The biggest measuring stick for a head coach is did or did they not reach the postseason (NCAA specifically) as that is the only thing that matters.
A couple of other thoughts:
- With SIU's budget, I think it's also reasonable to look at a situation like this with trends: are we inching closer to postseason play or are we going the other direction?
- Indiana State and Schertz has been mentioned as the "better coach", yet Schertz is now in his third year and his first two years Indiana State came in behind SIU in the final standings. This year would be the first year they finish ahead of SIU if things hold the way they are.
- Attendance: I don't have the numbers, but if I were the AD thinking about this situation I'd want to see how well attendance has been, and if its trending up or down, since Bryan's arrival.
- SIU was picked to finish 9th this year, and they're currently exceeding expectations. If SIU can remain in the top 4, that's hard to argue, I think Bryan has earned a 1 or 2 year extension to keep this going.
I am with you. The only reason I have ESPN plus is for Saluki sports. I get to watch football, baseball, and basketball and now they even on demand them. i want to give Bryan a few more years to win for two reasons 1) he is a Saluki. 2) who else you gonna hire. Most good assistants make as much as he does.It is amazing what ONE half of basketball can do (and I fully understand that it wasn't necessarily just this game)..... If SIU maintains their 20pt lead and wins the game in dominant fashion against a preseason top Valley team and then happened to beat Northern Iowa on the road, it would be at least arguable that Mullins would be in the running for Valley Coach of the year, especially when you consider that we were pegged 9th. Now, after the collapse, many are talking about whether or not he deserves to be around after this season. And sadly.............as I said before, it's warranted and, more importantly, incredibly sad. I graduated decades ago but still watch or listen to 95% of EVERY game. I simply LOVE this program and it kills me to see us struggle without an obvious light at the end of the tunnel. Let's beat UNI and get back on track, PLEASE
I disagree, SIU can attract a lot of good candidates. The Missouri Valley is a great conference for a mid-major and Bryan is making good money for the job.
You can look at the JUCO ranks and find an up and comer like Josh Schertz.
You can look at the low-majors and find someone that wants a jump in competition like Brian Wardle.
You can look for a high-major assistant that wants a head coaching chance like Darian DeVries.
This isn’t a dire situation if Mullins isn’t the guy.
Let this be known….I am undecided on where I stand on the Mullins situation.
However there was two tales to the game the other day.
Jekyll and Hyde
1. Mullins had his team ready to play and seemed more prepared than Bradley’s side. We hit shots in the first half but our defense was doing a good job of shutting down their offense.
2. Then after the half Bradley made the adjustments and we did not. We got tight, played not to lose and could not get anything going on offense and could not get a stop on D.
I heard someone the other day say “You know what’s harder than playing being down by 30? Being up by 30.” Same adage as the football defense going into prevent being up 28-3 and then blowing it. From the outside you can see it but looking from the inside it’s a little harder to see. It was a disastrous second half…no excuses. However….that same coach/staff did put us in the position to be up 23 in the first half. Might be something there to work with.
That being said at some point we have to get to the top of the valley for all of us to be happy. How much time do we give? I don’t know.
Let’s win at UNI.
Wardell came from Green Bay in the Horizon conference which is not a low major and Schertz came from Division 2 where he was successful and DeVties came from Creighton which I would not consider a high major but a small step above the Valley and I believe all of the fore mentioned are probably using this job as a stepping stone to a bigger job while this might be a destination job for Brian and as a weird comparison a vast majority wanted Nick Hill fired now he has an extension and the program is trending upward the reason I mention this is the same complaints I hear about Mullins is what I heard Hill look what a little patience will get you just sayingI am with you. The only reason I have ESPN plus is for Saluki sports. I get to watch football, baseball, and basketball and now they even on demand them. i want to give Bryan a few more years to win for two reasons 1) he is a Saluki. 2) who else you gonna hire. Most good assistants make as much as he does.It is amazing what ONE half of basketball can do (and I fully understand that it wasn't necessarily just this game)..... If SIU maintains their 20pt lead and wins the game in dominant fashion against a preseason top Valley team and then happened to beat Northern Iowa on the road, it would be at least arguable that Mullins would be in the running for Valley Coach of the year, especially when you consider that we were pegged 9th. Now, after the collapse, many are talking about whether or not he deserves to be around after this season. And sadly.............as I said before, it's warranted and, more importantly, incredibly sad. I graduated decades ago but still watch or listen to 95% of EVERY game. I simply LOVE this program and it kills me to see us struggle without an obvious light at the end of the tunnel. Let's beat UNI and get back on track, PLEASE
I disagree, SIU can attract a lot of good candidates. The Missouri Valley is a great conference for a mid-major and Bryan is making good money for the job.
