[R i]

I'm convinced that we are all grasping st straws and it could be anyone right now. Great tight ship the athletics office is keeping. I'm not listening to any of you today.

You will read and listen to every post/tweet. You can convince yourself that you wont believe or give credence to the posts, but you will. How do I know this? Me too.

[LUDad]

You guys are killing me. This thread has more plot turns than the novel I'm reading (: The butler will likely get the job after he is exonerated.

[JDUB]

I hope it's not Betray. He wrecked our program when he bailed, and to announce it's him on the same day he announced he was bailing is very poor taste.

[phoenix]

If it's McKay then I will possibly be physically sick, right in the middle of my classroom. Of course, I will be shocked if it's Meyer. I'm hoping for someone that nobody here has mentioned yet.

[ballcoach15]

I am just going to go to the tower at 1 p.m. and see who it is.

[VAGolf]

Oh good Lord. McKay did not wreck this program. Get over yourselves.

[olldflame]

Oh good Lord. McKay did not wreck this program. Get over yourselves.

I have to agree. DL had his best season just 2 years after McKay left, and things went downhill from there. Like many of us, I like Dale and was pulling hard for him right up til it became clear this season was going to be another disaster, but if we have to assign blame, the lions share goes to him.

[From the class of 09]

So if you're looking at this purely from a PR perspective. If the announcement was going to be a mediocre hire (aka anyone who's coached at Lib before) wouldn't you want to leak a name to lower expectations before the presser? Where if you hit a homerun you want the surprise at the presser?

Obviously this is still Lib so what would be normal PR assumptions doesn't always apply but it's a thought.

[thepostman]

I agree. McKay leaving hurt the program but you can't wreck a program that has never truly taken off to begin with.

[Purple Haize]

Wow. out of left field with this one. My #1 choice! DD!!!!!

[R i]

Double D says Purple.

[flamesfilmguy]

I hope it's not Betray. He wrecked our program when he bailed, and to announce it's him on the same day he announced he was bailing is very poor taste.

This. I'm still torn on whether I like the Rehire or not but doing it on the day he left just seems like a bad Idea.

[SuperJon]

Ritchie definitely set us back. He brought in seven freshmen and most of them didn't pan out. He mishandled the Seth situation and ultimately left two years into the job once he'd realized what happened.

At the same time, in the two years he was here he had us competitive right away. He played a brand of basketball that, while not typical, was exciting. He's spent six years working at what has become a top five team. We forget Ritchie had never even been an assistant coach before coming here the first time. I think he's probably learned a lot from that.

I'm going to name drop here but only because I think it's significant. After Ritchie left, I remember Danny Rocco saying two things to me about it:

1) Ritchie left because he realized he was going to have to rebuild the program all over again a year after rebuilding it.
2) Ritchie's biggest mistake was that he said he wanted to be at Liberty forever. He played that card and then left. Had he not built that emotional bond with people, the fans wouldn't have been hurt nearly as bad.

When you step back and take the emotion out of it and look at what happened from a purely career based perspective, it makes sense Ritchie did what he did. At some point the past has to become the past.

[olldflame]

If this turns out to be someone off the radar, JB is in the wrong line of work. We need him in the CIA.

[thepostman]

But you can not wreck a program that has never truly been built up. He did set us back and it did tick me off a lot at the time. It will take some time for me to trust the guy at his word if he comes back but at least the team would be fun to watch.

[From the class of 09]

But you can not wreck a program that has never truly been built up. He did set us back and it did whiz me off a lot at the time. It will take some time for me to trust the guy at his word if he comes back but at least the team would be fun to watch.

All true and if we're honest none of the current students and more importantly any high school recruits will care at all.

It will just be something for the rest of us to complain about

[SuperJon]

if we're honest none of the current students and more importantly any high school recruits will care at all.

Post of the day. The only people who don't like it are old people, most of who don't even live in town anymore and can't come to games anyways.

When we start running up and down the floor shooting 3's and scoring 70+ a game, the students will love it and will show up. They won't think about how he left six years ago when they were in middle school.

