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RGV Pony wrote:

PoconoPony wrote: Does anyone have a true sense of feel that Lutz may have had for the current direction of the program? Did he have a good working relationship with Doh and/or had that relationship deteriorated? .

we need only look as far as PonyDoh's commentary, IMO:

As always, when the staff finds a quality recruit that wants SMU, Doh will come in, scout them, and turn them loose. Then we'll chase our tails late.

Put it this way, Lutz isn't gonna dish on Doh, at least not in the near term, and not w/o many beers. He's a classy guy that believes in the coaching fraternity, and can tolerate angry head men like Kasper and Doh, far better then most. He appreciates the opportunity, used it as a springboard, and he's upwardly mobile. Good for him.

All that said, I think the new staff was primed to be quite good together on the road. There weren't any ego's or personality issues between staff members, as far as I knew. Each had their territory which best suites them, they worked them, and reported back etc. Ultimately, the head man has final say on all things roster. There are a slew of kids he passed on, that are quite debatable. All Lutz and crew could do was line the kids up. It's up to Doh to approve them. Looking at apples to apples scholarships, did you want Leslee Smith or Mikhail mcLean? What about Preston Purifoy vs Pats? JFrog or Keith Shamburger/Fabyon Harris etc? Why won't Doh pull the trigger on Groselle, when it's clear the staff likes him? Was running Mook off the right thing to do, when Vilde & Smith aren't through the clearinghouse yet? Bottomline is that these things come back on the big guy. These other guys are table-setters, Doh has to pick the ingredients and make the meal. He owns every roster move b/c he uses his veto early and often.

To me, the frustrating thing about our recruiting isn't who we took, it's that w/as much turnover as we've had, we've managed to miss important windows where we could have used an extra ship. Basically, I would have rather have had Pats & Purifoy, not one or the other. I like the way we're using mooks ship, but if we'd had that ship one month prior, we can wait on Fabyon, and still have JFrog. It helps this program and staff next year, not the following etc. Also, Purifoy wouldn't have ended up at UAB, which means we get stronger and the comp weaker. Same w/Harris at Houston. Now, we get to see how evaluations play out on the court. It'll either make a coach or hang them

PonyDoh thanks for trying to answer my tough questions. My bottom line is that there may have been other important behind the scene factors which influenced Lutz to leave. I know that the general spin was that it was for personal family reasons; however, my limited feed back indicates a general frustration the way many things kept failing to work out in matters in which he worked so hard. Things that were ultimately Doh decisions and choices to which you outline. I understand he is a good guy and would not undermine Doh playing the role of the good soldier. Never-the-less, program issues that made his decision easy.

Pocono, I honestly think that if it were program issues that made his decision easy, he would be at OU right now.

He waited until the right opportunity came along, and took it when it came.

Pocono, that's life as an assistant. Play the good soldier, trooper on, and let the head man make the call.

The end game here is being a head coach, so for that to happen for Lutz, he has to move up the food chain. Creighton offered more cash, stability, and took him close to his wifes family. He has a young family, and lives on the road, so the support network is key. Beyond that, I'm sure being at a basketball school is nice, especially when it's top 15 in attendance.

The end game here is being a head coach

IMO, he'll be a really good head coach someday. I wouldn't mind him taking the head job at SMU.

CalallenStang wrote:Garland - Michigan State
Irvin - Southern Illinois
Farmer - Fired/Resigned (one of the two)
Barnes - Fired? or Retired? or Resigned?
Lutz - Creighton

Both dumb and off topic, but has anyone noticed how similar these assistant coach's names are to local Dallas suburbs?

Garland - Garland
Irvin - Irving
Farmer - Farmers
Barnes - Branch
Lutz - Lewisville

CStang be aware that there are/were NCAA issues surrounding the OU program, at least there were last year and I have not kept up, and Lutz was smart enough not to jump into their tentative program situation.

couch 'em wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:Garland - Michigan State
Irvin - Southern Illinois
Farmer - Fired/Resigned (one of the two)
Barnes - Fired? or Retired? or Resigned?
Lutz - Creighton

Both dumb and off topic, but has anyone noticed how similar these assistant coach's names are to local Dallas suburbs?

Garland - Garland
Irvin - Irving
Farmer - Farmers
Barnes - Branch
Lutz - Lewisville

PoconoPony wrote:CStang be aware that there are/were NCAA issues surrounding the OU program, at least there were last year and I have not kept up, and Lutz was smart enough not to jump into their tentative program situation.

