I sure am excited about...

[M.Fillmore]

Ahh the legend of jesus byrne. The empty can rattles the most.

This post should be pinned at the top of the board as the standard by which all stupid posts are judged.
Stunningly shallow.

[MadDawg]

We're gonna go about 18-12 and 8-10 in the SEC probably-somewhere around that and Ray will get another year for sure. Another year of maturity and a full roster will do wonders for this team.

That will certainly get Ray another year and do wonders for winning over the fanbase. Let's hope he can pull that off.

[ckDOG]

I don't keep up with SEC basketball very well. Are there any recent hires that have proved to be solid? I know most regarded the Frank Martin hire as solid and he sucks at Scarolina. Outside of that, I know nothing other than SEC is an abomination of major conference men's athletics.

[NCDawg]

I would have to agree with you about Greg. He is one of those once in a lifetime hires!!

If he was a "once in a lifetime hire", how come he couldn't talk Chris Peterson into becoming our coach when he went to Denver to interview him? I think Byrne was loved so much because he replaced an unloved AD, which had been with us for much too long.

[engie]

I don't keep up with SEC basketball very well. Are there any recent hires that have proved to be solid? I know most regarded the Frank Martin hire as solid and he sucks at Scarolina. Outside of that, I know nothing other than SEC is an abomination of major conference men's athletics.

No. You have to go all the way back to Calipari, which really isn't even a fair circumstance, to find a "new" coach that's truly been good in the SEC and the last 2 years, his ass has underperformed. This class he has now was supposed to be better than the Fab 5 -- talk about falling on your face.

- Frank Haith was thought to be a homerun hire in year 1. Won the Big12 Tourney at Mizzou and was a 2-seed in the tourney. Got eliminated by a 15 and hasn't fixed it since.
- Mike Andersen was thought to be a homerun hire in year 1 after leading Mizzou to success in the Big12. Has recruited well, but been a dumpster fire at Arkansas.
- Anthony Grant was thought to be a homerun hire out of VCU for Bama. He initially looked promising and has recruited very well, but has had a ton of attrition and is still a dumpster fire.
- Cuonzo Martin same thing.
- Jury is still out on Johnny Jones -- but he's recruiting lights out. That said, they were supposed to be a tournament team this year -- and they aren't that close.
- Frank Martin - getting 4 and 5* players -- still a dumpster fire.

Need I continue?

Yet our fans are DEAD SET that we've GOT TO FOLLOW THE EXACT SAME BLUEPRINT that these other programs are following -- that are never actually taking a step forward. Got to get a "hot" midmajor coach to come in, buy 4* and 5* players on the AAU trail, and that's the winning formula in the SEC according to our fans -- in spite of the fact that there are about 10 recent examples of that approach crashing and burning. Arkansas is on their 3rd or 4th "can't miss" coach since Nolan Richardson -- a program that is considered nationally prominent if not elite all-time -- and they CAN NOT FIGURE IT OUT.

[chef dixon]

Cohen comes here no matter who our AD is. You know that. Dream job.

Mullen = Im not a fan but we have some sort of stability and now have depth. So, Ill give Byrne some credit here that he made a good hire. Not great but good.

Ray, I mean, the deck was stacked against him but he hasnt shown much. So far, a negative hire.

Strick did hire Vic....and he did fire stands.

Strick has done a good bit of good. Built on byrnes forward thinking. You guys act like these guys are on islands. Byrne and strick and a dozen other ADs call each other all time on decisions. they are always reaching out to each other for ideas and thoughts.

If you don't think Mullen was a "great" hire, you hadn't been watching MSU football.

[NCDawg]

If you don't think Mullen was a "great" hire, you hadn't been watching MSU football.

I have been watching MSU football for a long time, and I agree with Ennis Del Mar. I think Mullen was a good hire, not a great hire, primarily because of his recruiting. I think he is a good coach, but we will consistently remain in the bottom half of the SEC because he is unable to bring in the top players to compete with the top tier teams in the SEC. This is especially true regarding his OL recruiting. Any SEC team that goes after an offensive lineman we are recruiting, we invariably lose out. I've seen it too many times.

