle of halves.

Have to do something different.

[Hammer]

If they made me coach starting tomorrow (they shouldn't I am dumb and emotional about my Falcon hoops) I think I would start with a lineup of Curtis-Morgan-Plowden-Matiss-Reece.
Positives would be you would have two people who can handle the ball, rebounding would be great, you have 3-4 scorers, Length 6'3-6'4-6'6-6'9-6'9, Offense is easy to set up. The problem is continuously spacing and ball movement leading to terrible shots. You want to open up the lane for your best scorers (Plowden 16.3 over the year-Gordon 12.8 over last 5 games). Matiss is shooting 50% on 3s this year and has just 16 shots....that's sad. I would just put him in one of the corners on offense and run the ball through the other 4.
Negatives would be defense. You would have to hide Matiss. The other 4 are athletic enough even if not great defenders. Maybe put him in the middle in a 1-3-1 or something. His length would help him there.
Diggs and Turner are your top backups followed closely by a healthy Matheny. Fulcher next as long as he is in control. His motor and upside are huge if he settles down. Mills and Young have bright futures and can fill in as necessary. O'Neal plays the 5 at times when but probably not much as Matiss and Reece still rotate there a bit in the middle of halves.

Have to do something different.

Pretty good plan.

[fanatic13]

If I were ad the next head coach plan would be to find the best assistant we could find similar to jans regardless. I would prefer an assistant from an elite mid major that way they understand the resources and situation while also having exposure to success.

Globe, I think your lineup would be a disaster on defense although your offensive idea makes a lot of sense. However I don't think plowden or matiss would matchup well with 4s and if matiss or plowden had to cover another position down due to transition it would cause more problems.

Preferred lineup with current players (starter/bench)
Pg - Curtis/Gordon
Sg - mills/metheny (when back)/fulcher
Sf - Turner/Diggs
Pf- Plowden
C - Reece/matiss

I like Gordon as the top guard off the bench he seems to be thriving in that role and providing a spark. I would play plowden/turner/matiss at the backup 4 spot instead as needed but can't trust young to play minutes. I'm not crazy about Curtis as he is inconsistent but that's the best option for now. Like mills shooting and effort on defense. Turner is at least aggressive and more consistent. I would try to limit the rotation to 9 guys and throw in a bit more zone to mask our defense. I like Diggs and metheny playing off the bench as they can add some shooting and if one is hitting we can run with the hot hand but don't have to rely on them if they're off.

Lineup if fully healthy
Pg - fields/Gordon
Sg - mills/metheny
Sf - turner/Diggs
Pf - plowden
C - Reece/Matiss

[BPardonMyTake]

I'll start by saying good on you for starting this thread. Now that it's been up for multiple days, I can say with confidence that it's just sad this type of post has 3 replies yet the Akron blowout cruised to almost 70 replies in no time. No issues constantly battering the coaches and administration, but silence when it comes to actually suggesting what should be done differently. The Falcon faithful is better than the old man get off my lawn schtick this board falls into a routine with. I get it, many of you have been following this program far longer than myself. But I've been around long enough to realize and understand that BG hoops and football are just a part of who I am, as corny as that sounds. So i will continue my support regardless of how pointless it may seem. Of course it's not perfect but this constant negativity from the university's biggest athletic supporters on here gets very old.



NOW---you better believe I am dumb and would never in a million years say I could do a better job coaching basketball than any division 1 coach. However, yeah, there's a few tweaks I'd make.


