The hiring of Rick Ray

[engie]

We've also learned who doesn't think their shit stinks.

Who?

[tcdog70]

these are the Same Guys that think a 6-6 season is really great. Why can Mullen be judged different than Stans? Rick Stansbury accomplished so much more for a longer period of time than any Coach in MSU history. I agree with a lot that that Coach 34 and Engie post, but I can't wrap my mind around their hate for RS. They Love a can't beat a top 20 Mullen but hate Stans. go figure. Here is what I have learned during this rebuild--Rick Ray won't cut the mustard.

[Coach34]

these are the Same Guys that think a 6-6 season is really great. Why can Mullen be judged different than Stans? Rick Stansbury accomplished so much more for a longer period of time than any Coach in MSU history. I agree with a lot that that Coach 34 and Engie post, but I can't wrap my mind around their hate for RS. They Love a can't beat a top 20 Mullen but hate Stans. go figure. Here is what I have learned during this rebuild--Rick Ray won't cut the mustard.

SEC football = Big East basketball
SEC basketball = Conference USA football

In Mullen's 5 seasons- we have played 2 top 5 schedules and have one that is ranked very high the other seasons
Stands routinely had much, much easier schedules. His last 2 were 88th and 87th in the country according to statsheet.com

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

these are the Same Guys that think a 6-6 season is really great. Why can Mullen be judged different than Stans? Rick Stansbury accomplished so much more for a longer period of time than any Coach in MSU history. I agree with a lot that that Coach 34 and Engie post, but I can't wrap my mind around their hate for RS. They Love a can't beat a top 20 Mullen but hate Stans. go figure. Here is what I have learned during this rebuild--Rick Ray won't cut the mustard.

1. football does not equal basketball, they are completely different animals
2. football in the SECW certainly does not equal basketball in the SECW (or SEC in general)
3. 15 years >>>>>>> 5 years
4. taking over from Williams a couple years removed from a Final Four >>>>>> taking over from Croom, who inherited a mess from the end of Jackie's regime.
5. Rick Ray not doing well does not mean Stansbury should have been kept - those things are not one and the same, they are separate
6. maybe C34 hates Stansbury, but most of us supported him over the years and appreciate very much the things he did for our program. However, by the time it was all said and done, we recognized that it was time to move in a new direction. One does not have to hate Stansbury to realize it was time for a new direction.

You are beating on a dead horse. Appreciate what Stansbury did for the program, but move on like the majority of us.

[JOHNHEVESYMADE]

Bottom line, Ray better recruit better and it doesn't help him that he is viewed as a "developmental coach" and only Chicken has gotten better. Fred, Gavin, and Colin up to this point have regressed. At some point he's going to need to sign a difference maker. It almost seems like it's Malik Newman or bust. Hope we pull it off but he better offer a nice "package" if he wants to get Malik.

[esplanade91]

Bottom line, Ray better recruit better and it doesn't help him that he is viewed as a "developmental coach" and only Chicken has gotten better. Fred, Gavin, and Colin up to this point have regressed. At some point he's going to need to sign a difference maker. It almost seems like it's Malik Newman or bust. Hope we pull it off but he better offer a nice "package" if he wants to get Malik.

Ray = Croom, and not just because they both are/were under-qualified and took over a program full of convicts and run of the mill shitheads. Had Croom gone to a school like NCSU or somewhere with calm waters he probably would have had a lot more success (but maybe not, and if so probably not much more), but he followed up a fan-favorite who overstayed his welcome and wasn't given an easy task. We hit rock bottom with Croom, and because we fired him and hired a guy from one of the best programs in the country people started loving our football team again and we now have a revamped stadium. JWS suddenly become a god in Starkville and "the end" is now not necessarily talked about when he comes up.

Ray is simply serving the purpose of removing RS from our rearview mirror and in the meantime keeping us from being the Vandy football of SEC basketball (Vandy football circa Croom era). When Ray is fired (because he will be fired) we're going to remove our LT-esk self-punishment of non-AAU-dom (i.e. hiring Croom) and hire a top assistant/mid-major coach from somewhere great and The Hump will be packed just like DWS was in 2009.

