Time to find a new coach poll !

[gym from delhi]

I believe that the last fired coach was Dick Campbell. Tay Baker resigned as I think did George Krajack.

[XU2011]

I'd say if there is a "no brainer" available and willing (i.e. a John Beilein) then go ahead and make a move. Short of that, support him and give him another year to see what happens. Don't make a move for just another young, unproven, "up and coming coach".

[tacitus]

I remember how many people couldn't wait to see Mack go. And then he left...

Here is a simple hard fact. Everything else held constant, if we were still in the A10, Steele would have had us on the right side of the bubble three years in a row. But we are not in the A10. We are in the Big East. This means we will have lots of opportunities for big wins, and to improve or metrics, but it will be a grind.

I still think we got robbed of the at-large bid in Steele's first year. Yes, we were on the bubble, but we went .500 in the best league according to the Selection Committee's own metrics. That year, we finished the regular season 6-1, beating ranked Villanova for only the second time since joining the Big East. We beat Creighton in the BE tourney, and then took Villanova to overtime. Then, in the NIT, we took the eventual NIT champ to overtime, losing by, I think one, @Texas.

Last year, who knows whether we would have made the tournament. We didn't get to 20 wins and we were under .500 in the BE. But a lot of bracketologists still had us in the field.

This year, Steele gets a pass. I mean, we went undefeated OOC, beating a tournament-bound team and winning the Shootout in Clifton. We were on the cusp of breaking into the top 25. And the team showed a lot of heart, winning 5 nail-biters (margin of three points or less). But the team took a lot of blows this season: a lot of uncertainties about eligibilities, two devastating injuries, and, what, three covid pauses? We are a young team with a young coach. Our best offensive player and co-captain is a sophomore. Most of our key pieces were transfers and freshmen. Our stud senior played with heart every night, but struggled offensively in many games. We were streaky from three, and our defense is at best two-dimensional. There is only so much such a like this team can take. Steele gets a pass this year. And he deserves one more year to get us back to par.

He is our first coach who started off in the BE. And Mack probably left him in the worst position of any first year X coach in recent memory (since Staak came). Name one coach, who was a legitimate successor to Mack, who would have done better over the last three years? Kelsey? Ha!

Finally, lest we forget, just a few years ago there were many posters on MM calling for Mack's head. Many of us were traying to reason with objective facts that Mack had us on the right track. We warned you this would happen, and it would take a while for us to get back on track...


From a thread in 2018:

There are some people who would obviously be happy with Mack leaving. But it would be devastating to Xavier and the Big East.

If a perennial top-25 team in a perennial top-3 league cannot keep an up-and-coming coach, then it would send the wrong signal to recruits, other up-and-coming coaches, the media, and general hoops fan base.

Mack has not perfected his coaching style just yet. I really think he can take us to our first Final Four, or beyond. I just don't see any coach in the country replacing him without a major loss in momentum. Being in a very unforgiving league, it could take us 5-10 years to get back to the Sweet 16.

Xavier and the Big East need Mack to stay until he has passed his prime and we have a Final Four under our belt to advertise ourselves as a destination job.

[Musketeer1]

From February, 2019:

“I understand that at least another season or two of Steele is imminent. I suspect that is the industry standard, absent scandal, and to act more hastily would be perceived to potentially visit more harm on the program's reputation. I also understand that the loss of veteran starters is a big deal. I look at Villanova though, who lost 4 players to the NBA (two unexpectedly) and see that they have progressed throughout the season to remain atop the conference. Jay Wright assessed the team he had early on (taking lumps against Furman and Penn), adapted a style to fit its strengths, and convinced the players (including several freshman) to buy in to his plan for success. Expecting a first-time, first-year head coach to be like Jay Wright is irrational, of course. But that is part of the problem with this hire in the first place. Even assuming Steele may someday have those coaching skills, ought this program suffer while he starts down that long road with his training wheels clanking along? And, if so, where is the promise that better days are coming? I am curious what evidence of future success I am missing in Steele's performance thus far? Selfish tendencies remain for those players who have the AAU flu. The transfers are working desperately to contribute to make this last season of their basketball careers meaningful, yet their scattershot use and indiscernible roles blunt their contributions. The anointed team leader has regressed. The dozens of turnovers have persisted. These are things any head coach is responsible to improve, whether in his first year, or his twentieth. If Steele is to get more time, I think it reasonable to expect there be some evidence he is up to the task.”

