[-army56mike-]

Coach Layer

2009–2010 ..... 15-16 ..... 10-8
2010–2011 ..... 19-13 ..... 13-5
2011–2012 ..... 14-18 ..... 9-9
2012–2013 ..... 15-21 ..... 6-10
2013-2014 ...... 8-12 ..... 2-3

At Liberty: .... 72-88 ..... 40-35
---------------------------------------
Ritchie McKay
2 Seasons
Record: 39–28

Randy Dunton
6 Seasons
Record: 77–102

Mel Hankinson
4 Seasons
Record: 36–77

Jeff Meyer
Winner at LU

There is obviously a recent culture of losing for the Flames. Coach Layer had one good season. Was that catching lightning in a bottle? His body of work over his tenure at LU suggests he cannot build the program. However that seems to be the case with all coaches after Jeff Meyer. I think it's gonna take shelling out big dollars to keep a quality coach around. That doesn't mean you have to go after a big name. You just have to pay a winner.

[Bigsouthking]

dang Army Mike --

LU pays Layer 302k how much more do you want them to pay a coach??? Avg BS salary is probably 160k....

[-army56mike-]

All that says is we are way overpaying to lose games.

[jcmanson]

If/when he gets fired, bring back McKay.

I'm joking, I think

[SuperJon]

I wouldn't. I don't think Layer is the greatest coach in the world, but I think he's a great fit for our program. When it comes to Men's Basketball in today's world you have one of three options:

1) Bring in kids that are talented but not stars but will fit in and be good representatives of our school that are talented and can be coached and formed into a team (i.e. John Brown, Jesse Sanders, Antwan Burrus).
2) Bring in kids that are super talented but something is keeping them back from the next level (i.e. Seth being too small, Austin Smith being too small for a 5 but not athletic enough for a 3, Andrew Smith is a good example of this right now).
3) Bring in kids that are super talented but don't fit our culture (i.e. Brolin Floyd, most of the team in the Dunton regime, etc).

Layer is doing #1. McKay did #2. Dunton did #3. Where McKay tried to get as much talent, regardless of position, on the floor and go with it, Layer is trying to form a solid team. In my mind, at our level and our school, the McKay approach is best, but the Layer approach is my next option. That means you're going to have 2-3 years of mediocrity for every year of championship level. This year is an anomaly because I really think the seniors (specifically the guards) are to blame. We don't have a guy that will step up and be a floor general.

I'd be willing to bet that next year, with less experience, we will have a better team because the chemistry will be better.

[SuperJon]

If/when he gets fired, bring back McKay.

I'm joking, I think

I'd be all for it.

I truly think that the reason he left is because Seth bolted and he knew he was going to have to completely rebuild a year after completely rebuilding. Add that to his best friend getting a job an hour up the road and you have a perfect storm for a guy wanting to take a break with a little less pressure. With a firm foundation, and not having to clean up the Dunton mess, I think he could come in and be super successful. I don't see it ever happening, but I think Ritchie McKay is the ideal type of person to be a coach at Liberty.

[Bigsouthking]

McKay didnt bring in anyone except Curry.. SJ you put him(McKay) on a high pedestal like hes a big time recruiter, He has failed at every job hes been a Head Coach or he beat the posse and left.

He failed at New Mexico and look what they have done since he got fired.... top 25 every year

He inherited a great player in Anthony Smith. Got lucky with Sanders that the Rice coach got fired.

[SuperJon]

He brought in talent and they all left. To say that Brolin Floyd and Austin Smith weren't talented is just dumb. And whether or not he got lucky with Jesse, he still got Jesse here. Ritchie can recruit but his coaching lacks.

[jinxy]

Pointless discussion. Thanks to the extension theres no way its happening though it should be considered carefully

[flameshaw]

If we bring back any one, it should be Jeff Meyer. With his experience since he left here, I am sure he could be very successful and would be much more cautious hiring his staff. But I don't see that happening. I doubt he would come back and truthfully, we should move on to someone else, if indeed a change is made.
We need to identify the next Romar and see if we can get him before a big high profile university comes calling. Or, pay someone major bucks and make a splash hire. A coach can make a huge impact very quickly in BB, just look what Marshall did at Winthrop and Wichita State. Winthop hasn't been the same since he left and WSU was rated in the top 10 earlier this year.

[Purple Haize]

If we bring back any one, it should be Jeff Meyer. With his experience since he left here, I am sure he could be very successful and would be much more cautious hiring his staff. But I don't see that happening. I doubt he would come back and truthfully, we should move on to someone else, if indeed a change is made.
We need to identify the next Romar and see if we can get him before a big high profile university comes calling. Or, pay someone major bucks and make a splash hire. A coach can make a huge impact very quickly in BB, just look what Marshall did at Winthrop and Wichita State. Winthop hasn't been the same since he left and WSU was rated in the top 10 earlier this year.

This is the only person I'd 'bring back'. He looks different after dropping a bunch of weight

http://www.letuathletics.com/coaches.aspx?path=&rc=7

[Lburglifer]

I wouldn't. I don't think Layer is the greatest coach in the world, but I think he's a great fit for our program. When it comes to Men's Basketball in today's world you have one of three options:

1) Bring in kids that are talented but not stars but will fit in and be good representatives of our school that are talented and can be coached and formed into a team (i.e. John Brown, Jesse Sanders, Antwan Burrus).
2) Bring in kids that are super talented but something is keeping them back from the next level (i.e. Seth being too small, Austin Smith being too small for a 5 but not athletic enough for a 3, Andrew Smith is a good example of this right now).
3) Bring in kids that are super talented but don't fit our culture (i.e. Brolin Floyd, most of the team in the Dunton regime, etc).

