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Here We Go...Next Coach choices?

hexumhawk

hexumhawk

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Sep 24, 2003
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I might be in the minority, I might be in the majority; not sure right now, but I feel we need to go in another direction.

Who are your first choices for new coach?

Greg Marshall- throw the house at him
Will Wade- VCU- took over good situation but has continued it
Thad Matta- Knows the Big10 and recruits well. Undervalued.
Chris Mack- Xavier
 
I highly doubt any of those guys would come to Iowa City. It is going to have to be another mid-major darling coach. Iowa is not a top 8 gig in the Big Ten, so why would any of those coaches leave their current situations to come to Iowa City??

I hate to say it as long as Barta is our AD, we are stuck with Fran. Barta won't care, as long as the Big Ten $$ is coming in and the donors are still donating, they could care less about W/L's.
 
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Thad Matta? I hope you are joking. OSU pretty much sucked the last few years, and they bring in a new guy and they are undefeated in the B1G.

Marshall and Mack are in better situations now than they would be at Iowa.

Don't know anything about the other guy.
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
Thad Matta? I hope you are joking. OSU pretty much sucked the last few years, and they bring in a new guy and they are undefeated in the B1G.

Marshall and Mack are in better situations now than they would be at Iowa.

Don't know anything about the other guy.
Click to expand...

Thats an easy assessment on the outside looking in on Matta. Sometimes after 13 years in the same place you lose that fire. Dude can recruit and might have the fire to burn his old school and league for being let go with all he did at OSU.

Didnt say it was my #1 choice but it could be an interesting one.
 
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Hire an assistant off one of one of the blue blood programs. Those guys are smart enough to realize when you coach at Iowa, you need juco, graduate transfers and out of state kids. They would hire ex-players with some street credibility as assistants and recruiting coordinators and recruit players that are actually capable of playing fast.

I can let a lot of Fran-speak go in one ear and out the other, but his assertions that we are a deep team with lots of shooters that can play fast is patently false. Iowa, more so than any other team in the P5, should play slow, post and re-post to Cook and Garza and work shooters to open spots if the post isn't open. Limiting offensive possessions for opponents is the only hope this team has to improve on D.
 
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hexumhawk said:
Thats an easy assessment on the outside looking in on Matta. Sometimes after 13 years in the same place you lose that fire. Dude can recruit and might have the fire to burn his old school and league for being let go with all he did at OSU.

Didnt say it was my #1 choice but it could be an interesting one.
Click to expand...

I just read something that shocked me. Thad Matta is 50! Watching him the last couple of years I thought he was 65.

Maybe you're right. Maybe a reboot could bring him back to where he was just a few years ago.
 
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Iowa needs to hire a young coach with fire in his belly, a blue blood assistant or a mid-major head guy looking to move up. I said recently that my choice would be Ben Jacobsen from UNI. His teams always play hard, play that thing called DEFENSE, and are well-disciplined. And, of course, his in-game demeanor is the opposite of Fran's. If Jacobsen would consider moving a few miles south, I'd say that would be a great hire.

BTW: Going with a former UNI coach turned the Iowa baseball program around almost immediately. It would do the same for basketball.
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
I just read something that shocked me. Thad Matta is 50! Watching him the last couple of years I thought he was 65.

Maybe you're right. Maybe a reboot could bring him back to where he was just a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Matta has had back and health problems, which obviously sapped his ability to coach effectively. There is a fine line between winning and losing at the P5 level, and if the coach is not 100% engaged and able to pay attention to details, the team ends up bad. OSU the last 2 years of Matta looked exactly like Iowa plays this year. Some talent on the roster that absolutely doesn't hustle and wilts at the first sign of adversity.

Matta would have to convince me that he can expend the energy and effort required to do the job.
 
aristotleiowa said:
Iowa needs to hire a young coach with fire in his belly, a blue blood assistant or a mid-major head guy looking to move up. I said recently that my choice would be Ben Jacobsen from UNI. His teams always play hard, play that thing called DEFENSE, and are well-disciplined. And, of course, his in-game demeanor is the opposite of Fran's. If Jacobsen would consider moving a few miles south, I'd say that would be a great hire.

BTW: Going with a former UNI coach turned the Iowa baseball program around almost immediately. It would do the same for basketball.
Click to expand...

Yes,

I forgot about Jacobsen for this list. His teams always play hard, tough defense. Offense is sometimes a liability but they really value the ball and possessions..ala Wsiconsin/Virginia. It would be a step towards the Licklitter scheme of things, but I would rather win and score 70 than lose and score 80.
 
Iowa really needs a coach that can recruit. Iowa isn't going to recruit itself so I worry about Jacobson. The same can probably be said about Nagy and Forbes on the list below.

Dan Hurley - Rhode Island
Scott Nagy - Wright State, Previously South Dakota St
Eric Musselman - Nevada
Steve Forbes - East Tennessee St
 
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HawkAttackDial911 said:
Iowa really needs a coach that can recruit. Iowa isn't going to recruit itself so I worry about Jacobson. The same can probably be said about Nagy and Forbes on the list below.

