Larry Brown?

[FIVE-O-FAN]

Local news just said its a no go on Brown, not that that means a whole lot.

[gostangs]

look - he has been pursuing us - so mr cox bus knows not of what he speaks.

eventually y'all will wake up to realize big bucks + perfect facilities + recruiting hot bed + big east equals one of the best coaching opportunities in the country

[Comet]

Local news just said its a no go on Brown, not that that means a whole lot.

Did they say why it was a no-go?

[ponyscott]

The guy is a winner, not a whiner. The last college HC gig he had was just a National Championship at Kansas......quit with the football coach analogy..think 68 year old Steve Fisher at SDSU as he has lead them to a Top 5 in the nation rating the past two years and 6 straight 20 win seasons..if he can do it, maybe Brown could, And Cox he IS interested in the job and has mentioned it to the press and no one at SMU has turned him down yet....is he a possibility?...who knows:

http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskb ... 11aaa.html

Coach Fisher Rejuvenates San Diego State Basketball Program


Feb. 19, 2011

SAN DIEGO (AP) - If anyone thought Steve Fisher was still living in the shadow of Michigan's Fab Five, they haven't been paying attention to what he's done at San Diego State.

Although it's taken 12 years, Fisher has transformed a backwater program into a top-10 team and San Diego into a basketball town. Montezuma Mesa has become the place to be, as the Aztecs, laden with Californians, play before loud, sellout crowds. Their ultimate goal is to finally win a game in the NCAA tournament.

Sitting in his corner office overlooking Viejas Arena, Fisher contemplates the transformation in both his career and at SDSU, which was 26-1 and ranked No. 6 going into Saturday's game at Air Force.

Someone recently told Fisher that he's still viewed as a Michigan man. True, Fisher always will be associated with Bo Schembechler's blustery declaration that "a Michigan man will coach Michigan, not an Arizona State man," after Bill Frieder announced on the eve of the 1989 NCAA tournament that he'd accepted the job at ASU.

"My response was, 'Not here. Not in San Diego,' " said Fisher, who led Michigan to the 1989 national title. "I've been in San Diego now for 12 years, I've been a head coach at San Diego State longer than I was at Michigan. And here they view me as a San Diego State man."

This is SDSU's sixth straight 20-win season and seventh overall under Fisher.

2005–06 SDSU 24–9 13–3 1st NCAA First Round
2006–07 SDSU 22–11 10–6 T–3rd NIT Second Round
2007–08 SDSU 20–13 9–7 4th NIT First Round
2008–09 SDSU 26–10 11–5 4th NIT Semifinals
2009–10 SDSU 25–9 11–5 T–3rd NCAA First Round
2010–11 SDSU 34–3 14–2 T–1st NCAA Sweet 16
2011–12 SDSU 26–7 10–4 T-1st NCAA Second Round

[LakeHighlandsPony]

So one of the best coaches of all time wants to coach one of the worst programs of all time and we need to think about it??!! This is the equivalent of Jimmy Johnson being bored and wanting to coach UTEP (Except UTEP actually has fans that go to the games). We have received more press from Brown showing interest this week than we have had in 10 years. Do you realize how many tickets this guy would sell?

Ok- so I exaggerated. Just trying to make a point that Brown needs to be hired.

[bubba pony]

yes, hire him and if he leaves after 2 years so what. he takes us into c-usa, we win maybe our first tournament game in 6 years. then he takes us into the BE and even if he leaves after that he at least got us on the right track. heck, if we went .500 in the BE conference that would be a tremendous improvement. Plus he knows everyone in the industry and can help pick his successor.

[couch 'em]

So one of the best coaches of all time wants to coach one of the worst programs of all time and we need to think about it??!! This is the equivalent of Jimmy Johnson being bored and wanting to coach UTEP (Except UTEP actually has fans that go to the games). We have received more press from Brown showing interest this week than we have had in 10 years. Do you realize how many tickets this guy would sell?

Ok- so I exaggerated. Just trying to make a point that Brown needs to be hired.

