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Wes Miller named Head Coach at Cincinnati

Say Hey Deac said:
But, I do think he had good intentions and that he genuinely thought [Redacted] would solve our problems.
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Except that, less talent or not, rebuild or not, Bzzz hasn't proven to be any sort of X's and O's master either. Even with all of the talent in the world, I've seen no indication that Bzz could coach them any better than Dino did.
 
RacerDeac said:
Except that, less talent or not, rebuild or not, Bzzz hasn't proven to be any sort of X's and O's master either. Even with all of the talent in the world, I've seen no indication that Bzz could coach them any better than Dino did.
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I don't disagree at all. The actual in-game coaching has been the biggest disappointment, without question. I expected better ball movement, better fundamentals, crisper execution, that kind of thing, and we have not seen any of that on a consistent basis.

Again, I'm just speculating on what Wellman was thinking when he hired [Redacted]. Obviously, it has not turned out the way he likely expected/hoped.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
I think Wellman looked at Dino's teams and saw a bunch of talent playing without much direction from the head coach. I suspect he thought he could swap out Dino for [Redacted], who to Wellman would be a superior Xs and Os coach, and keep everything else the same. You must admit, we have had the horses over the last 10 years to reach a Final Four, we just haven't done it, in part due to questionable Xs and Os coaching.

The problem was, as other people have written, once Teague and Johnson went pro and Ish and Co. graduated, the program was low on talent for the first time in a while. Then subtract Woods, add Chennault's injury, Tabb's ineptitude, Ari Stewart's madness, and whatever personal problems JT Terrell had, and we were even more screwed. Our best player was Gary fucking Clark.

So, suddenly, [Redacted] wasn't simply expected to slide over into the driver's seat of a well-oiled machine that was already humming, but rather [Redacted] need to build a program from the ground up. And, as we've all seen, [Redacted] does not have have personality for that kind of gig.

Perhaps Wellman should have anticipated that our talent level was going to be way down, in which case [Redacted] was not the best hire. In Wellman's defense, some of our personnel issues were unexpected - Woods certainly; Stewart perhaps; the freshmen maybe. But, ultimately, Wellman is accountable for hiring [Redacted] and it's on him. But, I do think he had good intentions and that he genuinely thought [Redacted] would solve our problems.
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Except our biggest issues under Dino were chemistry related, far more than X and O related. We ran that NBA style isolation offense because we were more athletic than most of our competition and it did the best job of masking the fact that we had poor shooters (except when Teague had hot streaks). It was chemistry, far more than anything else, that killed the '09 team.

What about Bz's non-existent personality could have possibly convinced Wellman that Bz would benefit the team's chemistry? All that hire said is Wake Forest doesn't give a shit about putting a winning product on the court.

Sorry, but until something changes with the status quo, I will continue to believe the cliche that right now Wellman is more concerned with how we wear our socks than winning basketball games.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
This post is dead on. I think most of us would prefer a younger head coach who could be Wake's Coach K, but I really don't think Wellman has the stomach for that kind of risk. He prefers the "safer" hire of a head coach with significant head coaching experience. Obviously, you can call him crazy for thinking [Redacted] was a safe hire, but I can see where, from Wellman's perspective, [Redacted] + Battle and the existing staff was a safer hire than someone like Groce.

In basketball, Wellman hired Skip and [Redacted] (Dino obviously inherited Skip's job only in the most unusual possible circumstances), both guys with years of head coaching experience. Even the guys he reportedly sniffed around on before hiring those two -- Bob Bender, John Beilein, Steve Alford, Tubby Smith -- were experienced head coaches at the high/higher mid-major level.

This is to say, to date, Wellman has shown no interest in younger head coaches or promising assistants. I'm sure he had a nice laugh when that John Pelphrey petition landed on his car windshield 11 years ago. I don't necessarily agree with Wellman's preference, particularly in basketball, but that's the way he rolls. Thus, unless he has had a change of heart, even if [Redacted] is out after this year or next, I seriously doubt Wellman goes with someone with the limited track record of Wes Miller.
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Why for the love of God is one man picking such an important position. Any other school has a search committee for hoops, but yet Wellman gets to gunsling solo.
 
The ironic thing is that for a decade, Wake Forest fans, the media, and envious fans of other programs admired the discretion and secrecy of Wellman's search process.

NCSU took so much shit back in 2006 when the entire search, handled by committee, took place out in the open and they got publicly turned down by a dozen coaches before hiring Sidney Lowe. At the time, everyone compared that fiasco to the way Wellman goes about his business, quietly and professionally.

So, it's interesting now that folks complain about it.
 
It's possible to have a quiet, professional coaching search and end up with someone more accomplished than [Redacted].
 
Say Hey Deac said:
The ironic thing is that for a decade, Wake Forest fans, the media, and envious fans of other programs admired the discretion and secrecy of Wellman's search process.

NCSU took so much shit back in 2006 when the entire search, handled by committee, took place out in the open and they got publicly turned down by a dozen coaches before hiring Sidney Lowe. At the time, everyone compared that fiasco to the way Wellman goes about his business, quietly and professionally.

So, it's interesting now that folks complain about it.
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QFT.

ETA: It was the best way to do it when we could trust Wellman to make a decent hire. He completely shit the bed when he hired Bz. Given his contributions to Wake, that's not a firing offense. However, if he's not sorry for it or doesn't realize how badly he fucked up and isn't willing to learn from the experience then it absolutely should cost him his job.
 
