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Reynolds: Coaching search...

Dane Fife is a name on the coaching list that should be easily winnowed from any serious contention. At least I hope this is the case!
 
55 is old...ha, ha....

Jim Larranaga is 61 and being talked about to replace Keno Davis...
Coack K is 64...


Coach K isn't starting at 64.. he is 64..

FWIW- Last few BU coaches ages when they hired on...

Joe Stowell 39
Dick Versace 39
Stan Albeck 55
Jim Molinari 37
Jim Les 38/39(turned 39 after hire before season)
 
Good questions and good points.

I guess I have to ask though, what made JL a better candidate than Jim Molinari at the time?


I think that's a valid question. I don't know that I'm a Fife fan to be honest but I don't think this is a bash of JL either.I do agree the adminstration should be able to back up there choice though.

Maybe the cases are different. That Administration wanted rid of Mo and this one thinks someone can do better than JL. I don't know.
 
Who is that? Kelvin Sampson? :)

I am a bit baffled. Can someone tell me what Dane Fife has done that makes him a better candidate to coach Bradley than Jim Les?

I thought the BU job was said to be drawing interest from some pretty high level and successful names? Would the people who were dissatisfied with Jim Les never finishing higher than 4th in the MVC be satisfied with a coach who has a losing record and has never finished higher than 4th in the god-awful Summit League?

Here is Dane Fife's record, and no matter how you slice it, Jim Les' record is far superior.-
Dane Fife has coached at IPFW since 2005.
In 6 seasons his record is a really lousy 82-107-
2010-11 18-12, 11-7 RPI 180
2009-10 16-15, 9-9 RPI 224
2008-09 13-17, 8-10 RPI 228
2007-08 13-18, 9-9 RPI 218
2006-07 12-17 RPI 243
2005-06 10-18 RPI 291

His team has only had 2 marginally plus .500 seasons out of his 6 seasons.
He has only once finished with a +.500 record in the extremely weak Summit League.
They have never played in an NCAA game, and never made any postseason tournament.
Despite the IPFW Mastodons playing in the extremely weak Summit Conference, after 6 seasons Fife has never finished higher than 4th seed.
He has never finished with an RPI in the top 1/2 of D1 schools, and this year's RPI of 180 is the first season better than 218.

Dane Fife did not play for Kelvin Sanction. He played for both Bob Knight and Mike Davis and was a starter in Indiana's 2002 National Championship runner up team. He was also awarded Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year that season. I also agree with Indy_BB that his performance in the Summitt league, while not stellar, is much higher than one would expect given the resources at a school like IUPFW. I view Dane Fife as a real up and comer who will have a fine career ahead of him wherever he ends up. I think he deserves a look.
 
Coach K isn't starting at 64.. he is 64..

FWIW- Last few BU coaches ages when they hired on...

Joe Stowell 39
Dick Versace 39
Stan Albeck 55
Jim Molinari 37
Jim Les 38/39(turned 39 after hire before season)

Thanks Braveman.

We all get old...

Im just saying, I don't expect the hire to be at that age. Remember this will be someone who has likely (except sidjohn) been in coaching for 10-15 years.
 
Maybe you don't remember, but we have probably had 5,000 threads and tens of thousands of posts over the last 9 years discussing this. And now Jim Les is gone and no longer coaching here. If the answer to this isn't clear now, it will never be. So we don't need to try to bring up another chance to bash JL.

The issue at hand is the hiring of a new coach, and some are promoting Dane Fife. I am sure he is a good guy and will be a good coach somewhere, someday. But I have yet to see any reason why Bradley should consider the youngest coach in D1, who has a bad losing record, only once finished above .500 in the Summit League, has never been in any kind of postseason tournament, has never finished higher than 4th. Plus he has no recruiting connections in Illinois that are apparent, and none of the players he has had that were significant contributors were from Illinois.
This would not be a step up if we chose Fife, why would we take such a gamble on him, there are so many better names on the list , it just seems like some posters are randomly picking coaches for BU and are not researching these guys, we cannot just roll the dice and hope everything will get better we need to get this right.
 
How long do we give the new coach to show us that he is a winner? What is acceptable? This would be a good poll to have. If everyone stays the new coach will have a nice core of players. Will it play to their style and how much patience will Peoria have on them recruiting their type of player.

1-2
2-3
4-5 years
 
How long do we give the new coach to show us that he is a winner? What is acceptable? This would be a good poll to have. If everyone stays the new coach will have a nice core of players. Will it play to their style and how much patience will Peoria have on them recruiting their type of player.

1-2
2-3
4-5 years

That depends on performance. If he's bad this year and worse the following, that's just about enough for me. If things keep trending up then 3-4.
 
The new coach will expect a 4 to 5 year contract , you will not get anyone good to sign for less years, I would like to see more of an incentive based contract in which he gets bonuses for Valley championships and NCAA appearances.
 
How long do we give the new coach to show us that he is a winner?

I've been told on here over and over that we should contend every year, so, if he has a healthy team......

I think if we hire a good coach that it will be obvious in the very first scrimmage and game that he is a winner. If the players are fundamentally sound and exhibit high basketball IQ then our new coach will be on the right path to success.
 
I think if we hire a good coach that it will be obvious in the very first scrimmage and game that he is a winner. If the players are fundamentally sound and exhibit high basketball IQ then our new coach will be on the right path to success.

That would be great to see, but I'll be a bit more lenient in the first season AS LONG AS there is continuous improvement.

How long do we give a coach? You have to think 4 years minimum so his first recruiting class can come of age. Unless you see glaring deficiencies in the requirements B4L pointed out.

We gave JL 4 years to get things going before the S16 run, and 4 years to reverse the downhill slide after it. So going 4 years worth of grace period would fall in line.
 
So, are fans willing to give the new coach more latitude with a full roster in 2011-12 than they gave Jim Les with two of his top three players gone in 2010-11?
 
So, are fans willing to give the new coach more latitude with a full roster in 2011-12 than they gave Jim Les with two of his top three players gone in 2010-11?

I'm sure they probably will BnC.... it's the nature of the beast. However, I doubt the fans and administration give the new guy as much latitude as they gave Les. Giving a guy nine years when he promised conference championships is an awful lot to ask of any administration and fan base......
 
So, are fans willing to give the new coach more latitude with a full roster in 2011-12 than they gave Jim Les with two of his top three players gone in 2010-11?

Kinda depends what the full roster is for me. If SM is the only departure and all 4 recruits show up... Then my expectations kind of have to be what they were for Jim Les... So a top 3 finish, NCAA appearance, etc. If there are major injuries or defections and we end up with whatever the coach can cobble together over the summer, I'll have to change my expectations.
 
Kinda depends what the full roster is for me. If SM is the only departure and all 4 recruits show up... Then my expectations kind of have to be what they were for Jim Les... So a top 3 finish, NCAA appearance, etc. If there are major injuries or defections and we end up with whatever the coach can cobble together over the summer, I'll have to change my expectations.

IMHO, I think that you will have to change your expectations!:(
 
So, are fans willing to give the new coach more latitude with a full roster in 2011-12 than they gave Jim Les with two of his top three players gone in 2010-11?

It would depend who is on the roster. If everyone who could return did, and the recruits came in. I would expect us to challenge for the conf. title and finish no worse than top 3. Make the NCAA or NIT.

If, as it looks, not everyone returns and some of the recruits don't honor their committments and the new coach has to fill the roster with the best available recruits...then yes I would give more latitude.

However, most fans have to remember. We are BU, from the MVC, and most new freshman recruits are not going to be ready and step in and lead a team. So if we are full of freshman next year, it is going to take time to turn this around.
 
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