[Hold My Own]

Welcome to the world of big time college athletics. We want to be good in sports and we have gotten pretty good in basketball and football, so it is natural for coaches to want to move to a higher level. I do not fault them for it because if given the chance I one day want to move to a higher level of coaching myself. Liberty has gone from firing coaches for not winning to having them leave because we win so much. I would gladly take the second option any day of the week.......

are you serious?

I sorta see where he's going with that... and it makes me feel better.

leave him alone

I sure dont see anything wrong with what he said. If losing players to Duke and having coach's leave to be the top assistant in the ACC (and have their head coach calling it a "home run" that they landed him) then I've sure seen worse days in LU's history....sure I'm still depressed but still


also let me say this: Just like we should be respectful to the Big South title RD brought us we should be respectful to the 180 the program had under RM. He did put together the 2 best years we've ever seen as far as wins go


Yes, I wish the words that were expressed leading up to this werent said...but I truly believe he felt that way...those VERY close to the situation that are actually effected by this agree....and of all people they are the ones that should/could be bitter but arent they believe that he truly felt like he meant the words when he said he wanted to be here for a long time

[PAmedic]

are you serious?

I sorta see where he's going with that... and it makes me feel better.

leave him alone

I sure dont see anything wrong with what he said. If losing players to Duke and having coach's leave to be the top assistant in the ACC (and have their head coach calling it a "home run" that they landed him) then I've sure seen worse days in LU's history....sure I'm still depressed but still


also let me say this: Just like we should be respectful to the Big South title RD brought us we should be respectful to the 180 the program had. He did put together the 2 best years we've ever seen as far as wins go

well put. that's what I was trying to say.

[TheLouder]

The nievity (if that's a word) of some of you "good luck"/"it's business"/"he's bettering his family" folks is comical. Are you not aware of what Liberty's mission is? I'm fairly certain if you had been around, you'd have made the same excuses for Cain. Or hey, what about that Judas guy. He made a decent profit. Gotta get paid right? It's just business.

I find it entertaining the number of people who lose all perspective over words instead of deeds. Mckay has pull off a heist and we are all left holding the empty bag. He walked into a talented roster built by a committed LU man and gives us a 4th and 3rd in BSC then has player jump like rats off a sinking ship so he jumps as well. We bought into the spin of JB that this was a "God thing" when is was a manipulation. Mckay was run out of New Mexico needed a job and played us like a fiddle. Some are still in his band. Many on this board trash good men so we could chase a false illusion. The program is no where near where it was two years ago as we move forward. Unfortunately the spin will continue with some and we will talk of how great it has been. I walked out of the Vines embarrassed by VMI only to watch us quit in the BSC tournament. Now the real lack of commitment has surfaced and it wasn't just the players.

coward. Way to hide behind a pseudo name cuz you know no one wants to hear your .

[Baldspot]

i will try to be polite and if sly wants to remove me from being a moderator then im ok with that too. as most of you know im a huge UVA fan. been that way since i was little. i have went to school there and been around the culture. i am very curious as to how UVA will handle the God culture that RMK exudes, and for that matter tony bennett. i honestly think RMK used the God card to get out of his gig at LU. he says God called him to be an assistant coach, but last week he was speaking of his vision of LU hoops and how much he loves LU?? im sure some will call me out for saying this but i just do not feel like God changes your heart just like that. i guess it could happen, and apparently RMK believes that happened. i think he is leaving for the money. i also feel like that if he shows his faith like he does at LU he will be gone from UVA quicker than he thinks. new mexico was the same way right?? If the new UVA staff is successful in turning around the program, then they will all be in high demand and i would bet RMK will be a head coach again someday. I do thank him for how he had the program going in the right direction, however this is a business and people come and go. we just have to trust jeff barber that he will find the right coach who sees the LU vision. i feel for the players, but im sure they will rally and the program will be in good shape when someone even better takes over the LU program that we all care about so much.

++++ 1 McKay's own words are his judge and jury in this instance (to player's mothers in a hotel room and to countless others,
give us a break).

[ATrain]

Coach McKay was great. He got the program to win, and more importantly managed to garner respect for the basketball team on campus. Prior to his arrival, many people just saw the team as full of lawless thugs and losers who could get away with murder, and that perspective changed under Coach McKay. Yeah, it sucks that he said he was committed one day and bolted the next day and it makes us feel betrayed, but in reality he never said he'd be here forever.

