Coaching Search 2023 Edition

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

1 hour ago, UBinMD said:

If you actually wanted the job, you don’t get on the plane. He acted like an immature assistant and was treated as such. If I had an interview with someone and showed up in a competitors gear I would question their desire for my position. Similar to the NFL, even great assistants don’t always translate to success in the big chair. It is a much different position that being the buddies of the players.

The story that got out and the truth of what actually happened don't line up. Hodgson was told they weren't considering him for the job so he moved on. Bad look on his part but it didn't play out the way many on this board discuss the incident and I know that for a fact.

[UBlearns]

I'm interested in Hodgson and Cohen.

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

1 hour ago, UBinMD said:

A good question, here are my personal thoughts and the AD has not asked my opinion: 😂

1. People should almost always get a second chance, I have gotten many myself, but very rarely back where the mistake was made

2. I personally would like to see a fresh start, a Hodgson hire feels like a retread. It's like saying a mistake was made, so we are going to go back 4 years and hire the other guy. Don't love that.

3. He has been an assistant for close to 10 years, the last 4 at an SEC school. No HC chances? Did he get calls and not want to go? It seems like if you want to be a HC and a D1 opportunity arises, you take it and start the journey.

4. I hear a lot about the TBT, but he wasn't the HC there, why? Too busy with Alabama? I would have like to see some sideline action. If that's the criteria why not hire the actual TBT HC?

5. He feels like a guy who is good talking the talk to the guys, hyping them up getting them into the fold and then moves on. Like a GM. There are a lot of good GMs I would not want being my HC.

6. I could be wrong, but is there at Oats coaching tree yet? Who's the next guy?

I could be completely in left field and wrong, but those are the things floating in my head on this particular option. I had barely heard of Becky Burke, but once I found out about her trajectory, I was all in on her potential. She started at the lowest of low and has proven herself time and again in very short periods of time. I would like to see someone like that.

2. Jeff Boals was overlooked for jobs twice at Ohio before being hired.

3. Many assistants coach for 10+ years before getting their first head coaching job. That's not uncommon at all.

4. He wasn't the head coach because it didn't fit his schedule at Alabama in terms of recruiting and events. He was originally supposed to be the head coach and stepped down prior to TBT beginning the first year. He was responsible for the entire roster of guys playing.

5. The players at TBT came back because they wanted to play together. He was the one that convinced them. He has built great relationships with players which is why he's a tremendous recruiter.

 

Hodgson might not get the job or be a top candidate but some of your speculation is slightly off base. I personally know about the TBT info from talking with former players and people within the UB athletic department that let Blue Collar practice at UB.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Big 4 Hoops Blogger

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

5 hours ago, MuchMany said:

From the BN article on JW's firing:

Carlin Hartman (50), an assistant at Florida and a Grand Island High School graduate

Adam Cohen (~36), an assistant at Xavier and a Williamsville North graduate

Bryan Hodgson (36), former UB assistant and Jamestown High graduate who is now an assistant at Alabama

Baker Dunleavy (40), Quinnipiac head coach

Speedy Claxton (44), Hofstra head coach

Other names of interest:

Mike Mennenga (~53), Oregon assistant and former UB assistant

Matt Langel (45), Colgate head coach

Dave Smart (57), mentioned on the coaching insider podcast that broke the JW news last night as a "Canadian savant" and their choice

Jeff Boals, Ohio head coach

The three names that make the most sense are Cohen, Hodgson or Hartman.

Cohen knows the game, can recruit and has local ties. He would be a perfect hire and would likely use UB to catapult his career.

Hodgson brings elite recruiting ability, local ties and familiarity with the UB program. He'd instantly bring higher level players to Buffalo (transfers, 3 and possibly 4 star recruits). He'd need to surround himself with a strong staff to make up for his shortcomings.

Hartman is a Buffalo local that has put his time in as a major assistant. He'd bring familiarity with WNY, someone appreciative of the opportunity that could potentially stay longterm at UB and certainly knows the game.

 

I'm open to other names not listed as well. It's safe to say we'll likely lose a good portion of our roster in the upcoming weeks so whoever gets hired will need to have solid roster building skills because it'll likely be a brand new squad next year.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Big 4 Hoops Blogger

[rma]

Bring him home

[ButlerAlumDad]

23 hours ago, MuchMany said:

Cohen is my first choice by a mile. He's a coaching prodigy and a super impressive young guy. Got his start hand-writing letters to coaches while still at Williamsville North. Transferred to UB after a short D3 career at Hobart and was a manager for the 2005 MACT heartbreaker. Connected with Josh Pastner at Arizona and has grinded for a decade and a half with stops including Rice, Harvard, Stanford, and now Xavier where he is Sean Miller's associate head coach.

