Assistant Coach hire discussion

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

Yes, I understand that Pike is going to “take his time.” But surely that doesn’t mean the next three months...I’ve gotta think a hire will be made in the next three weeks. Right? Hope it’s the guy from UNLV, or someone currently at a high major school that wants to come to Rutgers.

 

[RU677381]

I am in agreement with you. Presumably he will want the next coach to have input regarding the openings on the roster.

 

[4theknights]

Young’s replacement so critical and Pike knows it. A lot of pressure for this hire as he will have a tough act to follow.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

IMO, either you hire a defensive coordinator and big man coach or you reshuffle duties to account for the loss of Young.

 

[sct1111]

We need an assistant that can bring a big time recruit/recruits with him. You're not going to be able to replace Youngs defensive bball IQ.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

We need an assistant that can bring a big time recruit/recruits with him. You're not going to be able to replace Youngs defensive bball IQ.

Well, some assistant has to handle the defense and big men. You just can't stop doing it.

 

[Rufaninga]

Well, some assistant has to handle the defense and big men. You just can't stop doing it.

not with the shooters we have :)

 

[RUJMM78]

Young’s replacement so critical and Pike knows it. A lot of pressure for this hire as he will have a tough act to follow.

It might be hard to fill Young's background,but this position was the lowest paid of the 3 assistant coaches.As such its unlikely to attract a hot shot recruiter and easier to find a replacement with a background coaching power forwards and centers.

 

[needmorecowbell]

We need an assistant that can bring a big time recruit/recruits with him. You're not going to be able to replace Youngs defensive bball IQ.

I’m now thinking this is the best approach

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I am surprised at the amount of concern over the assistant position. Young was an extension of Pike for many years but the goal for any HC, is to have his assistants move onto becoming a HC.

This is more of a practical loss, but it's not something irreplaceable after 3 years in the program with 2 assistants who have been with Pike and understand what we want to do.

Jay Young was not known as an elite recruiter and RU can certainly use some more horsepower on the recruiting trail. Hobbs could also pick up the pace to help offset the loss of Young and also could help more with recruiting.

I am not sure why there isn't more confidence in what we have in place with Pike, Knight, Hobbs and Shoes in his role. I am certain all of the coaches are leveraging their ability to recruit and have connections to upgrade the roster. But I wouldn't expect an assistant coach walking in the door promising multiple Top 100-150 prospects. We are trending in the right direction and this opening is an going to wind up being an additional benefit to the program, not an overall loss.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

Pass on Shoes moving up. Fine where he is.

 

[RUChoppin]

I am surprised at the amount of concern over the assistant position. Young was an extension of Pike for many years but the goal for any HC, is to have his assistants move onto becoming a HC.

This is more of a practical loss, but it's not something irreplaceable after 3 years in the program with 2 assistants who have been with Pike and understand what we want to do.

Jay Young was not known as an elite recruiter and RU can certainly use some more horsepower on the recruiting trail. Hobbs could also pick up the pace to help offset the loss of Young and also could help more with recruiting.

I am not sure why there isn't more confidence in what we have in place with Pike, Knight, Hobbs and Shoes in his role. I am certain all of the coaches are leveraging their ability to recruit and have connections to upgrade the roster. But I wouldn't expect an assistant coach walking in the door promising multiple Top 100-150 prospects. We are trending in the right direction and this opening is an going to wind up being an additional benefit to the program, not an overall loss.

I know that there has been talk of Young's ability developing big men, and we've seen the improvements in Omoruyi and Doorson while he's been here. So, on that score, there's some thought that Young's departure is a loss.

I'm happy for Young, and will always be glad to see our assistants going on to HC jobs. The question now is who does Pike bring in - and I'm sure he has a lot more candidates lining up than he did when he was first hired. I trust him to make a good choice there, and to keep building what will hopefully become his coaching tree. Just curious who that person will be - ideally it'd be someone who could help us land a star recruit or two, or someone who has similar abilities to Young in developing bigs.

 

[ScarletNut]

The last decent coaching tree at RU b-ball was Wenzel when he had Jeff Van Gundy and Eddie Jordan. Hopefully Pike succeeds so well at RU that he surpasses those 2 from his tree

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

19 Days.....let's get this thing wrapped up this week.

 

[kcg88]

19 Days.....let's get this thing wrapped up this week.

Yeah, I'm surprised it's taking so long to be honest. Take your time, get it right and all that sure, but Pikiell must have known there was a chance Young would go and would have had a "short list" to replace him, no?