We're too fickle of a fanbase to go straight from JWS to Jimbo/Mullen/anyone-not-named-Croom or from Stans to Payne... because when Jimbo/Payne/Drew/Dooley or whoever sucks for 3-4 years we give up on him and no one gives a shit. See Cohen*.

Ray can't recruit so he will ultimately be fired, but I wish him the best. The only real thing I have to complain about is the lack of support he's getting from fans. Last year was my last as a student and I tried to attend as many games as possible and I was usually the only one there.

*Cohen might have sucked his first few years but was having success in recruiting... which was enough to have at least 50% of the fanbase on his side.

[smootness]

Yeah, because Kenny Payne is a big-time coach.

[TrueMaroon]

It is good to have an AD with "balls," but I liked having a competitive basketball team. We may have one again in the future. We may not. But we have an AD with "balls," so I suppose we have to be grateful.

Huh? Byrne had huuuuge balls.

Scott? Not so much. What has he done to show that? Scott is an idealist; how does that make him have balls?

[engie]

Huh? Byrne had huuuuge balls.

Scott? Not so much. What has he done to show that? Scott is an idealist; how does that make him have balls?

UH -- he got rid of our popular all-time winningest coach off a 21-win season and NIT appearance -- who happened to also be best friends with Scott's father-in-law. He then hired who he considered the correct man for the job against the wishes of the people that basically pay his salary and will have the ability to get rid of him altogether if they so choose if/when basketball hire doesn't work out -- essentially laying his nuts out on the table instead of taking the safe route.

Or does that not qualify as "balls" these days?

[engie]

Bottom line, Ray better recruit better and it doesn't help him that he is viewed as a "developmental coach" and only Chicken has gotten better. Fred, Gavin, and Colin up to this point have regressed. At some point he's going to need to sign a difference maker. It almost seems like it's Malik Newman or bust. Hope we pull it off but he better offer a nice "package" if he wants to get Malik.

I love how people argue for regression when they probably haven't even looked at the stats -- much less brought them to the discussion. Yeah -- you have no agenda**

Fact is -- you wouldn't like what stats tell you anyway -- where the only player you can ACTUALLY argue for regression is Fred Thomas -- who simply has a confidence issue and will get going sooner or later.

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

Yeah, because Kenny Payne is a big-time coach.

Kenny Payne was such a huge can't miss coaching prospect that he is now the head coach at the prestigious.... oh wait, he's still the Ed Orgeron for Kentucky.

Joe Dooley was such a can't miss coaching prospect that he got fired 4 years into his previous head coaching gig and then spent nearly 15 YEARS as an assistant before getting another chance at the almighty FGCU (granted they will probably beat us). I cannot fathom how he could be such a great coach for all those years with Bill Self talking about how awesome he is, and NOT get any other job for so long...

**smootness - I know you were being sarcastic in your post, so I'm not addressing this towards you even though I quoted your post**

[TrueMaroon]

UH -- he got rid of our popular all-time winningest coach off a 21-win season and NIT appearance -- who happened to also be best friends with Scott's father-in-law. He then hired who he considered the correct man for the job against the wishes of the people that basically pay his salary and will have the ability to get rid of him altogether if they so choose if/when basketball hire doesn't work out -- essentially laying his nuts out on the table instead of taking the safe route.

Or does that not qualify as "balls" these days?

Balls? A blind squirrel knew that Stansburry was done. Stans was done when he lost to Georgia, and he was already on thin ice. Scott was way under prepared for the search and it showed up big time by letting almost a month pass before hiring a new coach. Stans and Bailey were friends, but they weren't best friends by any stretch. I dont see balls; I see incompetence.


What I saw was a first time Athletic Director who fell flat on his face and failed to sell the program thus whiffing on choice A, B, C, and then finally option R was willing to sign on.

Just because somebody isnt a fan of Rick Ray, it doesnt mean they were fan of Rick Stansburry. It was time for Stansburry to move on; however, we did a piss poor job handling his replacement.

[esplanade91]

Yeah, because Kenny Payne is a big-time coach.

Just like Mullen was a "big time coach." Mullen was the #1 assistant from a winning, big time program. Kenny is the #1 assistant for arguably the biggest program (top 3 at least). Mullen wasn't on anyone else's radar, just like most teams probably wouldn't hire Kenny... but still a big time coach compared to a second-tier assistant from one of the worst ACC teams.

