do you think that Johnnie should've been offered the job??
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do you think that Johnnie should've been offered the job??
Who did johnnie vote for last November? This is a joke... please don't answer.
At this point, I'd say yeah. Not sure Johnnie is, but this season has been pretty disastrous, so it couldn't be much worse.
KO mentioned that she came in third in the interview process. Two questions i have for Cohen are 1. Do you look at the whole body of work of a candidate and secondly did you ever watch Johnnie actions during and after the game. She was always involved with game decisions, the players seemed to respect her and reacted positively to her. It always seemed to me that Vic put her in the limelight she always did postgame interviews on TV and she did outstanding when in the Limelight. Did Vic endorse her for the Job and did she want it???
Yeah from this vantage point yes hire her. But honestly, we should have been able to hire a more proven coach wanting to up their status. NMP was not proven HC. Proven player, yes but that was it.
I didn't care either way. The only thing that gave me pause with Nikki was the fact TN wouldn't touch her. But we made a bad hire.
It seems Cohen wanted to make a PR "splash" hire. I never forget when Bowden left Tulane for Clemson RR was the OC at Tulane and expected to be named HC. He even went out and bought a green jacket. Well the new AD hired someone else. Destroyed a up and coming program that Bowden and RR had built. Needless to say she didn't last long.
Johnnie would've been better than NMP, but it's hard to say how much better. The only coach that we were on that would've come close to Vic is Jeff Walz but he turned us down.
Here is what a lot of you don?t understand, the success rate of hiring a decent candidate in the vast majority of self starting jobs (coaching included) is about 25%. It?s not a easy job to hire someone. They can sound create in a interview and have success somewhere else and come tank at your place. Then you can have someone who interviewed like shit succeeded somewhere else out of nowhere. It happens in every industry.
Harris has NEVER had a head coaching position unlike McCray-Penson. While it would be very MSU to hire someone that has never coached as a head coach, when one compares their resumes, it's a no brainer.
And Coach Harris has the same political perspective(s) as Coach McCray-Penson, so all of the weakass snowflake political perspectives from the bashing crew would be the same.
This season has been very disappointing, but the same can be said about a lot of programs during these pandemic times. Look at UK, men's team. They are right in the middle of the SEC with our men's team. There are more factors at play here than just X's & O's. Coach Nikki was CUSA Coach of the year @ Old Dominion and was a 2020 WBCA Coach of the Year Finalist. She know basketball. What she needs to figure out is how to get our prima-donnas to perform instead of worrying about Instragram posts. That's one thing about Vic that is missed, the absolute drive to coach and not give AF about player's feelings.
When we missed on the higher level proven coaches, it turned into a two candidate race. The one we chose has been terrible. Who knows if Johnnie would be better, but the kids would've been happier. They quit on this coach. Next year, if she's back, she will have nothing. The talent is leaving. There's rumors of another one now and there were already 2 for sure and a third on the fence. A couple gave up their extra year. Four possible starters leaving. It could snowball really fast.
I believe what he's saying is that Vic didn't give them another option. It was his way or the highway. I think that's a big part of the problem with the new coach. She tried to be their friend and is now trying to be a disciplinarian. She can't have it both ways and I doubt the players react very well to all the hot and cold. That's just my guess though.
If thats true then she needs to be gone. You can always lower your standards buts you can hardly up your standards. If she started out being a hardass then tried to be their friend she is a caring leader. But if you started out being their friend then lowered the boom then they will shove the middle finger up your nose. Everybody knew Vic was a hardass but he was also a supportive mentor, see how he treated Morgan Williams when he told the nation that her dad died.
I just think there's a lot of cancers within that team at the moment. We went star chasing and recruiting and got burned. It's going to happen. I mean I know it sounds stupid and when you're winning the problems get overlooked, but the TikToks and the Instagrams before and after the games is just another checkmark that this team isn't bought in. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have fun and live it up, but before a game you probably need to be locked in unless the team is successful when they're loose, and this team isn't successful loose or uptight. I just think it's another thing against Penson. You have to be able to learn how to mold your team and I understand with COVID that being with them and getting to know them was a bit harder, but good coaches establish a culture from Day 1.
You can watch the game and see 2-3 major cancers getting minutes, plain as day. Everyone knows who they are. No bball team with that many cancers will be worth a lick. Now it wasn't an issue last year so who is to blame? Easy - coach. Yes players should not have that attitude but that is humanity and why a coach has to manage that. Vic kept any cancer at bay throughout his time here which is why we won. Remember he sat 4 starters that year in NCAAT. Not that they were cancers like we have now just attitude adjustments. We have full fledge stage 4 cancer that has spread.
