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Post by smul44thunder on Mar 15, 2024 21:29:38 GMT -6
Crickets, as usual, when we have change/search for/at Head Coach. Can we (definitively) say that we can do btter than Coach Yak?? I don't believe we can. Understood some of the negative comments previously mentioned and those would need to be addressed. But I was at the Drake game - he had us playing hard - and we definitely played well enough to win (and also, Tucker Devries and Darnell Brodie are not in the NBA - yet!!. They might have gotten a couple phantom calls. But, they were the better team, but we scared the bi-jesus outn of them).
Surprising - all I have found is "Two former coaches of power-conference programs are among the initial candidates at UIC." Do they have names, perchance?? Chris Holtmann would have been a god-send.
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Post by smul44thunder on Mar 15, 2024 21:37:55 GMT -6
I would take Jerod Haase/Bruce Weber/Tom Crean (in that order) in a heartbeat.
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 15, 2024 23:01:11 GMT -6
I wish there was more info on what is going on but there just isn’t. I’m no insider so I hear nothing other than what a report or two might say.
The team played hard at times. I don’t disagree. The Drake game was fun to watch. But other games we didn’t play hard. I was at the Belmont game and it was dreadful to be there. We were blown out of the water early. And I feel like every Drake game (play hard and compete) there are 2 Belmont games.
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Post by Big D on Mar 16, 2024 0:58:00 GMT -6
If Yak is the best we can do, I’d rather just fold the program. I refuse to believe we can’t finish better than at the bottom of a conference. He had 4 years and didn’t once field a competitive team in conference.
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Post by gunnarjones on Mar 17, 2024 12:46:54 GMT -6
Can UIC do better than a coach that never had a winning season. Yes. The two previous coaches that were let go were able to do that. So yes, I am confident UIC can improve on their head coach.
There isn’t 1 game ever played that could justify keeping a coach that just went 12-20 to cap 4 straight losing seasons. Did UIC play well vs Drake? Yes. But let’s not act like that wasn’t a trap game. A game when a good team has something important coming up and plays an awful team or one they should beat in between. Last game of the year before the tourney going to play maybe the worst team in the conference. I’m going to say Drake didn’t come out playing their best ball. So please let’s not act as if that game was a show that our program can currently compete with the best in the conference if they play hard.
Bottom line losing records for 4 straight seasons should get a coach the boot 11/10 times.
Moving on. Whatever is next is something different. So a chance at change. We have seen what we were going to always get from the last coach. Best indicator of future performance is past performance.
Let’s see what the new coach can do.
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Post by flamesfan20 on Mar 17, 2024 14:09:48 GMT -6
It is wild how quiet this search has been. Haven’t seen anything on Twitter from anyone
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Post by Greg on Mar 17, 2024 15:57:46 GMT -6
It is wild how quiet this search has been. Haven’t seen anything on Twitter from anyone No way to know what's going to happen Will be interesting
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 17, 2024 16:32:20 GMT -6
We don’t have a single sport that is a championship level right now in the MVC. Not one.
Lipitz needs to hit a home run here or he needs to leave.
Throw the bank at a proven coach and ask him, “What do you need to succeed here? It’s yours.”
We should be interviewing ourselves to established guys as much as we are interviewing them.
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 17, 2024 18:24:52 GMT -6
For what it’s worth, Dee Browns Roosevelt team lost yesterday and their season is over. If they in any way affects our search.
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Post by smul44thunder on Mar 18, 2024 13:52:01 GMT -6
A couple points: true, Coach Yak did not have a winning season. But I think sometimes we under-estimate how long it can take to turn around a program. And it would have been a huge help if Jace Carter didn't go the portal route (which is going to be another problem we're going to have moving forward (getting poached, but rarely being the poach-ee), but that is an entirely addtional issue meant for another string). Carter could have been an 18/7/5 guy. Add that to our team (and a more reliable end-of-game-option), and I think it's possible we are .500 or much closer to .500.
And I'm not saying the Drake game should have saved Yaklich's job, it was just nice to see what we're capable of (and we actually hit shots and don't get badly out-rebounded). And I don't think Tucker DeVries (39/13/7) looked past us or took us lightly. We've been wondering what the new coach can do since Jimmy Collins left. It's too bad DePaul got to Chris Holtmann as early as they did.
Re: Dee Brown, while I like him, I think he needs more time as an assistant (e.g., game-coaching), etc.
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Post by goveybaseball on Mar 18, 2024 16:25:20 GMT -6
SMU cmon. He was bad in a bad horizon league and worse in the MVC. He played the wrong guys and had a bad offensive scheme. Transfers happen you have to overcome that's a weak excuse. He had 4 years and did nothing good riddance to him wish him the best.
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Post by smul44thunder on Mar 18, 2024 21:19:43 GMT -6
Guys, my main point is that we can't keep switching coaches every 3-4 years - that will do absolutely NO GOOD. But if Yak's gotta go, he's gotta go. I would take Bryan Mullins- I think he's a pretty good X's & O's coach, can recruit, and the people of Carbondale are high on him.
Yaklich when he got here wasn't exactly handed the UNLV 1990, Duke 1992, North Carolina 1993, or Florida 2006/2007 teams; the cupboard was pretty bare. I understand completely it's part of his job to rebuild and retool the program. But I think we need to be prepared to give an extended commitment (5 years??) in order to get a quality coach who can handle a rebuild of this magnitude.
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 18, 2024 21:32:10 GMT -6
This new coach cycle is awful. We need to hit on one soon because interest in almost nothing.
However, I just never felt like Yak teams had an identity. What were we?
And with the transfer portal programs need to be built fast. I feel if you can’t build something those first few years than you’re not going to get it. The program becomes stagnant and it won’t happen.
I hope Yak lands on his feet (he will) and does get another chance some time. I don’t blame him for all of it by any means.
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 18, 2024 21:38:32 GMT -6
Saw on Twitter. Not totally sure if this person is throwing names out or hearing rumors:
Early Names/Suggestions for UIC:
-Bryan Mullins -Matthew Graves -Ryan Humphrey -Rob Eshan -Chester Frazier -Donte Jackson
We know Mullins. The next 4 are assistants and the final is the Head Coach of Grambling.
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Post by goveybaseball on Mar 19, 2024 5:27:10 GMT -6
I would go Mullins all day. I don't know any of those guys. Coach of Grambling!?!? WTH does he know about recruiting Chicagoland? Frazier was the PG at Illinois way back when I believe.
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