As you all know....I love Cal. I'll call out what I don't like...but now is probably the biggest time in his tenure.
1. I'm going to still give him the benefit of the doubt...for now...and he has until Canada to get a full roster to get it together. Even in our DOWN years...we still have always gone into the season with a complete roster "ON PAPER" and that's never changed. But if he fails to get us a full roster going into that....I'll be in the camp that he's at the end of his time here.
2. There are things I can excuse and write-off. I can say an individual thing is just a one-off...but multiple things piling up are issues. We haven't been a #1 seed the last 8 seasons. We haven't been to a Final Four since 2015. We've let the standard drop to being that a #2 seed and an Elite 8 is the peak. From 2013-2023...11 seasons...10 tournaments....We've been a 1 seed only ONCE in that 11 season span. We've been a 2-seed only 3 times in that 11 year span. So only 4 times in 11 seasons we've been a top 2 seed. NIT and a missed tournament. Results speak volumes...a Final Four...a 1-seed...that could change things...but we get further and further from 2015 and it hurts.
3. Is Cal too old for the job? Will he not adapt? It's not a surprise that Coach K, Roy Williams, & Jay Wright got out of college as soon as the portal and NIL happened. Jim Boeheim crashed further at the end of his tenure...even though I don't think his style or Xs/Os changed. The old college game required a dictator to run the program...the kids weren't stars and didn't get paid. They didn't have leverage. When Coach K went FULL OAD at the end of his tenure....you could tell his teams weren't the same and he wasn't that dominant. Cal adapted to OAD. Cal early on got guys like Reid Travis, Sestina, Sarr, & Grady when transfers were rising. But more and more it's just showing as he's getting older...maybe he's just not going to change?
4. 2024 is the key to his legacy and his whole tenure. He has his elite recruiting again....3 of the top 6 players, plus 2 other McD' AAs. He has his championship level talent....but if he doesn't get a decent roster to surround these kids then it's honestly GROSS NEGLIGANCE.
5. That's where I'm at on if it's time to go....the results are piling up. No big tournament success. No dominant regular seasons. Letting other programs take over the conference. It started with recruiting MISSES and being loyal to Justus too long. Then we see stuff like Vanderbilt waiting until the last minute to play, Quade being a miss after prioritizing him over Trae Young, Hagans mental breakdown, Askew being a bust, Cam'Ron Fletcher, Playing Wheeler at point and not getting Marcus Carr, and all the team turmoil in 2023. We've had coaching issues with Jai Lucas leaving...keeping assistants too long not cutting the mustard.....disputes with guys like Chin Coleman and the staff and players just not connecting. Then.....Evansville loss AT HOME, 9-16 season, loss to St. Peters....it keeps on and on and on.
6. So if we have this great class coming in....if Cal just failed with NIL....if he failed convincing guys to come back...if he made guys leave that didn't need to come in....if he waited too long....then it's probably time for him to go. Combine all the other issues....then his PR skills falling....his relationship with the admin/players/fans falling apart....and then flat out just not doing the job. Not adapting to NIL...not playing shooting friendly lineups...ignoring the portal....it just screams NEGLIGANCE of his duties.
7. No more crying about facilities. No more crying about assistant coaches. He wanted a lifetime deal...a lot of that money could've went to facilities. He wanted Chin/Antigua...get got them for the top salaries for assistants. KP always had the top salary as an assistant. He gets what he wants. He has plenty of talent. You want a better assistant...stop hiring the likes of Bruiser Flint, Tony Barbee, Justus....because if that's who you hire why should we trust you to hire others? Jai Lucas got out pretty quickly...
I'll give CAL the time to get it ready for Canada and I think he will....I don't think he's a bad coach. I don't think the program is dead and the brand is dead and all is lost. But Cal might just not be the hungry guy we had in 2010. He's set in his ways in a game that's completely changed in the last 3 years.
I compare it to Mack Brown.
-From 1996-2009 his teams finished top-15 13 of those 14 years.
-Texas was elite and all he was missing was a title for his legacy
-He got his first title with a generational player in 2006 in VY (sounds like AD)
-After the title they weren't as dominant...but still good.
-Gets to a title game again in 2009-10...then it's never the same
-Things were good...but not great. A change was needed.
-Guys like Manziel and RG3 were missed...in his own state...and won the Heisman
A great coach that just couldn't adapt and it was time...but it did get worse after he left....you have to have the right replacement...
