Coach Matt A to St. Johns

[Cycsk]

It seems that the possible opportunity for Coach Matt A to go to St. John's deserves its own thread.

Of course, it would be attractive to him to go back to New York, but I don't think he will go. The situation here with Coach Hoiberg is too special. And the situation at St. John's is too risky. Chris Mullin may be a local hero, but I can't imagine that he is on a par with Fred Hoiberg in terms of disposition, coaching approach, NBA GM office experience, and job security. Going to St. John's would be a huge risk for Coach Matt. Hoiberg can have an off year here and still be loved. The New York media would eat up any sign of weakness or failure by Mullin. Coach Matt has to know that if he goes to St. John's, there is a significant chance that he will be gone again soon. I think he may have a better situation with the coach who follows Mullin because that hire won't be mired with all the nostalgia of hiring Mullin. And hanging around Hoiberg is probably a better track to an NBA front office if that is what he wants.

 

[RubyClone]

Re: Coach Matt A

Solid points. But family and home roots often trump a lot of that stuff.

Perhaps more/most importantly, is his wife from NY as well?

 

[bawbie]

Re: Coach Matt A

IMO - he gone.

way too much smoke to be no fire there. When C-Willy "hears stuff", it's usually true.

 

[twocoach]

Re: Coach Matt A

It seems that the possible opportunity for Coach Matt A to go to St. John's deserves its own thread. Of course, it would be attractive to him to go back to New York, but I don't think he will go. The situation here with Coach Hoiberg is too special. And the situation at St. John's is too risky. Chris Mullins may be a local hero, but I can't imagine that he is on a par with Fred Hoiberg in terms of disposition, coaching approach, NBA GM office experience, and job security. Going to St. John's would be a huge risk for Coach Matt. Hoiberg can have an off year here and still be loved. The New York media would eat up any sign of weakness or failure by Mullins. Coach Matt has to know that if he goes to St. John's, there is a significant chance that he will be gone again soon. I think he may have a better situation with the coach who follows Mullins because that hire won't be mired with all the nostalgia of hiring Mullins. And hanging around Hoiberg is probably a better track to an NBA front office if that is what he wants.

A "significant chance that he will be gone soon"? Eh, what? He may see it as an opportunity to take over as the HEAD coach at St John's if he is already on the staff and recruiting the area well if Mullin gets fired. Teams promote from within all the time.

 

[Cpech56]

Re: Coach Matt A

Needs it's own thread just like Hoiberg leaving needs it's own thread.

 

[bawbie]

Re: Coach Matt A

A "significant chance that he will be gone soon"? Eh, what? He may see it as an opportunity to take over as the HEAD coach at St John's if he is already on the staff and recruiting the area well if Mullin gets fired. Teams promote from within all the time.

Teams don't usually promote from within when someone is fired. They promote from within when someone leaves after being successful. If Matt A ends up as Head Coach at St Johns in the next 10 years, it's most likely the he goes to be an assistant for Mullin and Mullin is successful and leaves for another NBA job.

 

[RubyClone]

Re: Coach Matt A

Teams don't usually promote from within when someone is fired. They promote from within when someone leaves after being successful. If Matt A ends up as Head Coach at St Johns in the next 10 years, it's most likely the he goes to be an assistant for Mullin and Mullin is successful and leaves for another NBA job.

Wayne Morgan...



Point taken.

 

[Cycsk]

Re: Coach Matt A

Solid points. But family and home roots often trump a lot of that stuff.

Perhaps more/most importantly, is his wife from NY as well?

I think the issue may come down to whether he thinks Mullin can succeed or not. He probably knows Mullin well enough and has seen enough things from the inside to know whether to take this risk or not. Maybe I have just gazed too long in the eyes of His Dreaminess, but I just don't think the Mullin situation has the indicators of likely success. Coaching is such a cruel business. Just look at how hard some of us were on Hoiberg (and continue to be with every little thing). Now imagine that with the New York media and St. John's boosters. And they are going to want immediate Hoiberg-like success which we know can only happen with Hoiberg himself.

 

[Bigman38]

Re: Coach Matt A

Great opportunity for him, hard to see Fred mad about someone wanting to leave for their (almost) dream college job.

Hope fans will keep that in mind if he leaves.

 

[DareDevil]

Re: Coach Matt A

Solid points. But family and home roots often trump a lot of that stuff.

Perhaps more/most importantly, is his wife from NY as well?

No his wife is from Davenport and even with her visiting home a lot I do think she would go where ever his job would happen to take him.

 

[ajk4st8]

Re: Coach Matt A

I love the guy. I just see St Johns as his dream. I dont blame him if he goes. I 100% respect a guy going to a program his heart is in.

With that said, I REALLY hope he stays here.