[jinxy]

Just not interested in mckay or meyer part 2. This thread alone shows you what basketball interest could be. Rmk hurt us no doubt.

[comet]

So if you're looking at this purely from a PR perspective. If the announcement was going to be a mediocre hire (aka anyone who's coached at Lib before) wouldn't you want to leak a name to lower expectations before the presser?

From a PR perspective, no. You have four opportunities to address an objection: 1) When it comes up, 2) After it comes up, 3) Never, and 4) Before it comes up. The best time is #4. LU fans, in this forum and beyond, have personal reasons to have objections to those two. This is why I believe the hire is either McKay or Meyer. A presser of this nature gets out in front of it.

(Note: at the moment, the objections on the two that we've heard in this forum are based purely speculation; quite different than a leak).

[JDUB]

We had a program on March 31st. On April 1st it went to 0. That's my definition of wrecking a program, setting it back to 0 which is what he did. Your definition is different and that is fine.

I agree with what SJ said though. It's because of what he said that I'm so bitter. From a career perspective, it's easily justified. He got a raise to take a less stressful and more successful job. He took the easy way out. That's fine, but I'm on the record that I am not excited about him coming back, and don't trust him.

Hopefully we're all wrong and it's Shaka Smart.

[R i]

Very Well Said Comet.

Jeff and staff have decided that if bringing back Meyer or Mckay that it was important to keep it close to the vest. It will give them a chance to get out in front of some emotional reactions by the fan base.

As current Hater of the Year, I would like to think Jeff has know for a week, and has been testing out his sources, leaking names , to see who was feeding some of the garbage twitter and media accounts.

[flamesfilmguy]

Had to improve on Super's design. PA isn't the only one who knows his way around MS Paint.

[bozlady]

Ritchie definitely set us back. He brought in seven freshmen and most of them didn't pan out. He mishandled the Seth situation and ultimately left two years into the job once he'd realized what happened.

At the same time, in the two years he was here he had us competitive right away. He played a brand of basketball that, while not typical, was exciting. He's spent six years working at what has become a top five team. We forget Ritchie had never even been an assistant coach before coming here the first time. I think he's probably learned a lot from that.

I'm going to name drop here but only because I think it's significant. After Ritchie left, I remember Danny Rocco saying two things to me about it:

1) Ritchie left because he realized he was going to have to rebuild the program all over again a year after rebuilding it.
2) Ritchie's biggest mistake was that he said he wanted to be at Liberty forever. He played that card and then left. Had he not built that emotional bond with people, the fans wouldn't have been hurt nearly as bad.

When you step back and take the emotion out of it and look at what happened from a purely career based perspective, it makes sense Ritchie did what he did. At some point the past has to become the past.

I was in the next room watching and listening when he made that statement and never felt so blessed and proud to have him at Liberty. If he is HC again here at LU, let's hope he's done some growing up and has learned to stick around when the going gets tough.

[thepostman]

We had a program on March 31st. On April 1st it went to 0. That's my definition of wrecking a program, setting it back to 0 which is what he did. Your definition is different and that is fine.

I agree with what SJ said though. It's because of what he said that I'm so bitter. From a career perspective, it's easily justified. He got a raise to take a less stressful and more successful job. He took the easy way out. That's fine, but I'm on the record that I am not excited about him coming back, and don't trust him.

Hopefully we're all wrong and it's Shaka Smart.

Don't get me wrong that is the reason why it made me so angry too but you can not wreck a program that wasn't even complete to begin with. But it is clear we won't ever see eye to eye on that.

I am not going to be happy with this hire but am trying to prepare myself for it and make the best of it.

[VAGolf]

BS to anyone who says it's how he left. People always say that. That's what Cleveland fans said when Lebron left. That's what any guy says after the most gorgeous girl they've ever been with, breaks up with them. It was six years ago and we were fully competitive until two years into the DL mess. If anyone destroyed our "program," it was DL not McKay. Complaining about "how" someone left is a total guy move and it's almost always done out of fear of someone finding out who you really are.