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PharmDJohnnie11

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I've been hearing a lot of talk on social media, and on this forum that SJU fans, myself included, either want to replace Mullin or want to keep him and revamp his coaching staff (maybe out of necessity with Matt A.) My questions to you all: if you want Mullin gone who do you want to realistically replace him? Or if you want the staff revamped who do you think are candidates to hire as assistants to replace current staff members?
 
[quote="SJU11phd" post=333594]I've been hearing a lot of talk on social media......[/quote]

The cold hard fact is that it has been reported that Coach Mullin has 2 years left on his contract at $2+M per year. To hire another coach would likely cost at least another $2+M each of those 2 seasons. Given StJohn’s finances and given the fact that these is apparently no group of wealthy alums reaching for their checkbooks to write the $8+M check it is realistic to believe Coach Mullin will be on the sidelines next season.

I don’t believe that anyone knows for sure what Coach Mullin’s contract says about the hiring of assistant coaches. The contract for many D1 Head coaches gives the coach discretion to hire whatever assistants they deem appropriate. If that is the case then the best AD Cragg can do is to lobby Mullin to make changes but not command him to do so. If no changes occur on Mullin’s staff then I hope fans do not blame AD Cragg because the situation may be beyond the control of Cragg.

.
 
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Replacing an assistant coach when you only have at most two years left on your contract and a very slim chance at an extension limits your options. If Mullin stays on I would be surprised if he replaces a current assistant unless one of them leave on their own. Time will tell.
 
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[quote="Storm Tracker" post=333608]i had my hopes up he would be stepping down since by all accounts he hates this job and doesn't need it.[/quote]

See, this is the kind of assertion that bugs the crap out of me. "By all accounts he hates this job"? Exactly whose account are you going by? What person close to Mullin told you this? No one I'm sure, because that assertion is total crap.

Now, for the basketball part: This collapse, while not monumental, was pretty dramatic. This was a tourney team, with aspirations to make some noise in the dance. There were signs early that they may be able to beat just about anyone, but given that 3 of the 4 Big East entrants didn't make it through 1 game, it was probably overblown.

The realities have been well documented: no bench, no height. Against very good teams, that is usually enough to stop you, and it's fair to say that. However, considering how poorly this team played in the second half of the season, the coaching staff has to buy some of the collapse. I think we were 14-1, and end ended up 21-13, means that we went 7-12 over the most meaningful part of the season. Short bench, no big men, and still this team was better than that.

Game preparation and in game coaching are two important aspects of successful teams. I generally feel that players must be able to execute, and our guys in general did not execute well. Either they were vastly overrated, which is entirely possible, or they were ill prepared or not coached well.

All too often bad possessions such as shooting long threes with plenty of time on the clock, not a single player even attempting to crash the offensive boards, or wild drives to the hoop against 2 or 3 defenders were permissible without reprimand.

Our strengths were 5 ball handlers on the court, 5 guys who could make threes when squared up, all superior athleticism from a smaller starting five. It was the coaching staffs job to create nightmares for the defense by playing to our strengths. We failed to do so.

I don't buy that we cannot run a pro offense and that was the problem. Most of our experts on redmen.com wouldn't recognize a pro-offense if they saw it, and I know I'm in that group. The problem was largely that our guys could not dig themselves out of holes when we shot poorly, and over the final 19 games, we failed more often than not in crunch time.

Mullin will be back unless he resigns, but the staff and AD must look at why the season ended so poorly over an extended period, and make whatever changes necessary to maximize whatever chances our 2019-2020 team has.
 
I'm definitely aboard the Moose train here with Rasheen. I like Tony Chiles and never want him unemployed, but not sure if he's redundant with Davis.

I'd have to scan the fired head coaching ranks to see if there's an X's and O's guy who's also personable enough to get something done in recruiting. Maybe even a Southern guy so we could target everywhere east of Mississippi.

*I should have made it clear here that I'm taking about new assistants.
 
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[quote="Andrew" post=333614]Replacing an assistant coach when you only have at most two years left on your contract and a very slim chance at an extension limits your options. If Mullin stays on I would be surprised if he replaces a current assistant unless one of them leave on their own. Time will tell.[/quote]

Great point. And a scary one.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=333669][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333608]i had my hopes up he would be stepping down since by all accounts he hates this job and doesn't need it.[/quote]

See, this is the kind of assertion that bugs the crap out of me. "By all accounts he hates this job"? Exactly whose account are you going by? What person close to Mullin told you this? No one I'm sure, because that assertion is total crap.