1. BIG credit to Huger switching to that zone last night. Not the first time this has been mentioned on here but bottom line is we've given up 80+ points in 7 of our 9 conference games. It's pretty clear no one is interested in chasing around anyone in a man to man defense so why not? Always going to be easier to defend spots and rotate than it is to defend someone straight up. I'm not worried about rebounding issues stemming from a zone. Aside from last night, we just need to start making teams miss shots somehow and our basic man to man defense is not the solution.
2. I'll take that a step further. Implement a man to man press where we fall into a zone once the team crosses half court. Idea here is to kill two birds with one stone. Utilize our depth making it uncomfortable for teams to bring the ball up the floor then fall into the zone we saw have some success last night. This 2-2-1 walk in the park cup of coffee press we randomly throw in there is so pointless to me. Honestly, have we ever created a turnover from that press?
3. DEVELOP. THE. PLAYERS. Listen I'm the biggest Matiss truther there is but how is it possible he still can't defend the pick and roll? How has Trey Diggs never developed 1 move to create space for himself to hit a jumper? Nobody is going to give Reece a tip or two on not picking up 2 fouls the first 5 minutes of every game? This seems silly and obvious but I can see the team chemistry developing, but I haven't felt like any individual players have taken massive leaps this year if that makes sense?
4. The Mindset has to change----One thing I will say about this board is you all made great points on the Akron thread about Huger's mannerism's when the team is losing. There is nothing more infuriating as a fan than feeling like your head coach is less frustrated about losing than you are. Huger has to be the only coach on the planet to be chopping it up having a good 'ol time with the scorer's table while we're down 30 to akron in a must win home game. In my opinion, his calm demeanor rubs off on the team. I am not saying the team is lazy, I am not saying the team does not play hard, I am not saying they don't give 100% effort. What I am saying is they legitimately just don't look like it bothers them whether or not they lose. Sure, they want to win. But if they don't, it honestly feels like it's just a "we'll get them next time whatever" sort of feel.




Just my two cents and once again this is exactly the types of discussion that need to be happening more on this board in my humble opinion.

[Globetrotter]

If I were ad the next head coach plan would be to find the best assistant we could find similar to jans regardless. I would prefer an assistant from an elite mid major that way they understand the resources and situation while also having exposure to success.

Globe, I think your lineup would be a disaster on defense although your offensive idea makes a lot of sense. However I don't think plowden or matiss would matchup well with 4s and if matiss or plowden had to cover another position down due to transition it would cause more problems.

Preferred lineup with current players (starter/bench)
Pg - Curtis/Gordon
Sg - mills/metheny (when back)/fulcher
Sf - Turner/Diggs
Pf- Plowden
C - Reece/matiss

I like Gordon as the top guard off the bench he seems to be thriving in that role and providing a spark. I would play plowden/turner/matiss at the backup 4 spot instead as needed but can't trust young to play minutes. I'm not crazy about Curtis as he is inconsistent but that's the best option for now. Like mills shooting and effort on defense. Turner is at least aggressive and more consistent. I would try to limit the rotation to 9 guys and throw in a bit more zone to mask our defense. I like Diggs and metheny playing off the bench as they can add some shooting and if one is hitting we can run with the hot hand but don't have to rely on them if they're off.

Lineup if fully healthy
Pg - fields/Gordon
Sg - mills/metheny
Sf - turner/Diggs
Pf - plowden
C - Reece/Matiss

I think Plowden is more of a 3 than Turner is but that doesn't really matter for the offense. Turner is a perfect guy to have out there with a bunch of guys looking to score all the time. It's not like he can't score, but he doesnt seem to need to to be happy. Interesting take for sure. I'd give Fulcher more run. He shows so many flashes. I saw a play this last game that exemplified what I think of him. Someone missed a shot he came flying in from the right side baseline squeezing passed all of the EMU guys skyed for an amazing rebound, then tried an off balance tip in. To me it was him in a nutshell. Outside of Plowden no one else on the team could have made that play for the rebound. But instead of taking the conservative route and pulling it down and going back up or passing, he went for the difficult putback and missed it. If his intangibles ever catch up to his athleticism he has best player on the team ability. I think next year you have 5 guards for 3 spots again....Curtis-Fields-Mills-Metheny and Fulcher. Should be outstanding depth.....I want to start pressing with that good of guard depth.

[hammb]

I'll start by saying good on you for starting this thread. Now that it's been up for multiple days, I can say with confidence that it's just sad this type of post has 3 replies yet the Akron blowout cruised to almost 70 replies in no time. No issues constantly battering the coaches and administration, but silence when it comes to actually suggesting what should be done differently. The Falcon faithful is better than the old man get off my lawn schtick this board falls into a routine with. I get it, many of you have been following this program far longer than myself. But I've been around long enough to realize and understand that BG hoops and football are just a part of who I am, as corny as that sounds. So i will continue my support regardless of how pointless it may seem. Of course it's not perfect but this constant negativity from the university's biggest athletic supporters on here gets very old.