1. I'm going to still give him the benefit of the doubt...for now...and he has until Canada to get a full roster to get it together. Even in our DOWN years...we still have always gone into the season with a complete roster "ON PAPER" and that's never changed. But if he fails to get us a full roster going into that....I'll be in the camp that he's at the end of his time here.
2. There are things I can excuse and write-off. I can say an individual thing is just a one-off...but multiple things piling up are issues. We haven't been a #1 seed the last 8 seasons. We haven't been to a Final Four since 2015. We've let the standard drop to being that a #2 seed and an Elite 8 is the peak. From 2013-2023...11 seasons...10 tournaments....We've been a 1 seed only ONCE in that 11 season span. We've been a 2-seed only 3 times in that 11 year span. So only 4 times in 11 seasons we've been a top 2 seed. NIT and a missed tournament. Results speak volumes...a Final Four...a 1-seed...that could change things...but we get further and further from 2015 and it hurts.
3. Is Cal too old for the job? Will he not adapt? It's not a surprise that Coach K, Roy Williams, & Jay Wright got out of college as soon as the portal and NIL happened. Jim Boeheim crashed further at the end of his tenure...even though I don't think his style or Xs/Os changed. The old college game required a dictator to run the program...the kids weren't stars and didn't get paid. They didn't have leverage. When Coach K went FULL OAD at the end of his tenure....you could tell his teams weren't the same and he wasn't that dominant. Cal adapted to OAD. Cal early on got guys like Reid Travis, Sestina, Sarr, & Grady when transfers were rising. But more and more it's just showing as he's getting older...maybe he's just not going to change?
4. 2024 is the key to his legacy and his whole tenure. He has his elite recruiting again....3 of the top 6 players, plus 2 other McD' AAs. He has his championship level talent....but if he doesn't get a decent roster to surround these kids then it's honestly GROSS NEGLIGANCE.
5. That's where I'm at on if it's time to go....the results are piling up. No big tournament success. No dominant regular seasons. Letting other programs take over the conference. It started with recruiting MISSES and being loyal to Justus too long. Then we see stuff like Vanderbilt waiting until the last minute to play, Quade being a miss after prioritizing him over Trae Young, Hagans mental breakdown, Askew being a bust, Cam'Ron Fletcher, Playing Wheeler at point and not getting Marcus Carr, and all the team turmoil in 2023. We've had coaching issues with Jai Lucas leaving...keeping assistants too long not cutting the mustard.....disputes with guys like Chin Coleman and the staff and players just not connecting. Then.....Evansville loss AT HOME, 9-16 season, loss to St. Peters....it keeps on and on and on.
6. So if we have this great class coming in....if Cal just failed with NIL....if he failed convincing guys to come back...if he made guys leave that didn't need to come in....if he waited too long....then it's probably time for him to go. Combine all the other issues....then his PR skills falling....his relationship with the admin/players/fans falling apart....and then flat out just not doing the job. Not adapting to NIL...not playing shooting friendly lineups...ignoring the portal....it just screams NEGLIGANCE of his duties.
7. No more crying about facilities. No more crying about assistant coaches. He wanted a lifetime deal...a lot of that money could've went to facilities. He wanted Chin/Antigua...get got them for the top salaries for assistants. KP always had the top salary as an assistant. He gets what he wants. He has plenty of talent. You want a better assistant...stop hiring the likes of Bruiser Flint, Tony Barbee, Justus....because if that's who you hire why should we trust you to hire others? Jai Lucas got out pretty quickly...
I'll give CAL the time to get it ready for Canada and I think he will....I don't think he's a bad coach. I don't think the program is dead and the brand is dead and all is lost. But Cal might just not be the hungry guy we had in 2010. He's set in his ways in a game that's completely changed in the last 3 years.
I compare it to Mack Brown.
-From 1996-2009 his teams finished top-15 13 of those 14 years.
-Texas was elite and all he was missing was a title for his legacy
-He got his first title with a generational player in 2006 in VY (sounds like AD)
-After the title they weren't as dominant...but still good.
-Gets to a title game again in 2009-10...then it's never the same
-Things were good...but not great. A change was needed.
-Guys like Manziel and RG3 were missed...in his own state...and won the Heisman
A great coach that just couldn't adapt and it was time...but it did get worse after he left....you have to have the right replacement...
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