Originally Posted by
Coach34
Nobody likes losing. Nobody is happy about the state of the program currently. We have traded constant drama and embarrassment around the program for losing on the court and falling to the bottom of the SEC. It sux.
But how anybody can claim Stands needed another year is beyond me. I dont get it. The team full of Sword, Fred, Ware, Wendell Lewis, and Jalen Steele was going to be a shitty one no matter who coached it. But besides that:
I cant fathom how anybody can try to justify giving Stands another year after Renardo Sidney. Think about this and the lack of control our HC had- we had to leave Sidney behind to stay here in the States when our team went to Europe to bond and play in the Fall. Why did we have to leave him behind you ask? Because we were terrified he would be drug tested by the NCAA on the trip- as teams are subject to be. How can you be so powerless as a HC to allow that to stay on your team? The embarrassment of the stories of Sidney going to "workout" with John Lucas??? Moultrie being suspended for failing multiple drug tests. You dont get a 3 game suspension for one failed test ya know. If you cant see that a change HAD TO BE MADE after all that- I just dont know what to tell you. Getting rid of Sidney wasnt going to make it get better- Sidney didnt make the other guys do drugs. Ray had to kick 2 others off for multiple failed tests once he got the job. It wasnt going to get any better under Stands.
Lastly- before you bash Stricklin again- think about that. He just got rid of a coach that had let things get so bad- nobody on the damn team could pass a drug test. He had just had a HC come to him and explain he was leaving one of his starting basketball players behind on the Europe trip because he was too much of a drug risk. But that he was still going to keep him on the team. So when Strick was having to make another hire- you can bet all this played a part in his decision-making.
Ray may not be the answer- but we made the correct decision in making the coaching change. We dont have the drama surrounding our program anymore and that is tremendous improvement. We just have to get more talented players on campus- whomever can do that and coach them.