I know it’s been discussed here before, but Dean Oliver is an assistant at Wisconsin this year and is very close with DJ Carton. I think this offseason Iowa is much more likely to change some assistants than go with a new head coach, and if that’s the case Dean would be my first choice to replace an assistant. We need an assistant that will teach team and individual defense, and I think he would be great for that. It would also make our chances with Carton much better than what they already are. Just my two cents.
Dean Oliver
- Thread starter Hawki45
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I second this; what better than to bring in an actual Iowa guy at the helm. One of the more fun guys to watch at the PG position, in my opinion, in Iowa history. He also had a really good supporting cast as well, and that team could have gone further. But yes, I could appreciate this move.
My observations of watching Fran on the bench with his coaches is one of a dictatorship. Not sure if my observations are factual, but I've seen a few occasions over the year where Fran gives his assistants a pretty stern butt chewing when they appear to be helping coach. Not sure he would allow Oliver to take over a portion of the coaching or anyone else.
Does he have any eligibility left? We could use him.
Food for thought? Not yet.But assistant coach yes.Knew his brother Charles and cousin Brock.
Are you Herbie? It is pretty clear, bring him in as an assistant was the post.
Iowa does not need assistants. They need a culture change. I was thinking you should bring him in as a head coach. Why not? Guy loves Iowa. He would work hard. He has coached under good coaches.
Is Fran?
Fran came in with a lot of experience, as did his staff. Where has that gotten us? Far too much is made of experience. It's not rocket science. Oliver knows hoops and would surround himself with good people. Fran has maintained status quo with his staff, yet we still can't defend anybody in man or zone.
Right now I would take a risk on Dean Oliver over Fran.
What is there to lose? Iowa has brought in Steve Alford (the hottest coach in the country)...Lickliter (national coach of the year)....and now Fran (mid major guy who was brought in due to his ability to rebuild. Two of the three have made choices that have/are leading to their downfall. The second was just an all around terrible hire.
With a hire such as Oliver the program is not going to miss a beat in terms of recruiting and the direction of the program as it appears today. Definitely can't get any worse in conference play.
If nothing else, maybe this will lift the Tom Davis Curse.
What is there to lose? Iowa has brought in Steve Alford (the hottest coach in the country)...Lickliter (national coach of the year)....and now Fran (mid major guy who was brought in due to his ability to rebuild. Two of the three have made choices that have/are leading to their downfall. The second was just an all around terrible hire.
With a hire such as Oliver the program is not going to miss a beat in terms of recruiting and the direction of the program as it appears today. Definitely can't get any worse in conference play.
If nothing else, maybe this will lift the Tom Davis Curse.
Well, for starters I’m not retarded.
I’m not shocked that there are iowa fans who think dean Oliver should be our head coach. It’s the most iowa thing ever.
I didnt say he should be. But how the hell would you know if he's ready?
I like the Dean Oliver idea. Need a new AD, too. The entire athletic department is stale. Tired.
What is Fran and his staff's combined 100 years of experience getting us? No PG for 2 years in a row and regression in every measurable category, including fan interest. A year like this causes significant erosion in the fan base and will take a major recovery to rebuild. The best you can hope for with Fran is to squeak into the NCAA tourney with a 50-50 shot of beating another mediocre team before being taken to the wood shed before your pizza arrives in the first half. If that is your bar, then Fran is your guy.
Plus ISU hired Hoiberg, who hadn't coached before in his life. I'd say he did pretty well over there. Experience is nice but it's overrated IMO. Basically with Fran, Iowa hired a career mid-major guy. Have to wonder why he never got a major conference job before that.
I think we can get a better candidate than Dean Oliver. You don't hire a guy at a P5 school who has 1 year of assistant coaching at a P5 school, hasn't proven to be an elite recruiter, hasn't cut his chops as a head coach anywhere. He doesn't have name recognition either.
Dont tell L wade this. He knows what the prerequisites are to be a head coach. He probably also thought leonard becoming Wisconsin's d coordinator was absurd and mcvay was too young to be the rams coach
It's not really the same scenario. Hoiberg was in a NBA front office, had NBA experience, and Iowa State showed a real willingness to recruit guys with red flags. Iowa won't do that. Plus, Hoiberg was smart enough to jump on the transfer train before it became popular. There's no real angle like that for Oliver to exploit.
I didn’t even say I wanted fran gone.
“Fire Fran” isn’t a strategy. It’s reactionary little girl BS.
“Fire Fran because we can hire A, B, or C and do better because of X, Y, and Z which results in 1, 2, and 3 over the next N years” is a strategy.
It's like when people thought BJ Armstrong should be our head coach ... I don't care if a coach played here or not ... I want someone who can recruit and coach ... Pretty simple ...
Ah you're so elegant. Good for you Mr. Country Club.
For the record I started to believe Fran was not gonna be the guy at Iowa after the second of his second half collapses....his inabilities to create a pulse on defense along with his building of this roster, recruiting etc have made me believe he is not gonna get the job done.
I give him props in getting the Iowa Basketball pulse back, but this is all new territory for him as a head coach. He has always been able to get teams to the NCAA but once he does that he leaves for another rebuild job. It is apparent that he is not "learning on the job" and the biggest issues I believe, is he needs to get out of his own way. Heck that game that he got thrown out of there was more communication going on within the staff then I have seen in a long time. Last night, a true reflection of the state of the program was shown by the players effort/hustle. Hustle does not require talent and well, how many times did the announcers mention Iowa and their lack of hustle? Teams will not be "on fire" from the field every game...but it is during those times they can control what they can control and Iowa is not doing that from the top of the program down.
Yes some of you don't like my opinion, that is fine and I respect yours even though it is wrong (just kidding). But when hustle is not being displayed, regardless of the score and the wins and the losses, that is a sign of a much bigger program issue than just losing ball games.
I would be all for rolling the dice and making him the head coach. It would be similar to a Hoiberg hire, which worked very well. Take a chance on a young coach that could make us great. He has certainly worked under good coaches thus far.
I think that’s a fair opinion. But firing someone without considering who we can get is no better than the lineups fran throws out there
I don’t think Iowa can attract a well known power 5 coach at this point.....it is not a great basketball job nationally. You either have to get a coach from smaller ranks(Lick, Fran), or you can roll the dice on a young coach that would excite the fan base and recruits and maybe be great. The key would be hiring good assistants.
Hoiberg had his issues, but more importantly he hired good assistant coaches. Some even had head coaching experience, which in turn really helped.
If Barta is serious about making a change this year (which I doubt he is) then he has already made third party contacts within his "secure network".
At the end of the day, I think Barta is hoping (as all Iowa fans should be) the basketball team goes on a hot streak here and gives something to get everyone back on board. Barta has to think that if he goes to the higher powers with a recommendation of firing Fran there is the possibility they fire him first.
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