SMU on ESPN's PTI

[MustangIcon]

Obviously that 8-20 mark is an awfully big question mark. I agree it is almost impossible to do that poor at UNC. That team REALLY must have hated him. I am with you guys on that. But he seems to have grown from it and moved on from it. I think he is a guy that would be very well worth taking a chance on.

We are SMU Basketball. We are the fat ugly guy at the bar. We aren't going to land a super model. If we are even talking to a hot chic she obviously is going to have some sort of baggage. Doherty might not be the "super model", but he is definitely the girl with baggage worth taking home for lowly SMU. (Sorry, could not pass the analogy up )

People point out his flaws, but why is noone willing to look at his successes? Previous season to him arriving at ND 15 wins. His first year 22 wins. Previous season to him arriving at FAU 10 wins. His first season 16 wins. That is a 13 game improvement. Yes, ND was still a better team starting out than SMU will be, but FAU was far worse off than we are.

[Hoop Fan]

so, what if Doherty goes 14-14 in each of his first two seasons here? Do you fire him? No doubt about it, SMU has to take a risk, Tubbs was a risk. But SMU also has to be patient and let it play out and not let boosters with grandchildren on the team get crazy and out a guy after two years.

Doherty would be a valid risk for SMU to take most of the time. In this particular situation though, he is not the right choice. Ironically, SMU's handling of the Tubbs situation has effectively restricted their options. People like you have argued that it was necessary to fire tubbs quickly once we decided to because the coaches would all be taken by the time we had a chance to get into the fray. However, by firing tubbs under this cloud of uncertainty and lack of disclousure, we now have a big public relations challenge on our hands. And believe it or not, that has real recruiting implications.

[MustangIcon]

I think our recruiting for this class is destroyed- I agree. The timing is terrible as far as recruiting goes. At the same time, I don't see that we would be missing all that much. It isn't like we had a blue chipper verbally commit and is now leaving.

If interviewing guys like Evans and Doherty is considerd restricted options then I am all for it. I never would have expected after Tubbs' firing that we would be in the running for guys of that caliber.

This will sound funny, but one of the things I like most about Doh is that SMU is NOT his final destination or goal. He wants to get back to the pinnacle of college hoops. The catch is, before he could leave SMU he would have to be successfull here for someone at a big time program to give him another shot. I could think of worse things than Doherty getting us to the NIT in years 2 and 3 of his coaching tenure then leaving for a better job. At that point we would have a desireable coaching position that many people would covet. We will have restablished our DISD ties and will matter again in the Dallas community. Maybe you think this is a dumb theory but I see it as Doherty must win to get back to the top. If we can ride his coattails for a couple of seasons on the way up with him that is a good thing. What do ya'll think?

[Mickey]

If I recall correctly, the explanation at the time was that in 2001, he lost nearly everybody to the draft or graduation, or in the case of Julius Peppers, to football. His predecessor Bill Guthridge could not recruit (a position that nearly everyone involved agrees with, btw). Finally, Doherty was playing a lot of the freshmen he recruited. Those would be the same players that revolted and got him fired.

Does that explain it? Sort of. Still, first time UNC missed the tournament in nearly thirty years.

That is exactly what happened. Guthridge was a terrible hire for NC. He was a close friend and long time assitant to Dean Smith and was hired out of loyalty. He won with Smith's players but had horrible recruiting years. He officially resigned, but he was actually forced out. Doherty was hired at NC becuase he turned the ND program around and because he had played and coached under Smith and coached under Williams at KU. The players he recruited at NC and their parents revolted and Doherty was fired. Those same players went on to win the NCAA Championship.

Doherty does has some baggage, but I think he has learned from it. There is more upside than down side on a Doherty hire, but it will take a bold move by Orsini and Turner. The SMU way is to take the safe hire which would be Evans and continued mediocrity. I vote for the bold move.

[ponydawg]

You see what he did there....he said bold and then bolded that word......
I'm Pickin up what you are putting down........I hear you chirpin big bird......I smell what you are stepping in

[Stallion]

I haven't checked into it-but a horrible recruiting class would be when you are ranked 107th in the Nation by Rivals-like Phil Bennett in 2006. I seriously doubt North Carolina had a horrible recruiting year..

[Mickey]

I haven't checked into it-but a horrible recruiting class would be when you are ranked 105th in the Nation by Rivals. I seriously doubt North Carolina had a horrible recruiting year..

Horrible for NC which probably would have been the best class SMU ever had. Let me change horrible to an 'inferior class for NC." Inferior classes playing as underclassmen in the ACC gets you beat.

[Stallion]

true-my favorite recruiting phrase is recruiting is relative to your competition. That's why Texas A&M sucks after decent national recruiting season. Check out what the competition did.

[Mickey]

You see what he did there....he said bold and then bolded that word......

Pretty clever, huh?

[ponydawg]

Agreed on both.
1) Clever
2) Would like to see SMU try zomething different, (like zima) but would not be upset with either of those hires.


can always fire him in two years if it doesn't work out. Right?

[SMU Football Blog]

can always fire him in two years if it doesn't work out. Right?

Max Williams has already bought a box of Cascade for just such an occasion.

[NickSMU17]

The other thing about UNC is that those guys are the best players in the country and carry the same ego, you will tend to get less ego driven players at SMU. I doubt a player revolt will happen at SMU and if it does then hopefully it is because we are recruiting the best players with the biggest egos in the country.

[ponydawg]

I dunno, they quit on Dement.

[SMUltimedia]

I dunno, they quit on Dement.

And, rumor has it, on Tubbs.

I like the point about this not being Doh's final destination. A guy who has decided to reinvent himself and fight his way back (from the bottom of the barrel, no less) is going to have learned from his mistakes and be seriously committed to improving this program - if only so he can use it as a stepping stone back to the big time.

If Doh wants the job, I say we give it to him. It's better to have a star (who can either blow up or flame out) for a couple years than an average coach like Evans til he retires or dies.

[mrydel]

can always fire him in two years if it doesn't work out. Right?

Max Williams has already bought a box of Cascade for just such an occasion.

Now that is dishwasher detergent. I am tired of you folks that can not get the facts straight. Not only can you not tell me where the burger was from but you do not know the difference between detergent, fabric softener and dishwasher soap.

I want Rob Evans