Coaching Alternatives

Grasso is a young guy at only 38 but has a lot of experience and is a hell of a recruiter, especially locally, which people have been clamoring for. If people want a local guy who’d be a lifer and work his ass off on the job, I think Grasso would be that guy.

I don’t know how he is with all the X’s and O’s but he’s got a ton of experience under good coaches. We know he’s a very, very good recruiter. I think he’d be smart enough to put together a fantastic staff as well. I’d be for a hire like that. He hasn’t left the area, and checks a lot of the boxes, except for any real head coaching success, but he’s very new as a HC and hasn’t even built his team yet. His head coaching record has zero indication of future performance at this point. If anybody sees any big negatives who know him or about him, I’m all ears, but he’s got a lot of experience and would hit recruiting trail very hard. I could see him taking a lot of pride out of building this program properly for the long term.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=334107]Grasso is a young guy at only 38 but has a lot of experience and is a hell of a recruiter, especially locally, which people have been clamoring for. If people want a local guy who’d be a lifer and work his ass off on the job, I think Grasso would be that guy.

I don’t know how he is with all the X’s and O’s but he’s got a ton of experience under good coaches. We know he’s a very, very good recruiter. I think he’d be smart enough to put together a fantastic staff as well. I’d be for a hire like that. He hasn’t left the area, and checks a lot of the boxes, except for any real head coaching success, but he’s very new as a HC and hasn’t even built his team yet. His head coaching record has zero indication of future performance at this point. If anybody sees any big negatives who know him or about him, I’m all ears, but he’s got a lot of experience and would hit recruiting trail very hard. I could see him taking a lot of pride out of building this program properly for the long term.[/quote]

Needs more time at Bryant to prove he can be a HC. I'd prefer Mullin if hes the alternative right now. Tim Cluess would be a better choice although I think there are better options out there due to his age (60). But I agree with beast he gets the job done consistently which is all that matters in the end.
 
[quote="Dan V" post=334111][quote="MCNPA" post=334107]Grasso is a young guy at only 38 but has a lot of experience and is a hell of a recruiter, especially locally, which people have been clamoring for. If people want a local guy who’d be a lifer and work his ass off on the job, I think Grasso would be that guy.

I don’t know how he is with all the X’s and O’s but he’s got a ton of experience under good coaches. We know he’s a very, very good recruiter. I think he’d be smart enough to put together a fantastic staff as well. I’d be for a hire like that. He hasn’t left the area, and checks a lot of the boxes, except for any real head coaching success, but he’s very new as a HC and hasn’t even built his team yet. His head coaching record has zero indication of future performance at this point. If anybody sees any big negatives who know him or about him, I’m all ears, but he’s got a lot of experience and would hit recruiting trail very hard. I could see him taking a lot of pride out of building this program properly for the long term.[/quote]

Needs more time at Bryant to prove he can be a HC. I'd prefer Mullin if hes the alternative right now. Tim Cluess would be a better choice although I think there are better options out there due to his age (60). But I agree with beast he gets the job done consistently which is all that matters in the end.[/quote]

I think most of the board could relate to a young guy like Cluess.
 
they haven't had height or bench since he's been here, who's fault is that???? Do you watch TV? Stop with the protection! He was given 4 years!!! enough. oh huge accomplishment improving from 8 wins...STOP!!! He doesn't coach or recruit, he needs to go. PS-still my favorite st johns PLAYER!
 
i think minimum if mullin stays, there must be a proven X/Os guy. Also i see Matt A bolting- need a recruiter. Mike Rice and maybe Grasso together ( Don't kill me , just throwing out solutions). Imagine Grasso and Rice joining Mullin. Would the fan base be happy with that? I would. Doubtful MC could make that particular deal happen but IF Mullin stays, something of that magnitude is needed. Also, velcro shoes
 
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[quote="Dan V" post=334111][quote="MCNPA" post=334107]Grasso is a young guy at only 38 but has a lot of experience and is a hell of a recruiter, especially locally, which people have been clamoring for. If people want a local guy who’d be a lifer and work his ass off on the job, I think Grasso would be that guy.