You can look at the JUCO ranks and find an up and comer like Josh Schertz.
You can look at the low-majors and find someone that wants a jump in competition like Brian Wardle.
You can look for a high-major assistant that wants a head coaching chance like Darian DeVries.
This isn’t a dire situation if Mullins isn’t the guy.
Wardell came from Green Bay in the Horizon conference which is not a low major and Schertz came from Division 2 where he was successful and DeVties came from Creighton which I would not consider a high major but a small step above the Valley and I believe all of the fore mentioned are probably using this job as a stepping stone to a bigger job while this might be a destination job for Brian and as a weird comparison a vast majority wanted Nick Hill fired now he has an extension and the program is trending upward the reason I mention this is the same complaints I hear about Mullins is what I heard Hill look what a little patience will get you just sayingI am with you. The only reason I have ESPN plus is for Saluki sports. I get to watch football, baseball, and basketball and now they even on demand them. i want to give Bryan a few more years to win for two reasons 1) he is a Saluki. 2) who else you gonna hire. Most good assistants make as much as he does.It is amazing what ONE half of basketball can do (and I fully understand that it wasn't necessarily just this game)..... If SIU maintains their 20pt lead and wins the game in dominant fashion against a preseason top Valley team and then happened to beat Northern Iowa on the road, it would be at least arguable that Mullins would be in the running for Valley Coach of the year, especially when you consider that we were pegged 9th. Now, after the collapse, many are talking about whether or not he deserves to be around after this season. And sadly.............as I said before, it's warranted and, more importantly, incredibly sad. I graduated decades ago but still watch or listen to 95% of EVERY game. I simply LOVE this program and it kills me to see us struggle without an obvious light at the end of the tunnel. Let's beat UNI and get back on track, PLEASE
I disagree, SIU can attract a lot of good candidates. The Missouri Valley is a great conference for a mid-major and Bryan is making good money for the job.
You can look at the JUCO ranks and find an up and comer like Josh Schertz.
You can look at the low-majors and find someone that wants a jump in competition like Brian Wardle.
You can look for a high-major assistant that wants a head coaching chance like Darian DeVries.
This isn’t a dire situation if Mullins isn’t the guy.
Sorry all I can take from this is you saying the Big East, which has 3 of the last 7 championships, is a "small" step above the Valley lol
Yeah my bad, Schertz was definitely D2 and not JUCO, point remains though.
In terms of those coaches I named using their school as a stepping stone, I would love for SIU to have a good enough coach that schools want to poach again. Those years with Weber, Painter, and Lowery were pretty good.
@johnny-utah, I can’t help but think any parent would be upset about their child losing a year of eligibility for 5 min of playing time. If my kid wasn’t involved in that decision I would lobby for an entrance to the portal if a satisfactory explanation wasn’t forthcoming. No way that was beneficial for Cade and appearing that way for Sheridan, I hope I’m wrong.
“A year or two extension to keep this going?”
If you’re talking about finishing middle-of-the-pack every year and not sniffing the post season, I definitely disagree with you. Most of us remember when SIU was one of the top Mid Majors in the country, mentioned in the same breath as Butler, Gonzaga, Wichita State, and Creighton.
I’m not saying I want Bryan fired, but I don’t really think he’s done nearly enough to earn an extension. The regular season is now pretty irrelevant. We have to either make some noise in the Valley Tournament or have a REALLY good Spring Recruiting Period for any extension to be warranted. JMHO
@johnny-utah, I can’t help but think any parent would be upset about their child losing a year of eligibility for 5 min of playing time. If my kid wasn’t involved in that decision I would lobby for an entrance to the portal if a satisfactory explanation wasn’t forthcoming. No way that was beneficial for Cade and appearing that way for Sheridan, I hope I’m wrong.
Which is fine…..It sounded from your post like you would have a word with the coach or be able to do something other than lobby for your kid to transfer.
“A year or two extension to keep this going?”
