I donāt know the process at Virginia, but if itās in line with others that Iāve read or heard about itāll go something like outside search firm contacts candidate agents asking about interest and contract requirements. They put together a list with profiles of potential interested candidates and gives to Williams. Williams and others in the AD and/or search committee choose which candidates to interview and interviews them. Williams decides on which candidate(s) she most likes and presents their case to Ryan/BoV/very major donors. If they sign off, Williams or someone else negotiate contract details with the chosen candidate. If they donāt sign off on any candidate Williams presents, then back to the drawing board.
Iād say no AD at any school has unilateral final say over a high profile hire. But they do the filtering to make a choice to present for approval. Thatās ultimately a good bulk of what their job performance is judged on, especially by the public.
I like Byington right now because I think Vandy has some challenges associated with recruiting (some similar to our situation) and he seems to be meeting those challenges. Devries has been great at WVU. Morgantown also has challenges, but I think the challenges there are different. I would be nervous that the success in rebuilding there would be more challenging to recreate at UVA.
Indiana is a strange one. Undeniable blue blood pedigree in a state that LOVES basketball.
But they also have had a string of coaches who havenāt been able to come close to recreating the success that Knight had. The only exception being Sampson who was run
Oh really? I actually go the other way mainly because of conference affiliation and the automatic financial resources that come with thatā¦ but I also donāt think itās too much of a difference. I wouldnāt be surprised if all 3 were open to all 3 having similar guys on the board.
Is Indiana a Blue Blood still? Is there a point when they a program loses that status? I mean look at that list and I see a program thatās been basic at best since 2008.
I was reading an article I missed at the time for how ND hired Shrewsberry to replace Brey, and saw this list of criteria that I think you could CTRL-F for āNDā and replace with āUVaā and then itād be broadly accurate for this search:
Excellence on- and off-court at highly competitive academic institution
Proven success (athletically and academically)
Great recruiting prowess
Proven commitment to student-athlete development
Aspire to win titles
Passion for Notre Dame and lean into what differentiates the school from most other high-majors
Consider ND a true destination job
Will win the right way and ethically
A track record of being a leader of staff, someone with managerial temperament
Committed to style of play
Not really a knock on anything, just observing that the criteria for a coach arenāt going to be that different between power conference schools with academic reputations.
Such a good question- but I say yes. History means something. They kind of remind me of UCLA in that regard. Not in the total titles and accolades, but in the importance of their footprint. Itās like Texas with football- Indiana is a basketball state. Itās their identity.
The thing about Blue Bloods is that it only takes a very very small spark to ignite a 5-alarm inferno. I think they are in that category.
Good point and another good question! I havenāt really thought of when the cut off is. I guess there has to be some point where itās not even remotely memorable or significant? Iāll throw a random number out thereā¦ 50 years? Is that too long? Maybe itās 25 years? I mean, if a team stays in the shit hole for decade after decade thatās different. But Indiana has had some nice winds here and there just off the top of my head.
This question Itās making me think of Nebraska football for some reason.
UCLA and Indiana I donāt know what to do with them. Both have a history and both have had moments but itās been a while. Iād dare say Iāve never seen a dominant IU team in my lifetime of watching sports. Knight of the 90ās wasnāt great and the conference was becoming Michigan and Michigan State dominated. What is the face of IU basketball? Itās like Georgetown hoops.
UCLA has had some better runs especially since 2000 so maybe they do qualify.
Georgetown is a great example. Not a blue blood because it was such a brief run, But they definitely had a HUGE Following for like 10 or 15 years. But they have been largely irrelevant since 2000? I donāt know their details and I donāt wanna go look up that record, but nobody is really talking about Georgetown unless you graduated from there.
Indiana should be a better job than ours but I think some are turned off by their fan base. Rabid and unrealistic. Similar to Kentucky (to a lesser degree).
Pretty good measuring stick. Hard to argue with. I do think legendary coaches help, like CTB or The General. Probably Tier 2 for both for me, as I donāt think UVA is tier 1 right now.
@EmbracePaceUVA I think youāre right about the IU job that fan base has run off some solid coaches and they have a bit of delusions of grander.
@chavlicek15 your tiers look right. UConn counts in my book. Theyāve been consistently good for 30 years now. Nova I could argue could go down a tier they burned bright for a moment in 85 and again the 2010s but some glaring gaps in there.