[/quote]

I thought we were pals again? No need to jump down my throat. Let me change wording from "by all accounts" to: "that's the impression i get from following this program very closely for the past 4 years".
 
[quote="Storm Tracker" post=333692][quote="Beast of the East" post=333669][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333608]i had my hopes up he would be stepping down since by all accounts he hates this job and doesn't need it.[/quote]

See, this is the kind of assertion that bugs the crap out of me. "By all accounts he hates this job"? Exactly whose account are you going by? What person close to Mullin told you this? No one I'm sure, because that assertion is total crap.

[/quote]

I thought we were pals again? No need to jump down my throat. Let me change wording from "by all accounts" to: "that's the impression i get from following this program very closely for the past 4 years".[/quote]

Don't worry Tracker.

I'm sure what you're hearing has legs of some kind. But Beast as much as we love him hears something different and doesn't think that anyone else has access to people in the know and therefore its his way or the highway. (insert emoji which isn't working for me for some reason)
 
The number one complaint on here has been X&O’s who is the X&O coach, Greg St Jean. He should be the first to go.
The number two complaint on here is recruiting, if Mullin is not going to do it and Richmond is not going to do it, then
get rid of Richmond.
Number three complaint is all the transfers coming in, all that is is Matt doing his job, he must be kept. Where would we be without him.
 
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I would actually be quite happy if they got rid of the entire assistant coaching staff Matt included and give Mullin a two year extension. This way you can attract good assistant coaches as they know they will have a job for a while. I would attempt to hire two good recruiters and a great X*O coach.
1. Assistant more of a metropolitan recruiter - get tough local kids
2. 2nd assistant with more national ties
3. X&0 guy who has experience like a bobby lutz or Jim Ferry.

The transfer game does not allow you to build a culture in your program as people keep coming and leaving. Seton Hall has some local players who are not highly rated but their toughness makes up for that. I think we need to get back to that and maybe just add a transfer here and there instead relying on it heavily.
 
[quote="otis" post=333603][quote="SJU11phd" post=333594]I've been hearing a lot of talk on social media......[/quote]

The cold hard fact is that it has been reported that Coach Mullin has 2 years left on his contract at $2+M per year. To hire another coach would likely cost at least another $2+M each of those 2 seasons. Given StJohn’s finances and given the fact that these is apparently no group of wealthy alums reaching for their checkbooks to write the $8+M check it is realistic to believe .[/quote]

So just to follow up on my question from a week or so ago. We are sure about the length of the contract and we are sure that the contract is guaranteed? Meaning most contracts have buyouts they are not guaranteed regardless of the length. Just asking
 
[quote="Storm Tracker" post=333692][quote="Beast of the East" post=333669][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333608]i had my hopes up he would be stepping down since by all accounts he hates this job and doesn't need it.[/quote]

See, this is the kind of assertion that bugs the crap out of me. "By all accounts he hates this job"? Exactly whose account are you going by? What person close to Mullin told you this? No one I'm sure, because that assertion is total crap.

[/quote]

I thought we were pals again? No need to jump down my throat. Let me change wording from "by all accounts" to: "that's the impression i get from following this program very closely for the past 4 years".[/quote]

Hey we are friends, and honestly I don't consider the source when I respond to an assertion like that. Thanks for at least reminding me that you used loose language. An impression and by all accounts are two very different things, and that's what I was responding to.
 
[quote="Manhattan1" post=333698]I would actually be quite happy if they got rid of the entire assistant coaching staff Matt included and give Mullin a two year extension. This way you can attract good assistant coaches as they know they will have a job for a while. I would attempt to hire two good recruiters and a great X*O coach.
1. Assistant more of a metropolitan recruiter - get tough local kids
2. 2nd assistant with more national ties
3. X&0 guy who has experience like a bobby lutz or Jim Ferry.

The transfer game does not allow you to build a culture in your program as people keep coming and leaving. Seton Hall has some local players who are not highly rated but their toughness makes up for that. I think we need to get back to that and maybe just add a transfer here and there instead relying on it heavily.[/quote]

Couple problems here -

1. If Mullin wanted to replace his assistants, he would have done that by now.
2. Can Cragg force him to change his assistant coaches? I doubt it.
3. Even if Cragg could, why would you want to force a head coach into working with assistants he doesn't want. The head coach couldn't even work together with his own guy in Slice.
4. Just fire the head coach.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=333701][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333692][quote="Beast of the East" post=333669][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333608]i had my hopes up he would be stepping down since by all accounts he hates this job and doesn't need it.[/quote]

See, this is the kind of assertion that bugs the crap out of me. "By all accounts he hates this job"? Exactly whose account are you going by? What person close to Mullin told you this? No one I'm sure, because that assertion is total crap.

