OT: Dan Hurley to Uconn
- Thread starter Zak57
- Start date
So much for this becoming official yesterday or today. I stated immediately when Hurley was announced as a candidate at U Conn that I doubted he would take the job. I could be wrong but I said he played RU twice and I think he likes the attention and that he does it as a ploy to get more money from RI. The longer this goes on I think he will remain at Rhode Island. Either way this could come back and bite him. He loses a lot at RI this year but there are big risks at both U Conn and Pitt. We shall see soon enough.
According to this article the AD's short list is Hurley, Crean (now off the list), Martin and Matta. Doubt Calhoun comes back and not sure he would even be considered.
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/hc-sp-uconn-men-coach-search-0316-story.html
Lots of agents with the permission of the coach will get their clients names out there with other jobs solely for the purpose of creating leverage with their existing situation. Always difficult to tell who is really interested in making a move. Not surprised DH is not taking the UConn job but would be more curious about turning down Pitt.
I can't see Martin in Connecticut. He knew what he was walking into at USCe. Basketball is fourth behind football, spring football, and baseball.
What I could see Martin doing is waiting for Miami coach Jim Larranaga to step down and go after that job. Martin is a Miami guy after all.
What I could see Martin doing is waiting for Miami coach Jim Larranaga to step down and go after that job. Martin is a Miami guy after all.
Surprising - many ominous moving parts here - figured Hurley was inclined to avoid a spot where there were so many major factors largely outside of his control
Will be interesting to see
(1.) does he get his desired '7 years'?
(2.) How is his agreement configured ? - - with the potential of NCAA sanctions looming (and we do not know how bad this will or will not be) - wonder if he ends up with some initial interim agreement like Ash had - operate with a memorandum of understanding until the NCAA issues are resolved - and then formalize with an extension added equal to what ever period of any sanctions that may be imposed.
Also - requirements of a "for cause" dismissal will likely be defined with a very, very high threshold - with absolutely no room for finessing a cost saving firing through some loophole.
... will bet that there is fine print somewhere that addresses the issues and says something like
"In the event of the imposition of NCAA (or self imposed) sanctions on the program for previous activities or oversights ...."
then some modifications will be available
This almost didn't happen.....I don't think he wanted to burn another bridge by playing around and declining another lucrative offer....UConn wasn't prepared to pay anything close to 3.1M, but floating the idea of Pitt, got him the extra money....
At 3M per year, expectations will be extremely high...UConn gets their preferred choice and ends the speculation that was never truly there on Pikiell.....
Hope David Cox gets a chance at URI, good guy in the handful of conversations I had with him, while he was here at RU....
I think that’s why it took him so long. He probably wanted to be at UCONN (location and history) but realized this job is going to much harder than it was 5 years ago. Every team in the AAC is begging to get out. He will find that to be the case shortly.
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I can't think of a single good reason to leave South Carolina for Connecticut unless you were from Connecticut or attended Connecticut. Need a apply to Frank Martin.
Frank Martin is a Miami native. He used to coach HS ball in Miami.
It's the ACC.
This is a relatively good thing for RU. I don't see Hurley being a more effective recruiter at a declining UConn than Ollie and it takes URI's straw out of the drink. The Hurley brand Buy, Sell or Hold? ...Sell.
This comes as a big surprise to me. I really thought he was trying to get more money from Rhode Island. It could be risky for his future but than again if he becomes really successful there he could probably get an even bigger job in a much better conference.
Money talks. He's getting $3 million a year.
If he has success look for him to make a move to the ACC powers (Duke, UNC, Syracuse).
Coach K, Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim are all getting up there at 67-73 years old.
He might. Uconn offered him much more money. If RU had offered him that deal a few years ago he would have jumped at it. A lot has changed in the past 5 years and RU is a much more attractive job now.
Not meant to flame, but UConn is a better job. Eventually they are going to land in a P5 or the BE and they have history (National Championships) and national recognition on their side. Hurley wanted to stay in the Northeast, so that limited his long term options. Pitt was only viable to drive up his value to UConn which it did. Coincidence that Hurley and Willard have he same agent??
