FWIW - a co-worker's daughter, who goes to PC, called him just now saying she saw Rick Pitino on campus this morning.
Pitino on campus at Providence
- Thread starter lebowski15
- Start date
Translation: someone saw a vaguely Italian looking guy walking around in a suit at PC.
So, first, let me say, Cooley has, protestations to the contrary, handled his negotiation brilliantly. In my humble opinion, Georgetown is spending $6 million a year “not to suck”. That is what Ed Cooley brings.
But Slick Rick Pitino is no slouch at self promotion either. On one hand, he can take the Saint Johns job and get back to being a “high major” program without having to move. He saw that PC was prepared to pay Cooley $5 million. That’s likely to be more money (as in at least a couple of million more) than he would get at Saint Johns. He knows PC is stunned by Cooley’s departure and is scrambling to save face. He can hop in grab at least 5 million, and perhaps more, and look like a hero while he does it. Plus, he’s at an institution we’re even a moderate level of success allows him to Coach for as long as he wants.
This whole drama is shaping up to be really interesting. The problem is Georgetown and Providence College’s reckless spending has, de facto, raise the bar for coaches salaries in the conference. That’s a bad thing for both Seton Hall and Connecticut. Depending on how far Hurley goes in the tournament, we will probably have to deal with this new reality over the next few months.
Agree, Ed Cooley is overrated. He's a good coach. Similar to Willard. Perfect for a school like Providence. Making him one of the highest paid coaches in the country seems crazy to me.
Georgetown is desperate to climb out of the abyss. Can’t say I blame them for throwing that much money at Cooley either.
Is Cooley that much better an option than either Schrewsberry or Roades at VCU? He’s more proven. Raises the floor IMO. But those seem to be pretty damn good fallback options.
Agreed both of those would be good options, but when you are supposed to be a flagship program for the conference you go all in on your number one option as long as they’re available.
Hiring Cooley/Pitino provides an immediate buzz in the media and excitement for the fanbase that you don’t get with hiring a mid-major lifer. And right now Georgetown needs some life breathed back into the program more than anything else.
i think its great all around. good for those schools, the conference and the Hall. its simple measure; just Win!
I think Pitino is overrated.
And Providence's facilities are better than St. John's?
And Providence's facilities are better than St. John's?
BREAKING: Buddy Cianci to be named head coach of Providence.
Always gets a seat near the back, too ... facing the door, of course.
... and he had degrees from two Big East schools, neither of which was Providence.
He was always a good listen when he called in on Imus...RIP
I get that people don’t like Pitino but thinking he’s overrated as a coach is delusional.
I agree that Georgetown appears to be about to overpay Cooley. But as for your Willard/Cooley comparison? False equivalency. Call me when Willard makes a Sweet Sixteen.
Don't know about st John's facilities but didn't providence just build a brand new facility a few years ago
Regarding the facilities...
I have been told by someone high up in the administration that SJU has the worse facilities in the conference.
Right now at age 70 he is. Again, now he is clearly a notch below Cooley.
If I were St. John's, I'd look very closely at Claxton. Success at a hard-to-win place, and he is younger and cheaper.
Might just be another Jay Wright.
I think Claxton is a great guy to consider. But if my school is willing to hire RP, done.
Maybe Pitino lost something on his fastball. No one has ever beaten Father Time, although players and coaches are doing things at a high-level, longer, now. The recently retired QB who used to play for the Pats and Bucs showed us that.
Watching afar at Iona, I haven't seen any evidence of that with Pitino. Which is why he'd be the top choice at virtually every school for which he was a real possibility. Like Calhoun, he is an all-time college coach IMO. Cooley is good and I've always been a fan, but he cannot hold Pitino's jock when it comes to coaching accomplishments.
I do think Speedy has promise as a young coach. But that's a much riskier bet than a motivated Pitino, even at his advanced age.
I can. I can’t blame them for going after him, but once the salaries started escalating so dramatically, they should have started considering other candidates. At $6 million, they’d have plenty of interest.
Who knows what internal motivations led them to landing on Cooley but it seems like he was their guy all along. At that point salary is just a number with that alumni network, and I’m sure you’d be hard pressed to find a Georgetown fan who’s concerned with it today.
Doesn’t matter to me one way or another how affordable it is to Georgetown. The big take away is that coaching salaries in the big east are about to take a big jump.
So it goes. Can’t say most of them haven’t earned it though. This is the most impressive the league has looked as whole since realignment.