I don’t know how he is with all the X’s and O’s but he’s got a ton of experience under good coaches. We know he’s a very, very good recruiter. I think he’d be smart enough to put together a fantastic staff as well. I’d be for a hire like that. He hasn’t left the area, and checks a lot of the boxes, except for any real head coaching success, but he’s very new as a HC and hasn’t even built his team yet. His head coaching record has zero indication of future performance at this point. If anybody sees any big negatives who know him or about him, I’m all ears, but he’s got a lot of experience and would hit recruiting trail very hard. I could see him taking a lot of pride out of building this program properly for the long term.[/quote]

Needs more time at Bryant to prove he can be a HC. I'd prefer Mullin if hes the alternative right now. Tim Cluess would be a better choice although I think there are better options out there due to his age (60). But I agree with beast he gets the job done consistently which is all that matters in the end.[/quote]

Lol and Nate Oats, who has coached all of 2 years with Bobby Hurley’s players and system in place is the hottest commodity on the market? He was only a college assistant for 2 years under Hurley as well and never been anywhere else except coaching high school. Amazing what 2 good seasons with somebody else’s players does for ones resume’ much like Kevin Ollie. Grasso has a TON more experience than Oats and is a fantastic recruiter. Oats has barely more experience than our own Gary St. Jean. In fact Oats inherited a Buffalo team that was MAC champs and went to the tourney.

Grasso’s total build at Bryant is a far cry from what Oats inherited.
 
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[quote="MCNPA" post=334121][quote="Dan V" post=334111][quote="MCNPA" post=334107]Grasso is a young guy at only 38 but has a lot of experience and is a hell of a recruiter, especially locally, which people have been clamoring for. If people want a local guy who’d be a lifer and work his ass off on the job, I think Grasso would be that guy.

I don’t know how he is with all the X’s and O’s but he’s got a ton of experience under good coaches. We know he’s a very, very good recruiter. I think he’d be smart enough to put together a fantastic staff as well. I’d be for a hire like that. He hasn’t left the area, and checks a lot of the boxes, except for any real head coaching success, but he’s very new as a HC and hasn’t even built his team yet. His head coaching record has zero indication of future performance at this point. If anybody sees any big negatives who know him or about him, I’m all ears, but he’s got a lot of experience and would hit recruiting trail very hard. I could see him taking a lot of pride out of building this program properly for the long term.[/quote]

Needs more time at Bryant to prove he can be a HC. I'd prefer Mullin if hes the alternative right now. Tim Cluess would be a better choice although I think there are better options out there due to his age (60). But I agree with beast he gets the job done consistently which is all that matters in the end.[/quote]

Lol and Nate Oats, who has coached all of 2 years with Bobby Hurley’s players and system in place is the hottest commodity on the market? He was only a college assistant for 2 years under Hurley as well and never been anywhere else except coaching high school. Amazing what 2 good seasons with somebody else’s players does for ones resume’ much like Kevin Ollie. Grasso has a TON more experience than Oats and is a fantastic recruiter. Oats has barely more experience than our own Gary St. Jean. In fact Oats inherited a Buffalo team that was MAC champs and went to the tourney.

Grasso’s total build at Bryant is a far cry from what Oats inherited.[/quote]

Your examples illustrate just how hard it is to make a homerun hire. Most guys jump after an exceptional 1 or 2 seasons when their stock is the highest. Often no evidence to assure they would do that again which is why most fail. As fans we point to the guys who did make the jump successfully and ask why couldn't we hire that guy. It's an awful lot like picking stocks, which is why the index 500 beats 4 out of 5 money managers
 
Oh hi guys.
My name is Tim.
I played basketball at St. John's.
So did every member of my family.
As a coach, I've won everywhere I've been.
Literally, everywhere.
High school, JUCO, DII, DI
My resume makes John Beilein look like he took a shortcut.
Oh, and I've taken Iona to the dance 6 out of 9 years.

So it shows, I can build a program from nothing (see St. Mary's, Suffolk CC, and CW Post)
It shows I can take a good mid-major program and turn it into a conference juggernaut.
It shows I can prepare my teams for tournaments since I have won FOUR games in FOUR days for the last FOUR years in March.

So yeah, my teams aren't exactly defensive minded, BUT WE WIN.
Yeah, I had the awful, almost-historic loss to BYU in the NCAAs, BUT WE WERE IN THE DANCE.
Yeah, you may not like how I compose myself of the sidelines, BUT WE WIN.
Oh and I'm 60, WHICH MEANS NOTHING.

If you want perfection, read a fairy tale.

If you want a winner, hit me up in New Rochelle.
 
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[quote="MCNPA" post=334121][quote="Dan V" post=334111][quote="MCNPA" post=334107]Grasso is a young guy at only 38 but has a lot of experience and is a hell of a recruiter, especially locally, which people have been clamoring for. If people want a local guy who’d be a lifer and work his ass off on the job, I think Grasso would be that guy.