NOW---you better believe I am dumb and would never in a million years say I could do a better job coaching basketball than any division 1 coach. However, yeah, there's a few tweaks I'd make.

I don't disagree with your statements. I've been meaning to get on here to post in this thread and just haven't had the time to really formulate my thoughts on this one. Also, as much basketball as I watch I wouldn't say I fully understand the Xs & Os of it as much as I can say I just sort of know what good basketball looks like vs bad basketball. Like you said I'm dumb and have little idea how to design the Xs & Os to get to what looks like good basketball.

As the AD I can tell you that my coach hiring philosophy would be the Jans route. I'd be looking for rising top assistants at good mid major programs. I wouldn't want to bring anybody to BG that isn't accustomed to the challenges inherent in a largely disinterested fanbase and a limited budget. I've long said that one of the most important jobs for BG coaches in football & basketball is to be the #1 marketer/ambassador for the program. Drum up the students by whatever means necessary. I simply don't think our program can succeed with a low key ho-hum coach, even if that dude is a whiteboard savant.

Scheduling simply MUST be improved as well. That is where the Frack money was supposed to be spent (along with securing that top flight coach candidate). I'm doing everything in my power to host a legit opponent every year, and I'm wanting my squad on the road against several of those opponents as well. We're never playing more than 1 Lourdes/Lake Erie/Tiffin/etc opponent in a season ever again. Yes, I realize this will result in losses. I will compensate my coach and judge my coach accordingly. I simply believe playing a tougher OOC schedule better prepares the team for MAC play AND strongly correlates to increasing fan support/attendance. It's very tough to fault fans for not attending games when you make it til Christmas before playing a home game against an opponent anybody has heard of.

Also as the AD, and this may be the most difficult and/or biggest thing to do. I'm going to bend over backwards to fix gameday ops. I'm absolutely going to make sure the sidewalks are effing shoveled when it snows (how ridiculous Tuesday was...). Concessions will be served at the proper temps or we will be finding a new concessionaire. I'm bringing back the Fracklate chip cookies which were awesome. I'm selling parking for reasonable prices and putting people in the right lots. I'm doing everything in my power to make fans WANT to attend games. Because that s**t matters.


On the coaching end, as I said I'm just not a great Xs & Os guy with hoops. As others said I give Huger some credit for trotting out some zone this year. It can be functional when we don't have certain players on the floor. Matheny is too small to play a zone. O'Neal likely is undersized/under athletic to play the middle of a zone. Personally I've always been a fan of the Calipari style of defense trying to cause as many mistakes and turnovers as possible. Obviously you also have to recruit to that defense. I definitely want my defense to turn into easy transition offense as much as possible. I want an up tempo game.

Offensively I like to see cutting without the ball and finding open guys. Guys like Diggs should be coming off screens to catch and shoot 3s, guys like Plowden/Reece should be cutting towards the basket to get the ball while moving towards the rim. Obviously you need most of your guards to be capable passers to make this work. I would consider playing Curtis & Gordon together because they are both capable passers. Matheny, if healthy, would be my 3rd guard because he's also a capable passer. My goal would be to average over 15 assists per game as a team.

In my vision with how I want basketball played I probably have to put O'Neal on the bench to sit there unless absolutely needed due to fouls or something, my Center minutes are all Reece and Matiss. Diggs's minutes would probably go down a bit in favor of seeing some more of Turner, but I need Turner to attack moreso than settle for jumpers. Diggs is really the only true floor spacer I have offensively so I might need him on the floor more than I'd like just for that aspect. Mills is basically going to become my 5th guard, largely only coming in as a defensive sub...he's not good enough passing/seeing things offensively to play much in the offense I want; obviously he'd be playing right now because Matheny is hurt. Plowden is probably going to be my leading scorer, but I want him moving to get shots with my guards getting him the ball in his scoring zones (either around screens for 3s at the top, or cutting towards the rim). I'm NOT running ISO plays in the post with Plowden, or really anybody else on this roster...that's not going to be part of my offense regardless.