Actually a great comparison. Old, white, hasn't coached college since the 80s. I guess we wouldn't want him taking over for June!

[hoopmanx]

eventually y'all will wake up to realize big bucks + perfect facilities + recruiting hot bed + big east equals one of the best coaching opportunities in the country

yea, it's not quite that easy. I agree that we're a sleeping giant, and can be resurrected w/o nearly the hassle that many of the talking heads suggest, but your synopsis doesn't address the questions many of these coaches have, when discussing SMU as a job op. What you mention are the perks, what they mention are admin, admissions, transfer policies, bad model, academic support, private travel for team & recruiting, a hoops-specific S&C coach, just to start.

We can be great, and I'm the first to yell that to masses, but change is needed. Not just coaching change, either.

[RyanSMU98]

eventually y'all will wake up to realize big bucks + perfect facilities + recruiting hot bed + big east equals one of the best coaching opportunities in the country

yea, it's not quite that easy. I agree that we're a sleeping giant, and can be resurrected w/o nearly the hassle that many of the talking heads suggest, but your synopsis doesn't address the questions many of these coaches have, when discussing SMU as a job op. What you mention are the perks, what they mention are admin, admissions, transfer policies, bad model, academic support, private travel for team & recruiting, a hoops-specific S&C coach, just to start.

We can be great, and I'm the first to yell that to masses, but change is needed. Not just coaching change, either.

I don't think anyone would dispute that changes are needed, and you lay them out quite nicely. But do you think a Larry Brown type personality is what we need to get those changes initiated, surrounded by young, energetic assistants who can capitalize on them and learn from a great coach to be prepared to take the reigns from him in 2-3 years? I am not sure a lower profile, albeit longer term successful coach gets those changes pushed through the administration in the time frame we are likely looking at to be BEAST competitive. Of course, I could also be full of [Gary Patterson] on all this, too!

[hoopmanx]

eventually y'all will wake up to realize big bucks + perfect facilities + recruiting hot bed + big east equals one of the best coaching opportunities in the country

yea, it's not quite that easy. I agree that we're a sleeping giant, and can be resurrected w/o nearly the hassle that many of the talking heads suggest, but your synopsis doesn't address the questions many of these coaches have, when discussing SMU as a job op. What you mention are the perks, what they mention are admin, admissions, transfer policies, bad model, academic support, private travel for team & recruiting, a hoops-specific S&C coach, just to start.

We can be great, and I'm the first to yell that to masses, but change is needed. Not just coaching change, either.

I don't think anyone would dispute that changes are needed, and you lay them out quite nicely. But do you think a Larry Brown type personality is what we need to get those changes initiated, surrounded by young, energetic assistants who can capitalize on them and learn from a great coach to be prepared to take the reigns from him in 2-3 years? I am not sure a lower profile, albeit longer term successful coach gets those changes pushed through the administration in the time frame we are likely looking at to be BEAST competitive. Of course, I could also be full of [Gary Patterson] on all this, too!

I think IF it's on the new head coach to initiate these changes, we're going to get slaughtered in the Big East, either way. The folks that hire/fire and were responsible for getting us a Big East bid, now need to make sure any coach has the tools at his disposal to be successful. Any new coach has enough to worry about, hiring a staff, forcing some attrition, organizing a recruiting plan, and executing it, all by the first open evaluation. The new coach shouldn't have to fight city hall, cause the barriers of entry to the Big East have been obvious to anyone who follows, well before this past staff was even under fire. You have to guarantee a new coach these things & follow through, not ask him to become a part of the politics of old policy, from day 1

[RyanSMU98]

I think IF it's on the new head coach to initiate these changes, we're going to get slaughtered in the Big East, either way. The folks that hire/fire and were responsible for getting us a Big East bid, now need to make sure any coach has the tools at his disposal to be successful. Any new coach has enough to worry about, hiring a staff, forcing some attrition, organizing a recruiting plan, and executing it, all by the first open evaluation. The new coach shouldn't have to fight city hall, cause the barriers of entry to the Big East have been obvious to anyone who follows, well before this past staff was even under fire. You have to guarantee a new coach these things & follow through, not ask him to become a part of the politics of old policy, from day 1

Are there indications that the admin is actively pursuing correcting these deficiencies? Is Marinatto pushing them from the BE side? I know some of the things you mentioned were rumored to be out there as part of the Buzz pitch, but I am certainly not plugged in enough to know whether or not those changes are being implemented independent of the coach search. Any insights into this?