I don’t know how he is with all the X’s and O’s but he’s got a ton of experience under good coaches. We know he’s a very, very good recruiter. I think he’d be smart enough to put together a fantastic staff as well. I’d be for a hire like that. He hasn’t left the area, and checks a lot of the boxes, except for any real head coaching success, but he’s very new as a HC and hasn’t even built his team yet. His head coaching record has zero indication of future performance at this point. If anybody sees any big negatives who know him or about him, I’m all ears, but he’s got a lot of experience and would hit recruiting trail very hard. I could see him taking a lot of pride out of building this program properly for the long term.[/quote]

Needs more time at Bryant to prove he can be a HC. I'd prefer Mullin if hes the alternative right now. Tim Cluess would be a better choice although I think there are better options out there due to his age (60). But I agree with beast he gets the job done consistently which is all that matters in the end.[/quote]

Lol and Nate Oats, who has coached all of 2 years with Bobby Hurley’s players and system in place is the hottest commodity on the market? He was only a college assistant for 2 years under Hurley as well and never been anywhere else except coaching high school. Amazing what 2 good seasons with somebody else’s players does for ones resume’ much like Kevin Ollie. Grasso has a TON more experience than Oats and is a fantastic recruiter. Oats has barely more experience than our own Gary St. Jean. In fact Oats inherited a Buffalo team that was MAC champs and went to the tourney.

Grasso’s total build at Bryant is a far cry from what Oats inherited.[/quote]

I never mentioned Nate Oats although I would be thrilled to have him, he is legit. He can coach, recruit, and win at a high level thats why he is a hot commodity. He has earned respect unlike Grasso who just finished his first year as a HC. I wont even hold that 1-22 record at Fordham against him. Oats has been at Buffalo for 4 years now not 2. Danced 3 out of those 4 years and has won games once hes gotten there. He only had Hurley recruits in his first year, 4 guys, and he won 20 games and went to the tournament. Remember Hurley took Shannon Evans and a JUCO recruit with him to ASU. David Cox inherited more than Oats did at Rhody and didnt continue the momentum Danny had. The only "Hurley" player left after that year was Nick Perkins who never played for Hurley and Oats was the one who recruited him anyway. This is a quote from Bobby himself after Buffalo waxed ASU, “He's a man out there. You wouldn't think a guy — that was one of the things Nate did a lot of heavy lifting with recruiting Nick. I'm not taking any responsibility for that." So your argument has no ground. As far as im concerned Grasso's resume consists of a 10-20 record in the Patriot League. How the hell does that qualify you to coach a Big East program? Let him earn his stripes thats all I was saying.
 
Maybe I am being naive here but I see no indication that Mullin is leaving. Watching one of the Red Storm Reports this season I heard our AD Mike Cragg rave about how much he likes and respects Chris.

I do believe that if Cragg does ultimately replace Mullin then whoever the hire will be will somehow have a Duke connection. Working at a place for thirty one years you develop significant relationships and a comfortability with the people you work with. I have no idea who the next hire will be or how he will go about it, but in the end if Mullin leaves then I believe our next coach will have Duke on his resume somewhere.
 
[quote="ghostzapper" post=334131]Maybe I am being naive here but I see no indication that Mullin is leaving. Watching one of the Red Storm Reports this season I heard our AD Mike Cragg rave about how much he likes and respects Chris.

I do believe that if Cragg does ultimately replace Mullin then whoever the hire will be will somehow have a Duke connection. Working at a place for thirty one years you develop significant relationships and a comfortability with the people you work with. I have no idea who the next hire will be or how he will go about it, but in the end if Mullin leaves then I believe our next coach will have Duke on his resume somewhere.[/quote]
General rule-take anything anyone says for public consumption with a POUND of salt.
 
Georgia State's Ron Hunter confirms to ESPN he's accepted an offer to become the next head coach at Tulane:
 
[quote="bamafan" post=334133]
General rule-take anything anyone says for public consumption with a POUND of salt.[/quote]
———
General rule- no one walks away from 2 years remaining ona a $2 plus M per year contract.
 
[quote="otis" post=334137][quote="bamafan" post=334133]
General rule-take anything anyone says for public consumption with a POUND of salt.[/quote]
———
General rule- no one walks away from 2 years remaining ona a $2 plus M per year contract.[/quote]

First off you don't know if his entire remaining contract is guaranteed...you are assuming.

Second Mark Richt retired from Miami as football HC and left a helluva of lot more than $4 million on the table. A lot more. He had just signed a big extension the year before with a big buyout. And he took none of it when he quit. Miami was also his alma mater.

