[BJWilliams]

If we dismissed him now, we would have to elevate one of the assistants to interim status because we wouldnt be allowed to hire a coach from another school in season

[olldflame]

If we dismissed him now, we would have to elevate one of the assistants to interim status because we wouldnt be allowed to hire a coach from another school in season

IMHO that could be one possible reason to do it. I think eventually Omar Mance is going to make someone a very good HC. Not sure he is ready, but why not make him your interim and find out? Also, there are candidates who are not currently coaching, and could theoretically start immediately. A couple have been mentioned.

[Purple Haize]

If we dismissed him now, we would have to elevate one of the assistants to interim status because we wouldnt be allowed to hire a coach from another school in season

Would we be any worse off?

[olldflame]

If we dismissed him now, we would have to elevate one of the assistants to interim status because we wouldnt be allowed to hire a coach from another school in season

Would we be any worse off?

That would be hard to do. Much more likely at this point that a change................. ANY CHANGE, would at least bring an injection of energy.

[bballfan84]

If we dismissed him now, we would have to elevate one of the assistants to interim status because we wouldnt be allowed to hire a coach from another school in season

in my view thats a positive..give a young guy some experience..and then hire someone after the season is over

[bluejacket]

IMHO that could be one possible reason to do it. I think eventually Omar Mance is going to make someone a very good HC. Not sure he is ready, but why not make him your interim and find out? Also, there are candidates who are not currently coaching, and could theoretically start immediately. A couple have been mentioned.

I agree that Mance could be ready in the future. But I also am not sure that he is ready for that right now. In my opinion, it would not be fair to put him in that position. Let Layer finish his responsibilities this season and then start with a clean slate in the offseason.

No outsider is coming into this program until the offseason.

[ballcoach15]

I agree, no change should be made until season is over.

[kingaling42]

There's no real upside to letting a coach go mid-season.. some folks have talked about re-energizing the program- that's a crock! It would only make a few message board folks happy- it would not re-energize the players or the coaching staff who would be too busy trying to find a landing spot (which they may already be doing since the Flames are struggling yet again in regular season conference play). It's simply premature and would set a bad reputation for the program. It certainly would not help with any recruiting efforts if you all are concerned about the future for the next coach..

If the AD were to fire Layer mid-year based on the results thus far it would be potentially detrimental to your candidate search by setting the tone that the next guy could be gone mid-year.. many candidates would be put off by that.. everyone knows that college athletics is a win or you're gone situation- but mid-year would be a huge negative for the next guy and it's a reputation that Liberty does not need to contribute towards since there are already challenges for the Liberty program in meshing athletes and coaches with the Liberty way.. there are positives and negatives to being a head coach at Liberty. From what I hear Layer is well-respected in the coaching community and how he is treated during his tenure will either garner the respect for the program going forward or make some stay away the LU. Ultimately he may be let go at season's end or after his final contract year for poor performance.

I think you all can debate ad nauseam on whether he deserved the contract extension at all but he's done other positive things for the program (i.e. APR concerns, no off-court issues) and frankly although you guys are frustrated, perhaps you all need to see the forest for the trees!

[Chippy]

The reality is we are a bottom rung team in a bottom rung conference. There are 30 conferences ahead of ours and a number of teams ahead of us in our own conference vying for recruits. We have no consistent history of success in MBB. Factor in the Christian nature of our school and it will always be hard to get good/great recruits, making whoever the coach is job hard to get a starting 5 that can compete on a national level. Our pool of talent to select from is not as large as most.

In regard to getting Virginia players, I'm not sure why that's a concern. The women's team has one, a transfer from Rider, who will be eligible next year and they seem to be doing fine. In terms of MBB we may be competing for recruits with Longwood or VMI since ODU, JMU, GMU, VCU, VT, UVA, Richmond get first dibs on VA athletes.

[bluejacket]

The reality is we are a bottom rung team in a bottom rung conference. There are 30 conferences ahead of ours and a number of teams ahead of us in our own conference vying for recruits. We have no consistent history of success in MBB. Factor in the Christian nature of our school and it will always be hard to get good/great recruits, making whoever the coach is job hard to get a starting 5 that can compete on a national level. Our pool of talent to select from is not as large as most.

We are at the bottom of the Big South and a historically poor program. There are significant hurdles to overcome. But don't make excuses for our getting poor recruits.

In regard to getting Virginia players, I'm not sure why that's a concern. The women's team has one, a transfer from Rider, who will be eligible next year and they seem to be doing fine. In terms of MBB we may be competing for recruits with Longwood or VMI since ODU, JMU, GMU, VCU, VT, UVA, Richmond get first dibs on VA athletes.

I agree. I've never understood this obsession with VA men's basketball players. If we can get good players from VA, great. If we can find good players from other states, great. Just find the best talent that will come to Liberty.

[ballcoach15]

We should be able to complete with Richmond and JMU for recruits. Maybe not today, but in the future.
I have only been following LU basketball closely for a few years, but it seems our talent level is dropping annually.
hasn't been all that long ago we beat UVA and almost beat Clemson. Now who can we beat ?

