Just a few examples of bad moves and coaching changes

Let's look at a few simple examples of schools that have fired their coaches and then tried to rebuild and let's see if they are comparable to Bradley's setting.
In fact, I really can't find too many that don't fit one of these three categoris...two of which are NOT really relevant to Bradley...but read on...


First -- most BCS schools, certainly the ones at the upper end of the spectrum, have a recruiting prowess and are deep enough that a few player defections don't matter as much, and then the new coach, say at schools like Indiana or Minnesota -- still have sufficient recruiting prowess because it's a BCS school -- to quickly land 4-Star talent that can at least them competitive right away. So these situations are NOT very close to Bradley's.
Never the less...the examples I gave of Indiana, Minnesota, and even Iowa, DePaul, Colorado, USC, and others....despite bringing in talented kids, still have serious problems with player-issues and jealousy over playing time -- and often have big-time player defections (Devoe Joseph leaving Minnesota, Jake Kelly out of Iowa, etc.)
AND....they still can't win much!!!!
Even with all the differences, you'd be hard pressed to find even ONE BCS school that fired their coach for poor performance and within a couple years are back on top...
I might concede that Mizzou and Kentucky are examples, but note the amount it cost them -- salaries in the $2.5- 3.5 million range and that's out of the question for Bradley.


Then we have places like Wichita where they appear to have rebuilt quickly but it isn't the same situaiton at all -- since Turgeon wasn't fired for poor performance...he left when Wichita was well stocked.
So -- the performance the past few years isn't all Gregg Marshall's doing, plus they have yet to get back to the NCAA or win a post season game there...so you still can't say they are a good example of a success with their new coach yet.


So that brings us to the mid-majors who fire their coach and bring in a new guy.

Just last year everyone was pointing to Illinois State saying look how well it worked for them! Those people are keeping their mouths shut about Illinois State this year...wonder why..
Because once the better players from Moser are gone, there's just not enough talent there to win. And I don't see it changing soon -- so if Jank is in the basement another year or two -- then ISU may well be the PRECISE example of what I am talking about...going from BAD to WORSE with only a couple NIT losses to show for it.
BUT -- BU wouldn't have an Osiris Eldridge to even giove them that.
Pretty much the exact same happened at Drake, Evansville, and Indiana State...with only modest success using the predecessor's players, the dropping back down to mediocrity! those teams' fans are also back to grumbling and wanting to fire the new guy now!!!!!

I could also point to places like these...

Loyola -- fired a great coach Larry Farmer and brought in Jim Whitesell...and lots of people said "look how great Whitesell is doing" when he had ONE single 20-win season when he had all of Farmer's players as seniors. Since then he's done terribly -- way worse than BU - despite having the world's best recruiting hot spot in your back yard! "Hot Seat" is spoken often here....

UIC -- fired Jimmy Collins -- and had to get someone else...
Lots of nice things said about Howard Moore, and I know it's early but we can look.....but has he done anything yet?
The Horizon is weak this year and ripe for picking yet UIC can't beat anyone in the league!!
They will end up worse than in any year under Collins, only 7 wins, and only rarely getting more than 52-54 points...and they lose all their best talent (Robo Kreps, Paul Carter..) this year and nobody to replace them.
Much to the dismay of poor Al B, they are going to be really bad for plenty of years to come....wait and see. Again, the most fertile recruiting area in the world right out side their door, and here are the only incoming recruits that can boast...
Marc Brown, an unknown kid from Texas! They also are in the lead for a couple really total unknowns who are 5th and 6th best players on a couple of the Chicago Public schools.

Also in the Horizon...Detroit....these guys canned a coach who had given them SEVEN 18+ win seasons...and then muddled through two more guys and finally hired Ray McCallum....
Detroit went 7-23 the first two years without Watson & under McCallum - their two worst years in a quarter of a century...but fans were willing to wait since McCallum had some big time talent coming in including his own 5-Star rated son!
Suddenly McCallum gets a ton of big name transfers and even the one 5-STAR recruit!
Detroit actually has more talent on their roster than a lot of BCS schools with one 5-Star blue chipper and three 4-Star kids and several top 3-Stars...but guess how they're doing??
You guessed it -- terrible -- and people are grumbling that McCallum must really be a BAD coach if he has the kind of talent Villanova or Michigan State gets and he still can't beat anybody!!
They are currently under .500 but that's buoyed by the fact that a few of their wins are over the really bad Horizon teams below them like UIC & Loyola!


So that brings me to the final example I will give...
Toledo has a fairly proud tradition...they are a bit like Bradley -- a decent school in a mid-sized city but a hard place to recruit to and often losing out to other nearby schools.