Came off of a disappointing season and decided after 18 years as a HC at Georgia and Miami he wasn't sure the fire was there to give everything he had. Decided not fair to keep coaching and walked away. BTW he personally gave $1 million of his own money to University to help build practice facility. Not saying everyone would do that but his point was why hold his school hostage when he has made plenty of money. He came to Miami to win championships not to get rich. He was already rich.
 
[quote="MainMan" post=334129]Oh hi guys.
My name is Tim.
I played basketball at St. John's.
So did every member of my family.
As a coach, I've won everywhere I've been.
Literally, everywhere.
High school, JUCO, DII, DI
My resume makes John Beilein look like he took a shortcut.
Oh, and I've taken Iona to the dance 6 out of 9 years.

So it shows, I can build a program from nothing (see St. Mary's, Suffolk CC, and CW Post)
It shows I can take a good mid-major program and turn it into a conference juggernaut.
It shows I can prepare my teams for tournaments since I have won FOUR games in FOUR days for the last FOUR years in March.

So yeah, my teams aren't exactly defensive minded, BUT WE WIN.
Yeah, I had the awful, almost-historic loss to BYU in the NCAAs, BUT WE WERE IN THE DANCE.
Yeah, you may not like how I compose myself of the sidelines, BUT WE WIN.
Oh and I'm 60, WHICH MEANS NOTHING.

If you want perfection, read a fairy tale.

If you want a winner, hit me up in New Rochelle.[/quote]

I thought Cluess left SJU for Hofstra on a bad note.
 
As I said previously I personally don't think Coach Mullin is going anywhere anytime soon. It is clear that there were expectations by many of us (myself included) that were not completely met this season. While a good argument can be made for changes, the architect for those changes will likely be initiated and designed by our new AD Mike Cragg. I am posting a link to the interview he did on the Red Storm Report earlier this season (see below). I could be completely wrong, but my impression is that he will not make a knee-jerk reaction to the play over the last month and will stay the course and work with Coach Mullin going forward.


 
[quote="ghostzapper" post=334146]As I said previously I personally don't think Coach Mullin is going anywhere anytime soon. It is clear that there were expectations by many of us (myself included) that were not completely met this season. While a good argument can be made for changes, the architect for those changes will likely be initiated and designed by our new AD Mike Cragg. I am posting a link to the interview he did on the Red Storm Report earlier this season (see below). I could be completely wrong, but my impression is that he will not make a knee-jerk reaction to the play over the last month and will stay the course and work with Coach Mullin going forward.
[/quote]

What is anytime soon?
He won't see a 6th year. Not with the team coming back. All we're doing is prolonging the inevitable. It just comes down to money and perception in doing it now or waiting until next year's team wins 10-12 games
 
[quote="otis" post=334137][quote="bamafan" post=334133]
General rule-take anything anyone says for public consumption with a POUND of salt.[/quote]
———
General rule- no one walks away from 2 years remaining ona a $2 plus M per year contract.[/quote]
Otis my man that is not a logical follow up to my point as I was referring to what AD Cragg was quoted as saying.
 
Has any team that made the NCAAs this year fired it's coach? Also, does anyone have the list of schools who fired their coach right after making the tournament since SJU did it to Lavin? If we fire Mullin now it would mean that SJU made two tournaments in five years and turned around and immediately fired the coach for doing it. I doubt that has ever happened. It just seems logical to me that the school has to sit tight, let the next year play out and if it goes as bad as many expect act then. Unless, of course Mullin were to quit for some reason.
 
Moose wrote: What is anytime soon?
He won't see a 6th year. Not with the team coming back. All we're doing is prolonging the inevitable. It just comes down to money and perception in doing it now or waiting until next year's team wins 10-12 games

I believe anytime soon means he is coaching next year for sure and depending on how it goes then possibly beyond. As a fan I am as impatient as the next guy and am not at all happy with the way the second half of this season went, especially the last month. That said, I can not see Chris getting fired (but of course I was surprised when Lavin got fired too). The difference between Lavin's situation and here is that during Mullin's four year tenure the win total has gone up each season incrementally from 8 to 14 to 16 to 21 and that Chris has a long time very positive assosciation with St. John's. Now if next year's results go down (as many assume they will based on projections of next year's talent) then a change is likely to occur.

Believe me I get it and understand why many are advocating for change now, before things get worse and spiral out of control. I just think that based on what I see from the situation, it will take a down season next year to instigate a change in our head coaching position.
 
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