Kenny wouldn't have kicked those 4 players off the team and he'd just be a continuation of the culture. Add Ray in between and you fix everything.

I'm certainly not saying I wanted to hire Payne or want to hire him now... just conversing.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Huh? Byrne had huuuuge balls.

Scott? Not so much. What has he done to show that? Scott is an idealist; how does that make him have balls?

My post was sarcastic in answer to a post that lauded the AD's manhood.

[smootness]

Balls? A blind squirrel knew that Stansburry was done. Stans was done when he lost to Georgia, and he was already on thin ice. Scott was way under prepared for the search and it showed up big time by letting almost a month pass before hiring a new coach. Stans and Bailey were friends, but they weren't best friends by any stretch. I dont see balls; I see incompetence.

It's obvious there are still plenty of State fans who didn't want Stans to go, including some big-time boosters; regardless of what you think (and may agreed with you as well), it still took balls to fire him before the wheels completely came off from a record standpoint.

And yes, the Ray hire did take balls. You can think it was incompetent or terrible, that's fine; but it still took balls. He knew people would say, 'Who?' and that many would do exactly what they're doing, which is refusing to support the program until Ray overwhelms them with success; yet he still pulled the trigger. That takes balls.

What did Byrne do that proved he had balls? He fired Croom? Ok...no more difficult than firing Stans. He hired Cohen? What a ballsy hire (it was 100% the right hire, just saying that it was pretty easy). And getting the top assistant from Florida may have been a very good choice as well, but it was still fairly straightforward.

Some apparently want Stricklin to do things like shove cowbells in the SEC's face and tell them to screw themselves, but that is just stupid and counterproductive. For the life of me, I can't understand why so many are so up in arms over Stricklin. The guy is a good AD.

All I can figure is that our fanbase is just uncreative or dimwitted.

Ray? Croom 2.0
Stricklin? LT 2.0

Can we not at least come up with things besides, 'They're just like that last bad move we made at that position'?

[engie]

Balls? A blind squirrel knew that Stansburry was done. Stans was done when he lost to Georgia, and he was already on thin ice. Scott was way under prepared for the search and it showed up big time by letting almost a month pass before hiring a new coach. Stans and Bailey were friends, but they weren't best friends by any stretch. I dont see balls; I see incompetence.

I didn't realize that planning was a prerequisite to having a sack. In my experience, those two things RARELY work together. But I learn something new every day**

What I saw was a first time Athletic Director who fell flat on his face and failed to sell the program thus whiffing on choice A, B, C, and then finally option R was willing to sign on.

Which simply means that you weren't paying attention to how the search actually went down.

Just because somebody isnt a fan of Rick Ray, it doesnt mean they were fan of Rick Stansburry. It was time for Stansburry to move on; however, we did a piss poor job handling his replacement.

There is no possible way for you to know this yet. Time will tell if we did a good job or bad job.

Either way -- Stricklin laid his ass out on the line for Rick Ray. That takes balls. LT would have kept Stans -- and hired either Kirby or Cunningham.

[engie]

Just like Mullen was a "big time coach." Mullen was the #1 assistant from a winning, big time program. Kenny is the #1 assistant for arguably the biggest program (top 3 at least). Mullen wasn't on anyone else's radar, just like most teams probably wouldn't hire Kenny... but still a big time coach compared to a second-tier assistant from one of the worst ACC teams.

Kenny wouldn't have kicked those 4 players off the team and he'd just be a continuation of the culture. Add Ray in between and you fix everything.

I'm certainly not saying I wanted to hire Payne or want to hire him now... just conversing.

Kenny Payne is NOT the #1 assistant at Kentucky.

[smootness]

Kenny Payne is NOT the #1 assistant at Kentucky.

Thank you. Antigua is their top assistant. Payne is, at best, #2 and the comparison to Orgeron is a good one. He is a guy who is there for recruiting and little else.

[MarketingBully01]

I concur TrueMaroon. Good post.

[MarketingBully01]

Eh, hard to tell. At best it's 1a and 1b. Cal isn't knocking any doors down to promote Antigua for HC positions. Either way it's a wash. Both are good recruiters and I think would do great jobs as Head Coaches. Remember, Payne also did an awesome job at Oregon as an assistant as well.

His top assistant in Memphis was obviously Pastner.