I'm aware of the issues but if things were really bad here at SMU he would have made that jump to OU regardless of their issues. To me, the fact that he waited to take a job that was more right shows that he was just waiting for the right opportunity, and when it came, he took it.

PoconoPony wrote:CStang be aware that there are/were NCAA issues surrounding the OU program, at least there were last year and I have not kept up, and Lutz was smart enough not to jump into their tentative program situation.

capel is one year removed from beingthe fastest-rising coach in America. Even if OU eats sanctions, Capel isn't the dead end that SMU has been thus far. Basically, Lutz has had offers prior to OU as well. Straight up, several better then SMU, but none as close to his wifes family. She was melting down in Dallas, folks. I don't blame her as I melted down in Dallas too. Some love it, others not so much

melting down? from the heat literally or the local culture or what? Either or both would be understandable.

PonyDoh wrote:

PoconoPony wrote:CStang be aware that there are/were NCAA issues surrounding the OU program, at least there were last year and I have not kept up, and Lutz was smart enough not to jump into their tentative program situation.

capel is one year removed from beingthe fastest-rising coach in America. Even if OU eats sanctions, Capel isn't the dead end that SMU has been thus far. Basically, Lutz has had offers prior to OU as well. Straight up, several better then SMU, but none as close to his wifes family. She was melting down in Dallas, folks. I don't blame her as I melted down in Dallas too. Some love it, others not so much

I would not say she was melting down in Dallas. She enjoyed her time in Dallas and has a number of very good friends there. She is supportive of Coach Lutz and his career and understands moving is part of the game as you move up the coaching ladder. As for her family, there is no question she would love to be close to her family but who wouldn't. I also don't think that the distance from her family was a determining factor with OU. Norman is not that much further than Omaha. This decision was purely an opportunity that continues Coach Lutz' dream to one day be a head coach. Sure the fact that his wife's family is in the Midwest was an added bonus but I know of another job offer that was being pursued which was the same distance from her hometown as Dallas.

Adopted Hawk wrote:

PonyDoh wrote:

PoconoPony wrote:CStang be aware that there are/were NCAA issues surrounding the OU program, at least there were last year and I have not kept up, and Lutz was smart enough not to jump into their tentative program situation.

capel is one year removed from beingthe fastest-rising coach in America. Even if OU eats sanctions, Capel isn't the dead end that SMU has been thus far. Basically, Lutz has had offers prior to OU as well. Straight up, several better then SMU, but none as close to his wifes family. She was melting down in Dallas, folks. I don't blame her as I melted down in Dallas too. Some love it, others not so much

I would not say she was melting down in Dallas. She enjoyed her time in Dallas and has a number of very good friends there. She is supportive of Coach Lutz and his career and understands moving is part of the game as you move up the coaching ladder. As for her family, there is no question she would love to be close to her family but who wouldn't. I also don't think that the distance from her family was a determining factor with OU. Norman is not that much further than Omaha. This decision was purely an opportunity that continues Coach Lutz' dream to one day be a head coach. Sure the fact that his wife's family is in the Midwest was an added bonus but I know of another job offer that was being pursued which was the same distance from her hometown as Dallas.

I don't want to get into a discussion on Steve's wife, and melting down was my term, so it may have been strong. All I meant to say is that w/him on the road, she needed a better support network for the 3 little girls. I have two girls under 3 years old, so I very much understand where she's coming from. My wife thinks their move is genius ...lol. No doubt she has some friends in Dallas etc, didn't say she was isolated, just w/o much family support. Anyway, he pursued several jobs, most of which weren't near her hometown, so your point is taken. More money has a way of opening up the job hunt. They wanted near family, but it's not like he was going to turn down an ACC position or whatever, just to get near Kansas City. He didn't take the OU position for a bunch of different reasons, proximity to family was but one. That position was somewhat soiled going in.

Hoop Fan wrote:melting down? from the heat literally or the local culture or what? Either or both would be understandable.

melting down was strong, as it implies something psychological that I didn't really mean to imply. Simply, Lutz lives on the road, and she's raising 3 lil girls. It wasn't about the heat or town, just proximity to family. For him, it gets him closer to being a head guy.

For me, I hated both the heat, culture, lack of hills, trees, and real water around Dallas. Now that I've been gone forever, I sorta miss it. Go figure.

PonyDoh wrote:
For me, I hated both the heat, culture, lack of hills, trees, and real water around Dallas. Now that I've been gone forever, I sorta miss it. Go figure.

far and away the best part of Dallas is that all of that stuff is usually only one flight away, no connections