Recently under Stan Joplin they had winning seasons in 9 of 10 years and 6 of them were 18+ wins, three were 20+ wins!
But Joplin slipped from 19-13 to 11-19 in 2007-2008 and so they canned him with fan unrest and went looking for a better coach.

Toledo got their guy -- a very highly regarded guy that everyone thought would instantly put Toledo back on the map -- Gene Cross....who spent many years as a top BCS assistant (Notre Dame, DePaul...).
Well, all Cross did even with fairly talented squads was go 7-25, then 4-28 their TWO worst seasons in all of their 100-year history!!!
This was absolutely laughable...but some saw it coming....go read what some said on BradleyFans...

so -- then the ever intelligent and knowledgable fans clammored to dump Cross right away -- after JUST TWO YEARS -- and get someone else -- not even giving Cross the benefit of two full years to get his own players!

So -- again -- just as some of their young talent was ready to break out -- they ditched Cross (who many others on the BradleyFans message board said was a great hire and was absolutely certain to win and do well) - and they hired Tod Kowalczyk -- a proven winner at the mid-major level with consecutive 22-win seasons at Green Bay!
BUT -- just one year -- seriously -- ONE stinking year into the Tod Kowalczyk era at Toledo -- the Toledo fans are ready to bail...read on...
Is this the definition of fickle and impatient or what!!
Kowalczyk ran off their best returning player and runnerup ni the Freshman of the Year in the MAC, Jake Barnett. (who almost landed at Bradley but went to Saint Louis)
And Kowalczyk's roster is still not that bad -- having several good kids that Bradley was also recruiting...Malcolm Griffin, Delino Dear, etc..

But guess what...they are so absolutely horrible they are probably wishing they could go back to last year!
They are currently 1-12 in the conference, and have 3 additional wins, one of which is over a D-III -- so they really only have 3 D-I wins total!!
And it must be even MORE painful for the Toledo fans watching Kowalczyk coach this team as they play slow, keep scores low, miss an endless number of shots, plagued with turnovers in TK's system, and don't often even get their own offensive totals out of the 40's!!
They have seven games where they scored under 50...
and SIXTEEN of their games (all losses) they failed to even break 58!!

Toledo does have a message board, and guess what's being said...
...not much about basketball since nobody wants to talk about it that much -- they're ready to discuss football...
BUT -- several say fire the guy now and get someone else -- this is embarrassing!

Two last thoughts....Kowalczyk just gave an interview after losing to Ball State and said something the press really hammered him for....insulting and alienating his own players who are playing hard but getting beat...

Here's what he said...
"On last night's WSPD Radio Coaches Show, Coach K ...(after the loss to Ball State) said, "we'll see you next year when we actually have some live bullets"."
He later apologized after realizing he just basically called all his current players worthless...and thinks he's gonna have some "live bullets" next year when he really doesn't have that much coming in.
All four of his incoming recruits are obscure kids, ZERO-Stars and NOT at all highly rated. Almost everyone who reported on this calls this whole thing really embarrassing.

One last note....last night many Toledo Rocket fans simply gave up and went on to next fall's football season as Toledo got beaten so badly and so embarrassingly by Western Michigan that the early score must have prompted people to wonder if it was a mistake...
Toledo fell behind 43-5 just before the end of the first half -- and Western Michigan cruised the rest of the way playing pretty much just walk ons and the water boy and still demolished Toledo!
Even in the worst of the Albeck or early Molinari era -- Bradley never got beaten SO BADLY by anyone -- let alone a weak opponent.
Western Michigan's bench outscored Toledo's entire TEAM in the 1st half 22-16.


If you want to read even more -- Da Coach has a little more concise survey of how bad of a move the toledo people made trying to please their fan base...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=216789#post216789

So, no telling where Bradley would be if JL gets fired and someone else is brought in...but there are plenty of examples of schools similar to Bradley who do NO BETTER and in many cases even FAR, FAR worse...and very, very few cases of them doing better in anything less than 3-5 years.
So why do we have people on message boards saying they are sure we'll be better right away?? Are they blind to the facts??
I am open to anyone who wants to give me other examples....I have asked but nobody ever seems to come forward....
I have challenged anyone to name a Valley coach who was fired then replaced, and whose team then got any sustained improvement or ever won an NCAA game!
I have issued this challenge several times and people scoff at it but nobody answers...because since the early 1990's -- it so happens that Jim Les is the only such coach that turned around the program when he took over from Mo, had 20-win seasons, and won games in the NCAA Tourney....
There are no other examples..............so if Coach Les is not here, get ready for really bad.....Sammy-gone, TB likely gone, all the seniors that can transfer as grad students-gone, all the incoming talent will ask out of their LOI's, Dyricus' and Walt's phones will be ringing off the hook....all I can say is get ready, and please don't blame me...