Billy Donovan is a graduate of Providence and a legend there. Of course, even if Providence could somehow match the money he makes as coach at Florida, he’s not taking their vacant coaching job.
Just as Ohio State coach Thad Matta left his alma mater, Butler for the Xavier job, alumni ties only matter when the gig is better than the one you have. If the jobs are equal, then then money has to be better.
I mention this because the TCU job is now open. It’s not a particularly good job to take. It’s in the Mountain West. It’s behind everyone in the Big 12 and the school doesn’t put a lot into the program.
That doesn’t stop the silly talk.
He needs to go June Jones on Pitt coach Jamie Dixon.
Full-court press him. Money-whip him. Beg him. Make him an offer he finds himself unable to refuse because he has never seen that big of a number in front of that many zeroes. You know and I know you can afford it, Danny.
Of course, you are probably thinking: Why would Dixon leave Pitt, currently a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, for TCU, even with a truckload of cash for an incentive?
He is an alum, for starters. And he’s a beloved alum at that, responsible for “The Shot Heard Around The Southwest Conference.”
Dixon also wanted this job back when former AD Eric Hyman hired Dougherty. Oops. Yes, even from South Carolina, Hyman has to want a mulligan on what ultimately has to be chalked up as a monumental screw up.
The other thing is there is something a bit fishy about the whole Pitt situation because word always seems to be leaking about how unhappy this coach or that coach is there.
This is not to say Dixon is unhappy or eagerly awaiting a call from his former school. To get him to listen, to get him to consider jumping from a Big East power into an obvious rebuilding situation is going to take a lot of selling. And a lot of money.
I always love that. The presumption that a program that hasn’t really cared in quite some time, and has never spent the money will just change it’s mind and it happens.
Beyond that silliness is a simple reality of contingency planning from Dixon’s side of things. As the columnist points out, Dixon is a “beloved alum.” Dixon has also established himself as a top coach. To go completely cynical, if things were to suddenly go completely wrong and downhill over the next several years and Dixon found himself unemployed. Don’t you think TCU would still be happy to get him? A proven coach with a trackrecord of success and an alum from one of their best teams in the past 30 years?
Even if TCU found themselves with a successful coach in the intervening years, the nature of the business means that one would be moving on anyways. TCU is merely vital fallback/insurance for Dixon.
“The other thing is there is something a bit fishy about the whole Pitt situation because word always seems to be leaking about how unhappy this coach or that coach is there.”
?????
But let’s say for shits and grins he gets to a final four this year and Indiana comes a knocking with an offer he can’t refuse.
God bless and Godspeed to him…and while I would mourn losing him…I have no doubt that they could bring a quality guy like a Sean Miller who has been a proven success.
Please don’t take this as an endorsement of Sean Miller (just an example really and given his Pitt ties I think he would definitely make the jump) over Jamie Dixon…losing Dixon would suck and be a big hit.
All I am trying to say is that I think the program would survive…and still thrive
Remember Jamie Dixon was not our first choice…they actually let him dangle in the wind for a while (They wanted the late Skip Prosser may god rest his soul).
I actually think they backed into the best choice because they were left without a candidate when Prosser chose to stay at Wake.
Anyway–my only point to this is that the program is strong and while it could turn south at some point in time it would be due to the mismanagement at the AD level not the coaching because believe it or not Pitt is not tier 1 but it is definitely tier 1A.
IMHO
DaveD
Miller would be a good fit, obviously. He must have some serious Ohio connections by now. We need a blue collar coach who can recruit that occasional 5 star recruit to go to.
Knight?, I don’t know if I want that guy near our kids LOL. He wasn’t able to turn Texas Tech into a power, but that was a hard job in my opinion. I would not have him in my top 3, but then again I’m not an AD.
I would surf the mid-major scene for sure. There is always a hidden gem in there. Our last two coaches were that kind of wonderful.
I would rather keep Dixon though. If he continues to have success like this then he should be compensated accordingly. I don’t want this run to end until we win a National Championship. It’s possible people, but I will not be upset if we don’t get any recognition since I am used to it. It has gotten to the point where I don’t care anymore because we will just prove them wrong every time.
Good point Chas.
Being a “beloved Alum” has a lot of influence, even when said person has never had tremendous success as a head coach.
Just look at Wannstedt. 😉