[ballcoach15]

I just did some quick research of Big South Rosters:

Gardner Webb: 5 players from Carolinas
Pres. College: 7 players from Carolinas 2 from Virginia
Longwood: 2 players from Virginia
Radford: 9 players from Virginia
Wintrop: 3 players from Carolinas
High Point: 5 players from Carolinas
UNC-A: 9 players from Carolinas, 2 from Virginia
Charleston Southern: 5 players from Carolinas
Coastal Carolina: 7 players from Carolinas

We go to uttermost parts of the earth to get players, yet other schools recruit regionally.........and they seem to get better players.

[BJWilliams]

Yes yes we know...youve raised that quite a few times

[olldflame]

There's no real upside to letting a coach go mid-season.. some folks have talked about re-energizing the program- that's a crock! It would only make a few message board folks happy- it would not re-energize the players or the coaching staff who would be too busy trying to find a landing spot (which they may already be doing since the Flames are struggling yet again in regular season conference play). It's simply premature and would set a bad reputation for the program. It certainly would not help with any recruiting efforts if you all are concerned about the future for the next coach..

If the AD were to fire Layer mid-year based on the results thus far it would be potentially detrimental to your candidate search by setting the tone that the next guy could be gone mid-year.. many candidates would be put off by that.. everyone knows that college athletics is a win or you're gone situation- but mid-year would be a huge negative for the next guy and it's a reputation that Liberty does not need to contribute towards since there are already challenges for the Liberty program in meshing athletes and coaches with the Liberty way.. there are positives and negatives to being a head coach at Liberty. From what I hear Layer is well-respected in the coaching community and how he is treated during his tenure will either garner the respect for the program going forward or make some stay away the LU. Ultimately he may be let go at season's end or after his final contract year for poor performance.

I think you all can debate ad nauseam on whether he deserved the contract extension at all but he's done other positive things for the program (i.e. APR concerns, no off-court issues) and frankly although you guys are frustrated, perhaps you all need to see the forest for the trees!

What you appear to be overlooking is that this would not simply be firing a coach in the middle of a bad year. It would be firing a coach in the middle of his 4th consecutive bad year. Dale Layer has been treated EXTREMELY well in his 6 years at LU. I would imagine his ratio of salary/wins ranks up there with all but the superstars of college coaching, and were it not for the "miracle" tourney run in 2013 he would likely be gone already. I think a lot of the potential applicants will WISH they had been treated as well by their current or former employers.

Anyone who has followed the basketball forum knows I have been one of DL's staunchest defenders, but despite the subtitle on the forum, the "Layer Era" was entered 6 years ago, and it's time to exit it. I think overall it's best to wait til the end of the season, but if the losses were to continue I can see where JB might make the move earlier to send a message that in fact we ARE serious about MBB and losing continuously is NOT acceptable.

[Purple Haize]

I just did some quick research of Big South Rosters:

Gardner Webb: 5 players from Carolinas
Pres. College: 7 players from Carolinas 2 from Virginia
Longwood: 2 players from Virginia
Radford: 9 players from Virginia
Wintrop: 3 players from Carolinas
High Point: 5 players from Carolinas
UNC-A: 9 players from Carolinas, 2 from Virginia
Charleston Southern: 5 players from Carolinas
Coastal Carolina: 7 players from Carolinas

We go to uttermost parts of the earth to get players, yet other schools recruit regionally.........and they seem to get better players.

This is a really good post
In regards to the Women's team it's not like they have taken advantage of their success in the community. You would hope that with the wins that they have your have a strong local following. It would be more so on the Mens side. Give the community someone to cheer for

[ballcoach15]

I have a brain cramp, but I believe the women's team has had lot more success recruiting locals/Virginians. I recall Brown from Waynesboro, a girl from Roanoke, Campbell from Brookville.

[Purple Haize]

I have a brain cramp, but I believe the women's team has had lot more success recruiting locals/Virginians. I recall Brown from Waynesboro, a girl from Roanoke, Campbell from Brookville.

One never played D, one was hurt but now coaching and one transferred.

[ballcoach15]

who transferred ?

[R i]

I trust JB will do the right thing.

As for message boards being a "dying medium" , my question is, Who killed it ?

Are other message boards seeing their interactions decrease as well ?

[ballcoach15]

Problem with most message boards is, a poster will post something and someone doesn't agree with it, and then they attack the poster. boards are for opinions. people have different opinions. If I thin someone posts something incorrect, I will attempt to post facts to counter it.

I have seen posts that I disagree with totally, but I not attack the poster. The First Amendment does give us right of free speech.

[olldflame]

I trust JB will do the right thing.

As for message boards being a "dying medium" , my question is, Who killed it ?

Are other message boards seeing their interactions decrease as well ?

:

Who is killing it? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit ......just to name a few.

[TheGovernor]

I trust JB will do the right thing.

That makes 1 of us.

[jcmanson]

I trust JB will do the right thing.

As for message boards being a "dying medium" , my question is, Who killed it ?

Are other message boards seeing their interactions decrease as well ?

:

Who is killing it? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit ......just to name a few.

This

[olldflame]

who transferred ?

Probably a reference to Kylee Beecher. She left the program but did not transfer.

[jack_sparrow81]

One of my main struggles if the school decides to part ways with Layer at the end of the season: what do we owe him with the buyout? Where is this money coming from?


A lot of fairweather fans on here. You gotta figure, the coastal kicker puts a little more elevation on that chip shot and we'd calling for Gill to get fired as well.