[hoopmanx]

I think IF it's on the new head coach to initiate these changes, we're going to get slaughtered in the Big East, either way. The folks that hire/fire and were responsible for getting us a Big East bid, now need to make sure any coach has the tools at his disposal to be successful. Any new coach has enough to worry about, hiring a staff, forcing some attrition, organizing a recruiting plan, and executing it, all by the first open evaluation. The new coach shouldn't have to fight city hall, cause the barriers of entry to the Big East have been obvious to anyone who follows, well before this past staff was even under fire. You have to guarantee a new coach these things & follow through, not ask him to become a part of the politics of old policy, from day 1

Are there indications that the admin is actively pursuing correcting these deficiencies? Is Marinatto pushing them from the BE side? I know some of the things you mentioned were rumored to be out there as part of the Buzz pitch, but I am certainly not plugged in enough to know whether or not those changes are being implemented independent of the coach search. Any insights into this?

They flat told Buzz he could get anyone in he wants, so that's a start. Ask any local AAU head and they'll tell you that SMU can't get the best local talent, thinking it's Stanford. That has to change. After that, you have to develop bs majors and crazy support to keep them eligible. People want to be competitive in basketball, but lets deal w/the reality of the recruiting pool, cause it's not like fball. 95% of kids that can help us win in the Big East, have no business whatsoever being in college, none. So, either drop hoops, or understand that simple fact. These aren't students.

At high major schools, almost every kid that runs through the program, should have the potential to have a pro career lined up somewhere in the world. That's what they are brought here to study, and what will make them money. In fact, if you take a school like Maryland, the kids that come through that program, blow the earning power of a normal graduates earning power, out of the water, first 10 years out. Get a kinesiology major, so these kids know how to treat their bodies like a machine, how to fuel them, train them etc. Teach them to be coaches moving forward, after they play. That's how you create 'family' in the program, and how you end up w/an actual SMU alum coaching the programs down the line.

Whether people want to play it PC or not, your simple fact is that these aren't student/athletes, they are basketball assassins that take a few classes. We are giving them the showcase, they drive revenue. Its the business of the game, and the sooner we get that, the sooner we roll up and smack real programs

[couch 'em]

Always wondered why nobody has a 'professional athletics' degree. Can have light business classes to help understand their contacts and talk to agents, physiology and nutrition classes, speaking classes to help with being a coach, etc. You can craft a legit major out of that, you can make it easy and keep these guys out of the other majors, and it is something actually useful to them. You could even have a teaching certificate attached for guys who just go straight into coaching high school. Everyone wins.

[JasonB]

Don't forget that one of the things June has brought to the table is to come in and show the administration how a quality football program should be set up and run, so that after he moves on the foundation is still in place for us to be good.

I believe Brown would be able to do that in basketball. An experienced person who could finish out the improvements to the program that Dohrety started, while at the same time improving the team. once a winning culture is in place and a solid foundation of running a successful program, then you bring in a young stud to take us up to the next level.

I fear that if we brought in someone who wasn't as experienced and didn't have as much clout, they would not be able to put the changes in place that we need to be successful.

[Mexmustang]

That 800 pound gorilla (academics, admissions, tranfers, athletic friendly majors, etc.) is still in the living room. Someone should get him out of the house before we look for a coach. June has tried and only met some of what he feels was promised. Why not just do it? We still need it for football? It is unfair to let a new coach fight a battle of promises, just do it! or are we just looking to set someone up to blame, when an athlete gets in trouble on Greenville Ave?