When Jordan was hired: Poll

[MADHAT1]

With a new hire coming up, I was wondering how many would care to admit they supported Eddie's hiring fullyand posted in defense of Rutgers hiring Eddie when others questioned his capabilities to make RU MBB into a winning one.
I was one in full support and posted that way.
How did you feel and hopefully the Jordan supporters ( at the time he was hired) will admit they were by clicking on the yes like I did

 

[ruman]

With a new hire coming up, I was wondering how many would care to admit they supported Eddie's hiring fullyand posted in defense of Rutgers hiring Eddie when others questioned his capabilities to make RU MBB into a winning one.
I was one in full support and posted that way.
How did you feel and hopefully the Jordan supporters ( at the time he was hired) will admit they were by clicking on the yes like I did

I thought it was an awful hire. It was

 

[Mr Magoo]

I have to admit, I supported it. I was so terribly wrong...However, I remember being shocked how unprepared we were during his first game and thought he would be a failure after his first season.

 

[needmorecowbell]

The problem is that Rick Pitino could come here and fail. That's not an excuse for Eddie but there has been zero support from the school and every time there was a problem the administration made it worse. (I.e. Mike Rice and Gary Waters)

 

[ruman]

I have to admit, I supported it. I was so terribly wrong...However, I remember being shocked how unprepared we were during his first game and thought he would be a failure after his first season.

still remember Florida A&M making layup after layup after layup. Was very bad from game 1.

 

[MADHAT1]

I thought it was an awful hire. It was

You weren't the only one and I probably told you you were wrong.
Well, I must admit that I was the one wrong and your feelings were right on.
But don't think you outsmarted this expert , I supported Freddie too and did up to the year he was let go.
Making my picks of who would be a good HC a little suspect and my qualifications for expert sorely lacking [roll]

 

[rutcor]

The good news is that every team he has ever coached improved significantly the year after he left.

 

[knight82]

I was just happy someone wanted the job

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

I supported it but had my doubts given the whole NBA thing. I thought we could do better but had no idea how bad he would actually be. I thought the recruiting would be an issue but thought he knew how to coach..in fact I thought he would bring a ton of creative next level stuff to the table. WRONG!

 

[ruman]

You weren't the only one and I probably told you you were wrong.
Well, I must admit that I was the one wrong and your feelings were right on.
But don't think you outsmarted this expert , I supported Freddie too and did up to the year he was let go.
Making my picks of who would be a good HC a little suspect and my qualifications for expert sorely lacking [roll]

I thought Mike Rice was a good hire - he was except for that little thing with the tapes.

Ben Howland was the hire 3 years ago - no guts for us. We should have given Hurley the years then - may turn out to be a lot more expensive now.

I had hoped Hill was a good hire.

We have never recovered from whiffing on Tom Penders in 1997 - seriously

 

[Caliknight]

I supported his hire because he is an alum who people remember fondly. I was hopeful even with the red flags.

Then the games started and it was obvious. Talent a side, he is just a poor coach with utterly unprepared teams being put on the floor. The lack of attention to detail and the carelessness with the ball are tell tale signs of coaches who don't get it. Those traits were seen early and often and never got better.

Continuing to play a switching defense which continuously puts the other teams bigs in the post against guys like Mike Williams is just bad basketball IQ.

Contrast that with Ash, who stated he has a clear style he wants to implement, but also wants to see what he has on the team and will tailor his strategy around that. It's what smart coaches do.

You can't coach like you have sick talent when you don't. Well you can, but we saw the results.

Listen, this stuff happens. Eddie is our Clyde Drexler, whom Houston parted ways with after 2 seasons.

It didn't work, we move on.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Supported the hire but realized it may be a disaster very early on in his tenure.

 

[Leonard23]

I thought & posted that EJ, Rice & FHJ were all bad hires before they were made & many jumped on me about each. Danny Hurley would be similarly as bad of a hire, albeit better overall results, because his best is likely only to get us to mediocre or consistent NIT levels. Let's stop the insanity already & stop making the same mistakes. Spend the $ & make the right hire for once.

 

[TDIrish27]

I thought Mike Rice was a good hire----the other guys no.

 

[RUChoppin]

Supported the hire at the time. Felt the 2014 class was decent, and had some hopes for the season, but knew we'd be taking a step back.... then felt the 2015 class was good, and had some hopes for this season.

It was the SJU game when my feelings began to turn. They continued to deteriorate throughout the season, and I think I started supporting his firing not long after the Big Ten season got underway and we saw what next year's class was going to look like.

