Chasing my own tail

[Turiddu]

I have after much reflection voiced my displeasure at keeping coach Willard for another year, as well as
writing reasoned emails to Pat Lyons. I thought it would despite the enormous buyout be the moment to sever the ties and bring in a new coach and staff. Those desires have dissipated, and the powers that be have chosen to try it for one more year, and though I am baffled by this decision ranting against it will do little for my psyche or digestion. It is what it is, and so I will be as passionate about the team as ever, and hope that my rationale belief that this year will be a replica of the last five is proven wrong.

I can appreciate the lingering chants for Willard to go but it is to some degree whistling into the wind. He is on the clock, and one way or another outcome will decide his fate in a year. I will stop chasing my tail in the hope that somehow it will alter the decision that has been made.

 

[statenman]

What is ironic is willard would leave if we make the NCAA next year , as he would certainly get job offers. For next year , all we can do is support our players which are very talented, and hope for the best.

 

[Save Continental]

What is ironic is willard would leave if we make the NCAA next year , as he would certainly get job offers. For next year , all we can do is support our players which are very talented, and hope for the best.

If he sneaks into the tournament as a 12 seed, do you really think some school paying him as much as we could is going to jump at the chance to hire Kevin Willard. I guess if their background check only goes back 6 months, maybe.

 

[its haLL baLL]

What is ironic is willard would leave if we make the NCAA next year , as he would certainly get job offers. For next year , all we can do is support our players which are very talented, and hope for the best.

From who? I don't understand how anyone could think that another program would look at Willard's body of work and say, "This is the guy we want to lead our program."

I hope you're right, but I don't think Willard's ineptitude is a secret.

 

[seton1996]

What is ironic is willard would leave if we make the NCAA next year , as he would certainly get job offers. For next year , all we can do is support our players which are very talented, and hope for the best.

Why does anyone think Willard will get "job offers" if we make the NCAA next year? I have seen this more than once on these boards. What schools are going to come calling? I cannot see any of the BCS conference calling for one "good year" , obviously not going to another BE team, don't think would go to lesser conference than BE for many reasons, so where is he going to end up, at an A10 school, they would probably pay less than SHU and would also be considered by many to be a downgrade for him.

 

[SoCalBrett]

I hope he makes the NCAA tournament as a 12 seed. That would be a nice problem to have. I just hope we don't give him another extension as a result.

 

[hallgrad80]

I have after much reflection voiced my displeasure at keeping coach Willard for another year, as well as
writing reasoned emails to Pat Lyons. I thought it would despite the enormous buyout be the moment to sever the ties and bring in a new coach and staff. Those desires have dissipated, and the powers that be have chosen to try it for one more year, and though I am baffled by this decision ranting against it will do little for my psyche or digestion. It is what it is, and so I will be as passionate about the team as ever, and hope that my rationale belief that this year will be a replica of the last five is proven wrong.

I can appreciate the lingering chants for Willard to go but it is to some degree whistling into the wind. He is on the clock, and one way or another outcome will decide his fate in a year. I will stop chasing my tail in the hope that somehow it will alter the decision that has been made.

Turiddu
I agree with your view that our voices of displeasure and looking for a change were unsuccessful and KW will be our coach for year six. I do believe however that the continued uncertainty that even with another bad season next year Willard may return for year seven will continue to fuel the the contentious debate we've seen the last two years both pro and con about the leadership of the men's bb program.

 

[statenman]

A top 15 recruiting class? Bringing SHU to the NCAA for the first time in a decade? Ended the Gonzo crime era? Improved GPA? Increased fund raising compared to previous regime? Top 25 ranking?
If he had won 5 more games, he would have received plenty of interest. I'm not saying he deserved a better job, but he would have gotten it.

 

[its haLL baLL]

A top 15 recruiting class? Bringing SHU to the NCAA for the first time in a decade? Ended the Gonzo crime era? Improved GPA? Increased fund raising compared to previous regime? Top 25 ranking?
If he had won 5 more games, he would have received plenty of interest. I'm not saying he deserved a better job, but he would have gotten it.