[Falcon Fryed]

The coaching search should 100% mirror the Jans hire. It almost reminds me of the super bowl halftime show with the Huger hiring. After the Janet Jackson slip they went to Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones. The administration went for the soft spoken go along get along hire because Jans pushed the envelope both on and off the court.

Jans would go out of his way to get the student body involved and it really started to show. He would also make sure that the players went out of their way to support other on campus organizations and made them ambassadors for the program. There is not that much to do on a Tuesday night in Bowling Green, OH if each player has just 5 students come to a Tuesday night game to support them the student section is full. If you have seen the players show support at one of your events or got to know them at another event you are 1000% more likely to make the trek to the Stroh Center.

I think the next step is what happens when you get there. The game day operations and marketing department is so lame and archaic it makes me cringe. It really is not that hard or expensive to get creative. It just takes someone that actually wants to show effort and not just do the same thing year in and year out because that is what has been done or that is the way other places do it. For example - Super hero night that they reuse videos from the past year and have players give inaudible answers to stupid questions about super heros, season ticket holder and falcon club incentives/events, having $5 parking that makes you walk past a sea of open parking. I could go on and on. Point being fan experience and marketing should get an overhaul.

As far as scheduling goes I think it is hard to know who to blame without knowing who is doing the scheduling. I think the scheduling should go as following with 8 non con games + mid season tournament. (1) game at a power 5 school, (4) three horizon conference opponents, (5) one MAAC conference opponent, (6) one MEAC conference opponent, (7) one Ohio Valley conference opponent and (8) one Missouri Valley opponent. This would give you a strong schedule no matter who the teams from the conferences are and also keep travel reasonable. Having a well connected coach can really help with scheduling and I wonder if that is part of the scheduling issues we have had.

[Globetrotter]

The more I explore the more OSU's Ryan Pedon makes sense. Stops at Miami-Toledo and Kent State. Strong Ohio ties. Rising young coach.
https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/coach/ryan-pedon/
https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2 ... 710444002/
https://247sports.com/college/ohio-stat ... 177204325/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkVYL5O6CJ0

[Schadenfreude]

I can say with confidence that it's just sad this type of post has 3 replies yet the Akron blowout cruised to almost 70 replies in no time. No issues constantly battering the coaches and administration, but silence when it comes to actually suggesting what should be done differently.

Well said.

NOW---you better believe I am dumb and would never in a million years say I could do a better job coaching basketball than any division 1 coach.

Also well said.

[BleedOrange]

I can say with confidence that it's just sad this type of post has 3 replies yet the Akron blowout cruised to almost 70 replies in no time. No issues constantly battering the coaches and administration, but silence when it comes to actually suggesting what should be done differently.

Well said.

NOW---you better believe I am dumb and would never in a million years say I could do a better job coaching basketball than any division 1 coach.

Also well said.

Well, we see the results on the court, but unless close to the program on a daily basis, it's hard to get specific.

I can address your point simply - what I would do differently is have a decent coach.

[TommyG]

Schad would fire Huger and hire Loeffler to coach basketball and football. Loeffler could run an offense based off post ups and mid range jumpers while building both programs the right way.

[Schadenfreude]

Schad would fire Huger and hire Loeffler to coach basketball and football.

No. I wouldn't do that.

I would end the baseball program, though.

[TommyG]

[quote=TommyG post_id=442687 time=<a href="tel:1644081624">1644081624</a> user_id=52309]
Schad would fire Huger and hire Loeffler to coach basketball and football.

No. I wouldn't do that.

I would end the baseball program, though.
[/quote]

Okay…Loeffler can coach the baseball team too. He’d probably recruit 2 pitchers with really bad mechanics, 12 outfielders, and 1 infielder. Then explain that the team would win more games if he recruited infielders but he’s trying to build things like Clawson would.