Cohen, this is an easy one

[TheLostDawg]

All you need to do is
1 call in the girls team to your office and individually ask everyone on that team their opinion on who they'd like to see as a coach and what they think about Johnnie Harris (that way the girls all feel like they are part of the decision and likely stay)
2 ask Harris what it would take for her to stay and what staff she'd hold on to (and give them all significant raises to keep them; I appreciate what CVS did but he's dead to us now).

This does many things.
One helps hold on to your players and make them feel part of the decision. They will respect the school and feel like family. This will help recruiting
Two hopefully allows us to hold on to a handful of staff before they sign with Texas.
Three gives Harris a loaded roster to learn from and help continue to build her name and continue her amazing job at recruiting.

Do not, I repeat, do not draw this coaching search out. You will lose out on retaining our current staff and recruits.

Worse case scenario with hiring Harris is we are good but not great. Still hold our name as a good women's team while recruiting well. If she can't do it then move on from Harris. Like someone said, if we do slip on this hire it will help bring attention back to the men's basketball fan base and even out attendance. Also the floor is low in the short term so we'd still be able to climb right back if we needed to move on from her.

In short: I think getting Harris and keeping critical staff is the best option but we must do so quickly. Potential of a home run hire with little downside in the next few years.

[ShotgunDawg]

I disagree.

I'm not against Harris at all, but she MUST have the correct personality.

Many times loved assistants are the player's friend while the head coach is the disciplinarian. Those assistants don't work out.

If Cohen can get a big time head coach & you know that's what he wants after whiffing on Joe & Canny, he has to hire the big time head coach over Harris.

[MaroonFlounder]

If it would mean that we keep all of this talent that is currently on the roster, I say promote Johnnie Harris.
I've met her and she's awesome.

[TheLostDawg]

Well let's put it this way, like you said before, Cohen should know her personally. If she's got the right one then let's not wait.

*Maybe not come to his office but call them #corona

[TheLostDawg]

If it would mean that we keep all of this talent that is currently on the roster, I say promote Johnnie Harris.
I've met her and she's awesome.

Having consistency on the staff would also help her starting as a new head coach as well. She'd be limited on having to coach up a new staff. I'm not saying not to hire some new people but I would not like the hire as much if we don't retain some staff that could help her get things going.

[ShotgunDawg]

If it would mean that we keep all of this talent that is currently on the roster, I say promote Johnnie Harris.
I've met her and she's awesome.

I successful head coach would also likely keep the current talent.

[ShotgunDawg]

Dear Cohen,

Don't hire someone that needs a learning curve!

Thanks,

'Gun

[basedog]

Dear Cohen,

Don't hire someone that needs a learning curve!

Thanks,

'Gun

Two of the better HC hirings, Vic and Dan say "Hold My Beer Gun". You did say in 50 years Cohen will be known for moving on, well if Harris is our next "use to be assistant" who stays 8 or 9 years, would you say Cohen was right?

[Dawg2003]

Listened to The Boneyard, and Steve said Johnnie was the good cop to Vic's bad cop. We don't need someone soft.

[Captain Falcon]

Johnnie is a viable option but she is not the only viable option. Don?t be shocked if we go another direction, even if it?s not a big name.

[Irondawg]

Some make good points - if she was good cop can she transition to having to be "bad cop" sometimes. What if none of the existing staff would stay with her and they're all going with Vic? Lots of questions to be answered over the next few days. I couldn't find a single video interview with Harris so I've got zero to base any decision off of.

We're going to have some good choices because every top assistant in the country will want this job and many sitting HC will want it as well. It's a top 10 job in my opinion as we're a place that has shown we'll embrace the sport and pack the house for a winner. We were 5th in the nation in attendance 2018-2019 and 7th the year before that. Plus we've proven we can recruit nationally.

[Captain Falcon]

Some make good points - if she was good cop can she transition to having to be "bad cop" sometimes. What if none of the existing staff would stay with her and they're all going with Vic? Lots of questions to be answered over the next few days. I couldn't find a single video interview with Harris so I've got zero to base any decision off of.

She doesn?t have the charisma the Vic has but definitely has a personality of someone you can respect. She?s done a lot of postgame interviews for radio and she comes across as a bit reserved but very knowledgeable.

You could put the words ?Teaira McCowan? on her resume and nothing else and that may be enough for her to deserve the job. Big T was 10000% her masterpiece, from recruitment all the way through her development.

[MedDawg]

All you need to do is
1 call in the girls team to your office and individually ask everyone on that team their opinion on who they'd like to see as a coach


What if all the players say they want Dawn Staley?

