Much discussion in the last month about what is needed at Pitt. Stay the course or change the course with passionate people on each side. I decided to look at a basketball program that was in a much better place than Pitt to see how coaching changes have worked for them. Some interesting things I found out about Arkansas may be interesting to some if you.
- Eddie Sutton finished a run at Arkansas that included 9 straight NCAA appearances and catapulted him into the Kentucky job.
- Arkansas responds by hiring a mid major "up and comer" Tulsa Coach Nolan Richardson
- the 9 year NCAA run abruptly ends in Nolan's first 2 years but he gets them back in the dance in year 3 starting a run of 13 NCAAs in 14,years. The lone miss resulted in an NIT final 4. The shining moment was the National Title in 1994 and 2 other final fours.
- those 2 bullets above describe a program that has far exceeded what Pitt has accomplished in the last 15 years. What Pitt has done is great but no where near where Arkansas was.
- carrying on with Nolan, when he started the run of NCAAs in years 4-10 his conference records were 13-3, 14-2, 15-1, 13-3, 10-6, 14-2, 12-4.
- But in years 11-17 the results began to dip. Still good but not what Hog fans were used to. 9-7, 8-8, 11-5, 9-7, 7-9, 10-6, 5-10.
- In season 17 Nolan made some inflammatory statements about race and salaries and was let go. I imagine there was some relief on Frank Broyles part (AD at Arkansas) thinking Nolan's best days were behind him so this just gave him a chance to hire the next great coach at Arkansas. Right? - - Arkansas had been to the Dance 22 times in 26 seasons and won a National Championship...who wouldn't want to coach there
- not sure why an experienced high major coach wasn't hired but Broyles looked to the next hot coach. Stan Heath who had knocked out Pitt to get little Kent St into the Elite 8. Can't miss candidate right?
- Wrong. Stan went 4-12, 4-12, 6-10, 10-6, 7-9. With 2 first round NCAA losses in his final 2 seasons. Arkansas admitted their mistake and moved on
- enter John Pelphrey who made the NCAA in his first year but never again with conf records of 9-7, 2-14, 7-9, 7-9, 6-10. Arkansas admitted mistake #2 and moved on
- Enter former asst Mike Anderson who in 4 seasons went 6-10, 10-8, 10-8, 13-5 and got the Hogs back to the NCAA for the first time in 8 seasons
- so it has been 4 NCAA appearances in 14 seasons with 2 wins
- so although Nolan Richardson was canned more for what he said I suspect that the patience of Arkansas boosters was being tested since they had been at the pinnacle and his record in years 4 to 10 was 91-21 but was followed by a severe dip in years 11 to 17 when he was 59-52.
- I think this is similar to what some people are fearful of at Pitt. If the trend continues for a few more years. But Arkansas didn't right the ship by switching coaches. They made it worse....twice.
- in Arkansas case their desire to fire their proven coach led to two coaches with 5 year tenures that each resulted in 31-49 records. 62-98 for 10 years.
- how many people would be coming to the Pete with that won-loss record
- I don't know if the differences were irreparable between nolan and Broyles but I feel pretty certain he would have performed better than the 62-98 disastrous 10 years that Arkansas was blessed with when they announced Nolan would be pursuing other interests
- many times the smartest move is no move at all
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- Eddie Sutton finished a run at Arkansas that included 9 straight NCAA appearances and catapulted him into the Kentucky job.
- Arkansas responds by hiring a mid major "up and comer" Tulsa Coach Nolan Richardson
- the 9 year NCAA run abruptly ends in Nolan's first 2 years but he gets them back in the dance in year 3 starting a run of 13 NCAAs in 14,years. The lone miss resulted in an NIT final 4. The shining moment was the National Title in 1994 and 2 other final fours.
- those 2 bullets above describe a program that has far exceeded what Pitt has accomplished in the last 15 years. What Pitt has done is great but no where near where Arkansas was.
- carrying on with Nolan, when he started the run of NCAAs in years 4-10 his conference records were 13-3, 14-2, 15-1, 13-3, 10-6, 14-2, 12-4.
- But in years 11-17 the results began to dip. Still good but not what Hog fans were used to. 9-7, 8-8, 11-5, 9-7, 7-9, 10-6, 5-10.
- In season 17 Nolan made some inflammatory statements about race and salaries and was let go. I imagine there was some relief on Frank Broyles part (AD at Arkansas) thinking Nolan's best days were behind him so this just gave him a chance to hire the next great coach at Arkansas. Right? - - Arkansas had been to the Dance 22 times in 26 seasons and won a National Championship...who wouldn't want to coach there
- not sure why an experienced high major coach wasn't hired but Broyles looked to the next hot coach. Stan Heath who had knocked out Pitt to get little Kent St into the Elite 8. Can't miss candidate right?
- Wrong. Stan went 4-12, 4-12, 6-10, 10-6, 7-9. With 2 first round NCAA losses in his final 2 seasons. Arkansas admitted their mistake and moved on
- enter John Pelphrey who made the NCAA in his first year but never again with conf records of 9-7, 2-14, 7-9, 7-9, 6-10. Arkansas admitted mistake #2 and moved on
- Enter former asst Mike Anderson who in 4 seasons went 6-10, 10-8, 10-8, 13-5 and got the Hogs back to the NCAA for the first time in 8 seasons
- so it has been 4 NCAA appearances in 14 seasons with 2 wins
- so although Nolan Richardson was canned more for what he said I suspect that the patience of Arkansas boosters was being tested since they had been at the pinnacle and his record in years 4 to 10 was 91-21 but was followed by a severe dip in years 11 to 17 when he was 59-52.
- I think this is similar to what some people are fearful of at Pitt. If the trend continues for a few more years. But Arkansas didn't right the ship by switching coaches. They made it worse....twice.
- in Arkansas case their desire to fire their proven coach led to two coaches with 5 year tenures that each resulted in 31-49 records. 62-98 for 10 years.
- how many people would be coming to the Pete with that won-loss record
- I don't know if the differences were irreparable between nolan and Broyles but I feel pretty certain he would have performed better than the 62-98 disastrous 10 years that Arkansas was blessed with when they announced Nolan would be pursuing other interests
- many times the smartest move is no move at all
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