 

[higgins3]

I ran into Shoes a couple times on campus. From just two brief interactions with him, he seemed like an old school good person.

I still think him not coming in with Pikiell decreases his chances of a promotion to a higher assistant role. I also think that Asher, while proving to be a big asset to Rutgers, is still too young for a strong promotion.

Things are very quiet. This makes me think that Pikiell is not going to splash with big names. If he was, you would probably hear about it in the twitterverse. I think there is reason to believe it could be a coach from the American East Conference.

Just my opinion, but I think it will be someone Pikiell has a great relationship with. It won't just be who is the best recruiter, or who has won the most games. Like many successful businesses, it is about hiring great people with strong values.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

What we don't know is what the budget is. I would think/hope while the athletic department needs to cut costs this would be the wrong place to look.

 

[Mr_Twister]

We need the best possible recruiter if we want to compete for titles and have sustained success. After that, the candidate’s other attributes will be taken into consideration. We are not looking for a replacement for Father Flanagan.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

What we don't know is what the budget is. I would think/hope while the athletic department needs to cut costs this would be the wrong place to look.

Why does the athletic Dept need to cut costs?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Why does the athletic Dept need to cut costs?

You are right....they either need to cut costs or increase revenue or forgo any stated goal of budget neutrailty.

 

[AshCatchEm]

You are right....they either need to cut costs or increase revenue or forgo any stated goal of budget neutrailty.

Why do you like to make up and lament on problems that don't exist? Just like trying to spread your brand of histeria?

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

23 Days and counting. That's a long time to fill a spot on the staff.

Starting to think money to entice a high level assistant may be an issue.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

23 Days and counting. That's a long time to fill a spot on the staff.

Starting to think money to entice a high level assistant may be an issue.

There is no issue with funding the position for an existing slot, which was 3rd in the pecking order of salary on the staff.

There is no rush to fill the position and the HC is front and center in ATL for the start of the live period. We can afford to be extremely selective and deliberate with this hire. There is no artificial deadline to make a hire with this many applicants interested in the position.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

There is no issue with funding the position for an existing slot, which was 3rd in the pecking order of salary on the staff.

There is no rush to fill the position and the HC is front and center in ATL for the start of the live period. We can afford to be extremely selective and deliberate with this hire. There is no artificial deadline to make a hire with this many applicants interested in the position.

You have no idea if Funding is an issue.

Guys that Pikiell would like to hire may not want to come for what Rutgers is paying right now. You don't know unless you are talking to them or their agents.

 

[RUBigFrank]

Hire will be in n the next fiscal year

 

[Jim_from_RU]

You have no idea if Funding is an issue.

Guys that Pikiell would like to hire may not want to come for what Rutgers is paying right now. You don't know unless you are talking to them or their agents.

I believe Hawk is plugged into the hoops program.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

I believe Hawk is plugged into the hoops program.

Still has no idea what coaches are asking for or what Hobbs/Barachi are willing to pay. There are Budgets and if a target wants more it needs to approved at a higher level.

 

[dkostus]

Still has no idea what coaches are asking for or what Hobbs/Barachi are willing to pay. There are Budgets and if a target wants more it needs to approved at a higher level.

You have no idea either, yet you are bringing it up and implying that there must be something wrong because the staff isn't finalized yet when there's no evidence of that. Take your own advise

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

You have no idea either, yet you are bringing it up and implying that there must be something wrong because the staff isn't finalized yet when there's no evidence of that. Take your own advise

I never stated anything as a fact. It was speculation. It is very rare to see an assistant coach hire take more than 3 weeks...... it's approaching 1 month, so yes, speculation will happen. For comparison....when Pikiell was hired, he finalized his entire staff in 21 days.

Message boards are about opinions, facts and speculation. I'm sure you know the difference. At least I hope you do....lol

 

[LC-88]

The last decent coaching tree at RU b-ball was Wenzel when he had Jeff Van Gundy and Eddie Jordan. Hopefully Pike succeeds so well at RU that he surpasses those 2 from his tree

IMHO Van Gundy was the best coach RU ever had.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Still has no idea what coaches are asking for or what Hobbs/Barachi are willing to pay. There are Budgets and if a target wants more it needs to approved at a higher level.