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TBR said:
It's possible to have a quiet, professional coaching search and end up with someone more accomplished than [Redacted].
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+1 !!! You get a 5 person search committee that includes university president, some trustees, ect., or maybe a professional company and I guarantee you can keep it quiet.
 
Rumor was we also considered John Gianini, who is now at LaSalle and hasn't done much either.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
The ironic thing is that for a decade, Wake Forest fans, the media, and envious fans of other programs admired the discretion and secrecy of Wellman's search process.

NCSU took so much shit back in 2006 when the entire search, handled by committee, took place out in the open and they got publicly turned down by a dozen coaches before hiring Sidney Lowe. At the time, everyone compared that fiasco to the way Wellman goes about his business, quietly and professionally.

So, it's interesting now that folks complain about it.
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If he made a good hire, no one would say a word. Most of us would now prefer a committee based on his work with Dino and the Buzz hire, but that seems pretty logical. If the university fired RW and hired a new AD, maybe that K-state guy, I could care less how he makes the next hire. I just don't want Ron doing it alone.
 
wfumike02 said:
Rumor was we also considered John Gianini, who is now at LaSalle and hasn't done much either.
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Why would you ever even think about hiring someone coming off of two straight 10-20 seasons? The high water mark of his career was 20 wins. And the Pac 12 wasn't even very good then, was it?
 
It's impossible to make a HR hire of a 58 year old. The shelf-life is just too limited.

Look at the clear HR hires of our lifetime in the ACC: Dean Smith, age 32. Coach K, age 31.

He will be Duke or UNC's coach one day if we do not hire him now.

I said this 2 years ago and I am saying it now. He is our best chance at starting a huge 30+ year run. That is what we all want and need and that does not start with a broken down old man who will be dead soon.

This kid knows every high school coach in this State and has been dedicating his life to coaching ACC and college basketball on a daily basis for years. He is focused and will not stop and can be had for a steal as he grew up watching the Deacs. He wore #22 at UNC for a reason.

The credibility he has from winning that title recruiting wise cannot be overstated. Vic Bubas went to N.C. State. Bones McKinney went to Carolina. The fact that he went to Carolina and played for Roy is actually a strength for us--not a weakness.
 
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donaldross said:
That is what we all want and need and that does not start with a broken down old man who will be dead soon.
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This is the funniest sentence this poster has written in the 14+ years I've been reading the boards. I legit LOL'd. Well done.

I also think you're preaching to the choir. If Wellman had listened to us, John Pelphrey would have a couple hundred wins and perhaps a few rings on his fingers.
 
donaldross said:
It's impossible to make a HR hire of a 58 year old. The shelf-life is just too limited.

Look at the clear HR hires of our lifetime in the ACC: Dean Smith, age 32. Coach K, age 31.

He will be Duke or UNC's coach one day if we do not hire him now.

I said this 2 years ago and I am saying it now. He is our best chance at starting a huge 30+ year run. That is what we all want and need and that does not start with a broken down old man who will be dead soon.

This kid knows every high school coach in this State and has been dedicating his life to coaching ACC and college basketball on a daily basis for years. He is focused and will not stop and can be had for a steal as he grew up watching the Deacs. He wore #22 at UNC for a reason.

The credibility he has from winning that title recruiting wise cannot be overstated. Vic Bubas went to N.C. State. Bones McKinney went to Carolina. The fact that he went to Carolina and played for Roy is actually a strength for us--not a weakness.
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Further evidence that Ron Wellman doesn't care about having a dynasty type program at LOWF.
 
donaldross said:
It's impossible to make a HR hire of a 58 year old. The shelf-life is just too limited.

Look at the clear HR hires of our lifetime in the ACC: Dean Smith, age 32. Coach K, age 31.

He will be Duke or UNC's coach one day if we do not hire him now.

I said this 2 years ago and I am saying it now. He is our best chance at starting a huge 30+ year run. That is what we all want and need and that does not start with a broken down old man who will be dead soon.

This kid knows every high school coach in this State and has been dedicating his life to coaching ACC and college basketball on a daily basis for years. He is focused and will not stop and can be had for a steal as he grew up watching the Deacs. He wore #22 at UNC for a reason.

The credibility he has from winning that title recruiting wise cannot be overstated. Vic Bubas went to N.C. State. Bones McKinney went to Carolina. The fact that he went to Carolina and played for Roy is actually a strength for us--not a weakness.
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x1000
 
I just had a daydream with Childress as AD joking with Miller as Head Coach about who the better #22 was.
 
donaldross said:
It's impossible to make a HR hire of a 58 year old. The shelf-life is just too limited.

Look at the clear HR hires of our lifetime in the ACC: Dean Smith, age 32. Coach K, age 31.

He will be Duke or UNC's coach one day if we do not hire him now.

I said this 2 years ago and I am saying it now. He is our best chance at starting a huge 30+ year run. That is what we all want and need and that does not start with a broken down old man who will be dead soon.

This kid knows every high school coach in this State and has been dedicating his life to coaching ACC and college basketball on a daily basis for years. He is focused and will not stop and can be had for a steal as he grew up watching the Deacs. He wore #22 at UNC for a reason.

The credibility he has from winning that title recruiting wise cannot be overstated. Vic Bubas went to N.C. State. Bones McKinney went to Carolina. The fact that he went to Carolina and played for Roy is actually a strength for us--not a weakness.
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Good stuff.
 
Any coach that comes in when a team is 0-3 and turns that team around to 10-5 deserves a fair amount of credit.
 
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