Yep hiring a coach is not easy especially when you don't know what you are doing. A rookie hiring a rookie ain't going to turn out well with two learning on the job. End of day Keenum made a bad decision on JC and now everyone is paying a price.
You do realize you put Cohen in a 'no win' position. He hired a 'proven' Div 1 Head Coach with a great coaching background, SEC playing and coaching experience and fantastic resume'. If he had hired an unproven Assistant with zero 'Head Coaching' experience, many would have giving him unmitigated hell!
Sometimes, coaches just don't work out. To 'Monday morning QB' this decision is idiotic.
My personal theory is that there is a lot of blame to go around. I don?t think Vic particularly liked this bunch and it made it easier to leave.
Reading her body language I think Nikki is fed up with a large part of the roster. I mean she?s been preaching boxing out for 2 months and most of them still don?t even try it. If you can?t get a 5th grade concept right you aren?t going to be good at running an offense.
It?s a flaming mess and Vic, Nikki and the players all share some blame.
At this point we are going to have to burn it down so the question is if Nikki can rebuild it. This off-season will be very telling if there is any chance she can succeed here.
Sorry, 3 years HC experience at Old Dominion ain't proven. Just because you sat on bench with Dawn Staley doesn't make you a great coach. Her resume had little leadership at HC level.
I don't know how any other coach would have worked out but about like hiring Joe Moorhead. JC makes same mistake twice. Time will tell on Leach but at least he learned to get a guy that has won as HC before. Can't blame him for Leach hire on that front, maybe for other reasons but not experience.
So, you think Johnnie Harris, 8 years as an ASSISTANT COACH is more 'proven?' Read the OP. OP asking about hiring Johnnie, an 'unproven assistant.
Some assistant coach hires 'work' and some don't! Mullen worked, Moorhead didn't.
She improved her record at OD every year. Do you understand the WBB history of OD?
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (Conference USA) (2017–2020)
2017–18 Old Dominion 8–23 6–10 12th
2018–19 Old Dominion 21–10 10–6 5th WNIT First Round
2019–20 Old Dominion 24–6 14–4 2nd NCAA canceled due to coronavirus pandemic
Yep the original Question was Should Johnnie been offered the Job. In another thread I wondered if she was even interviewed and was told she came in 3rd. It was in no way meant to cast anything disparaging in the current coaches direction. Personally I was always impressed with the job that Johnnie did during the game and how the players reacted to her coaching during the game.
I don't know if Johnnie would have worked out. I find it odd that she has never been a head coach at this point in her career. She honestly doesn't seem like the disciplinarian type. She seems more like the good cop to Vic's bad cop.
Back to the original question - Johnnie Harris was as much or more of crap shoot than NMP. 22 years as an assistant with no HC experience leaves you with question marks. Maybe she just needs a chance, but notice that she is right back where she has been for the last 13 years - sitting next to Vic on the bench. Sometimes, people are just career assistant coaches and nothing is wrong with that.
If it's truly a situation where Penson is ridding the locker room of cancers on the team then I think she'll be given 3 years. I don't believe that she magically forgot how to coach overnight so it leaves the two options of A) she's got some problems she needs to purge the locker room of or B) she's just not a good enough coach to succeed at this level. If it's the first then I will applaud her. I may not like her, but I applauded Leach for doing the same thing so I feel like I need to be consistent.
My wife played college basketball. Her coach the first year was an All-American when she played. That year was her first head coach job and she didn’t know shit about coaching. Her second season my wife sat near her on the bench and was asked what would you do questions during the games. She moved on after that and became an assistant football coach the rest of her career.
You ain't read my posts. I have never said JH is a proven coach. The original post was several pages ago, keep up with the topic if you are gonna go attack mode.
Apples and oranges comparing Mullen to NMP. Do you understand the state of MSU WBB when she was hired? We were #2 in country in wins the past 4 years only a win or two behind Uconn.
Hiring an unproven HC for a mediocre program like our football vs a national brand is no comparison. Take that somewhere else.
I was replying to the question about Johnnie, NOT YOU in the first part of the post and added the part about her experience, which you apparently took personally. She took over a down program and improved it every year, for three years in a row. She breathed life back into a program that had a proud history of winning 10 National Championships.
And, my point is 3 year's experience as a HC at OD is a lot more 'experience' than a 22 year career assistant.