Is Cragg the right AD for the job?
- Thread starter Johnny Rapper
- Start date
He was hired immediately by SJU what difference does the fact he was fired make.
Again you are acting like you know for a fact that if he had another good year he would not be wanted. You don't know that? You are acting like you know because of what actually did happen.
Again you are basing it on what he did not on what SJU and MA position was in 2021. The fact is SJU did something plenty of schools in similar position would have done to protect themselves.
Obviously in retrospect it does not look good.
Let's be clear I am not defending Cragg as much as I am saying that way too much is being made about the extension without putting it in the correct context of when and how he did it. Obviously it looks bad now but the fact is even with the extension it does not preclude SJU firing MA after this year so who cares, some of you act like it is your money being spent.
The larger issue is Cragg has no excuses unlike 4 years ago. The Mullin situation was not resolved until weeks after the season, remember Cragg released a statement at the Final Four putting to bed any rumors that Mullin was on the way out. And then just days later during the National Championship game it broke that Mullin was going to resign.
Cragg knows NOW because this is HIS decision. He is not waiting on the coach to resign. He knows what is going to happen NOW weeks before the end of the season.
If we get the same sh*tshow search then that will be on him.
The larger issue is Cragg has no excuses unlike 4 years ago. The Mullin situation was not resolved until weeks after the season, remember Cragg released a statement at the Final Four putting to bed any rumors that Mullin was on the way out. And then just days later during the National Championship game it broke that Mullin was going to resign.
Cragg knows NOW because this is HIS decision. He is not waiting on the coach to resign. He knows what is going to happen NOW weeks before the end of the season.
If we get the same sh*tshow search then that will be on him.
But not giving him an extension also doesn’t preclude you from stopping other schools from poaching him. It seems like a case of St. John’s racing against themselves. I don’t blame them, but there was a good case to make that it was a senseless extension at that time, not just looking back.
Just to recap 4 years ago on Saturday of the Final Four weekend Cragg stated this:
"Let me be clear and I said from the start, Coach Mullin is our head coach and we are not looking for another head coach," Cragg said in a statement, per Stadium's Jeff Goodman.
Then just minutes before the NC game on Monday 4/8 two days after Cragg affirmed Mullin was the coach Jon Rothstein tweeted out that Mullin was set to resign as coach:
The madness extended into the final night of the college basketball season, but it had nothing to do with the NCAA Tournament. A bombshell report dropped just before the tipoff of the national championship game that Chris Mullin was planning to step down as St. John’s head coach just two days after the school said in a statement it supported him and wasn’t looking for another coach.
There was radio silence from the school after college basketball insider Jon Rothstein broke the news.
nypost.com
"Let me be clear and I said from the start, Coach Mullin is our head coach and we are not looking for another head coach," Cragg said in a statement, per Stadium's Jeff Goodman.
Then just minutes before the NC game on Monday 4/8 two days after Cragg affirmed Mullin was the coach Jon Rothstein tweeted out that Mullin was set to resign as coach:
The madness extended into the final night of the college basketball season, but it had nothing to do with the NCAA Tournament. A bombshell report dropped just before the tipoff of the national championship game that Chris Mullin was planning to step down as St. John’s head coach just two days after the school said in a statement it supported him and wasn’t looking for another coach.
There was radio silence from the school after college basketball insider Jon Rothstein broke the news.
Chris Mullin to step down as coach of St. John’s
MINNEAPOLIS — The madness extended into the final night of the college basketball season, but it had nothing to do with the NCAA Tournament. A bombshell report dropped just before the tipoff of the…
nypost.com
It did make it harder. Part of the extension was a LARGER buyout SJU negotiated if Mike left on his own. That is what ultimately turned Tulsa away from him, SJU refused to waive his buyout. In retrospect they maybe should have waived the buyout and called Mike's bluff to see if he would leave for Tulsa.
Matt Norlander. $2.5 million buyout that would be owed SJU if Anderson left on his own is pretty significant.