[/quote]

I thought we were pals again? No need to jump down my throat. Let me change wording from "by all accounts" to: "that's the impression i get from following this program very closely for the past 4 years".[/quote]

Hey we are friends, and honestly I don't consider the source when I respond to an assertion like that. Thanks for at least reminding me that you used loose language. An impression and by all accounts are two very different things, and that's what I was responding to.[/quote]

all good
 
[quote="Windy City Johnny Fan" post=333704][quote="Manhattan1" post=333698]I would actually be quite happy if they got rid of the entire assistant coaching staff Matt included and give Mullin a two year extension. This way you can attract good assistant coaches as they know they will have a job for a while. I would attempt to hire two good recruiters and a great X*O coach.
1. Assistant more of a metropolitan recruiter - get tough local kids
2. 2nd assistant with more national ties
3. X&0 guy who has experience like a bobby lutz or Jim Ferry.

The transfer game does not allow you to build a culture in your program as people keep coming and leaving. Seton Hall has some local players who are not highly rated but their toughness makes up for that. I think we need to get back to that and maybe just add a transfer here and there instead relying on it heavily.[/quote]

Couple problems here -

1. If Mullin wanted to replace his assistants, he would have done that by now.
2. Can Cragg force him to change his assistant coaches? I doubt it.
3. Even if Cragg could, why would you want to force a head coach into working with assistants he doesn't want. The head coach couldn't even work together with his own guy in Slice.
4. Just fire the head coach.[/quote]


I am under the assumption we will not fire the coach due to money so this is the next best option.
 
[quote="Moose" post=333694][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333692][quote="Beast of the East" post=333669][quote="Storm Tracker" post=333608]i had my hopes up he would be stepping down since by all accounts he hates this job and doesn't need it.[/quote]

See, this is the kind of assertion that bugs the crap out of me. "By all accounts he hates this job"? Exactly whose account are you going by? What person close to Mullin told you this? No one I'm sure, because that assertion is total crap.

[/quote]

I thought we were pals again? No need to jump down my throat. Let me change wording from "by all accounts" to: "that's the impression i get from following this program very closely for the past 4 years".[/quote]

Don't worry Tracker.

I'm sure what you're hearing has legs of some kind. But Beast as much as we love him hears something different and doesn't think that anyone else has access to people in the know and therefore its his way or the highway. (insert emoji which isn't working for me for some reason)[/quote]

Moose, all accounts is so much different then I've heard rumblings. I've heard unsubstantiated rumblings this season but it had nothing to do with Chris hating this job. In a job that requires an awful lot of your time to do well, he's had well documented family obligations, and losing someone close to you can make you look at life differently.

When it is assert that Mullin is lazy, disinterested, low class - all of which has been asserted here, and now "hates his job", I take strong exception to those comments. The legs you mention are very frequently rumors that take on a life of their own. In this thread I was pretty critical of coaching taking responsibility for the collapse, and I think that is fair. What I take exception to broad statements that a few of our users repeat again and again until they become true to them.
 
[quote="Manhattan1" post=333707][quote="Windy City Johnny Fan" post=333704][quote="Manhattan1" post=333698]I would actually be quite happy if they got rid of the entire assistant coaching staff Matt included and give Mullin a two year extension. This way you can attract good assistant coaches as they know they will have a job for a while. I would attempt to hire two good recruiters and a great X*O coach.
1. Assistant more of a metropolitan recruiter - get tough local kids
2. 2nd assistant with more national ties
3. X&0 guy who has experience like a bobby lutz or Jim Ferry.

The transfer game does not allow you to build a culture in your program as people keep coming and leaving. Seton Hall has some local players who are not highly rated but their toughness makes up for that. I think we need to get back to that and maybe just add a transfer here and there instead relying on it heavily.[/quote]

Couple problems here -

1. If Mullin wanted to replace his assistants, he would have done that by now.
2. Can Cragg force him to change his assistant coaches? I doubt it.
3. Even if Cragg could, why would you want to force a head coach into working with assistants he doesn't want. The head coach couldn't even work together with his own guy in Slice.
4. Just fire the head coach.[/quote]


I am under the assumption we will not fire the coach due to money so this is the next best option.[/quote]

I hear ya. I think likeliest option at this point is Matt bolting and 1 assistant having to be added. I would expect Cragg to have input but the ultimate decision on who that replacement will be will be CM's. Would be awkward as heck to have the AD force a head coach to accept an assistant on his staff that he does not want.
 
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