[jcmanson]

he never said he'd be here forever.

yeah he did

[FlameNForest]

Welcome to the world of big time college athletics. We want to be good in sports and we have gotten pretty good in basketball and football, so it is natural for coaches to want to move to a higher level. I do not fault them for it because if given the chance I one day want to move to a higher level of coaching myself. Liberty has gone from firing coaches for not winning to having them leave because we win so much. I would gladly take the second option any day of the week.......

Is going from a head coach of a DI program to an assistant in the ACC really considered moving up?

I know many mid-majors lose HC's all the time once they gain some success. Look at VCU. They lost Capel to Oklahoma and now Grant to Alabama. But the difference is, neither of them left a HC job to take an assistant position.

[Rooster Cogburn]

I will not post what I'm thinking, I will not post what I'm thinking, I will not post what I'm thinking, I will not post what I'm thinking, !

Moving on to the search! Stay on target!

[TIMSCAR20]

Welcome to the world of big time college athletics. We want to be good in sports and we have gotten pretty good in basketball and football, so it is natural for coaches to want to move to a higher level. I do not fault them for it because if given the chance I one day want to move to a higher level of coaching myself. Liberty has gone from firing coaches for not winning to having them leave because we win so much. I would gladly take the second option any day of the week.......

Is going from a head coach of a DI program to an assistant in the ACC really considered moving up?

I know many mid-majors lose HC's all the time once they gain some success. Look at VCU. They lost Capel to Oklahoma and now Grant to Alabama. But the difference is, neither of them left a HC job to take an assistant position.

This is a step up in the coaching world believe me. Coaches would much rather be a top assistant in a top conference than a head coach at a low-mid major. Look at the assistants in the power conferences. Ron Bradley -Radford, assistant Clemson. Jeff Meyer was an assistant at IU. Byron Samuels-Radford is an assistant at South Florida. There are many examples of this. Tony Bennett is going to give Ritchie the freedom of a co-head coach. I met Tony at the final 4 when he spoke at the FCA function and he and everyone else on that stage treated Ritchie like a rock star. I understood from day one that Ritchie has good close friends in the business that are hot commodoties and the possibility existed that he could leave. I have been called naive by some coaches for believing RMK and taking him at his word when he told me to my face numerous times that he is not even considering leaving. I don't think I was naive because I was taking the man at his word. However I have been told for 2 years by coaches around the country that he is going to leave sooner than you think. I guess the Nay sayers were right. That is why I think we all feel betrayed. As recently as last week Ritchie addresses the Flames Club and on the radio on Monday night he re-enforced the fact that he loved Liberty and didn't want to leave. I do wish Ritchie well and I do understand the move. If you guys think this is a lateral move or a step down you are seriously fooling yourselves. Top assistants in the major make 500-800 k. The 2nd assistants make 2-4 K. There is a ton of money being paid out to coaches (I should have stayed in the business lol). Seth leaving truly didn't bother me that much. We have had better players in the program despite what Pardox believes Seth was. I am not saying he was wrong about Seth because he was special but I feel Liberty has always been able to get quality perimeter players from Alston, Blair, Jackson, Caldwell, Darryl Williams, Keith Ferguson, Matt Hildebrand, Brian Woodson, etc. If Seth was a 6-11 Alex McLean I would have probably been a lot more upset. I do wish Ritchie and Seth well. It doesn't mean I have to like the impact of their decisions on our program.

Lastly I want to announce that I am leaving Flames Television Network to become the lead color commentator at ESPN.

[RagingTireFire]

I will not post what I'm thinking, I will not post what I'm thinking, I will not post what I'm thinking, I will not post what I'm thinking, !

[jcmanson]

Lastly I want to announce that I am leaving Flames Television Network to become the lead color commentator at ESPN.

Traitor

[TIMSCAR20]

Lastly I want to announce that I am leaving Flames Television Network to become the lead color commentator at ESPN.

Traitor

I knew you would appreciate that joke Jon.

[Ed Dantes]

Here's the thing, and I said this when Seth left...

