Lookit, quit bitching about how long he stays. If he's fucking good and he leaves, then we hire the hoops version of Peterman next. If he sucks balls, we fire his ass and hire the next Bob Boonder.
I am, frankly, alarmed as hell that no one here has apparently read the fucking chapter before class today.
Hopkins has a very erratic, nervous energy. Look at his eyes. He'll need to get that under control as a HC. You want to communicate calm confidence to your players in the final seconds of a game. Otherwise they do fucktarded things at the most crucial times. He does seem to be the type who would need to meditate - people without strong focus need to meditate (regain focus).
Tommy Lloyd will eventually come to the realization like Bill Grier did that 'coach-in-waiting' is essentially going to become 'this shit is never going to happen". It finally dawned on Leon Rice, too. If Few were Larry Brown age, it makes sense to wait it out a couple seasons like Tim Jankovich did at SMU.
But Few is still relatively young - 54. Unless you're Dick Vermeil with bleeding ulcers and near a nervous breakdown, successful coaches don't leave success or retire at that age. Few ain't ever leaving 1) for fear of getting exposed and 2) he's already put in the hard work over 20+ years at Gonzaga for an auto-pilot gig. He's not wired to do that again unless it is for $5Million+ kind of money. He's got a punch-the-clock, fish when he wants to gig.
Lloyd is 42 so he could probably wait it out another 5, maybe 10 years and get 15 years in as the head guy at Gonzaga but that's assuming GU keeps performing at a high level and it's still an attractive gig. I couldn't be that patient playing towel boy for the Weasel but the Throbber needs to be unleashed on its own instead of holding back for someday.
tl;dr but the good part is Tommy Lloyd will probably be available in 4 or 5 years when Hopkins bails out back to Syracuse.
Need to do a little more research. Gut call is I like it. Syracuse has had a ton of success over a long period of time while he's there. This isn't Sind career assistant who's never had a shot at a head gig, he's turned down good opportunities.
I don't love it but I like it much better than any of the realistic names that have been floated outside Musselman (Marshall and Archie were never coming here).
Need to do a little more research. Gut call is I like it. Syracuse has had a ton of success over a long period of time while he's there. This isn't Sind career assistant who's never had a shot at a head gig, he's turned down good opportunities.
I don't love it but I like it much better than any of the realistic names that have been floated outside Musselman (Marshall and Archie were never coming here).
Solid B hire. I'll LIPO.
Given the timing required to get this done it's a Plan B hire after Jen realized she wasn't going to get her primary targets ...
I'll be interested to see how the compensation plays out between Hopkins and his assistants ... it was a major shortfall of Romar's staff ... not necessarily because of the funding available as much as compare/contrast how Pete fights for raises for his assistants whereas Romar allocated the most resources to bring on his buddy that is the father of 2 potential recruits.
Anybody that doesn't like the hire out of a fear of running the Syracuse zone can go fuck off ... that's the stupidest bullshit I've ever read on here. If the zone was full of shit then explain why Syracuse has been so successful? And let's also be honest, Syracuse runs the zone better than anybody else doing comparable.
Where I'll be interested to watch how things play out is how the relationship with the local hoops community is. Given the background for Hopkins and his assistants the local community may not be a make or break aspect to the hire. I would fully expect at least initially the local community will be vocal against the hire and it may be tough sledding in local recruiting for a year or two.
Regardless of the hire, the reality is that you're looking at a 2-3 year reboot for the program before being able to get the required talent in place to build the kind of depth in the program necessary to compete at the levels that we all want.
Need to do a little more research. Gut call is I like it. Syracuse has had a ton of success over a long period of time while he's there. This isn't Sind career assistant who's never had a shot at a head gig, he's turned down good opportunities.
I don't love it but I like it much better than any of the realistic names that have been floated outside Musselman (Marshall and Archie were never coming here).
Solid B hire. I'll LIPO.
Given the timing required to get this done it's a Plan B hire after Jen realized she wasn't going to get her primary targets ...
I'll be interested to see how the compensation plays out between Hopkins and his assistants ... it was a major shortfall of Romar's staff ... not necessarily because of the funding available as much as compare/contrast how Pete fights for raises for his assistants whereas Romar allocated the most resources to bring on his buddy that is the father of 2 potential recruits.
Anybody that doesn't like the hire out of a fear of running the Syracuse zone can go fuck off ... that's the stupidest bullshit I've ever read on here. If the zone was full of shit then explain why Syracuse has been so successful? And let's also be honest, Syracuse runs the zone better than anybody else doing comparable.