[Cooterpoot]

All you need to do is
1 call in the girls team to your office and individually ask everyone on that team their opinion on who they'd like to see as a coach and what they think about Johnnie Harris (that way the girls all feel like they are part of the decision and likely stay)
2 ask Harris what it would take for her to stay and what staff she'd hold on to (and give them all significant raises to keep them; I appreciate what CVS did but he's dead to us now).

This does many things.
One helps hold on to your players and make them feel part of the decision. They will respect the school and feel like family. This will help recruiting
Two hopefully allows us to hold on to a handful of staff before they sign with Texas.
Three gives Harris a loaded roster to learn from and help continue to build her name and continue her amazing job at recruiting.

Do not, I repeat, do not draw this coaching search out. You will lose out on retaining our current staff and recruits.

Worse case scenario with hiring Harris is we are good but not great. Still hold our name as a good women's team while recruiting well. If she can't do it then move on from Harris. Like someone said, if we do slip on this hire it will help bring attention back to the men's basketball fan base and even out attendance. Also the floor is low in the short term so we'd still be able to climb right back if we needed to move on from her.

In short: I think getting Harris and keeping critical staff is the best option but we must do so quickly. Potential of a home run hire with little downside in the next few years.

Good lawd...NO!

[NWADAWG]

I think JoMo was an example of this. The players seemed to love him and love playing for him but he too much friend and not enough "parent" to run a team. He was good as an OC where he just ran his group and overall discipline / culture was established by someone else.

[Todd4State]

Two of the better HC hirings, Vic and Dan say "Hold My Beer Gun". You did say in 50 years Cohen will be known for moving on, well if Harris is our next "use to be assistant" who stays 8 or 9 years, would you say Cohen was right?

And then you have Rick Ray, Joe Moorhead, and Andy Cannizzaro. We're batting .500 here which is probably decent given that we usually hire assistants but there is a reason why every job ad says "experience preferred".

[RocketDawg]

Asking the girls who they want is the last thing you'd want to do.

We don't want to drag the search out, but then we don't want to hire somebody just because the team likes them.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Maybe it's just the Moorhead hire still lingering with me, but I think most would prefer to go the route of someone who's been a HC before and knows how to run a program. You also have to remember that Vic was a HC at Sam Houston St before joining Gary Blair's staff. He knew what it took to run a program and had been under one of the better coaches in the women's game for a number of years. Just as Dan had been under Urban and knew how a successful program is run. I'm not against Harris, but don't let the players wanting her to be the coach be the reason you hire her.

[basedog]

And then you have Rick Ray, Joe Moorhead, and Andy Cannizzaro. We're batting .500 here which is probably decent given that we usually hire assistants but there is a reason why every job ad says "experience preferred".

Joe had HC experience at one time, AC, well if he would have kept things in the correct place he probably would still be our Coach. RR, failure indeed.

[ShotgunDawg]

Rosebowl says that Vick was the bad cop & Harris the good cop.

That's concerning to me unless Harris has the ability to turn into a bad cop while not being fraudulent

[Captain Falcon]

Rosebowl says that Vick was the bad cop & Harris the good cop.

That's concerning to me unless Harris has the ability to turn into a bad cop while not being fraudulent

She has never struck me as a pushover at all, though I doubt she would be as animated on the bench as Vic is.

[TALL DAWG]

Hire Coach Mitchell as bad cop...retain Coach Harris as good cop.
Case closed.

[maroonmania]

Listened to The Boneyard, and Steve said Johnnie was the good cop to Vic's bad cop. We don't need someone soft.

Well, Stans was the good cop to R. Williams bad cop and Stans, for whatever faults he had and however it ended, still had the best and most consistent modern day run for an MSU HC in men's basketball.

[fader2103]

All y'all thinking Harris will stay if passed over is almost laughable. Also AD's rarely hire assistant coaches. If we hired Mitchell whose to say he wants Harris on his staff??
If we don't hire Harris she is gone.

[maroonmania]

All y'all thinking Harris will stay if passed over is almost laughable. Also AD's rarely hire assistant coaches. If we hired Mitchell whose to say he wants Harris on his staff??
If we don't hire Harris she is gone.

Agree, not sure why anyone would think that is a possibility. She will be Vic's top assistant whereever he is unless she get a HC job she wants (assuming she wants to be a HC).

[basedog]

JMO but it looks like Harris is the backup plan, if she is JC choice it would already a done deal. I'm pulling for Harris.

[BorneDawg]

I successful head coach would also likely keep the current talent.

So if we didnt hire her as head coach ....why would she stay? Would you stay if you had done what she has recruiting and coaching to have some one brought in from outside ?More than likely she would leave and probably take some recruits with her

[maroonmania]

JMO but it looks like Harris is the backup plan, if she is JC choice it would already a done deal. I'm pulling for Harris.