Source—St. John’s coach Mike Anderson is no longer a candidate for the Tulsa opening. Anderson’s buyout is in the $2.5 million range, Tulsa isn’t flush with cash, interest not mutual.
Source—St. John’s coach Mike Anderson is no longer a candidate for the Tulsa opening. Anderson’s buyout is in the $2.5 million range, Tulsa isn’t flush with cash, interest not mutual.
A couple of points.
First as I recall Mullin was trying to get something from the admin at the end of his tenure that he was not going to get. This was seen as a subtle way of saying maybe it's time for you to leave. I saw that power play by Cragg and the school as the beginning of the end. Mullin wasn't into it anyway and cited his brother's death as a major factor. I think the school wanted that done in March but it lasted into April, probably due to Chris' pride.
Second, totally in agreement on extensions. Everybody gets one if they meet or exceed short term expectations early, though 6 years seems longer than most. But in reality it was more of a 4-5 year extension since it included the remaining years on his first contract. Don't recall if we ever heard if that one was for 3 or 4 years. Every coach that enters the last year of his contract is on the hot seat so that might have been a factor if the original contract was just 3 years. I will add that big time schools with strong alumni booster programs don't worry about extensions.
And sorry to repeat myself but I just want to be clear I am not a Cragg or SJU Admin apologist.
I just think some of you get so upset that you begin to go down rabbit holes with your criticism. Especially when things don't work out then everything that happened 2 years ago is worth criticizing even if many people at the time had no issue with it.
It is very convenient to do that now.
I just think some of you get so upset that you begin to go down rabbit holes with your criticism. Especially when things don't work out then everything that happened 2 years ago is worth criticizing even if many people at the time had no issue with it.
It is very convenient to do that now.
I guess Cragg criticism over extension is a natural fan response, but let’s not get crazy. The prime issue is clearing the decks with some financial pain and getting a competent HC replacement. It appears Father S will be knee deep in that process, so firing Cragg seems extreme. It is moot, because it is not happening anyway.
MugCostanza
Well-known member
I guess the question now is who else aside from Shanley and Cragg will be involved in the process that has veto power or the ability the steer the search in a specific direction
Anthony Mattia
Well-known member
The issue is, if the board is keeping Cragg from making the best hire (Pitino) then it does not matter who the AD is. The board needs to let the people they hired do their jobs and stay out of it.
MugCostanza
Well-known member
Quite sure Mullin's resignation caught Cragg completely by surprise. Had they mutually agreed to part ways that would have been put into motion immediately after the season in mid March rather than a few weeks later in early April. I believe Mullin was all set to return himself but Matt's decision to leave to rejoin Hoiberg was the end of it for Mullin.
As I recall, Mullin wanted an extension and Cragg wasn't willing to give it, which was totally understandable under the circumstances. So Cragg had to fill the coaching vacancy six months after his hire with a lot of interference of Oliva and others. There was a very small minority on this site that were not satisfied with CMA as a hire at that time without the luxury of hindsight , not including me.
Whether Cragg was totally responsible for the CMA hire or not (which I doubt), you don't fire an AD for one bad hire. The next one is what we should judge him on.
Whether Cragg was totally responsible for the CMA hire or not (which I doubt), you don't fire an AD for one bad hire. The next one is what we should judge him on.
Exactly
The prime issue is whether "some financial pain" - ie, paying Anderson in the neighborhood of $7.5-$10 million to leave --causes SJU to get a replacement on the cheap. If that's not the case- then hey, great.
Yes we understand your concerns. The school has to either decided they are are running a real athletic department, or some five and dime mom and pop outfit. STJ won't be the first to have to eat a buyout nor the last. St John's annual operating budget is over $333 million. $8 million, while not insignificant, is not a huge part of that budget. It's just a cost of doing business.
Johnny Rapper
Well-known member
Here’s the bottom line regarding Cragg. Clearly the Anderson experiment has been a failure that Cragg is fully aware of. If he is not out there already, networking and gaging interest from potential coaching hires then the man is not the right person for the job and should be replaced ASAP.
Did Mullin get a buyout? I believe he had two years left on his original contract.