 

[PhilaPhans]

Zero personal issues. Program hero. All I wanted was somebody who could come in and help put the Mike Rice stuff to bed. Hopefully help get us a practice facility.

I'm a Sixers fan, so I know the guy isn't the greatest coach.

Back then, I also didn't see why anybody cared that Hurley wanted a 7 year contract. That was the big question around the time of the Jordan hire.

 

[MadRU]

Thought it was a good hire in that we needed a "System" coach since nothing else seemed to be working. Thought maybe a Princeton style offense would close the talent gap. Never could have seen the defensive deficiencies that came with it.

 

[G- RUnit]

Never give a basketball coach who has not won anything a seven year contract. RU was wise to say no thanks.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

I had some questions about how far Eddie could take Rutgers but I thought considering the Rice disaster it was a good positive step forward. I would say I was hoping more than I was confident in his ability to turn things around.

 

[RU_DIO]

I thought Eddie was going to be a good hire. I really wanted him to succeed.

 

[rutger80]

Supported the hire, but my questions started with the staff hiring. Then when I went to the UAB game and saw them beat us in a winnable game, when they outrebounded us 56-28, I doubted that he was the right guy.

 

[rubaseball78]

He wasn't my top choice, but I was in favor of the hire. I also gave him a complete pass on the first two years given what he inherited. However, year 3 I expected to see some improvement, didn't and by mid-season recognized a change was needed.

 

[78CollegeAve]

Did not like. Wanted a college coach. When Eddie got the job, I figured, hey good, he's an RU guy at least. I thought he'd go out and hire a good staff. Instead he kept Cox and Macon. I really, really underestimated just how bad a staff he would hire. Mikey O'Koren followed by Dalip as the key assistant? Just priceless.

 

[fischy5000]

I was fine with the hire and had high hopes. Someone coming in who had history with the program and had expressed interest in coming to RU, vs just coaching any team in general. I thought the NBA background would be somewhat helpful in terms of better players wanting to take in his knowledge/experience of being there. It didnt work out.

My bigger hopes back in the day were to get Penders, Howland, or Bruce Pearl

 

[megadrone]

I figured he was a bridge until we had full big 10 funding and spent $$$ for the next coach.

But I thought the team would improve over his tenure. We knew this year wouldn't be good, but no one expected it to be this bad.

 

[Rufaninga]

I supported the hire as he was loyal son and his name was mentioned with 2or 3 prior searches. It was time to give him a shot. With the endless video replay on all channels, very few quaility candidates wanted the mess. So it was worth a shot. I was hopeful his passion for the program would have translated. Didn't work out, but now we are simply a bad team needing a new coach. Much better 3 years removed now.

 

[ejgonz]

I was stoked with Eddie coming on board. I thought we had a big time legit coach and we'd get kids like Corey coming. I was definitely concerned half way through season 1.

I thought Rice was a small time move and saw the high risk/reward with Hill.

I'd be thrilled with a 'high floor' coach like Sendek.

 

[knight82]

The thing that concerned me first in year one was how it looked like we played no defense. Was apparent from the start

 

[mikefla]

I supported him. I expected he would be much better than he was.

That said...I thank him for his effort and wish him well...a loyal son of Rutgers and iconic player...

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I supported the hire but thought we should have kept Pernetti and Rice. Rice has already went through the counselling and training and, by all reports, was a changed man.

Rice's behavior was the product of having been influenced by a chain of coaches who all descended from the "boot camp" mentality of the greatest generation. The problem was that the vast majority of the population is far, far removed from having any experience with "boot camps" and certainly does not see that brand of "toughness" as beneficial.

Eddie Jordan took on a tough mission that he was not ready for.. but we needed someone FAST. Fast Eddie answered the call. Now we have reset and are far removed from the Rice scandal... hopefully we get someone young and hungry who can get it done.

 

[MADHAT1]

Never give a basketball coach who has not won anything a seven year contract. RU was wise to say no thanks.

Some posters claimed right after Eddie was hired it would take 7 years.
Maybe they said that because Danny Hurley is supposed to have turned down the job because RU wouldn't give him a 7 year contract.
At least that's the rumor why Hurley turned down the RU HC position when he was supposed to be the #1 choice.

 

[RU Husky]

Coming on the heels of the Mike Rice fiasco I was willing to give him a chance. Never did I expect that he would be so fundamentally lacking as a college coach. He made Gary Waters look like John Wooden.,