As I posted on here a few weeks ago (and others Iām sure have noticed), during player introductions, the PA announcer in JPJ continues to introduce CRS as āInterim Coach Ron Sanchez.ā To me as a fan, it really puts a damper on the pre-game excitement you want fans to have, and it serves as a constant reminder to everyone (the fans, players, and staff) that this is all just temporary. Great way to send the guys out to compete!
Iāve written the Athletic Department about it (received a standard reply thanking me for my input), but Iād urge others to write as well. Everyone knows heās interim, but we should be helping our guys win, not reminding them before every game of the uncertainly surrounding both the program and their basketball livesā¦
Thatās really dumb. And kinda disrespectful. And completely unnecessary.
But also I canāt imagine itās having much of an effect on our guys. Or, if the word interim is affecting them, then playing sports in front of tens of thousands in person and hundreds of thousands on the television, might not be for them.
I think Odom makes a lot of sense on paper and keeping Williford under that scenario is a no brainerāI would love to see his recruiting chops with the proverbial handcuffs of a tired system finally removed. Iāll be forever grateful for the Natty but Iāll never understand how TB couldnāt (or wouldnāt) better leverage that success. Who would have ever thought that game would be his last win ever in the NCAA tournament prior to his retirement? Crazy.
Honestly, why? What has jwilly done in the last decade? Is he an elite recruiter (no way)? Is he an elite Xās and Oās schemer (no idea but there is non evidenceā¦maybe???)? Is he an elite developer (no way based on the post players over the last decade)?
At lead Ron has some head whistle experience and is objectively the best recruiter/talent evaluator on staff.
Any other conclusion seems rooted in personal bias or relationships.
Ron had his chance at Charlotte. It was mediocre at best and thatās being generous. JWilly would have been a better pick in my opinion. Much more passion and fire, better history with the program, and has been a player at UVA. In times of crisis, I think that matters, Iāll take the local guy who played here, stayed here, and recruited here. Just my opinion.
I donāt have any relationship with anyone on the coaching staff. And I guess we all have personal biases, thatās what makes it an opinion.
Hav pretty much laid it out. We knew Sanchez would be TB lite. I would have rather seen Williford get the tryout. Hell I remember someone asked this in my mailbag not long before it actually played out. I gave the same answer then.
Iād dispute the best recruiter stuff tooā¦maybe, maybe not. Itās hard to judge from the outside. An assistantās job is mostly just to evaluate and recommend. What happens after that is on the HC. I donāt remember Sanchez standing out that much but honestly back that far I canāt really recall who was involved with who.
I mean how many times have you said some variation of āTony is always the one who closes,ā or āevery recruitment ends up being a TB recruitment,ā right? To me it seems like the assistantsā most important job is to make sure TB isnāt wasting his time. Curating a list of guys to see, keeping guys warm until itās time to turn it over to TB, filtering out guys they arenāt gonna have a chance with, etc. Kinda hard to assign credit when we donāt exactly know whoās doing what job.
No personal bias or relationships here. Hell, I think my posts on this board over the past two days is more than Iāve talked to anyone in years. Iām pretty rusty.
My gut tells me that Williford would make some significant changes as a HC or support them as an assistant under a new HC. I donāt see that happening under Sanchez.
Funny cause seems true when I watch Jay on the bench
What we all dont know is Jason comes up with lot of the out of bound plays (i think all coaches have a say here). Also at practices I have been to Jason is by far the most vocal coach there (including TB) and at times is running the practice.
@DFresh11, do you see Ron as the guy long-term or more of a bridge to the next long-term guy? Iām just curious because youāve expressed a preference for Ron getting the job for stability, recruiting, etc. but also because there arenāt any clear home run guys on the radar. Which, to me, sounds like you donāt consider Ron a permanent solution but perhaps our best option at the moment.
If the idea (and I get that some probably donāt care for this idea) is to at some point in the 2030s to hire head coach Johnny Carpenter/Kyle Guy/Chase Coleman/other-dude-who-has-gone-through-the-program, then we kind of have to roll with Ron Sanchez for a bit, donāt we?
Penn State really looking good this year. Up to 16th in Torvik if you take out preseason assumptions.
If they have a year, I really like him as a target. Had VCU as a top 70 team every year apart from his first plus a few tourney appearances and wins. That floor is relatively high.
Whatās his deal again? People think heād Villanova target?
I think he could be longer term yes. Thats the thing about the future though right?
And yes reasons you said is why I wish the would do 3 year thing now. I like the group we have Just an healthy Eli and 1 or 2 more guys away in my opinion
Ron lost me with the last 10 minutes of the SMU game. I agree the roster is closer than we may want to admit, but Iāve seen that coaching before and donāt want it anymore.
Otzās record is better than it looks. For starters, he was very good with the Jackrabbits.
Second, that first season at UNLV was solid. He inherited a bad UNLV team that opened the season with some tough (for the caliber of team they were) OOC games. But they won 7 of 8 down the stretch (including against an excellent SDSU team) and tied for second in the Mountain West. The second season was worse, but they had a tough OOC schedule and Covid made everything weird.
Iād agree that nothing in his past suggested heād be this good, but in his coaching resume he only had 2 years that werenāt a āsolidā or better result. One was his first season at South Dakota State and the other was Covid.