Dan Hurley - Rhode Island
Scott Nagy - Wright State, Previously South Dakota St
Eric Musselman - Nevada
Steve Forbes - East Tennessee St
Click to expand...


I was close to listing this one but thought the negative connections to Pearl would lead Iowa away from him.
 
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No way on Mack. The big east is at least as good, I would argue better, than the B1G as a basketball conference. Xavier is b-ball onlyschool, has a winning tradition, has better recruiting ground, is private(more leeway with admissions).
Marshall is in a better position now that wsu has moved to a more competitive conference. I don't see Iowa being much, if any, a step up for him.

An assistant at a successful top 30 program, or a mid major coach seem like more likely possibilities.
 
SDHawkDoc said:
No way on Mack. The big east is at least as good, I would argue better, than the B1G as a basketball conference. Xavier is b-ball onlyschool, has a winning tradition, has better recruiting ground, is private(more leeway with admissions).
Marshall is in a better position now that wsu has moved to a more competitive conference. I don't see Iowa being much, if any, a step up for him.

An assistant at a successful top 30 program, or a mid major coach seem like more likely possibilities.
Click to expand...

I agree on Mack although we would pay him a little more. He currently makes like $1.4 million. Fran makes $1.8 million. Greg Marshall makes $3 million. He's not leaving, lol.
 
fivecardstud14 said:
Dean Oliver. Pluck him from Wisconsin.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the exact same thing.

At this point, yes he has no head coaching experience. Iowa has gone with mid major hires and a "proven" head coach in Lickliter (in terms of national coach of the year)...none of which have paid off. Might as well go with a complete Iowa guy (grew up/played). No doubt he'd be able to keep Weiskamp and bring in some of the upcoming in-state talent.

If nothing else, the fan base would be able to get behind him and he'd be a very good ambassador of all things University of Iowa.
 
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Bruce Pearl. Granted we may end up on probation but the guy wins and loves Iowa. After Lick mess we couldn't afford him but maybe could 2nd go around when ever that may be.
 
aristotleiowa said:
Iowa needs to hire a young coach with fire in his belly, a blue blood assistant or a mid-major head guy looking to move up. I said recently that my choice would be Ben Jacobsen from UNI. His teams always play hard, play that thing called DEFENSE, and are well-disciplined. And, of course, his in-game demeanor is the opposite of Fran's. If Jacobsen would consider moving a few miles south, I'd say that would be a great hire.

BTW: Going with a former UNI coach turned the Iowa baseball program around almost immediately. It would do the same for basketball.
Click to expand...

Jacobsen is Kind of slow ball, but I think with the heavy dependence on instate talent at University of Iowa, that you need to design your system around the talent you get. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of coaches out there that would have done better with this current team than Fran and not let the roster balloon with tweeners and bigs.
 
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iahawkeyes17 said:
Bruce Pearl. Granted we may end up on probation but the guy wins and loves Iowa. After Lick mess we couldn't afford him but maybe could 2nd go around when ever that may be.
Click to expand...

Hiring a rotting hog carcass would smell better and hurt the University’s reputation less than hiring Pearl.
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
I just read something that shocked me. Thad Matta is 50! Watching him the last couple of years I thought he was 65.

Maybe you're right. Maybe a reboot could bring him back to where he was just a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Matta is pretty much done and most of it has to do with his back and physical health in general. It was painful just to watch him coach the last 3 or 4 years. Was the greatest coach in OSU history - and one of the BIG's all-time best - WHEN HE WAS HEALTHY. It really limited not only his coaching ability but his recruiting effectiveness. And in his prime, he was a killer on the recruiting trail. Have a ton of respect for Thad but just don't think he'll coach again because of the physical limitations.
 
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JerryDennard said:
Will Wade? VCU is irrelevant this year. 11-8, just lost to Richmond by 15
Click to expand...

that's interesting, but Will Wade is coaching LSU this year.

some random names from smaller schools I'd consider based on resumes...

Eric Musselman (Nevada)
Dan Hurley (Rhode Island)
Kermit Davis (MTSU)
Scott Nagy (Wright St)

edit: and perhaps I should actually read the entire thread before posting several names already listed
 
I think the bottom line is we won’t have a slam dunk option. I’m not saying don’t make a change but the idea that this next hire won’t be a crap shoot hire is unrealistic. Bottom line is recruiting to Iowa is majorly difficult and has been a recurring theme for most of our coaches over the past 20-30 years.

If you go back to when Fran was hired the list of 10 or so.. most of those guys also flamed out at other places often much sooner than Fran. The exception was Kevin Stallings but he was nicely encouraged to move elsewhere (Pitt).
 
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Ihawkhoops said:
Hire an assistant off one of one of the blue blood programs. Those guys are smart enough to realize when you coach at Iowa, you need juco, graduate transfers and out of state kids. They would hire ex-players with some street credibility as assistants and recruiting coordinators and recruit players that are actually capable of playing fast.

