The Coaching Carousel

[rambone 78]

A true mole.

[Seawrightspostgame]

NO way the "Deal was done", but I can believe Dan's agent knew of the short list of schools he would seriously entertain offers from immediately following the season. Remember from UConn's perspective, there was zero chance URI would ever put up a deal to give Dan a choice. But yet, Thorr/Dooley did, to the surprise of Dan himself.

I mean Moore compared Hurley to Calhoun on multiple occasions.

My question is what happened to the coach's shows? Maybe in the future if the coach is no longer engaging the community it is a red flag that he's about to take a hike.

UConn clearly pushed the Hurley #1 target stuff 2-3 weeks ago. Fired Ollie with Hurley in mind. Big organizations don't do that stuff on the fly without a plan and some assurances that the plan is sound.

I also think with the FBI stuff and everyone ducking for cover 6 months ago Dan saw it as an opportunity for his job prospects instead of an opportunity for his program. Things were gonna get shaken up. 24 hours after we lose he meets. What? 48 hours after that he is signed sealed and delivered.

These things have happened too many times to not think there was obviously things moving before.

Bill Parcells actually about to coach the Super Bowl had two feet out the door. At the pinnacle of the sports world. IDK how people would think a guy at URI would not at least have one foot out the door.

[ElmCityRhody]

A-HOLE

[rambone 78]

Maybe the deal wasn't 100% done 2 months ago, but it was damn close.

[rhodylaw]

I hate the narrative that Hurley maxed out here. At some point you have to look at some of the shortcomings the last two years, and realize those were definitely not maxing out the potential.

Agree completely — and people like Gresh feeding that PC narrative don’t help the cause. We are no where near maxed out on this program. 2 first weekend exits? Pleeaase that is not close to our ceiling.

My only concern with cox is if he shares our vision and has the passion that will excite the fan base. Oats was able to do that at Buffalo after Bobby left and I think Oats is better coach than Bobby. I think Cox May be a better coach than Dan (is it coincidence that the team’s fundamentals were better when he came in?) but can he sell the program the way Dan did to the fans. Time will tell. I don’t rule out Pitino as some have. He would bring this program to the top.he is a great coach.

[MARhody]

Have enjoyed the thread, tough to keep up with it at times, and have to admit, when a friend texted me that it was official, I came here to confirm.

My take on the situation is this:

- It would have been nice for him to be here another couple of years to enjoy the hard work that he put in to get this program on the map.
- I don't get the UConn thing, Calhoun will always be a spectre above the program, Geno will always be the top dog, AAC is ripe to be picked clean and dissolve as a conference AND they just literally ate their own alum who won them a national championship 4 years ago (and they are trying to get out of paying him his contract!). Sounds like he "always wanted to be there", which is strange after hearing the "uri is family", but, eh, whatever, take the money and run.
- I will not miss his antics on the sideline, I really believe this costs him some calls over the course of each game. And are we sure he is a top notch coach? Above average for sure, but worth $3Mil a year? Not sure. Plenty of times out of late game time outs I'd question what came out of the huddle. Was he already heading out the door this season? How to explain the late season swoon...? And how will losing by 30 on senior night go in Storrs, hehe.
- In the end, he was leaving at some point, may as well be now so we do not have to go thru this "will he stay, will he go, let's rework his contract again" every off season. That's what really hurts the recruitment pipeline, constant not knowing. Now we know.
- Money saved on his contract can go into the program improvements (facilities, etc).
- Thorr seems to have a good handle on this, did well the last time we needed a coach and seems like had a contingency plan that everyone knew about.
- If uri is a school that can hold a decent coach 5-7 years and continue to be successful regardless of who is on the sideline, then that's fine with me.

The sun came up yesterday after the snow, and is out again, all is good and I have confidence in the team going forward, go rhody.

[rambone 78]

A question for me is, if Thorr and Dooley knew that Dan was seriously entertaining going to UConn a while ago, why did they wait until the clock almost struck midnight for them to come up with that offer?

They had to know something was going on.

Would it had made a difference?

[PeteRI]

What are we doing at this very moment to secure our recruits? Immediate action needs to take place now. Extremely important.

Belichick and I already Snapfaced and Instachatted them, so we're all set.

[ramster]

NO way the "Deal was done", but I can believe Dan's agent knew of the short list of schools he would seriously entertain offers from immediately following the season. Remember from UConn's perspective, there was zero chance URI would ever put up a deal to give Dan a choice. But yet, Thorr/Dooley did, to the surprise of Dan himself.

I mean Moore compared Hurley to Calhoun on multiple occasions.

My question is what happened to the coach's shows? Maybe in the future if the coach is no longer engaging the community it is a red flag that he's about to take a hike.