I don't think that is true necessarily. Losing Vic was an out of the blue thing that I doubt Cohen was even thinking was a possibility a week ago. He could very well hire Harris but I'm sure he will do his due diligence with some other big time coaches before making the decision. On paper Harris looks like the way to go to keep the program on the current path since she has been with Vic for forever and is highly responsible for where our program is today. But one, I don't know for certain she wants a HC gig, and two, I don't know enough about her to have a good sense of what kind of HC she would make. But, even if we hire a sitting HC, outside of maybe 4 or 5 of them they will all be a step down from what we've had the past 8 seasons.

[TheLostDawg]

I don't think that is true necessarily. Losing Vic was an out of the blue thing that I doubt Cohen was even thinking was a possibility a week ago. He could very well hire Harris but I'm sure he will do his due diligence with some other big time coaches before making the decision. On paper Harris looks like the way to go to keep the program on the current path since she has been with Vic for forever and is highly responsible for where our program is today. But one, I don't know for certain she wants a HC gig, and two, I don't know enough about her to have a good sense of what kind of HC she would make. But, even if we hire a sitting HC, outside of maybe 4 or 5 of them they will all be a step down from what we've had the past 8 seasons.

I agree. Also what are the chances we pull those four? I believe very unlikely. I am not a big fan of dawn Staley but she's about the only one I think could recruit just as good here and raise our ceiling. I think Harris has the potential to be better than Vic but I don't know her so I don't know if she could be a head coach due to personality which is why potential is the key word.

[Cooterpoot]

Well, Stans was the good cop to R. Williams bad cop and Stans, for whatever faults he had and however it ended, still had the best and most consistent modern day run for an MSU HC in men's basketball.

Might explain the loss of control at the end as well.

[TheLostDawg]

Might explain the loss of control at the end as well.

Very true but do women have the track record of needing to be as tightly controlled as the men? Would it be worth the risk if we can't get Staley? I think so

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Might explain the loss of control at the end as well.

Stans bad cop Robert Kirby left.

[maroonmania]

Might explain the loss of control at the end as well.

Worst thing that ever happened to Stans at MSU was when he lost his longtime top assistant Robert Kirby (sort of the bad cop for Stans). Appeared Kirby was the one that tended to keep order on the team. After Kirby left, it was only took a couple of years for things to go to pot.

[maroonmania]

Stans bad cop Robert Kirby left.

Actually didn't see your post before I posted but we are definitely in agreement that losing Kirby was the beginning of the end for Stans.

[DDawg]

The echo chamber that this place turns into when it comes to coaching searches is a hilarious phenomenon. Johnnie Harris is the WBB version of Billy Napier at this point

[jdelta02]

Would be good to give Coach Harris an opportunity. Also, she has been a big key to recruiting. Additionally, I read where, Coach Schaefer recently recommended her for Miss. State's head coaching job.

Miss. State already has the players/talent (including incoming) to make several national championship runs in the near future. The fans know this. Fans of other programs know as well.

[trojandawg]

Rosebowl says that Vick was the bad cop & Harris the good cop.

That's concerning to me unless Harris has the ability to turn into a bad cop while not being fraudulent
Shouldn't listen to rosebowl a bunch. The only thing he has had inside info on was the hugh freeze stuff.
Remember last preseason when he said the offense would be move improved and that tommy Stevens was awesome and the receivers were vastly improved. For someone that's supposed to be in the sports evil business he isn't too good at evaluating states talent nor being on with sports info as far as scoops.

[pilldawg]

delete

[maroonmania]

Shouldn't listen to rosebowl a bunch. The only thing he has had inside info on was the hugh freeze stuff.
Remember last preseason when he said the offense would be move improved and that tommy Stevens was awesome and the receivers were vastly improved. For someone that's supposed to be in the sports evil business he isn't too good at evaluating states talent nor being on with sports info as far as scoops.

Yep, his LEAST reliable information is when it has something to do with inside our athletic department. For those times he seems to just be a mouthpiece for the university and is very patronizing about it on his podcast. He is more believable when it comes to recruiting or a story like Freeze from someone else's athletic department where he is not worried about staying in good graces with anyone.

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

Would be good to give Coach Harris an opportunity. Also, she has been a big key to recruiting. Additionally, I read where, Coach Schaefer recently recommended her for Miss. State's head coaching job.

Seriously, after this weekend, who cares what he has to recommend.

[State82]

Seriously, after this weekend, who cares what he has to recommend.

I am in this camp. The way that whole thing covertly materialized is sketch.