 

[SighClone23]

Re: Coach Matt A

IMO - he gone.

way too much smoke to be no fire there. When C-Willy "hears stuff", it's usually true.

Agreed on Matt already being gone. Will be shocked if he's on our staff next year.

Obviously most of the consequences (ie: Diallo) of Matt leaving have already been discussed. One that I haven't seen that really isn't terribly important in the big picture, but may matter to CFers: If he leaves, be prepared that all these recruiting "reports" and "sources" that we get from Travis Hines, CW, etc. will dry up and we as fans will probably have much less access to that information. I am 99.99% sure that Matt A was nearly always the person on staff leaking recruiting info the the media.

 

[ca4cy]

Re: Coach Matt A

It seems that the possible opportunity for Coach Matt A to go to St. John's deserves its own thread.

Of course, it would be attractive to him to go back to New York, but I don't think he will go. The situation here with Coach Hoiberg is too special. And the situation at St. John's is too risky. Chris Mullin may be a local hero, but I can't imagine that he is on a par with Fred Hoiberg in terms of disposition, coaching approach, NBA GM office experience, and job security. Going to St. John's would be a huge risk for Coach Matt. Hoiberg can have an off year here and still be loved. The New York media would eat up any sign of weakness or failure by Mullin. Coach Matt has to know that if he goes to St. John's, there is a significant chance that he will be gone again soon. I think he may have a better situation with the coach who follows Mullin because that hire won't be mired with all the nostalgia of hiring Mullin. And hanging around Hoiberg is probably a better track to an NBA front office if that is what he wants.

I'm asking here because I really have no idea, but does the NY media really care enough about college sports to really rip anybody? NY is a pro sports town and typically anything related to college sports is waaaay in the back of the pecking order as far as give a damn in those situations.

As to your first point, there were a TON of people that said the same thing about Fred 5 years ago. Time will tell whether Mullin is any good as a coach but an NBA hof'er is going to carry a lot of clout, and NYC is not the worst place to have clout. If Matt A. feels it's worth a shot to go home and hitch his wagon to somebody, Mullin is probably the best candidate he's going to find.

 

[RubyClone]

Re: Coach Matt A

I think the issue may come down to whether he thinks Mullin can succeed or not. He probably knows Mullin well enough and has seen enough things from the inside to know whether to take this risk or not. Maybe I have just gazed too long in the eyes of His Dreaminess, but I just don't think the Mullin situation has the indicators of likely success. Coaching is such a cruel business. Just look at how hard some of us were on Hoiberg (and continue to be with every little thing). Now imagine that with the New York media and St. John's boosters. And they are going to want immediate Hoiberg-like success which we know can only happen with Hoiberg himself.

Yeah - but he gets the opportunity to go home, to his alma mater. Not unlike Fred. He also gets to make his mark at another program, separating himself from being in the shadow of the head coach. Obviously he gets to coach and recruit with his backyard being the most dense and rich talent pool in the country.

Gotta figure too - Mullin is going to get a min 4-5 year deal. Safe for at least 3 of those. Some of this may come own to how confident Matt feels about Fred staying...

I'll put it this way - and in no way do I want him to leave. But IMO, this makes tons more sense than TJ going to Washington.

 

[CyTwins]

Re: Coach Matt A

Agreed on Matt already being gone. Will be shocked if he's on our staff next year.

Obviously most of the consequences (ie: Diallo) of Matt leaving have already been discussed. One that I haven't seen that really isn't terribly important in the big picture, but may matter to CFers: If he leaves, be prepared that all these recruiting "reports" and "sources" that we get from Travis Hines, CW, etc. will dry up and we as fans will probably have much less access to that information. I am 99.99% sure that Matt A was nearly always the person on staff leaking recruiting info the the media.

They "leak" info they want to be out there, there will always be someone on staff giving it out

 

[2forISU]

Re: Coach Matt A

Solid points. But family and home roots often trump a lot of that stuff.

Perhaps more/most importantly, is his wife from NY as well?

Wife is from Davenport, IA

 

[Cycopath]

Re: Coach Matt A

IMO opinion he stays. He seems to care deeply about this program and the players in it. Being a coach on Fred Hoiberg's staff is just such a good job.

 

[Cydkar]

Re: Coach Matt A

No his wife is from Davenport and even with her visiting home a lot I do think she would go where ever his job would happen to take him.

You don't marry an assistant basketball coach if you aren't willing to pull up stakes.

 

[deadeyededric]

Re: Coach Matt A

He gone! I'm sure he loves his job here, but I think he will coach at his dream job like any one of us would do. Seems like a great opportunity to help get that program going in the right direction.

 

[brentblum]

Re: Coach Matt A

Keep in mind there are different levels of assistants and corresponding duties. Even if Matt A does go to St. John's, it's not necessarily a "lateral" move.