UConn clearly pushed the Hurley #1 target stuff 2-3 weeks ago. Fired Ollie with Hurley in mind. Big organizations don't do that stuff on the fly without a plan and some assurances that the plan is sound.

I also think with the FBI stuff and everyone ducking for cover 6 months ago Dan saw it as an opportunity for his job prospects instead of an opportunity for his program. Things were gonna get shaken up. 24 hours after we lose he meets. What? 48 hours after that he is signed sealed and delivered.

These things have happened too many times to not think there was obviously things moving before.

Bill Parcells actually about to coach the Super Bowl had two feet out the door. At the pinnacle of the sports world. IDK how people would think a guy at URI would not at least have one foot out the door.

The Practice Facility was already in the plans at least 2 months ago - there was no surprise there for Hurley. Thorr and Dooley put together a nice package - plenty good enough for Hurley to stay but he rejected it - for an AAC School - that is in trouble with the NCAA. He could have done so much better for himself. But obviously he and his team were not giving 100% the last month so it is one of those things that the parting of the ways for both was probably the best thing.

Now that we know his heart and mind were already in another place, the team's performance the last 8 games makes more sense. Terrell disappeared in several of those games. Mathews has a couple good ones but several clunkers. They celebrated Senior Night too much and lost what the team's real goal was.

[Dre3000]

Have enjoyed the thread, tough to keep up with it at times, and have to admit, when a friend texted me that it was official, I came here to confirm.

My take on the situation is this:

- It would have been nice for him to be here another couple of years to enjoy the hard work that he put in to get this program on the map.
- I don't get the UConn thing, Calhoun will always be a spectre above the program, Geno will always be the top dog, AAC is ripe to be picked clean and dissolve as a conference AND they just literally ate their own alum who won them a national championship 4 years ago (and they are trying to get out of paying him his contract!). Sounds like he "always wanted to be there", which is strange after hearing the "uri is family", but, eh, whatever, take the money and run.
- I will not miss his antics on the sideline, I really believe this costs him some calls over the course of each game. And are we sure he is a top notch coach? Above average for sure, but worth $3Mil a year? Not sure. Plenty of times out of late game time outs I'd question what came out of the huddle.

This is overblown, actually saw a stat that we were 9th in the country this year in points after time out.

[rambone 78]

His plays coming out after time outs was fine. Much improved.

The issues were with closing out games.

[RF1]

I too am getting the feeling that this move was in the works for up to a year. Never a done deal by any means but I think there had been informal conversations between Hurley and Moore/Calhoun that were being relayed back and forth to the UConn Athletic Dept. The prospect of the UConn job possibly opening up if Ollie did not turn things around was likely broached to gauge Dan's interest. Dan's thought process was known by the UConn AD and they took actions based on that. I suspect that in an around when Ollie got fired (possibly even right before), the back channel activity got a bit more active and real. I believe that UConn fired Ollie knowing Hurley had strong interest and he was their #1 and quite possibly only candidate.

This UConn hiring seems to have been wrapped up too quickly and neatly. There are a lot of dots over the last few weeks and months which when connected indicate a very plausible path to what probably unfolded.

[Billyboy78]

I too am getting the feeling that this move was in the works for up to a year. Never a done deal by any means but I think there had been informal conversations between Hurley and Moore/Calhoun that were being relayed back and forth to the UConn Athletic Dept. The prospect of the UConn job possibly opening up if Ollie did not turn things around was likely broached to gauge Dan's interest. Dan's thought process was known by the UConn AD and they took actions based on that. I suspect that in an around when Ollie got fired (possibly even right before), the back channel activity got a bit more active and real. I believe that UConn fired Ollie knowing Hurley had strong interest and he was their #1 and quite possibly only candidate.

This UConn hiring seems to have been wrapped up too quickly and neatly. There are a lot of dots over the last few weeks and months which when connected indicate a very plausible path to what probably unfolded.

You got it.

[steviep123]

I too am getting the feeling that this move was in the works for up to a year. Never a done deal by any means but I think there had been informal conversations between Hurley and Moore/Calhoun that were being relayed back and forth to the UConn Athletic Dept. The prospect of the UConn job possibly opening up if Ollie did not turn things around was likely broached to gauge Dan's interest. Dan's thought process was known by the UConn AD and they took actions based on that. I suspect that in an around when Ollie got fired (possibly even right before), the back channel activity got a bit more active and real. I believe that UConn fired Ollie knowing Hurley had strong interest and he was their #1 and quite possibly only candidate.

This UConn hiring seems to have been wrapped up too quickly and neatly. There are a lot of dots over the last few weeks and months which when connected indicate a very plausible path to what probably unfolded.

You got it.

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

[RF1]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

It should piss you off. It means that our coach was not entirely focused on his job at URI. I am sure that Hurley would deny this but as we have seen, many of his past words may have been chosen more for what we wanted to hear instead of what was really true.