He's regarded as an X's and O's guy and basketball junkie. But he's also credited with recruiting Tyrell Terry, Ziaire Williams, and Harrison Bryant to Stanford, so he's swam with the big fish. He had to recruit to Harvard and Stanford where academic and culture fits are a challenge, and I want UBMBB to head toward a more cerebral brand of play with more 4-year guys.

https://buffalonews.com/sports/college/cohen-s-dedication-to-his-dream-began-early/article_d9be45f0-67d7-5e09-9b7a-1a326e1f1352.html

The short podcast below is a good intro. Mentions he's a massive Bills fan and apologizes to Cinci fans in advance. He seems like the perfect balance of a high ceiling hire who is likely destined to be a high-major coach someday, but one whose local ties leave the possibility of a 5-8 year run here.

 

Besides Adam you have the 2 Berkuns, David & Mike. Alex Nwora who's coached ECC, FIBA, and Olympic teams, Kevin Kuwick now at Butler. 

[MuchMany]

I'm still all in on him, but one thing I wonder about with Adam Cohen is whether he wants to coach at a public university. His last ten years have been at Xavier, Stanford, Vandy, Harvard, and Rice - a cornucopia of private schools. He could be building a specialization of sorts. 

I buy into local ties as a way to attract a coach and/or get him to stay a bit longer. And if ever it were the case, Cohen is a pretty rabid Buffalonian online 😂. The last thread is three of our coaching candidates talking Buffalo junk food. Learned about another young Will North guy named Jonathan Safir, who appears to be Todd Golden's analytics protégé at Florida. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by MuchMany

[John]

10 minutes ago, rma said:

Bring him home

After reading the Adam Cohen resume of coaching my vote is in for him. His coaching stops along the way are impressive and this is an opportunity to make a name for himself. The only minus is if he is successful he will probably be offered a higher profile coaching opportunity. With today’s college basketball culture and crazy atmosphere how can a mid major keep a coach that ultimately is seeking both a higher conference job with a crazy uptick in salary. I don’t know if anyone heard the interview of the Kennesaw coach who won and gets their first trip to March madness. He has been there four years and believes in recruiting local Georgia players and not transfers primarily. He wanted to foster both local and community involvement for players and fans. He said he has like 8/9 Georgia players that were recruited and he got them all to stay. Sadly for the most part that has gone by the wayside for most of college basketball. Not only do the players not stay but the coaches also who really are only chasing the big bucks but the accolade and prestige. More fans like our family have soured and lost some of our passion first with all the pro sports but college sports is going the same way. The question is how much money is enough and in today’s culture I guess there is never enough. Nevertheless it is still an exciting time for both teams to see if they can become one of the top teams in the MAC. 

[ButlerAlumDad]

In no particular order:

Adam Cohen - Xavier

Mike Berkun - Maritime

David Berkun - Stanford

Turner Battle

Bryan Hodgson - Alabama

Alex Nwora - ECC

Kevin Kuwick - Butler

Carlin Hartman - Florida

Mike MacDonald - Daemen

Bill Belein - NCC

[TawJackson]

Realistically speaking, I think it has to be Hodgson or Cohen. I think anybody else will feel like a disappointment. . . 

[DaBulls99]

37 minutes ago, TawJackson said:

Realistically speaking, I think it has to be Hodgson or Cohen. I think anybody else will feel like a disappointment. . . 

This is based on zero intel. It’s on ADMA to find the best COACH. There is no condition they need to be from or have ties to WNY. The only thing we all care about is winning (the right way). Neither of the above guys has ever been a HC. Zero track record. It may be one of them but it’s dumb to say if it’s not them it’s a let down. 

[Tee4three]

Found this tweet and someone commented on it wondering if Paulus would get a call, and Sweeney replied that he expects buffalo to go flashier 

What would be a flashy hire? 

[TawJackson]

53 minutes ago, DaBulls99 said:

This is based on zero intel. It’s on ADMA to find the best COACH. There is no condition they need to be from or have ties to WNY. The only thing we all care about is winning (the right way). Neither of the above guys has ever been a HC. Zero track record. It may be one of them but it’s dumb to say if it’s not them it’s a let down. 

We trusted ADMA last time, and we got Whitesell. . . Just sayin'. . . 

[DooleyBull06]

42 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

Found this tweet and someone commented on it wondering if Paulus would get a call, and Sweeney replied that he expects buffalo to go flashier 

What would be a flashy hire? 