The reason that Liberty has such great fans, I believe, is because we believe in LU. There's a part of us that feels, if the cards fall right, it's possible that we can beat Notre Dame in South Bend at some point down the line (we are not there yet. But we're a lot closer than we were thirty-five years ago, and who knows what the next thirty-five years will bring?).

Bottom line, we bought into Falwell's vision...

And that's not to say that Winthrop or Asheville or VMI doesn't have great fans, they do... but we do more than cheer for our team. We believe that we're special. We sincerely believe that we have a destiny.

So it's a little off-putting when someone uses us as a stepping stone. Yes, it's the nature of the beast. Yes, that's the way things roll in basketball.

Still... we thought Liberty was supposed to be different. We didn't take that "vision" thing lightly. We're willing to take our lumps for a greater reward down the road... so pardon me if I'm miffed when someone comes by and says "That 'vision' is good, and I support that, but it comes second to my personal gain". It's a shot at us as fans.

Pass the Kool-Aid.

[jcmanson]

Pass the Kool-Aid.

I love you guys. No homo.

[Fumblerooskies]

Lastly I want to announce that I am leaving Flames Television Network to become the lead color commentator at ESPN.

I can not and will not criticize a man for bettering himself...
....and going from Samantha Steele to Erin Andrews is definitely an upward career move!

[belcherboy]

I completely under$tand why McKay i$ making the tran$ition to Charlotte$ville. He $ays he prayed about the deci$ion, and it became clear that he needed $ome "change" in hi$ life.

It make$ perfect cent$ when you think about it.

I don't think this has to do with money now, as much as it has to do with the potential of a big paycheck and coaching a big conference program down the road. Perhaps I'm reading this wrong, but he was going to take a step or two back next year. He had some good kids coming in, and no doubt would have turned it around, but if they turn UVA around, he will have some serious offers coming in. Especially having great success at Liberty, and leaving and having success at UVA. Personally, I think he has a HORRIBLY tough job in turning UVA around!

With his track record of up and leaving programs every few years, I think many AD's of big programs would be leery of hiring him in the future to be HC.

Lot's of coaches do this. If he wins, no one will care. For every coach that stays at a program, there are probably 2-3 that bounce around (i.e. Calipari, Pitino, Saban, Larry Brown, Parcells, etc. are just a few off the top of my head). His stock is hot, and will explode if Virginia has a turnaround. It will only take one really good season at UVA to get McKay a big head coaching job IMO (big head coach job as in a mid to lower Big 10, ACC, SEC, Big East team). I'm just unsure if they will turn UVA around that quickly, but it definitely can be done!

[TIMSCAR20]

Lastly I want to announce that I am leaving Flames Television Network to become the lead color commentator at ESPN.

I can not and will not criticize a man for bettering himself...
....and going from Samantha Steele to Erin Andrews is definitely an upward career move!

Especially since Steele un-friended me on Facebook. BTW Brooke Weisbrod from the big south is on ESPN calling women's basketball in the NCAA tournament. She did the Liberty-Louisville game.

[belcherboy]

The nievity (if that's a word) of some of you "good luck"/"it's business"/"he's bettering his family" folks is comical. Are you not aware of what Liberty's mission is? I'm fairly certain if you had been around, you'd have made the same excuses for Cain. Or hey, what about that Judas guy. He made a decent profit. Gotta get paid right? It's just business.

Gotcha. McKay=Judas. Good call.

We're better off just hating him, wishing him the worst, etc. because part of Liberty's "mission" is: If we feel you screwed us over, we will hope God's vengeance falls upon you. Must be the unpardonable sin found in the Liberty Way. "Don't tell us you like us, than leave to work for someone else."

[ToTheLeft]

The nievity (if that's a word) of some of you "good luck"/"it's business"/"he's bettering his family" folks is comical. Are you not aware of what Liberty's mission is? I'm fairly certain if you had been around, you'd have made the same excuses for Cain. Or hey, what about that Judas guy. He made a decent profit. Gotta get paid right? It's just business.

Gotcha. McKay=Judas. Good call.

We're better off just hating him, wishing him the worst, etc. because part of Liberty's "mission" is: If we feel you screwed us over, we will hope God's vengeance falls upon you. Must be the unpardonable sin found in the Liberty Way. "Don't tell us you like us, than leave to work for someone else."

