kreed5120

I'm not privy to any inside knowledge, but I saw this post by Sam Amico on 330togo facebook page. I'm thinking Utah was maybe Utah State as that Utah job was never open.

Groce left on good terms. I don't see him actively poaching any players. If anyone follows him it will likely be because they were going to enter the portal anyway and we couldn't afford their asking price.

😂 Edit: had to leave this because I'm coincidentally out of reactions.

Probably trying to create bidding war with CoC fanbase to see who can offer the most karma.

Wouldn't surprise me given how emotional people said he was at the selection show when talking about Bud.

Yes, it's really hard to know who would have stayed or left even if Groce stayed.

I'm going to go make a contribution to FTR to show my support for this move. I encourage others as well.

CoC job wasn't vacant that long. Groce I'm sure was in communication that he was exploring his options and they likely already had this contingency plan in place. It might have been in place even last year when reports were Groce had some interest in leaving.

Out of likes, but +1

The larger picture is there is no guarantee that a national coaching search leads to greater success. Especially if it leads to alienating your largest financial backers. The portal opens in a week. Unless you want a year 0 by running out players like Mark Kostelec a decision needs made soon.

I agree if rumors are true that CoC plan to have a $2-$3 million NIL spend I'm not sure how Akron could come up with an extra $1-$2 million when we're already too poor to afford a training table. If Akron wants to avoid falling further behind we will need to foster better relationships with local businesses. Not sure how it can be done, but that will take time.

I feel people here were generally very happy when Groce was hired. Perhaps that's revisionist history. Maybe others can revive that thread. I don't have the energy to find it and look. If Hurley is hired I'm not getting season tickets.

He has the support of our current benefactors. The only legitimate criticism is his lack of head coaching experience. I just don't see a Groce external candidate out there. The closest one would be Hurley, but his blunt personality would likely rub people the wrong way pushing away both donors and STH.

Dambrot inherited a 10-22 program who for 1-2 years didn't even have a home arena because it was under renovation. He had 1 disastrous year immediately following covid. Other than that year he was consistently hitting his 20 wins and going 10-8 in conference. Dru inherited a team coming off its first NCAA win in decades. Optimism for the program was never higher. Edit: Also, it's worth noting the A10 is weaker now compared to 5-10 years ago as can be evidenced by fewer at-large bids. Edit 2: I am not completely against Dru as the next coach. He would just be down my list if other options failed.

It might not have just been salary. It likely takes more NIL to be competitive in the AAC compared to CAA. It could be that wherever he went he wanted to make sure they were the top spenders in their conference.

I'm not hating on him for not donating. I'm not going to tell anyone how they should spend their money. I'm just pointing out that I find it unlikely he'd ever contribute in a meaningful way and we shouldn't really factor that into the hiring discussion. I agree, nothing about Dru excites me. If we were an EMU, Ball State, etc getting a .500 coach who was a former player to excite the fanbase might be a decent move. We instead need someone who keeps the engine moving. To me that's Ford.

I feel most of LeBron charity work is mostly him lending his name in exchange for others, often taxpayers, fronting the cash. He might show up to a FTR golf outing or banquet if it fits into his tight schedule if Dru is the coach, which might lead to a few extra participants, but I don't see him contributing meaningful sums of money from his personal wealth.

My only guess why Ford wouldn't get the job would if he didn't want it. The fact Bud is publicly showing support would lead me to believe those conversations have already been had and he's interested.

Shorter lines for $2 beers nights at the JAR as well.

Akron can certainly offer him more to be a head coach than CoC can pay him to be an assistant. Ford IMO only follows Groce if he prefers to just be an assistant and has no desire to be a head coach.

Groce didn't really have a set system. We went from one of the slowest paces in the country a few years ago to one of the fastest paces the last 1-2 years. Groce best attribute was probably adjusting his strategy to his teams strengths instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Based off that Ford has experience recruiting all kinds of different style of players.

At least when Dambrot left he went to a school in indisputable better conference and had a close, personal connection to the school. I would have preferred Groce get the Butler job as that would make a ton of sense. This feels like a swift kick in the nuts and is a humbling experience for the state of the program. I will cheer for Groce if he returns to the JAR to have his name retired, but I will be actively rooting against CoC.

I think we already got that with Dambrot to Groce.

That's an excellent point.

You can probably add in the if you're not first, you're last mentality that has made people less compelled to support teams unless they're not national title contenders. Also, the loss of community in sports at a local level. Attendance in high school, college, and even pro sports is down all across the country. Particularly at the lower levels there appears to be less pride in where one lives.