xDerekRx

If Coach Q was in fact part of the offense then Im all for him being #2. Next most important thing is to keep the play style similar with the roster we have. Add a solid recruiter and things could shape up nicely.

Honestly was expecting Whitsells salary to be between 250-350k. I wasn't expecting 500k or anything like that. Im not sure we needed to pay JW extra money just for the sake of optics. I think the bigger names we were after were going to cost well over 500k, but JW could be had for much less. With the money saved i was thinking something similar to dutch, the possibility of beefing up the AC staff with the extra saved money. Or better yet, the practice facility for long term growth.

I dont want to jump on him. A ton of new people have signed up over the last couple days and have said things that just boggle my mind. This being one of them. We didn't lose any of our current players so far which is a fantastic roster including many highly rated recruits. We literally lost the expected thing, the incoming recruits... Im very happy about this outcome if nothing changes with the current roster. Its all about filling the extra spots, JUCOs, next recruits etc.

Man I want a title just to see this go viral on social media.

Thats the million dollar question. Was it money, or did the guys chose other places. We have no idea. If he was offering every coach 750k and they declined, what could we do? What do we honestly think Whitsell is making now? 250? 350?

I think some of these answers might be as simple as A) we hired a firm to go after a larger guy Lanier, Murray, Stephens so forth. B) We couldn't land one of those guys and thus fell back to Whitsell. I like that we went after these names but you also can't force those names to sign. I dont feel like we lost anything in the process (I guess $$$, not sure what a firm costs?) What I mean is Im not sure it did any difference whether we promoted Jim day 1 or today and might as well see whats out there if it all ended up the same

Im not sure how you figure that so quickly? If he keeps the current roster intact, maybe adds here or there, we should be very good this year.

When I saw Fife respond like that he was already showing he shouldn't be a HC. Twitter trolls (not saying Kevin was) are everywhere and the bigger the program the worse it will get. The thin skin doesn't work.

Youre being extremely combative and defensive, Id watch that. You've been this way on this forum. You're allowed to be pessimistic and negative if you chose to be... thats on you, but just have a conversation. You are throwing around a ton of ill founded accusations about Alnutt. Saying he lowballed AC of P5 schools. Do we have a single idea if thats true? No. He could have been offering them 700-800k each for all we know.

This for sure. But not in a bad way. This program became something well known this year. Ranked, NCAA success, 2 straight coaches made good 7 figure jumps. But I feel we weren't all the way there yet with the job clout. I have no problem with Alnutt thinking our job was seen as more desirable.

So you're embarrassed he didn't hire a P5 coach and aren't ok with him looking for one and not getting what he wanted?

Yes but you're also assuming he didn't offer any of the rumored P5 guys the job...?

I think this is extremely excessive but its your opinion. The options were start over with a new era or keep some experience and keep continuity. And also its possible 2-3 of Alnutts top choices turned down the job. We dont know. They chose to keep the roster continuity. But yes his recruiter hire/staff will be absolutely key to him keeping the program rolling.

I think I was ok with the heavy search for the bigger fish... As long as we didn't lose anything in the process. And so far it appears despite the search, we didn't lose anyone on the roster. So the wait didn't have any effects that I can see right now... as far as recruits go that was going to happen either way. I guess in a perfect world we could have kept both Hodgson and Whitsell while Oats created a new staff. But didnt fall that way.

Not sure what my initial reaction is. Maybe because of all the names, time, and search Im a little letdown. But I have no idea what went on behind the scenes. Whitesell probably was the best bet to keep the current roster intact and if that comes to be true, then its not a horrible "hire" at all. This roster is very good and keeps some consistency. I just dont think BH was to be trusted or else he would have been a good candidate. His lack of HC experience probably hurt too. After hearing Murray, Lanier, Stepehens etc... I think I was just hoping for that splash. Although after the dust settles Im just happy we did the work and have made a decision. Now lets start building towards next season.

Stephens has a really good profile. The article states hes almost too laid back of a guy to push himself to a job. Izzo even calls him not a good enough bullshitter lol. Not to rope Oats into this but seems like the opposite of Stephens. And I don't even mean that in a negative light for Nate, since day 1 I thought he had that great motivator, bullshitter, salesman vibe (probably why none of the recent stuff he did moved the needle much with me). But Stephens could be quite the get. All he knows is success. I also like the bit about how MSU never gets Top 20 recruits, but constantly succeeds by finding the right guys, and Stephens finds them. This could make him a sneaky good recruiter at a mid major... someone who identifies the right fit instead of going just by how a player is rated.

Even when we were excited that she declined Penn State my first thoughts were she might be after a better job. I'm not well enough versed in the women's game to know which if these jobs is considered better than the other.

Again how is Jeseph not in consideration for the HC job, just look at the recruiting he's already doing. He's clearly going through everyone available in the entire country to find these names

I think it's awesome he got an interview. Would love to see him take a lower mid major job to cut his teeth and see what he can do. Then If he's successful maybe he ends up here. It would be one of the greatest stories if it worked out that way

Although I have no clue what is going on behind the scenes, I commend Whitsell and others for keeping the roster entirely intact at the moment. Sure recruits will leave because they really have nothing keeping them here like an established player, but the core roster is still very very very good. Most of the names rumored for the HC job have good recruiting credentials and big program clout... between that and if the current players stay, I think the transitional dropoff will not be that large if at all.

Those are great numbers. Always wondered about this myself the last few years. Its amazing thinking back when I started following the team, I was joyous when Empire Sports Network threw a game on 1-2 times a season. I recall recording a CMU game on VHS maybe back in 2000-2002 area. Rewatched it 2-3 times just because I could!

This isn't really bothering me anymore. Recruits come for the current setup and coaches. We find our new coach, probably within the next week, and they get their guys.

Long overdue tweet by Oats. Was actually starting to think he never would. I GET how fast this went down and hitting the ground running in Alabama. Oats has a family to look after also besides doing all of his duties. Him leaving I have ZERO issue with. All I ever wanted was A, address the players B, maybe a thank you UB/Buffalo tweet or quote. Thats all I wanted. Those two things. Him leaving for a bigger job at a big school with a massive payday Ive always been fine with. Its business etc etc. But if he did indeed address the team, then Im good. Im moving on.

Very odd timing, although I feel like there had to more pressure on him to address this outside of your tweet alone?

99% of all the venom here after Oats leaving is pure speculation and at best "a source told me"