It's not a big deal....the point made about funding is false....do I know the exact dollars that the next hire will make...not to the penny, but pretty close.

There are again, over 100 candidates that expressed interest in the opening. Funding is not at all a concern.

And to answer the other question, i have a pretty good idea on a small number of candidate names and what they'd be willing to take the job for and in none of the cases, was money an issue. And yes that means total compensation.

Speed to hire is not a concern. Most assistant coaching positions around the country, usually are filled in 6 to 8 weeks. There's an extensive interview process, and a sorting out of candidates, other openings around the country that can add new potential candidates weekly, a formal application required, state required process, background checks, etc....and yes the state of New Jersey moves slower in some cases than a private school.

This isn't the NBA or a small town junior college with one AD, an assistant AD and a couple of compliance people. A job that can pay anywhere upwards of 300 to 400K or more, doesn't get opened and closed within 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

It's not a big deal....the point made about funding is false....do I know the exact dollars that the next hire will make...not to the penny, but pretty close.

There are again, over 100 candidates that expressed interest in the opening. Funding is not at all a concern.

And to answer the other question, i have a pretty good idea on a small number of candidate names and what they'd be willing to take the job for and in none of the cases, was money an issue. And yes that means total compensation.

Speed to hire is not a concern. Most assistant coaching positions around the country, usually are filled in 6 to 8 weeks. There's an extensive interview process, and a sorting out of candidates, other openings around the country that can add new potential candidates weekly, a formal application required, state required process, background checks, etc....and yes the state of New Jersey moves slower in some cases than a private school.

This isn't the NBA or a small town junior college with one AD, an assistant AD and a couple of compliance people. A job that can pay anywhere upwards of 300 to 400K or more, doesn't get opened and closed within 2 to 3 weeks.

Okay, Sure....:rolleyes: . Over 100 candidates and you know the specific salary that some of them would accept....lol. Every job has a budget...... especially at Rutgers. To say that money is not a potential issue to attract a high level recruiter and/coach is not realistic. You are not poaching a current HM assistant to come to high cost of living NJ for the same pay. Pike would need to get a lot more to entice someone....even if it's just to account for the 25-30% higher cost of living.

Hobbs and Knight's initial contracts were for $300k each, Young was at $200k. I think they got raises after year 2.

And, as noted, the initial 3 staff positions were filled in 21 days.

 

[Rhuarc]

How does Rutgers rank in assistant salaries compared to their competition? That might be relevant to the discussion. I think I remember it being posted here recently but not sure where.

 

[RUJMM78]

We need an assistant that can bring a big time recruit/recruits with him. You're not going to be able to replace Youngs defensive bball IQ.

There are plenty of assistant coaches who can recruit and teach defense but Rutgers doesn't have the money or cache to attract them right now.The open position is for the third assistant coach which paid less than 300,000.

 

[needmorecowbell]

There are plenty of coaching positions open across the country. It’s a heavy recruiting time right now so that takes preference.

 

[dkostus]

We apparently have the 3rd highest assistant salary pool in the B1G, as discussed in another thread. People should find something else to complain about.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

Fred Hill Jr. Great recruiter...:cool2:

 

[Mr_Twister]

There are plenty of assistant coaches who can recruit and teach defense but Rutgers doesn't have the money or cache to attract them right now.The open position is for the third assistant coach which paid less than 300,000.

Are you suggesting we will be hiring a rising star rather than a known, established coach/recruiter?

 

[RedChucken123]

If it’s only about the money (and it doesn’t seem like we are too far from market rate, if at all), maybe he’s not the right guy for us? I would think this would be an opportunity for guys to get exposure and step up. Isn’t the ultimate goal for anyone in the realm to be their own head coach and not just necessarily make the most money? There is so much speculation in this thread, it’s ridiculous.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

I never stated anything as a fact. It was speculation. It is very rare to see an assistant coach hire take more than 3 weeks...... it's approaching 1 month, so yes, speculation will happen. For comparison....when Pikiell was hired, he finalized his entire staff in 21 days.

Message boards are about opinions, facts and speculation. I'm sure you know the difference. At least I hope you do....lol

As does Hawk. He’s usually on-point with most of his info and IF pure “opinion” he makes that pretty clear.