From March, 2020:

"I stand by the above assessment. It is not going to get better. And recruits will start to dry up as well. Success attracts good players. Mediocrity, not so much."

In March, 2021 it is time to call for cloture - - He must go, before it is really too late.

[skyhops]

Next year we will be at the bottom end of the Big East. Steele and his teams the last two years have choked the last six games. Just win one each year and we are in. We just lost a 19 point lead to a team missing a couple of its best players and Carter the offensive player in BE took the most shots even Byron was pissed. Steele is over his head and we finally missed on a hire, it happens.

[JTG]

I remember how many people couldn't wait to see Mack go. And then he left...

Here is a simple hard fact. Everything else held constant, if we were still in the A10, Steele would have had us on the right side of the bubble three years in a row. But we are not in the A10. We are in the Big East. This means we will have lots of opportunities for big wins, and to improve or metrics, but it will be a grind.

I still think we got robbed of the at-large bid in Steele's first year. Yes, we were on the bubble, but we went .500 in the best league according to the Selection Committee's own metrics. That year, we finished the regular season 6-1, beating ranked Villanova for only the second time since joining the Big East. We beat Creighton in the BE tourney, and then took Villanova to overtime. Then, in the NIT, we took the eventual NIT champ to overtime, losing by, I think one, @Texas.

Last year, who knows whether we would have made the tournament. We didn't get to 20 wins and we were under .500 in the BE. But a lot of bracketologists still had us in the field.

This year, Steele gets a pass. I mean, we went undefeated OOC, beating a tournament-bound team and winning the Shootout in Clifton. We were on the cusp of breaking into the top 25. And the team showed a lot of heart, winning 5 nail-biters (margin of three points or less). But the team took a lot of blows this season: a lot of uncertainties about eligibilities, two devastating injuries, and, what, three covid pauses? We are a young team with a young coach. Our best offensive player and co-captain is a sophomore. Most of our key pieces were transfers and freshmen. Our stud senior played with heart every night, but struggled offensively in many games. We were streaky from three, and our defense is at best two-dimensional. There is only so much such a like this team can take. Steele gets a pass this year. And he deserves one more year to get us back to par.

He is our first coach who started off in the BE. And Mack probably left him in the worst position of any first year X coach in recent memory (since Staak came). Name one coach, who was a legitimate successor to Mack, who would have done better over the last three years? Kelsey? Ha!

Finally, lest we forget, just a few years ago there were many posters on MM calling for Mack's head. Many of us were traying to reason with objective facts that Mack had us on the right track. We warned you this would happen, and it would take a while for us to get back on track...


From a thread in 2018:

There are some people who would obviously be happy with Mack leaving. But it would be devastating to Xavier and the Big East.

If a perennial top-25 team in a perennial top-3 league cannot keep an up-and-coming coach, then it would send the wrong signal to recruits, other up-and-coming coaches, the media, and general hoops fan base.

Mack has not perfected his coaching style just yet. I really think he can take us to our first Final Four, or beyond. I just don't see any coach in the country replacing him without a major loss in momentum. Being in a very unforgiving league, it could take us 5-10 years to get back to the Sweet 16.

Xavier and the Big East need Mack to stay until he has passed his prime and we have a Final Four under our belt to advertise ourselves as a destination job.

Kelsey proved this year what he is capable of. It's hard to win that many games no matter what league you're in. I send out a feeler, and if he's interested, I'd tell Steele to hit the road.

[AirJordan]

Next year we will be at the bottom end of the Big East. Steele and his teams the last two years have choked the last six games. Just win one each year and we are in. We just lost a 19 point lead to a team missing a couple of its best players and Carter the offensive player in BE took the most shots even Byron was pissed. Steele is over his head and we finally missed on a hire, it happens.