I can let a lot of Fran-speak go in one ear and out the other, but his assertions that we are a deep team with lots of shooters that can play fast is patently false. Iowa, more so than any other team in the P5, should play slow, post and re-post to Cook and Garza and work shooters to open spots if the post isn't open. Limiting offensive possessions for opponents is the only hope this team has to improve on D.
Click to expand...
We need a hungry assistant! Someone who has sat in front of numerous 4* recruits and sold them on a school and s program. Mid-major coaches don’t fully understand the recruiting game in 2018 as they’ve only been in front of 2* and 3* guys.
 
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I don't know if Iowa is going to make a change any time soon - but if they do, I believe it's time to stop fooling around with "up and coming" guys and get a guy proven to win at a high level whom has a more defined type of style and player fit philosophy than Fran does.

Someone's going to have to explain to me what type of player Fran wants, because I really am not sure what that is any more. I've never seen a team that is full of players have so many of them ill-fitted for what they're asked to do.

Part of it is overall talent, we have quite a few guys whom in lower leagues would make decent quality players. But the other part is how the roster is constructed as far as "what we know about their talents in comparison to what Iowa asks them to do".

To me, the second point there - these guys would probably fail to play these positions well at say Drake, let alone Iowa.

I just plain "don't get it". It's almost as if Fran thought guys would transfer because of positional redundancy, opening up slots to where he could get better fits. Yet, they didn't transfer, and Fran ain't Crean so to speak.

So, here we are...stuck.
 
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bagdropper said:
I don't know if Iowa is going to make a change any time soon - but if they do, I believe it's time to stop fooling around with "up and coming" guys and get a guy proven to win at a high level whom has a more defined type of style and player fit philosophy than Fran does.

Someone's going to have to explain to me what type of player Fran wants, because I really am not sure what that is any more. I've never seen a team that is full of players have so many of them ill-fitted for what they're asked to do.

Part of it is overall talent, we have quite a few guys whom in lower leagues would make decent quality players. But the other part is how the roster is constructed as far as "what we know about their talents in comparison to what Iowa asks them to do".

To me, the second point there - these guys would probably fail to play these positions well at say Drake, let alone Iowa.

I just plain "don't get it". It's almost as if Fran thought guys would transfer because of positional redundancy, opening up slots to where he could get better fits. Yet, they didn't transfer, and Fran ain't Crean so to speak.

So, here we are...stuck.
Click to expand...

How do you propose getting a proven guy who has won at a high level? You are basically asking for a guy who is already winning at a P5 school. That is highly unlikely to be happening. A great coach can come from most anywhere. Bo Ryan had coached at UW-Whitewater and had just a season or two at UW-Milwaukee before Badgers finally wised up and gave him the UW-Madison job.

When Iowa hired Lute Olson, he came from Long Beach State. That hardly screams "proven great coach." The point is there are a few select programs that can pluck successful coaches from other P5 schools. Iowa isn't one of those.

This year has been a disaster. That said, Fran will get a chance to turn it around next year, and I hope he does. He brought much-needed attitude to the program. He hit on some low-ranked guys in White and Olaseni, and his gamble in an injured high school player (Jok) payed off big time. But the recruiting from 2014-17 was just abysmal, and Iowa is paying the bill for that right now. It really won't matter who is on the roster if the same level of indifference and effort on the floor happens next year. It is bad, uninteresting basketball that Iowa is playing this year.
 
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Will Wade took the LSU job.
No way they get Marshall and Mack to leave.
Matta has health issues I believe.

The Florida head coach is a good young coach. Might be able to poach him.

I think McDermott deserves a look. Guy learned from his time at ISU and has been excellent at Creighton.
I think another name would be TJ Otzelberger. Guy knows how to recruit and will likely be going to back to back NCAA tournaments at SDSU.
Duke assistant Jeff Capel- head coach for some good OU teams and can recruit.
FGCU coach Joe Dooley is a Self protege and good recruiter. Has taken FGCU to two straight NCAA tournaments.
 
David1979 said:
Will Wade took the LSU job.
No way they get Marshall and Mack to leave.
Matta has health issues I believe.

The Florida head coach is a good young coach. Might be able to poach him.

I think McDermott deserves a look. Guy learned from his time at ISU and has been excellent at Creighton.
I think another name would be TJ Otzelberger. Guy knows how to recruit and will likely be going to back to back NCAA tournaments at SDSU.
Duke assistant Jeff Capel- head coach for some good OU teams and can recruit.
FGCU coach Joe Dooley is a Self protege and good recruiter. Has taken FGCU to two straight NCAA tournaments.
Click to expand...
You think Iowa can poach Mike White from Florida? Fran makes 1.1 million a year, Mike makes 2 with a 1 million dollar buyout. Not astronomical but that would be a backwards career move unless you wanna bump Mike up to 3 million a year.

Florida plays in the SEC where they are second to only Kentucky in basketball. He has a better recruiting base and a better program. I don't think you can poach Mike White from Florida.
 
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