Layer is doing #1. McKay did #2. Dunton did #3. Where McKay tried to get as much talent, regardless of position, on the floor and go with it, Layer is trying to form a solid team. In my mind, at our level and our school, the McKay approach is best, but the Layer approach is my next option. That means you're going to have 2-3 years of mediocrity for every year of championship level. This year is an anomaly because I really think the seniors (specifically the guards) are to blame. We don't have a guy that will step up and be a floor general.

I'd be willing to bet that next year, with less experience, we will have a better team because the chemistry will be better.

Last year was a debacle accept for one week....did you come to the empty Vines Center? I do not believe the program has been managed well from AD down. How can you justify the investment and results?

[ballcoach15]

LU just needs to recruit a better athlete for basketball. With our facilities, we should be 1 or 2 in Big South every season, just like the women's teams. Most every team that comes to Vines Center has better basketball players on the floor than LU. Bring in guys that can run and shoot.

[SuperJon]

You guys aren't getting it. We are a school that is anti-basketball culture. There are things in the way of just getting more talent here. Look at the exceptional talent we've brought in the past five years:

BJ Jenkins - transferred.
Seth Curry - transferred.
Brolin Floyd - transferred.
Evan Gordon - transferred.

The guys that are exceptional talent in basketball don't want to deal with the extra things that Liberty students have to deal with.

[flameslinger]

I'm not a Vol fan, and I'd guess SJ can give more insight into how these coaches are viewed in Knoxville, but if I were looking for an assistant to make my new head coach, and one that fits LU's culture of faith and can recruit talent, I'd be looking down 81.

http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl ... aches.html

[Sly Fox]

Haize never ceases to surprise me dropping a link to LeTourneau. And no, we're not letting Coach Layer go to bring back Coach Davis.

As for RMK, I doubt he would be interested in pushing his friend out of the way to come back.

For the record, I believe the staff recognizes the need for more athleticism and we saw attempts to address the issues in the fall signing period.

[SuperJon]

I'm not a Vol fan, and I'd guess SJ can give more insight into how these coaches are viewed in Knoxville, but if I were looking for an assistant to make my new head coach, and one that fits LU's culture of faith and can recruit talent, I'd be looking down 81.

http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl ... aches.html

The problem with Cuonzo Martin is that he's surrounded himself with guys that are exactly like him. He's a good coach and recruiter, but there's no energy from the coaching staff.

I don't know if he's ready or not, but if we're talking about guys on that staff, Jon Harris would be the one I'd look at. He's a super solid Christian and overall good dude.

Then again, Layer is our coach and that's not changing (and I'm not sure I'd want it to).

[thepostman]

McKay and layer would make the perfect coaching duo for liberty. I know we had that already.

Hey it's bit like liberty hasn't brought back coaches again in basketball. Wait that didn't go so well either.

All that aside we need a fresh start. This is the year we should be at the top of the league. Or close to it. It's not happening.

[SuperJon]

Jason Allison.

Before I comment, let me first say that I think it's crazy that we're talking about replacements while we have a head coach that I really like as a person and leader.

With that said, I love me some Jason Allison.

[Purple Haize]

Haize never ceases to surprise me dropping a link to LeTourneau. And no, we're not letting Coach Layer go to bring back Coach Davis.

As for RMK, I doubt he would be interested in pushing his friend out of the way to come back.

For the record, I believe the staff recognizes the need for more athleticism and we saw attempts to address the issues in the fall signing period.

Bob Davis would be a perfect fit here, but unfortunately, it won't happen

Jason Allison is still too young but definitely someone who would be a great fit

[thepostman]

Jason Allison.

Before I comment, let me first say that I think it's crazy that we're talking about replacements while we have a head coach that I really like as a person and leader.

With that said, I love me some Jason Allison.

I hate talking about it too. Layer is the coach I have liked the most. I really want things to turn around right now and help this man keep his job. He deserves it but when your team isn't performing this is what happens in D1 basketball.

[SeoulFlame]

Haize never ceases to surprise me dropping a link to LeTourneau. And no, we're not letting Coach Layer go to bring back Coach Davis.

As for RMK, I doubt he would be interested in pushing his friend out of the way to come back.

For the record, I believe the staff recognizes the need for more athleticism and we saw attempts to address the issues in the fall signing period.

Bob Davis would be a perfect fit here, but unfortunately, it won't happen

Jason Allison is still too young but definitely someone who would be a great fit

Jason is older than Josh Pastner of Memphis. Just sayin.

[LUconn]

A couple of things. If you're going to look at records, look at BSC records. As we know, overall records don't mean a darn thing at this level. Maybe if we were winning the conference year after year and we were looking for a better seeding that would come into play but we're a long ways off obviously.

Second, we're judging Layer based on performance. Not performance relative to salary. If he were making $25k a year would we be naming the court after him? LU is going to pay what it's going to pay. It's not even worth talking about.

[LUconn]

Why does Allison always get brought up here? He could be the next Bob Knight just waiting for his chance, but all I know is that he's an assistant at a middle of the pack Big South school. Is it because of his LU ties?

[thepostman]

some may argue that VMI's dynamic is even more challenging then ours. I think he would be the right fit if we end up looking.