Steele has had three years. He didn't have to win. He just had to show he knew what he was doing. Sadly, for us, he is clueless. We whiffed. Our bad. Get rid of him. I'd take Kelsey in a heartbeat. But, we must get it right this time or the program is completely f****d.

[Xavier2005]

A number of good to great coaches eventually are ask " what have you done lately??? for us?? the team??? the school??? and eventually they may be Fired! For Steele, there is no what have you done for us lately??? Because little to nothing has happened already. No Conference title. No Big East title. No March Madness. No being a top ranked team. The program has gone from a top 1 seed and ranked in the top 25 to 40 consistently to ...Xavier who?? No other basketball programs want this coach to come to them. A ton of room for improvement for the coach and or the players. The program is moving in the wrong direction.

[Anti-Homer]

Put me in the "give him one more year camp." Though both the eye test and metrics tells me he is not a good D-1 coach, I'm reminded of a story my brother told me about Skip Prosser, the best human being ever in college basketball. He was coming off of a subpar year (which happened the majority of times during his tenure at X), and had a meeting with Fr. Hoff, and apparently had a list of reasons as to why he deserved another year. Much to his surprise, Fr. Hoff came armed with an extension. It didn't work out well for X, as Prosser did not sustain the level of success delivered by Gillen, but AH, know for having a huuuge heart, was glad he wasn't fired. Even more thrilled when he went to Wake.

Though he seems ill equipped in many ways to be/become a good D-1 coach, I think he deserves one more year. He also has had two great recruiting classes, though he has wasted two promising gems of last year's class in Ramsey and Tandy. Miles hasn't progressed either, despite his incredulous claim in the off season that he was going to be a big contributor this year. Just a long line of perplexing statements.

My hope is that he hires a veteran bench coach, one who can teach him the ropes, and can develop a rapport with the players to convince them to stay should Steele get fired next year.

[ChitownSteve]

Put me in the "give him one more year camp." Though both the eye test and metrics tells me he is not a good D-1 coach, I'm reminded of a story my brother told me about Skip Prosser, the best human being ever in college basketball. He was coming off of a subpar year (which happened the majority of times during his tenure at X), and had a meeting with Fr. Hoff, and apparently had a list of reasons as to why he deserved another year. Much to his surprise, Fr. Hoff came armed with an extension. It didn't work out well for X, as Prosser did not sustain the level of success delivered by Gillen, but AH, know for having a huuuge heart, was glad he wasn't fired. Even more thrilled when he went to Wake.

Though he seems ill equipped in many ways to be/become a good D-1 coach, I think he deserves one more year. He also has had two great recruiting classes, though he has wasted two promising gems of last year's class in Ramsey and Tandy. Miles hasn't progressed either, despite his incredulous claim in the off season that he was going to be a big contributor this year. Just a long line of perplexing statements.

My hope is that he hires a veteran bench coach, one who can teach him the ropes, and can develop a rapport with the players to convince them to stay should Steele get fired next year.

Your suggestion about a veteran bench coach is outstanding. At a minimum the AD must call Coach Steele in, advise him some Assistant Coaches must be replaced and new recommendations for his staff submitted forthwith.

Funny, you are now far more compassionate with Coach Steele than me. Coach Steele was entitled to the benefit of the doubt for nearly three full seasons and I routinely defended the Coach and his Program. Two consecutive year end collapses demonstrates he learned little. Plus, recruiting will now be impossible. Competitors are sharks and will negatively recruit against X by stating Coach Steele is a dead man walking. Once that tag is applied, recruits dry up. Sad, but reality.

Giving a 4th year is the worst thing an AD can now do. Heck, this hurts. Coach Steele is a family man who bleeds for X. As a person, he is admirable. Best way to state it, because unquestionably Christopher is highly resistant to the change, the AD’s job also needs to be on the line. If X retains Coach Steele and fails to make the NCAA’s next year the AD should also be gone. Failure to recognize the situation should be terminable for the AD, too. Anyone think Christopher will put his own job on the line if that option is presented? Is his faith in Coach Steele that deep? Or, does Christopher somehow think he has an option with Coach Steele coaching next year, plus few more years afterward with the inevitable subsequent hire?

In summary, it is certainly better to act a year too early than a year too late.