This is part of the reason why we had to pull the trigger. We had to strike while our name brand is still warm. I have no problem becoming a school that produces coaches. Give me young and ambitious over old and looking to coast into retirement.

[UBinMD]

1 hour ago, TawJackson said:

We trusted ADMA last time, and we got Whitesell. . . Just sayin'. . . 

I think Mo and Becky Burke were solid hires. I think he realizes JW may not have been the right choice, but I think he listened to the players and wanted to keep continuity and hold onto Segu and Williams, unfortunately they didn’t perform for him. I think our current roster has potential but need to fill in some gaps like 3 pt shooter and true PG that values the ball. I have faith in this search process.

[MKBullsfan]

It’s all about recruiting that is why it should be Hodgson or….a flashy name that was once a NBA player, NCAA star player or formerly successful head coach looking to get back in the game. 

[DaBulls99]

College sports coaching graveyards are filled with former great recruiters. Just find the best coach. The rest takes care of itself. Nobody around here had a clue who Becky was before she was hired. 

[promotherobot]

On 3/11/2023 at 5:22 PM, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

2. Jeff Boals was overlooked for jobs twice at Ohio before being hired.

3. Many assistants coach for 10+ years before getting their first head coaching job. That's not uncommon at all.

4. He wasn't the head coach because it didn't fit his schedule at Alabama in terms of recruiting and events. He was originally supposed to be the head coach and stepped down prior to TBT beginning the first year. He was responsible for the entire roster of guys playing.

5. The players at TBT came back because they wanted to play together. He was the one that convinced them. He has built great relationships with players which is why he's a tremendous recruiter.

 

Hodgson might not get the job or be a top candidate but some of your speculation is slightly off base. I personally know about the TBT info from talking with former players and people within the UB athletic department that let Blue Collar practice at UB.

Speaking of TBT, not to get off topic here, but what are the plans this year? Is Buffalo going to be a regional location? and if so, where will they play? Alumni or maybe at the Flickinger Center at ECC Downtown?

[promotherobot]

9 minutes ago, DaBulls99 said:

College sports coaching graveyards are filled with former great recruiters. Just find the best coach. The rest takes care of itself. Nobody around here had a clue who Becky was before she was hired. 

We all have high hopes for Becky but she's not really done anything here yet. Just saying the jury is still out.

[DaBulls99]

22 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

We all have high hopes for Becky but she's not really done anything here yet. Just saying the jury is still out.

100% Correct. But the best class we’ve ever had is coming in and there was a remarkable coaching job done, under the circumstances (team played very hard, competed above their talent, etc). But no former ties to the program or WNY. Just saying it isn’t a prerequisite. No media members have given any inside info. 100% pure speculation based on nothing. 

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

34 minutes ago, DaBulls99 said:

College sports coaching graveyards are filled with former great recruiters. Just find the best coach. The rest takes care of itself. Nobody around here had a clue who Becky was before she was hired. 

That's an overly vague statement that doesn't include a lot of context. Sure, there's plenty of former great recruiters that didn't pan out to be good head coaches. There's also a ton of great teachers, developers and game managers that didn't turn into great head coaches because they couldn't recruit the level of players needed to be successful.

There are plenty of different skills needed to be a successful head coach at the D1 level. To diminish any skillset as non-important is wrong. Ideally, you want someone well rounded but that's not always possible at the mid-major level.

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

31 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

Speaking of TBT, not to get off topic here, but what are the plans this year? Is Buffalo going to be a regional location? and if so, where will they play? Alumni or maybe at the Flickinger Center at ECC Downtown?

It appears that only three of their regional locations have been announced at this time (Wichita, Louisville, West Virginia). I know there was speculation about Buffalo in the past and would think that's a strong possibility given Blue Collar's recent string of success.

https://thetournament.com/tbt/2023-locations/

[Tee4three]

I'm often a get the best coach (X's and O's) and the secondary coaches will kind of take care of themselves because usually the top recruiters have really only been top recruiters at power 5 schools

It's why hodgson intrigues me, he has already demonstrated he could recruit here and took his recruiting up a notch at Alabama 

[Kevin]

20 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

I'm often a get the best coach (X's and O's) and the secondary coaches will kind of take care of themselves because usually the top recruiters have really only been top recruiters at power 5 schools

It's why hodgson intrigues me, he has already demonstrated he could recruit here and took his recruiting up a notch at Alabama 

Hodgson literally coaches the #1 team in the country. 

He should be the top of the list with Cohen.

[everlast2504]

Throwing a name out there Jermaine Kimbrough. Assistant at Arizona State and from North East Ohio. We have the "Hurley" coaching tree that produced Oats and has the from the region factor.