Jay was talking about Butch on his show this afternoon in relation to two coaches being fired. The discussion was do you fire during the season or after its over. Jay said that last year 15 coaches were fired during the season and of those only Butch won as many games as he lost (5-5). He said that Butch was too closely tied to John Brady to keep his job, but that maybe had he won out and won the SEC tourney he could have made a case.
If this University can't buy out Lee's contract than we are in more trouble than most think on here. Exactly how much would it take? Is this University that poor? Latech didn't hesitate in dumping the ladytechters coach when they had enough. And thier salaries should be somewhat in line with each other. So your gueston, "can we afford to fire Lee after this season?.....Can we afford to not fire him. Only fan attendance will be the gauge to that question............
Can we afford NOT to fire him.
Say the average ticket price is $10. Next season's attendance will certainly decrease by 1000 fans or so with Lee back. So let's guesstimate :
$10 x 1000 x 12 home games = $120,000 lost (maybe more, maybe less)
If it takes 175000 to buy out Lee, then you're only down $55000.
Now if you hire an up and coming, energetic coach and create fan excitement again, you will actually make a lot more than you will lose!!!
As the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money !!!!
Savoie,Walker, & Farmer - the ball is in your court (PUN intended) because it surely isn't in Lee's.
My number one candidate jumped from Dennis Felton to Butch Pierre a couple of weeks ago. He deserves the job and this type of job is perfect for him. A solid recruiting base, young talented players, and he is much more focused on fundamental basketball which is why I guess he's always been a good assistant at bigger schools. I think Butch likes the area and I'm fairly certain he'd give it serious thought if offered or interviewed. We are not going to get a guy with tons of D-1 wins and championships here due to our offering salary but someone who is younger and needs a good head job to jumpstart their career could do very well here.
If he's that good of a coach, then why has he not been given a chance by anyone yet?
Personally, I'd rather someone who has more of a pedigree, i.e. tutored under a great coach. While Travis Ford may be a great coach one day, I don't consider John Brady and Marty Fletcher to be great mentors. That not only becomes important in terms of game planning and such, but also in learning how to deal with off the court issues as well.
My criteria:
Last stop winning head coaching experience. Preferably DII or DIII
igeaux.mobi
Butch did some good things for us and I both thank him for his effort and wish him well, but , right or wrong, I was in the camp that wanted a experienced HC who had proven himself a tad in a respected basketball conference. It might come back to bite me in the butt, but I didn't think we could go with an unproven guy as Butch at this time.
Is there a dilemma for your administration, even with the understanding that football and basketball were at different levels when the past changes were made, in releasing a coach working in his 4th yr who has made the post season with a .470 winning percentage and keeping a coach headed into his 8th season with a .390 winning percentage and no post season play. I'm no expert on the SBC, but isn't it generally viewed as a stronger basketball conference than football? I'm not suggesting what needs to be done, but looking with an uneducated eye and wondering.
Whatever the direction your powers that be decide on, good luck.
I agree with the Turbine philosophy. If the guy is winning at another level, he is showing coaching ability. You hire good recruiters as assistants to supplement that guy and you move your program forward. Taking assistants from high level D1 programs with more resources is not necessarily a good fit here. That was the philosophy for hiring whe Nelson Schexnayder was AD. That is not the philosphy of the current athletic administration. I am not saying either is right or wrong-just that they are different. If folks haven't noticed, Southland Conference basketball is on par with the SBC this year. Taking someone from that league is not that much of a step down.
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