[ATPTourFan]

This is a guess, not based on facts. Play the conspiracy game all you like, but don't draw hard conclusions from it.

[RhodyRam86]

To be fair, I never heard or read Dan wasn’t in it for the money. BM and a few others on this board led that charge.

Would Dan have stayed if URI matched the salary? If yes then you have your answer.

Anyway, plenty of evidence to know Dan was on his way to UCONN before the season ended. Whether or not that effected on court performance is hard to say.

After sleeping on this and hearing what he had to say yesterday, he was either in it for the money or a Husky in Ram clothing. Either way, a serious thank you for what you did for the program Dan. And now a serious I’m glad you’re gone.

[Billyboy78]

For those who do not believe, keep being in denial.

[Justns11]

ATP - I'm curious what you think. Do you think Dan was being truthful when he said that he hasn't thought about any other jobs before the end of the duke game? Or do you think this has been in the works for a little while?

I'm not pissed at Dan. I'm disappointed about him leaving, but I understand it's a business and there's no security in being a HC in D1 basketball - so you've got to look out for yourself. Also as far as timing, there's never a good time to leave a job, but all the guys that helped him start this journey were graduating this year. Sucks for the younger guys (Dowtin, Langevine, Fatts, etc.), but leaving URI was not going to get any easier.

I think a good analogy is that it's almost like when you're dating someone and things are good, but you know she's not the one you want to marry. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to call things off. Especially when the girl you've always dreamed about asks you to date.

That being said, I don't think there's any way that this wasn't in the works before Saturday afternoon.

[Running Ram]

This sucks, not because we lost a coach, but because I got DUPED!! I'm so damn naive it's pathetic.

[NJRhodyFan]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

It should piss you off. It means that our coach was not entirely focused on his job at URI. I am sure that Hurley would deny this but as we have seen, many of his past words may have been chosen more for what we wanted to hear instead of what was really true.

That's what I'm having trouble getting past, the fact that his attention wasn't 100% on the team during a critical point of the season. Calhoun has always been a sleazeball, and this situation just heightens my distaste for the man. He's been reeling Hurley in for a while now with the help from his lackey Moore. Good riddance to that ass clown, I'm glad he's following Hurley to Storrs.

Even watching Hurley's interview yesterday pissed me off, saying that it was a "relatively easy decision" to leave URI for the UCONN job. Good to know! Listen, I'm grateful for everything Hurley did for the program, but there's no way in hell I'll ever root for him to be successful at UCONN, not with the way all of this played out.

[rhodysurf]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

Exactly cuz youll hear moaning about how the top team in the A10 couldn't even get better than a 7 seed!! And that couldnt possibly lead to Elite Eights and Final Fours and the road is soooo hard.

When all along it could have been possibly self imposed to some extent.

Also I think ATP is just cautioning that its not confirmed, not that he doesnt think its a possibility.

[Blue Man]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

It should piss you off. It means that our coach was not entirely focused on his job at URI. I am sure that Hurley would deny this but as we have seen, many of his past words may have been chosen more for what we wanted to hear instead of what was really true.

OK this is getting a tad ridiculous. If you think that Dan Hurley has the ability to "take his foot off the gas" for basketball games in March, you're outside of your head. Certainly dots could have been connected - as is everything else in career moves, a lot of things happen behind the scenes. Doesn't mean Dan was sitting there saying "I don't care, can't wait to get out of here" and we collapsed. 1 bad game and 3 tough losses against good, desperate teams.

You seriously believe that Jared and EC, at the end of their college careers, were sitting there saying "fuck it, we don't care because our coach who wasn't going to coach us next year anyway won't be here at our alma mater?" You're high.

On the pure speculation front but just putting pieces together, I believe this was Danny's dream job - despite what many here think about it. Despite conferences and all that, UConn is UConn - this ain't the Yankee conference anymore. I think Dan legitimately wanted to be here forever - until last year's contract negotiations.

We gave nothing. We had NCAA credits and we just upped his salary a tad, added a few more flights, and that was the end of it. We flew commercial home from DC. We had "whispered" and "committed" about a practice facility in pockets but never announced it.

We knew he was never going to leave for Georgetown. Dan didn't have the kind of leverage he did with this negotiation. With leverage this year we finally put an offer out there commensurate with a first-class basketball program.

I can almost guarantee you if we put that offer out there pre-emptively, last year, without pulling teeth, without UConn or Pitt driving insane offers up there: Dan is still here.

I don't believe Tom Moore being hired here was an accident. That connection is easy. The rest of the dots between the Ollie buyout and things could line up.