If you’re talking about finishing middle-of-the-pack every year and not sniffing the post season, I definitely disagree with you. Most of us remember when SIU was one of the top Mid Majors in the country, mentioned in the same breath as Butler, Gonzaga, Wichita State, and Creighton.
I’m not saying I want Bryan fired, but I don’t really think he’s done nearly enough to earn an extension. The regular season is now pretty irrelevant. We have to either make some noise in the Valley Tournament or have a REALLY good Spring Recruiting Period for any extension to be warranted. JMHO
The problem is you probably have to decide on Mullins returning before seeing how the spring portal cycle goes. Otherwise, if you decided to let him go in mid-April you’re dealing the new coach an impossible hand and are likely doomed to be a last-place team next year. And if you keep Mullins with no extension, you’re undermining his ability to recruit.
Been a die hard Saluki fan for almost 60 years. Some coaches had to go: Gottfried,Van Winkle, and Lowery. Fan board was eager to replace Hinson , at least as much because he was disliked as by his record. Fact is he rebuilt a program from terrible to mediocre. Dismissing Hinson has brought us a coach everybody likes and dearly wants to be successful with little if any improvement in the program. Very few hires actually elevated the program: Hartman,Herrin,Weber and,yes,Hinson.
I think Mullins is a work in progress. He gets outcoached by some damn good coaches in this conference. The issue is whether fan base is patient enough to wait.I may have missed some development over the last 6 months,but didnt we hire a super recruiter last spring? If so, stick with Mullins!
Been a die hard Saluki fan for almost 60 years. Some coaches had to go: Gottfried,Van Winkle, and Lowery. Fan board was eager to replace Hinson , at least as much because he was disliked as by his record. Fact is he rebuilt a program from terrible to mediocre. Dismissing Hinson has brought us a coach everybody likes and dearly wants to be successful with little if any improvement in the program. Very few hires actually elevated the program: Hartman,Herrin,Weber and,yes,Hinson.
I think Mullins is a work in progress. He gets outcoached by some damn good coaches in this conference. The issue is whether fan base is patient enough to wait.I may have missed some development over the last 6 months,but didnt we hire a super recruiter last spring? If so, stick with Mullins!
I said this in another post, and you as a long-time fan will remember this, the Paul Lambert era did not start well. Until he brought on a recruiter who brought in some excellent players (who were also some excellent people) from the south, the program struggled. When these recruits came aboard, the program took off in the right direction.
The biggest measuring stick for a head coach is did or did they not reach the postseason (NCAA specifically) as that is the only thing that matters.
A couple of other thoughts:
- With SIU's budget, I think it's also reasonable to look at a situation like this with trends: are we inching closer to postseason play or are we going the other direction?
- Indiana State and Schertz has been mentioned as the "better coach", yet Schertz is now in his third year and his first two years Indiana State came in behind SIU in the final standings. This year would be the first year they finish ahead of SIU if things hold the way they are.
- Attendance: I don't have the numbers, but if I were the AD thinking about this situation I'd want to see how well attendance has been, and if its trending up or down, since Bryan's arrival.
- SIU was picked to finish 9th this year, and they're currently exceeding expectations. If SIU can remain in the top 4, that's hard to argue, I think Bryan has earned a 1 or 2 year extension to keep this going.
Disagree that it's Only about post-season play. Winning the conference, beating your rivals, playing entertaining ball and bringing in fans, enhancing your school's attractiveness to students, etc. are all goals. Of course, if you make the post season, you have probably checked all those boxes, but it Is possible to check at least some of those boxes without making a post-season tournament.
Re Scherz, in year three they have a NET rating of #24, RPI of #26, a 15 - 3 record, and are in 1st place. And just by the eye test, they are fun to watch and are very-well coached. At Lincoln Memorial, his teams had three D2 Final Four appearances, one year as runner-up, and nine seasons of 25 or more wins (including 5 seasons of 30+ wins).
I don't get why anyone would be arguing Schertz isn't a great coach when he has Indiana State, an athletics department that has constantly shown that they don't much care about athletics like some other Valley schools, #40 in KenPom and #24 in NET.
Indiana State is probably an at-large team if they keep this up the rest of the year and beat Drake at home.
SIU was after 3 guys that Indiana State got in the portal. 2 of those guys were Swope and Conwell.
Love Bryan and think he was the right hire, but....he can't coach or recruit. So....
