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Let me say based on everything I've read this was probably the best hire we could make and probably much better than we deserved, but I have one legitimate concern. How does the 2001 National Coach of the Year end up out of basketball two years later and then at FAU? Not trying to be an [deleted], just an honest question.

My concern is we overpaid for him considerably. $600k is crazy if that is true. I like the hire but geez, that's a lot for a coach on his way back up.

600K is the ONLY reason he's at SMU....he was making 175K at FAU

BTW, I believe he's making more than our football coach, Phil Bennett

Turner was pretty funny when the question was asked about terms of the deal, and said we don't usually disclose them, but that some people (looking a sheepishly grinning Calvin Watkins) are sometimes able to dig around and find out on their own. Doherty told the questioner that he could tell him, but then he'd have to kill him.

According to the reports, it's $600K, including incentives. So I am sure there is a base with some hefty bonuses for good performance, and I'm okay with that.

What I read a couple of days ago (don't remember the exact article) was that it was heavily incentive based. My guess would be 300k-400k base and then hefty incentives for post season success, win plateaus that trigger bonuses, etc...

Speaking off funny, from the DMN blog

Re: Doherty
The thing I can never get past with Doherty is I think he looks like this guy, er, Muppet.

Posted by Rachel Cohen at 4:02 PM (E-mail this entry)

http://www.jeffyorkes.com/images/JY3D_SamTheEagle.jpg

jtstang wrote:Speaking off funny, from the DMN blog

Re: Doherty
The thing I can never get past with Doherty is I think he looks like this guy, er, Muppet.

Posted by Rachel Cohen at 4:02 PM (E-mail this entry)

http://www.jeffyorkes.com/images/JY3D_SamTheEagle.jpg

Very funny! Either the brows need to go grey, or the hair needs to darkened.

I already posted this in the thread about nicknames. Doherty and Sam the Eagle are legendary "Separated at Birth" twins -- it's all over the internet. The latest link I posted was from an NC State coaching search thread.

But now he's OUR Sam the Eagle.

I'll try to answer the original question in a fairly balanced way, but there are different views.

Before Matt, we had Bill Guthridge, an easy-going and beloved figure who was obviously an interim coach, and for that reason recruiting dropped off. Matt inherited good upperclassmen but a declining talent stream. Guthridge had gone to the Final Four two of the three previous years. Matt was something of a desperation hire in July 2000 after Dean Smith's plan for the transition fell through.

At the beginning, UNC people wanted continuity, and didn't like it that Doh moved aggressively to put his own stamp on the program. People were very upset that he brought in his own assistants (though this is normal practice) and let go the Carolina assistants, who were "family."

The 2001 team greatly exceeded expectations until the last few weeks of the season, when they dropped way off from a midseason #1 ranking. Carolina fans suppose Doherty had been driving them too hard. There was also bad friction on the team between Joseph Forte and teammate Jason Capel, also Forte vs. the coach.

For 2002, Brendan Haywood graduated, Julius Peppers and Ron Curry (PG) decided to concentrate on preparing for the NFL, and Forte left for the NBA, where he got in trouble and bombed out. The level of talent and experience went way down, and most importantly there was nobody resembling a big-time point guard. The team went 8-20, and fans (after 45 years of continuous success) were outraged. This made Doh's situation tenuous and badly impaired recruiting for the 2003 high school class. Also three sophomores transferred out after 2002, one of them (Adam Boone) owing to dislike of the coach, the others because they weren't going to play much at Carolina. (This was a weak class signed by the previous regime.)

The 2003 team had Felton, McCants, and May as freshman plus Doh's pretty good first class with Jawad Williams, now sophomores. There were no ACC-level juniors or seniors. They started extremely well and beat #1 Kansas to win the pre-season NIT. But Sean May broke his foot around Jan 1, leaving the team with no competent post player. They finished about a #50 team and went to the NIT. That injury probably sealed the coach's fate.

Matt was desperate to succeed, and made excessive demands on himself and everybody else from the players to the secretaries. In fact, firing an old and beloved secretary was one thing that particularly enraged people around the program. Crazy rumors circulated about his berserk behavior, most of them false or malicious. But he was in fact rough on the players and, what is worse, inconsistently so. At least one player complained about him trying to be buddies off the practice court after being such a hardass on it. Several players disliked him intensely and lobbied to get rid of him. On the other hand, Felton, David Noel, and Haywood have made very supportive statements.

So-- political mistakes costing support, one terrible season, unhappy relationships with some players, and turmoil casting doubt on his retention, which in turn hurt recruiting. Roy Williams probably nailed it by saying "he didn't have enough equity built up" to weather the down spots and correct the mistakes. If he had come three years later, he might have succeeded brilliantly. I think he has figured out where he went wrong and avoided repeating his mistakes at the last job.

Thanks - great update.