Where I'll be interested to watch how things play out is how the relationship with the local hoops community is. Given the background for Hopkins and his assistants the local community may not be a make or break aspect to the hire. I would fully expect at least initially the local community will be vocal against the hire and it may be tough sledding in local recruiting for a year or two.
Regardless of the hire, the reality is that you're looking at a 2-3 year reboot for the program before being able to get the required talent in place to build the kind of depth in the program necessary to compete at the levels that we all want.
I think keeping Conroy on staff is smart to help keep good a good relationship with Seattle HS hoops until he has had time to establish himself in the area. Apparently he was a good recruiter at Syracuse so I expect him to be able to keep players at home.
HC Mike Hopkins (former Syracuse assistant) Assistants Jason Hart (USC) Tim Otoole (Cal) Will Conroy (on staff)
Is this confirmed?
If so I like that he got three west coast guys on his staff. This should help with the "he's not one of us" pushback. If he brought in a bunch of east coast assistants this could be tough. Conroy obviously makes total sense, and Hart is a brilliant choice, west coast kid who went to Syracuse. I don't know much about Otoole but Monty is brilliant. Good stuff.
HC Mike Hopkins (former Syracuse assistant) Assistants Jason Hart (USC) Tim Otoole (Cal) Will Conroy (on staff)
Is this confirmed?
If so I like that he got three west coast guys on his staff. This should help with the "he's not one of us" pushback. If he brought in a bunch of east coast assistants this could be tough. Conroy obviously makes total sense, and Hart is a brilliant choice, west coast kid who went to Syracuse. I don't know much about Otoole but Monty is brilliant. Good stuff.
not confirmed, several different people on the twatterz mentioned it though
Comments
I am, frankly, alarmed as hell that no one here has apparently read the fucking chapter before class today.
Anyway - not a bad hire...
Assistants Jason Hart (USC) Tim Otoole (Cal) Will Conroy (on staff)
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/19668863/gonzaga-assistant-tommy-lloyd-coachinwaiting
But Few is still relatively young - 54. Unless you're Dick Vermeil with bleeding ulcers and near a nervous breakdown, successful coaches don't leave success or retire at that age. Few ain't ever leaving 1) for fear of getting exposed and 2) he's already put in the hard work over 20+ years at Gonzaga for an auto-pilot gig. He's not wired to do that again unless it is for $5Million+ kind of money. He's got a punch-the-clock, fish when he wants to gig.
Lloyd is 42 so he could probably wait it out another 5, maybe 10 years and get 15 years in as the head guy at Gonzaga but that's assuming GU keeps performing at a high level and it's still an attractive gig. I couldn't be that patient playing towel boy for the Weasel but the Throbber needs to be unleashed on its own instead of holding back for someday.
tl;dr but the good part is Tommy Lloyd will probably be available in 4 or 5 years when Hopkins bails out back to Syracuse.
I don't love it but I like it much better than any of the realistic names that have been floated outside Musselman (Marshall and Archie were never coming here).
Solid B hire. I'll LIPO.
I'll be interested to see how the compensation plays out between Hopkins and his assistants ... it was a major shortfall of Romar's staff ... not necessarily because of the funding available as much as compare/contrast how Pete fights for raises for his assistants whereas Romar allocated the most resources to bring on his buddy that is the father of 2 potential recruits.
Anybody that doesn't like the hire out of a fear of running the Syracuse zone can go fuck off ... that's the stupidest bullshit I've ever read on here. If the zone was full of shit then explain why Syracuse has been so successful? And let's also be honest, Syracuse runs the zone better than anybody else doing comparable.
Where I'll be interested to watch how things play out is how the relationship with the local hoops community is. Given the background for Hopkins and his assistants the local community may not be a make or break aspect to the hire. I would fully expect at least initially the local community will be vocal against the hire and it may be tough sledding in local recruiting for a year or two.
Regardless of the hire, the reality is that you're looking at a 2-3 year reboot for the program before being able to get the required talent in place to build the kind of depth in the program necessary to compete at the levels that we all want.
If so I like that he got three west coast guys on his staff. This should help with the "he's not one of us" pushback. If he brought in a bunch of east coast assistants this could be tough. Conroy obviously makes total sense, and Hart is a brilliant choice, west coast kid who went to Syracuse. I don't know much about Otoole but Monty is brilliant. Good stuff.