If roundball is your blood, this is the place to discuss the Flames as they move into the Ritchie McKay era for the 2nd time.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#515452
Welcome to LU Vic. LUADJEFF's tweet made it sound like he was replacing Matt Olinger, I will miss Matt on the bench.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#515514
Jonathan Carone wrote:I was actually trying to see if Matt was still there this morning. He was at Vandy's football game last night so I don't know if the two are related.
Sfera has definately replaced Olinger

http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm ... 8&TeamID=6

As far as Matt to Vandy is concerned, it wouldn't be a huge surprise, as Drew has already tapped into our staff to hire Omar Mance

Speaking of that, this is the 4th former UVA staffer we have hired in the last 18 months I know Ritchie and Tony are best buds and all, but if I were Bennett, that friendship might be getting a bit strained about now
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#515537
Jonathan Carone wrote:I'm glad Matt is getting the chance to move up. He's given a ton to Liberty and definitely deserves it.
Matt is not on the Vandy coaching roster, but in checking it, I was reminded that Jeremy Anderson is now their S&C coach Quite a Liberty connection, and if Matt does end up there, that would be 3 staffers and 2 of them LU grads Hard to know what Matt's role would be, but it would be rather ironic if, after waiting so long for a permanent assistant coaching position at LU, he ends up back as basketball ops or some other more administrative type job

Edit: OK, I see that SOR has tweeted that Matt will be Basketball Ops and Video Coordinator at Vandy They are probably waiting on human resources stuff on their end before they announce it Drew is clearly looking for Christian coaches, and I wonder if it may get him in trouble at some point Vanderbilt may not be a State school, but it is definately secular, having severed ties with the Methodist church over 100 years ago (which actually led to the founding of SMU as it's "replacement")
Last edited by olldflame on September 3rd, 2016, 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
By TIMSCAR20
Registration Days Posts
#515539
Jonathan Carone wrote:He's DBO and video coordinator. It's an interesting move but he probably needed to get experience somewhere else.
Not All Operations jobs are the same. I don't know for sure but I would bet he is making more money at Vandy than at Liberty as a newly hired asst. Or at least in the ball park. There are former Head coaches and former Professional ball players that take Ops jobs or VC jobs or Asst to the Coach jobs that get paid pretty well. If the schools have the budget they will do it.

I'm planning on spending some time in Nashville soon now since I have all my boys there. I had a quick text convo with Matt yesterday. He seems excited about the opportunity.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#515540
The guy who was Basket ball Ops there, Luke Simon, came to Vandy with Drew from Valpo, so it would be strange for him to leave so soon Makes me wonder if someone else has left and they are shifting jobs around
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#515541
Congrats to Matt! He has certainly earned the opportunity to step up tot he SEC.

I am excited about Vic's AAU experience and Cali ties. Both could prove to be very valuable to us moving forward.
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By Jonathan Carone
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#515553
SCAR wrote:
Jonathan Carone wrote:He's DBO and video coordinator. It's an interesting move but he probably needed to get experience somewhere else.
Not All Operations jobs are the same. I don't know for sure but I would bet he is making more money at Vandy than at Liberty as a newly hired asst. Or at least in the ball park.
Plus it's in the SEC. Matt spent a ton of time with us and deserves to be thanked for it, but for the sake of his career, branching out and getting another school on his resume is a great thing.
By FlameFan11
Posts
#516091
Best of luck to Matt on his new position. Was a little surprised to see him give up an assistant position to go back to DOBO but the move to a P5 was just too much to pass up on.

I'm actually very happy with the move. I loved our staff but definitely felt like we needed a guard specific position coach. I know some of the other guys are qualified to coach them but Sfera was a guard and has experience as a guard/wing D1 position coach. Plus you get a guy that understands the school mission, program culture, game planning, recruiting philosophies, etc..... It is always tough to lose a familiar face but I think this hire will be a plus in the long run.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#516103
Sfera looks like an excellent fit Vandy now has 2 Liberty grads on staff and we have none That probably has more to do with McKay and Bennett than LU Drew raids Liberty for guys with the Tony|Ritchie connections and Ritchie raids UVA for replacements Bennett will be fine though Plenty of promising young Christian coaches ready to jump at the chance to be a part of that program
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