Yeah, you're not over dramatizing it, either. Nope, not at all. Definitely not bringing in a bunch of excess guilt trip crap. Nope, not you.

[belcherboy]

The nievity (if that's a word) of some of you "good luck"/"it's business"/"he's bettering his family" folks is comical. Are you not aware of what Liberty's mission is? I'm fairly certain if you had been around, you'd have made the same excuses for Cain. Or hey, what about that Judas guy. He made a decent profit. Gotta get paid right? It's just business.

Gotcha. McKay=Judas. Good call.

We're better off just hating him, wishing him the worst, etc. because part of Liberty's "mission" is: If we feel you screwed us over, we will hope God's vengeance falls upon you. Must be the unpardonable sin found in the Liberty Way. "Don't tell us you like us, than leave to work for someone else."

Yeah, you're not over dramatizing it, either. Nope, not at all. Definitely not bringing in a bunch of excess guilt trip crap. Nope, not you.

Why not, I mean he is Judas, I'm sure we can probably throw Hitler in there somewhere as well.

It's no wonder why people label Liberty as a cult university. I mean we have some saying how God won't bless McKay for leaving us. Did the guy sign in blood like Ghostrider?

[ToTheLeft]

Both sides of this are going a little overboard. Ritchie is not a saint, but he's not a demon. He's a human who made a decision. A decision he feels is what he is supposed to do right now. Regardless of why he did it, it's done, and cannot be undone.

[LUconn]

I did not say he was Judas. I'm saying you guys apparently would say "can't fault a man for bettering himself" to anybody. If somebody is saying to your face over and over and over the same thing, a thing that is above money and prestige, and then as soon as either of those are presented to him he does cartwheels to go against his word, I'm not gonna sit here and say "you go McKay! I'm not gonna be a hater! I'd do the same thing!" Where is your breaking point as to what you'll excuse? This isn't about bettering yourself. This is about character and integrity. We shouldn't cheer on those who are displaying that they don't have any just because they're coming out on top.

[belcherboy]

Both sides of this are going a little overboard. Ritchie is not a saint, but he's not a demon. He's a human who made a decision. A decision he feels is what he is supposed to do right now. Regardless of why he did it, it's done, and cannot be undone.

Bingo! Totally, agree!

[belcherboy]

I did not say he was Judas. I'm saying you guys apparently would say "can't fault a man for bettering himself" to anybody. If somebody is saying to your face over and over and over the same thing, a thing that is above money and prestige, and then as soon as either of those are presented to him he does cartwheels to go against his word, I'm not gonna sit here and say "you go McKay! I'm not gonna be a hater! I'd do the same thing!" Where is your breaking point as to what you'll excuse? This isn't about bettering yourself. This is about character and integrity. We shouldn't cheer on those who are displaying that they don't have any just because they're coming out on top.

Why bring up Judas then? People who are bitter bring up the "worst case scenario" when arguing IMO. I can't stand when people bring up Hitler or Judas in discussing something as trivial as a sports coach. Sorry, just a pet peave of mine, nothing personal.

I don't know why he did what he did, but I can't question his integrity. I've seen people come and go from every business I've worked in (including ministry). People who seemed FULLY dedicated to what they were doing, and claimed dedication, but when does it become alright when someone you depend on leaves? If he continues to say the same thing but leaves 5 years later, does he keep his character and integrity?

To me this feels like the dumped boyfriend/girlfriend. We felt the relationship was great, and then we get dumped for someone else. Just my outside perspective.

[BJWilliams]

You guys are making CMII and the rest look like choir boys over the last week plus my goodness! I mean Im saddened by Coach McKay leaving but Id be sad over anybody leaving (or being fired or what have you). Ive had the privilege of getting to know a number of them (maybe not on the level of SCAR or SJ or a number of you), and I really am disappointed not only in coach McKay for how he left, but for some of you guys in your response to how he left. Now I dont have a problem with people being upset, you are perfectly within your right to be. But to take the same guy who you were praising just a few weeks ago and to basically throw him totally and completely under the bus and call him things like Judas just bothers me. I really wanted to see him stay around and finish what he started just like the rest of you and I really believed he meant what he said about God calling him here, but as disappointed and upset as I am about this, I still am at a place where I hope to see him do well. You can disparage me as a Kool-Aid drinker all you want for it but that is where I am am.