I've followed BB for over 50 years and it was always said (and observable) that good coaches no matter what hand they have been dealt have their teams improving by the end of the season. That's the question the AD has to answer given Bryan's body of work. IMO
I'm not totally against letting Mullins go (and yes, I agree with the assessments that he very well could wind up being either a fine head coach or valuable Power 5 assistant down the road), but the odds-on favorite for the job wouldn't be an inspiring hire. He's spent most of his career working for Buzz Williams -- while successful, Williams doesn't strike me as a great mentor. He'll have to assemble a staff and will be looking at a roster overhaul if most of Mullins' recruits leave. I'll be interested to see how quickly he can get up to speed and I will reserve judgment on how he responds until June, but he certainly will have to hit the ground sprinting.
Also curious about the identity of the ultimate decision-maker. Mullins and Leonard always seemed to get along fine, but I suspect it went much higher than that. Mullins clearly is a bit hard-headed and stubborn and might not be the type of guy who enjoys schmoozing with higher-ups who question his coaching the decisions, and that might have rubbed the wrong people the wrong way (just speculating here). Beyond that, I always worry when the school president/chancellor is the one making the call. Going back to the two coaching changes when I was a student, that's how we wound up with Gottfried and Van Winkle.
I think an associate head coach at an SEC school would be a great hire for SIU. That being said I’d much rather go through a coaching search and consider a bunch of different candidates instead of focusing on one candidate out of the gate
Lambert, Webber, and Painter didn't need five years. He needs to go.
I just want to be on record... If the current chancellor makes this decision on if Mullins will be fired and the replacement 2 things will be true.
1) Bryan Mullins will be a great head coach for somebody in the near future.
2) This hire will be an unmitigated disaster and the man who made it will be running for greener pastures soon anyway.
Just because you work for a successful head coach doesn't make you a successful head coach there is a long list of failures because of that reason also I know it is not the same but Nick Hill struggled to get his footing but now look at the football program not we're we want it but definitely trending upward after some some lean years with growing pains
Just because you work for a successful head coach doesn't make you a successful head coach there is a long list of failures because of that reason also I know it is not the same but Nick Hill struggled to get his footing but now look at the football program not we're we want it but definitely trending upward after some some lean years with growing pains
And remember you have one of the youngest coaches in D1... He is going to be a good coach, I have absolutely no doubt.
I think an associate head coach at an SEC school would be a great hire for SIU. That being said I’d much rather go through a coaching search and consider a bunch of different candidates instead of focusing on one candidate out of the gate
With the way the recruiting landscape is today, if you go through the hiring process, you end up in the situation Valpo put Roger Powell in…no ability to put a decent roster together. He found a couple good players, but they are in for a rebuild for sure. I don’t see them competitive for at least another year assuming they hit a home run in the portal this year.
I think that’s what we are signing up for with a change this year (don’t count on many players sticking around). That is the reality of starting over, ISU blue is the exception not the rule, maybe you get lucky with the new guy, but don’t count on it. You are replacing a first time head coach with another first time head coach who has to figure out how to run a program. This news has just sucked all the joy out of going to the tournament this weekend.
We don’t know what the President and Board even think on this yet. Can’t see this big of a decision being made unless guys like Mahony, Tedrick, and Gilbert are all on board with it.
Everyone is acting like it's a done deal that SIU is moving on from Mullins. Barkeep said he is far from 100% sure and I have serious doubts this is the case. Just saying...
I agree that there's still a chance Mullins stays because it seems there's some gray area at this point. Could be legitimate -- or it could be the same sort of "chance" Jim Carrey had with Lauren Holly at the end of "Dumb and Dumber." Also makes sense that if they planned to extend him, they would have announced it by now, but who knows given SIU's administrative history?
I think an associate head coach at an SEC school would be a great hire for SIU. That being said I’d much rather go through a coaching search and consider a bunch of different candidates instead of focusing on one candidate out of the gate
With the way the recruiting landscape is today, if you go through the hiring process, you end up in the situation Valpo put Roger Powell in…no ability to put a decent roster together. He found a couple good players, but they are in for a rebuild for sure. I don’t see them competitive for at least another year assuming they hit a home run in the portal this year.
I think that’s what we are signing up for with a change this year (don’t count on many players sticking around). That is the reality of starting over, ISU blue is the exception not the rule, maybe you get lucky with the new guy, but don’t count on it. You are replacing a first time head coach with another first time head coach who has to figure out how to run a program. This news has just sucked all the joy out of going to the tournament this weekend.
I mean the comparison I always read on here is to Josh Schertz. He was a very successful head coach at the DII level, also was a coach there for 10 years. Has good recruiting ties and a track record of being very successful.
If SIU is looking to go that route I think I'm definitely more excited about that vs a head assistant somewhere, even at an SEC school, who has never held a head coaching position.
I'd be looking for a guy that is used to winning championships as a head coach at the collegiate level. He could bring in his own recruits quickly and start to build a good team.
Going the route we are talking about feels like we are just going to start over to have the same conversation 5 years from now with no post season again.
Lane had one foot out the door already. Him making a decision on a coach is complete bs. I’m not happy
Lane had one foot out the door already. Him making a decision on a coach is complete bs. I’m not happy
if he were to get replaced barkeep, do you think they are actually doing a diligent search or at they just filling a spot because they need to hire someone . Idk if they can afford to hire to hire 4 bad coaches in a row, Lowry, Hinson, Mullins and potentially next guy. They gotta be really careful
I disagree with the premise that SIU would be starting over with a new coach. You could make a case that they’d be starting over even if Mullins is back because they lose two starting guards (one of which will be an MVC First Teamer) and the replacements are two guys that couldn’t touch the floor this year. They also have 0 incoming HS recruits to worry about losing. Either way they’re going to have to do work in the portal.