Please tell me what P5 Conference they're going to land in? This is the stuff of message board fantasy and it's been going on for 6 years now. Maybe in the next century.
Joining the BE? What are they going to do with the football program? Go independent? Close shop? Highly unlikely.
Your basing your opinion on a fantasy and UConn getting out of the football biz.
Today, but tomorrow? The issue is conference money. Others have it, uconn does not, at this point. There's an arms race brewing (facilities, assistant coaches, ect) , and that conference money will fuel it, and one wonders whether uconn can keep up. Joining the BE will not help. The ACC is a natural spot, but likely have to wait on ND, and everyone knows not to hold their breath for that.
Let’s see how many primetime network games UConn gets versus RU over the next three years. That will tell you who’s program is more important.
And let’s also see which of our fantasies comes true over the next three years as to which conference they end up.
So now you're introducing a new measurement to determine who's more important. UConn can play in primetime network games until the cows come home in the morning and Rutgers will still make more in the next 3 years from its Conference's TV contract then UConn has ever made from appearing on TV. What's important is making revenue and Conference Realignment has already determined who's the more important program.
As for your 3 year time line for UConn to join another conference, your only prayer is the Big East and it would require UConn football to go independent or drop down to a lower conference. Not going to happen. No other Conference is going to invite UConn and feed another mouth in terms of revenue midway through its TV contracts.
Yes it was. 2 years ago Rutgers would not have offered anyone $2mil. Now, Pikiell’s extension will get him $3mil. Money and facilities have always been an issue. Those problems are now gone.
I’m not surprised Hurley chose uconn. The only issue with uconn is the conference affiliation for basketball. If I’m Hurley, I only take that job if there are assurances from the AD and Pres that they end up in the ACC (not likely) or the Big East.
Which conferences could they end up in over the next 3 years? I think we can agree that there is zero chance they end up in the P12 or SEC in the next 3 years. They are so far out of the B12 footprint, that barring a desperation move caused by pending B12 collapse, I don't see the B12 taking them (and the far-fetched scenario in which the B12 takes UConn means the B12 is on the verge of collapse anyway). So that leaves the B10 and ACC as power 5 conferences, plus the Big East.
The Big Ten's recent expansion has been for strategic market purposes. It is hard to envision a scenario in which UConn fits that growth strategy. Maybe the B10 could invite UConn & BC to expand into New England. But BC is tied into the ACC GOR agreement, and if there were an opportunity to break that agreement, the B10 would attempt to do that with 2 schools from Virginia/Carolina which is more aligned to the B10's strategic goals. About the only reasonable scenario in which I see the B10 taking UConn is if Notre Dame agrees to enter the B10 and the league just needs another school as a partner.
The ACC is certainly a possibility. If the ACC were to expand, then Cinci and UConn are probably the best targets for them. If they take only one school (for instance if UND joins for football, and they need a 16th school), Cinci probably gets the nod as a geographic partner for Louisville, especially with the expectation that BC would continue to balk at UConn. But I don't see the ACC needing to expand in the next three years. There is no strategic benefit for them adding UConn and Cinci (or UConn and anyone else).
So that leaves the Big East. And while the Big East might be a good fit for UConn basketball, it doesn't really solve the money issues that UConn has. Conference payouts in the AAC are greater than the Big East. Only Villanova in the Big East earned more than $3.0MM for the fiscal year ending June 2016. Only Navy in the AAC earned less than $3.5MM. And moving to the BE creates the problem of what to do with the UConn FB program. Dropping to FCS would only exacerbate UConn's financial issues, as their football program revenues would plummet without an offsetting decline in expenses.
Hey, I’m not looking for an argument. Just posting my opinion and why. If both positions were open today, the line would be longer for UConn.
One can tell that Upstream is a veteran of the former conference expansion board. He pretty much said it all.
I'm also not really sure that the AAC is significantly worse off from a long term prospective even just in basketball. It's not like Wichita and Cincy seem to be on the way down as programs.
My issue for uconn is not the competition but the geography and brands. No northeast rivals other than Temple (which no one is excited to play). There are no major brands to sell. Cincinnati is the best brand in that conference which says a lot.
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