Purple Haize wrote:PROGRAM DIRECTION
Dunton is in his sixth season and has had one winning season. More importantly, he's just 39-35 in the Big South. The program isn't moving up or down, which means it's not getting better. This is a pivotal year for Dunton who needs to prove he can make the Flames competitive in the Big South"
39-35 is FACT. SO we lost a few by a missed shot here and there I am pretty sure we won a few that way. We have taken our frustrations out on Cincinnatti Christian and Lycnburg College. And we have taken our lumps against big time competition as well. Each Coach defines success their own way. RD's way was to say that we would be PERENNIAL BSC champions and in the Top 25 within 5 years. How long has he been here? Even the editorial is accurate. We aren't moving up OR down. IF we were moving up, then 30 of those losses would have been in his first two years, with most of the wins coming the last few. It is pivotal for him, and I am pretty sure he knows it. (and it is not just all floor issues either)
I agree with Purple Haize, and, if Purple Haize is who I think he is, it isn't the first time.
With the program, it's not an issue of getting better or getting worse. Blair, easily, is getting better every year... But the issue is if we are getting better or worse in relation to the rest of the Big South Conference, which I believe is improving. If we aren't getting better at the same rate as our competition, we get worse.
Side notes: I remember MH's last year (I noticed that we no longer use a coach's full name, but instead, just the initials). That year, we had a stud point guard who was able to lead up single-handedly to a few victories in a season devoid of them. Of course, that PG was a senior. Once his (Chris Caldwell) final game was played, you looked at the rest of the roster and you'd see that there was absolutely nothing to give you hope for the future. No one showed any promise; the best you had available to you were role players that weren't great, but would still be better than anyone else you'd bring in (like Jason Sarchet, Vincent Okotie). That being said, in MH's tenure as coach, he did not take the necessary steps to pave the way for success in the future, and so, he was canned with a year remaining on his contract. ("Where there is no vision, the people perish").
RD's success, easily, came early on when he saw a program in need and took the quick-fix approach: bring in talented JUCO transfers (Gabe Martin, Ryan Mantlo, and whoever our point guard was the year we won the championship, what's-his-name). He tried paving the way for the future at the same time (jeremy monceaux), but most of them, with the exception of Larry Blair, have (pardon the pun) flamed out.
Five years into Dunton's tenure, is Liberty in the position that it wanted to be? Hardly. Obviously it is foolish to think that five years is enough time to take a team from nothing into the top 25. After skimming through the top 25, the only lower major to crack it is Creighton, and they won 29 games five years ago!
Are we disappointed that we aren't at least consistently in the hunt for the Big South title? Heck yes. But we have to ask ourselves, has Dunton positioned himself to be that that place next year, or the year after?
I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: When Dunton's contract is up for review, that question needs to be asked. MH had nothing to fall back on when that question was asked of him; his best player was gone and there was no way to replace him. At least with RD, he can say "Brewington and McLean give us hope for next year; we got freshman that give us hope for the future. All is not lost."
And lastly, if we decide not to renew RD's contract, what are the chances that we can bring someone in that can do better? With Karcher, he was so bad that even Art Shell could have gotten two wins from last year's squad. He was fired not because of ineptitude, but because we could easily replace him with someone who would be a guaranteed improvement (even our speculative list was impressive, including Lou Holtz and Fredo Bowden). Danny Rocco was chosen because he's no stranger to LU football, and because he had proven himself to be a nice little architect for success at UVA. I think recent history has proven that he is the right choice for the job.
But who is waiting in the wings to coach LU b'ball? Any ideas? Anyone? Is RD better than "replacement coach"? I'd argue yes.
Of course, I'm the person who advocated hiring Bobby Knight before TT hired him (which was also before we hired RD). Man, that would have been sweet.
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