Everyone knows how he got that top 15 class and everyone has been able to see his recruiting efforts without assistant coaching positions to hand out. Everyone has seen the poor management of the roster, the yearly locker room issues, the late season collapses, the failures to adjust, the nauseating post-game comments, the lack of relationships with any of the top AAU programs, and, most importantly, his dismal record.

Look at the mess that this program is in heading into year 6 of the Willard regime. No AD is going to look at one year of success (outside of a top 3 BE finish and advancing out of the first round of the NCAA's) and erase the first 5 years of Willard's tenure from his resume.

I'd love to be wrong and for the team to have success next season and for someone to take Willard off our hands, but I just don't see how that happens.

 

[The Crows Nest]

What is ironic is willard would leave if we make the NCAA next year , as he would certainly get job offers. For next year , all we can do is support our players which are very talented, and hope for the best.

Wait...our players are very talented? that is a broad statement....FAR too broad for this roster.

Name the players that are top level (meaning, can take the team to the top of the Big East....after all you said "very talented") Big East players? How about this....how many would start for Nova? G Town? Providence? Creighton? Butler? Xavier?

if you get to 5 with either exercise (and there is NO way you get near 5 with the second question) you are lucky. And, having 5 quality BE players is not a roster that I would label as "very talented".

is there some "potential" on the roster? Sure....as there is on any roster, Depaul included. But it would take a LOT of variables to ALL move in the right direction for this team to make much if any noise next year.

Consider....from a team that imploded this past season, having what many may consider one of, if not the biggest collapses in our history, we lose our best player (Gibbs), one of our very few frontcourt players (Mobley), our other starting guard (Sina, say what you want, but he started every game but one, and played 37 minutes per....those have to be replaced) and we replace them with....? Soffer?

In the front court, our returning players, sans Angel and I will give Ish some "potential", but the others showed nothing. We add some lightly recruited HS players...and a transfer. And Singh, who I guess is a SF...who may have some potential.

It may be a stretch for this team to just accomplish what last seasons's team did...and that would be abysmal.

Remember....it is the same coach...the same principles....the same approach. How has that worked for 5 years?

 

[JIMSOULS]

If he sneaks into the tournament as a 12 seed, do you really think some school paying him as much as we could is going to jump at the chance to hire Kevin Willard. I guess if their background check only goes back 6 months, maybe.

If this scenario were to unfold, you can bet that nearly every poster on this board would write to that school's athletic director regarding his bid to pry Willard away from Seton Hall.

Dear Athletic Director,

While I'll miss the years of sustained basketball excellence Kevin Willard brought to Seton Hall, I understand your desire to reel in this big fish to coach at your school. Don't feel bad about stealing from us, as we'll find a way to survive.

Sincerely,

Seton Hall Fan

P.S., Tell Kevin I said hi.

 

[cernjSHU]

Sorry, Getting to the tournament is not enough to save Willard's job. Are we to congratulate Willard for making the tournament one year when he had enough talent and blew it two other years? Are we to continue the putrid recruiting? 6 years of recruiting with only one worthy class to show for it and that was accomplished by giving jobs away. Short of a Final Four, he has to go.

We are at a point of no return. As DeNiro stated in the Untouchables:
"I want you to get this **** where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy boy [Kevin WIllard], I want him DEAD! . . . and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES."

Before the PC police come crawling out from under their rocks. This disclaimer is for you. This is only meant figuratively for his job. I repeat this is not to be taken literally.

 

[bobojcd]

I hope he makes the NCAA tournament as a 12 seed. That would be a nice problem to have. I just hope we don't give him another extension as a result.

That's the rub, isn't it. That's why I (and I would think others) feel we must continue to point out our unhappiness with this coach. I want it to be clear to all who listen that a one-and-done trip to the NCAAs this year is NOT good enough to keep this clown around, but you better believe if we even sniff a NCAA bid the administration will keep Kevin around for years to come.

