Bring him back, he can turn the program around, has done it before and can do it again!
Bring back Billy Gillispie
- Thread starter alvinosports
- Start date
Well I prefer for him to be here a couple of years and do something amazing than somebody been here six years and doing nothing.
Well not quite, the program had never been this mediocre before and for quite a long strech.
I wouldn't mind having him back but no way in hell to tony barbee as some have mentioned!
Stop being soooo damn dramatic the program was a lot More mediocre than this in the middle to late 90s even the early 2000
I'm not sure Billy G would be the answer. When he first came to UTEP he was hungry and wanted to prove himself. After the debacle in Kentucky Billy hasn't been the same. I would prefer to see a top assistant from a top program who is looking for his break.
I don't know if Billy G. would be my first choice. Floyd has a lot of baggage right now, between the USC scandal, the gambling scandal a couple years back and all the turnover on the roster. I don't know any any specific instances but I would assume that this has to hurt UTEP on the recruiting trail. Now if we brought in Billy G. would we not be facing the same issues to a smaller degree?Why hire someone who literally hit rock bottom? I'm not against giving anyone another chance but let's not run towards a coach that used to be good until their personal problems cost them their job.... again.
He is doing amazing at Ranger college. Is undefeated and is their AD. The 4 losses at the beginning of the season were because a player was ruled ineligible so they forfeited those 4 victories. I think he would be a great choice. I am also not opposed to an up and coming coach. Dave Rice would be another one of my top favorites. Bottom line is almost anyone would be better than what we have now.
Someone doesn't know their UTEP BB history. Try looking up a 3 year stretch in the late 70's under Haskins no less.
I read an article where he said that he was happy at Ranger and would like to finish out his career there. He makes more than a decent living and the pressure is very low by comparison. I would say that low pressure situation helps to keep him from relapsing. He is kicking ass this year and has shown he's still got it. I wonder if he would even consider coming back to UTEP, considering all the variables. I'd be fine giving him a few years to see what he could get going. In fact I'd welcome that scenario.
Check into Gillespie's asst coaches - that's where the fruit lies that can help UTEP. Gillespie comes from a very solid coaching tree so whoever is on his bench if he's energized, gives damn & has paid attention to Gillespie's coaching & recruiting methods would be worth investigating. But, please, no retreads leave that to the llanteros.
I know you said no retreads, and I understand why. However making the leap from assistant coach at the JC level to head coach of a Div I program is too much of a gulf to cover imo. However, bringing BCG in, along with his head assistant(s), letting the asst. acclimate to the big boy game to take over when appropriate might be a good idea. Are you so adamant about no "retreads" based on the TF experiment alone?
Bingo! Kind of like Shaka Smart. No slam on VCU, but he jumped on that UT opening like a hobo on a ham sandwich (plus his desire to live in Austin) and boy does coach with fire in his belly. Just my opinion, but I would be courting Coach Rhodes from Rice. He's a former Shaka Smart asst. Coach who also has fire in his eyes and no doubt in my mind he could make UTEP learn how to prepare for the big dance. Marlje at Grand Canyon is also a great choice and I think he would jump on UTEP if offered.
On the list of qualities we need to be looking for in a coach, loyalty should be at the bottom of the list. With a few exceptions, if you have a coach that's loyal to your program these days, it's means you're extremely mediocre. Get it through your head that Don Haskins isn't walking through that door any more.
And, I'm going to break the cardinal rule on this board: I'm going to speak ill of the Bear. Was Haskins loyal to UTEP? Yes, but probably not nearly as loyal as you would probably think. He was signed, sealed, delivered, and had an introductory press conference to be the coach of Detroit in 1968. The Pistons? No, the University of Detroit. In the 70s, he considered leaving for either Oklahoma St. or the Dallas Chaparrals of the ABA. As late as the late 80s, he'd left us again. For Duke? UNC? UCLA? Indiana? No. For Lamar.
There is no loyalty in sports. The best you can do is win first and hope everything follows after that.
Adamant about rejection of "retreads"? Yes, tired of it in all sports - especially the NFL ie. Chip Kelly, Any Shanahan, Any Ryan ad nauseum. But the focus here is UTEP & I view UTEP at this point in time as a low level Mid Major program that is not even a bubble squad & at times not even good enough for CUSA Bball. Heck, they might have their ills in the SWAC right now & I attribute these ills on TF's coaching & his habit of cycling through a roster constantly on a rebuilding program. It's frustrating. I'd rather see UTEP do what the Chicago Cubs did with Theo Epstein at the helm: tear it all down and start from the bottom up building with youngsters in the draft, adding a smattering of older free agents. Now, the Cubs are on the verge of competing for championships for the next decade.
How does this vision translate to the Miner dilemna? By recruiting freshmen & the smattering of JC players, big and small men. Yes, risk is associated with this method. Floyd employs this but he is lacking one or more tools - if in fact true - he has no social network media skills. If he can't or won't grasp these necessary tools - hire someone that can assist him in acquiring such skills. It's been expressed on this board that TF has a great disregard for such skills, but in today's game on today's college campuses this matters most because your finger's on the pulse of what's on the student athlete's mind. If you know their minds - you might reach them & make a meaningful connection.
But I can't imagine UTEP Athletics being able to accomplish this task - they can't even make Miner Vision work!
How does this vision translate to the Miner dilemna? By recruiting freshmen & the smattering of JC players, big and small men. Yes, risk is associated with this method. Floyd employs this but he is lacking one or more tools - if in fact true - he has no social network media skills. If he can't or won't grasp these necessary tools - hire someone that can assist him in acquiring such skills. It's been expressed on this board that TF has a great disregard for such skills, but in today's game on today's college campuses this matters most because your finger's on the pulse of what's on the student athlete's mind. If you know their minds - you might reach them & make a meaningful connection.
But I can't imagine UTEP Athletics being able to accomplish this task - they can't even make Miner Vision work!