[tcdog70]

No. You have to go all the way back to Calipari, which really isn't even a fair circumstance, to find a "new" coach that's truly been good in the SEC and the last 2 years, his ass has underperformed. This class he has now was supposed to be better than the Fab 5 -- talk about falling on your face.

- Frank Haith was thought to be a homerun hire in year 1. Won the Big12 Tourney at Mizzou and was a 2-seed in the tourney. Got eliminated by a 15 and hasn't fixed it since.
- Mike Andersen was thought to be a homerun hire in year 1 after leading Mizzou to success in the Big12. Has recruited well, but been a dumpster fire at Arkansas.
- Anthony Grant was thought to be a homerun hire out of VCU for Bama. He initially looked promising and has recruited very well, but has had a ton of attrition and is still a dumpster fire.
- Cuonzo Martin same thing.
- Jury is still out on Johnny Jones -- but he's recruiting lights out. That said, they were supposed to be a tournament team this year -- and they aren't that close.
- Frank Martin - getting 4 and 5* players -- still a dumpster fire.

Need I continue?

Yet our fans are DEAD SET that we've GOT TO FOLLOW THE EXACT SAME BLUEPRINT that these other programs are following -- that are never actually taking a step forward. Got to get a "hot" midmajor coach to come in, buy 4* and 5* players on the AAU trail, and that's the winning formula in the SEC according to our fans -- in spite of the fact that there are about 10 recent examples of that approach crashing and burning. Arkansas is on their 3rd or 4th "can't miss" coach since Nolan Richardson -- a program that is considered nationally prominent if not elite all-time -- and they CAN NOT FIGURE IT OUT.

You just made an excellent argument on why we should have kept Stansbury

[MadDawg]

No. You have to go all the way back to Calipari, which really isn't even a fair circumstance, to find a "new" coach that's truly been good in the SEC and the last 2 years, his ass has underperformed. This class he has now was supposed to be better than the Fab 5 -- talk about falling on your face.

- Frank Haith was thought to be a homerun hire in year 1. Won the Big12 Tourney at Mizzou and was a 2-seed in the tourney. Got eliminated by a 15 and hasn't fixed it since.
- Mike Andersen was thought to be a homerun hire in year 1 after leading Mizzou to success in the Big12. Has recruited well, but been a dumpster fire at Arkansas.
- Anthony Grant was thought to be a homerun hire out of VCU for Bama. He initially looked promising and has recruited very well, but has had a ton of attrition and is still a dumpster fire.
- Cuonzo Martin same thing.
- Jury is still out on Johnny Jones -- but he's recruiting lights out. That said, they were supposed to be a tournament team this year -- and they aren't that close.
- Frank Martin - getting 4 and 5* players -- still a dumpster fire.

Need I continue?

Yet our fans are DEAD SET that we've GOT TO FOLLOW THE EXACT SAME BLUEPRINT that these other programs are following -- that are never actually taking a step forward. Got to get a "hot" midmajor coach to come in, buy 4* and 5* players on the AAU trail, and that's the winning formula in the SEC according to our fans -- in spite of the fact that there are about 10 recent examples of that approach crashing and burning. Arkansas is on their 3rd or 4th "can't miss" coach since Nolan Richardson -- a program that is considered nationally prominent if not elite all-time -- and they CAN NOT FIGURE IT OUT.

You've listed several examples of how following the "exact same blueprint" has failed miserably at other schools. So the next logical question: Are there any schools that are following OUR blueprint and being succesful?

[smootness]

You've listed several examples of how following the "exact same blueprint" has failed miserably at other schools. So the next logical question: Are there any schools that are following OUR blueprint and being succesful?

Nobody's taken the same approach we did. Considering the recent run of new hires in the SEC, that may be a good thing. Which is engie's point.

Right now in the southeast, if you want to be successful, you absolutely have to be able to teach basketball. You can't just recruit, manage a program, put the right guys on the floor, and win. You have to be able to take a raw athlete, teach him how to play, and keep him in the program for a while.

Billy Donovan can do that. No one else can. Sure, if you recruit at the level Calipari does, you'll be pretty good...but as engie pointed out, even he isn't having the kind of success everyone expects.

