2017 Coaching Carousel
- Status
I agree with this sentiment. I like him, and will be happy with the hire if it's him. But the hype is bizarre IMO. He's a strong candidate, but not the level that some think.
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
Agree with all of this but really hope for his sake that he becomes willing to recognize and act on some of his weaknesses. His in-game coaching is a huge failing and the unwillingness to 86 one or more of his assistants to bring in someone to address that problem is a major reason he hasn't worked out here. If he continues to refuse to address that problem, I can't see him ever having success at any P5 school.
Not really.
But it doesn't matter what terms you use, the CAA and leagues like the MEAC and the NEC are clearly not the same thing. Nor is the CAA like the Atlantic 10 on the other end.
Its a mid-major, and "the pride of Leroy" was having a pretty good start to his freshman year before blowing out his knee.
I support Keatts as a candidate but also know there are some question marks. The guy can obviously coach and recruit but he doesn't have a Big 10 caliber staff with him right now. Obviously he could build one, but if he were to bring his whole staff with him, I'd be very concerned.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Admittedly, I did not know who he was/is prior to his name popping up on here, but I like the narrative.
Yeah, I agree to that. But if we're going to group 32 conferences into just a couple of labels, conferences within a group will differ greatly. But this is irrelevant to the discussion at hand I suppose.
Cheez
- Sun Prairie WI
That's just it. Unicorns don't exist - so I don't think it's necessary to get borderline hostile when people question whether Keatts is actually as good as his win/loss record.
The hype seems to be strongest among weirdos like me who have spent years parsing the differences between resumes like Groce's and resumes like Keatts'.
He's like a create-a-coach.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
This is such a mischaracterization of the discussion. Nobody denies that, in a perfect world, you'd have a few more years of work to look at on Keatts. But his existing body of work is so impressive that you're not going to get that chance. Somebody is gonna give him a P5 shot in about a month, it'll be us or it won't be.
If he's hired I will definitely support him. Right now his resume is too short for my personal preferences. I think we'll do a lot better.
I'm with you actually. I was disappointed in the Groce hire for resume limitations that Keatts has blown out of the water. I love his resume. I think he's very likely to succeed. But, I'd love to have seen him do it for a couple more years.
We know the 6 major conferences. I would categorize the A10, AAC and Mountain West (not lately, admittedly) as "quasi-majors", then everything else as "Mid-Majors" until you get down to bottom 5 or so leagues.
Those four groups are "like with like", to the greatest extent possible.
The thing is, you only come to this thread every several days, you only see train GIFs and miss the actual discussion. It gives the perception of people jumping on the wagon just to jump on and not really thinking critically. Kind of like when everyone jumped on the TeamShield nonsense
.It's not a mischaracterization of anything when the word unicorn is being thrown around. You may not be denying the concerns and I generally agree with you on here, but others are painting him as a slam dunk. That's not true at all.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Kind of like when everyone jumped on the TeamShield nonsense
Ha, you beat me to it - I was going to point out that some of the Keatts stuff has gotten to be a little tongue-in-cheek, a la Team Shield, and the casual observer is probably like "what the hell is wrong with these guys?"
Fun fact - In VCU's last 3 years in the CAA with Shaka Smart as their head coach they were never conference regular season champions. They finished T-5, 4 , and 2. Also, per Kenpom this year VCU is #50 and UNC Wilmington is #59, so not really a big gap there.
What's wrong with the word unicorn? Obviously the mythical horned horse creature doesn't exist, but "unicorn" is a pretty standard term to describe a rare, super-high-performing startup. I think applying it to a coach is pretty logical.
I'm not implying certainty of success by saying "unicorn", I'm just pointing out the uniqueness of the qualifications.
Fun fact - In Anthony Grant's only 3 years at VCU in the CAA he finished first ALL three years.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
This is the year, we are arguably the best job out there. Next year, IU and tOSU may open up. Plus, other jobs throughout the country that may be perceived as better.
I'll agree that it is very impressive what he's done at UNCW. I can understand the draw.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
This. Keatts was in a very unique position of recruiting top caliber talent and simultaneously interacting with top recruiters and watching them interact with players. I think that will give him the skills to be able to keep our incoming class complete.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
The word "unicorn" is being thrown derisively in the direction of the people who simultaneously say they want to be fist-pumpingly shocked with a Lovie-esque, outside-the-box home run, but then also demand that person will bring
-recruiting chops (but not the kind that raises eyebrows!)
-an exciting style of play (but not TOO crazy! has to work in the B1G amirite?)
-great Xs and Os (but not in, like, the Weber way!)
-a clear signal to the world that we're big time again (but not so big that he may some day leave!)
Oh and you also need to keep our recruiting class.
- Status