All of you that want the rest of us to shut up about the coach and just root for the team have got to realize you are tacitly approving keeping this idiot for many years if he shows us any success at all this season. We do realize that's what the administration is hoping for, right? That we all just accept whatever level of success they feel like aspiring to.

 

[dcPirate]

If he sneaks into the tournament as a 12 seed, do you really think some school paying him as much as we could is going to jump at the chance to hire Kevin Willard. I guess if their background check only goes back 6 months, maybe.

Don't under-estimate the power/clout of "Slick Rick", he can/will use all the excuses we have heard from Willard during his tenure...and there are many...to help him land somewhere else if thats what he desires (and I'm hoping for).

 

[SPK145]

Wait...our players are very talented? that is a broad statement....FAR too broad for this roster.

Name the players that are top level (meaning, can take the team to the top of the Big East....after all you said "very talented") Big East players? How about this....how many would start for Nova? G Town? Providence? Creighton? Butler? Xavier?

I'd say Delgado and Whitehead are and that's it. Carrington, Rodriguez, and Singh should be nice players but nothing that every other Big East team doesn't have.

The rest are reaches.

 

[Seton75]

Angel and Isaiah were the two most talented frosh in the league last year. That ain't bad.

 

[Flnj86]

SPK is so involved with Willard that he doesn't notice the talent on our roster.

 

[Fzacsattac]

I hope he makes the NCAA tournament as a 12 seed. That would be a nice problem to have. I just hope we don't give him another extension as a result.

I agree!

 

[Fzacsattac]

I'd say Delgado and Whitehead are and that's it. Carrington, Rodriguez, and Singh should be nice players but nothing that every other Big East team doesn't have.

The rest are reaches.

I think a case could be made for Carrington. I think he will be great! He has the skills and needs a better coach to get him to Delgado/Whitehead status. He is one of my favorite pirates!

 

[mbraue]

I have after much reflection voiced my displeasure at keeping coach Willard for another year, as well as
writing reasoned emails to Pat Lyons. I thought it would despite the enormous buyout be the moment to sever the ties and bring in a new coach and staff. Those desires have dissipated, and the powers that be have chosen to try it for one more year, and though I am baffled by this decision ranting against it will do little for my psyche or digestion. It is what it is, and so I will be as passionate about the team as ever, and hope that my rationale belief that this year will be a replica of the last five is proven wrong.

I can appreciate the lingering chants for Willard to go but it is to some degree whistling into the wind. He is on the clock, and one way or another outcome will decide his fate in a year. I will stop chasing my tail in the hope that somehow it will alter the decision that has been made.

 

[mbraue]

I have after much reflection voiced my displeasure at keeping coach Willard for another year, as well as
writing reasoned emails to Pat Lyons. I thought it would despite the enormous buyout be the moment to sever the ties and bring in a new coach and staff. Those desires have dissipated, and the powers that be have chosen to try it for one more year, and though I am baffled by this decision ranting against it will do little for my psyche or digestion. It is what it is, and so I will be as passionate about the team as ever, and hope that my rationale belief that this year will be a replica of the last five is proven wrong.

I can appreciate the lingering chants for Willard to go but it is to some degree whistling into the wind. He is on the clock, and one way or another outcome will decide his fate in a year. I will stop chasing my tail in the hope that somehow it will alter the decision that has been made.

 

[simone84]

What is ironic is willard would leave if we make the NCAA next year , as he would certainly get job offers. For next year , all we can do is support our players which are very talented, and hope for the best.

No he won't. One NCAA tournament appearance in 9 years as a head coach still screams mediocrity.

If we make the NCAA tournament next year they might as well start playing "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher at the Rock. We will be stuck in a nightmare like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

I picture Tim Mcloone saying "it's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey and it's gonna last the rest of your life."

 

[shu09]

(outside of a top 3 BE finish and advancing out of the first round of the NCAA's) .

Did you change your screen name?