I don't know that Ray is a good enough teacher to get it done. I do know that I like a lot of what I've seen from him; but the proof will ultimately be in the results. I like our approach, though.

[Coach34]

You just made an excellent argument on why we should have kept Stansbury

once aGAIN- Stands wasnt fired over wins/losses....he was fired for losing control of his program.

[DLGDawg]

Cohen comes here no matter who our AD is. You know that. Dream job.

.

JMO but I believe if it would have been any other AD, Raffo would be our coach.

[bulldawg28]

I have been watching MSU football for a long time, and I agree with Ennis Del Mar. I think Mullen was a good hire, not a great hire, primarily because of his recruiting. I think he is a good coach, but we will consistently remain in the bottom half of the SEC because he is unable to bring in the top players to compete with the top tier teams in the SEC. This is especially true regarding his OL recruiting. Any SEC team that goes after an offensive lineman we are recruiting, we invariably lose out. I've seen it too many times.

I dont know what you've seen but you haven't seen our OL cost us a game in a long time. Recruiting rankings are for fans it had no bearings on any game. We rarely have been out manned by any team currently nor will we going forward with Mullen.

[quickstrike2]

Byrne did replace a unloved AD that was terrible, so that helped him look really good fairly easily. He did make good hires with Mullen and Cohen. Both had name recognition and had been winners were they had been. Strick's first hire in the big 3 sports, was a relatively unknown assistant from Clemson. Just very risky on his part and fans will question his decision, cause it seems that was solely his gut feeling on hiring Ray. The judging period on Ray starts next year in year 3. We really don't know what we have right now.

[Dawg61]

I am excited about skull-cracking Mississippi Southern in a sold out, expanded DWS.

My request for pump-up music.

http://youtu.be/S0vGsyprO54

Wonder what it would cost for a custom version of this. Something with player names and Starkville in it.

I could see the stadium jumping with this. Hope its a night game.

[smootness]

I think he is a good coach, but we will consistently remain in the bottom half of the SEC because he is unable to bring in the top players to compete with the top tier teams in the SEC.

I think this is just proving chef's point. If you think Mullen not recruiting better than half of the conference is more a reflection on him than on State, then you haven't paid a lot of attention to our history.

[gravedigger]

As long as he does exactly what he's told by Keenum, he can make all the hires he likes. Same for Brackey and his decisions.

Keenum runs this show gentlemen. Get used to it.

[mic]

Once again for the cheap seats.....
RR has been here 19 months. He came into a dumpster fire. Coach K wouldn't have won 12 games with what we had last year.
Yes he has to recruit better. Again he has been here 19 months. He will have a FULL roster next year. If he doesn't win more than he loses and we aren't competing and pushing an NIT bid then the leash will get tighter and the pressure will be put on to hire someone else and I will be cool with that.
And how many of you out there would have LOVED to get (including me) Andy Enfield from Fla GC.?? He has won 1 league game and they have lost 12 out of 13..
Frank Martin has won the same number league games in 2 years as RR has.. So if any school should be going ape shit crazy it should be USCe fans. Dude is getting PAID there..
And last you all know who went 5-13 his second year at MSU with a very talented roster..

[maroonmania]

JMO but I believe if it would have been any other AD, Raffo would be our coach.

Oh there is no doubt that Cohen would have taken the job under any AD. But the question is a good one, would Stricklin have had the stones to actually defy Polk and hire Stricklin? I think he maybe would have because of his relationship with Cohen while both were at KY but I certainly don't KNOW that he would have.

[HailState39110]

I'd rather we hire another AD and then let him hire a new BB coach. I wouldn't mind replacing both this year.

I like Strickland for marketing , fundraising , progressive forward thinking, etc. I do question his ability to be cut throat sometimes and the ability to make correct hires.
I always liked the way Ole miss hired Freeze with a search committee made up of former players ( Archie) and big alumni (Mike Glenn) . if Ray goes 4-14 in the league again next year A search committee would be a great way to make our next hire. I would trust a committee made up of Dampier, Shane Power, Joe Dean Jr, Richard Williams, and some big alumni like Fred Carl or Richard Adkerson rather than trust Stricklin