I think, and this is again pure speculation, Dan's struggle to leave here late was because he thought last year was the "tapped out" offer, and he was shocked that we found a way to give him what we wanted - just too late. He thought last year was the most he was ever going to get and he expected the doors to FINALLY swing open after 5 grinding years that ended with the best in nearly 20 years. We didn't.

Unfortunately up until what looks like this week's offer, from Dan's perspective, this was pulling teeth. We had "promised" a practice facility before, it's always been the goal - but we were not giving him a practice facility. We were giving him a written promise to get one - why hadn't we done that last year? Or even the year before?

Again, pure speculation - but anyone who's been in a job and doesn't get what they feel they deserved from their employer will go and look for work elsewhere. You put out feelers in the background - you don't just announce to your boss and coworkers "HEY I'M LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB" like you're Michael Scott declaring something. I assume that's what happened, and it genuinely broke his heart when we finally came up with an offer that was a true, top D1 level offer. Just too late, and knowing the guy, it probably broke his heart because he put things in motion thinking we couldn't support him like he thought he needed to be - and then we did, after he set too many things in motion.

Our athletics department is limited by what our big donors are willing to give. Our rich people don't value sports like UConn's (or other team's) rich people do, unfortunately. Tip of the cap to those people for showing up this week, wish it was last year, but I hope you show up from day one of this new coaches' program.

At the end of the day, he is giving a first class, championship program, with first class commitments in place, (we assume) over to one of his best friends and leaving it in good hands.

Like any break up, this sucks. I think it just hurts us all because he legitimately could have been our Calhoun or Boeheim, but when we go on to more titles and further in the NCAA tournament - we'll all look back and thank the guy because he's honestly the only person we could've hired that would've set this up.

I'm ready for a stiff drink. And the weekend. And the David Cox era. And possibly watching the UConn press conference with the TV muted and James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" playing in the background.

I know Dan thinks that we'll move on and he'll be a distant memory, but shit we don't forget anything around here. I need to be better about being angry because this would hurt less hahahahaha (he laughed and cried maniacally to himself).

[ElmCityRhody]

funny


I'm ready for a stiff drink. And the weekend. And the David Cox era. And possibly watching the UConn press conference with the TV muted and James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" playing in the background

[Da_Process_Survivor]

funny


I'm ready for a stiff drink. And the weekend. And the David Cox era. And possibly watching the UConn press conference with the TV muted and James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" playing in the background

I'll be laughing and playing Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine"

[eli#10]

I think we now know why Andrea was crying early Saturday night as she and Dan were walking through the lobby of the Doubletree. The lobby was full of fans cheering them on as they walked to the bus taking them to the airport for the charter flight home.

I think she knew at that time that the URI gig was over.

[gorhody89]

I'll be laughing and playing Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine"

amen to that

[hrstrat57]

Welcome to the Machine is top of the line PF in my opinion. Brilliant....

[wpbrown8267]

funny


I'm ready for a stiff drink. And the weekend. And the David Cox era. And possibly watching the UConn press conference with the TV muted and James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" playing in the background

This. haha

[TruePoint]

Blue Man, you know I love you and you know the inside of this situation better than I do, AND I agree with about 80% of your take here. But where I don't really agree is that we basically drove Dan into UConn's arms with what we gave him last year. I don't doubt he was disappointed, I know for a fact he wanted more. But it is either we drove him out with our cheapness OR your first point that UConn was secretly his dream job (whatever we may think about that). I am more inclined to believe the latter, and that no matter what we did last year this was his dream scenario and his career goal, and he would have been just as committed to doing this no matter what we gave him last year. And further, I don't know what was behind the package that we gave last year, but I trust Thorr and Dooley to have done the best they could. I also trust that it could not have come as a total shock to them that he was interested in the UConn job when the season ended, and therefore it didn't come as a complete shock to Dan what they ended up offering. Maybe he was surprised at the extent of it, but if their communication was such that either of them were shocked, maybe everyone is better off having gone their separate ways, anyways. My impression was always that the communication in that relationship was pretty good.

Look, this is a little bit traumatic for this fan base, who were completely caught by surprise. Maybe it isn't fair to say that Dan was full of shit or that he was a hypocrite, but this place was littered with people declaring their "trust" in the coach 36 hours ago, people who honestly believed he was #different and would never leave. So there are feelings here. People are mad, they want to understand what happened, they're trying to piece it all together - this is perfectly normal and expected human behavior.

Big picture, this is not ideal but it's fine, honestly. It is disappointing, but it is fine. As long as the lessons about program building and culture that Dan brought here and used as the basis for growing the URI basketball program can carry over and continue in Kingston, things will be fine. Hire the right guy, give him the right resources, make the right investments...we have the recipe. I trust the people in charge. Thinking about what could have been will be nice someday when we already have good stuff. For now it just sucks and whatever people want to do to rationalize it is cool with me.

[RhodyRam86]

BM...I don’t think Dan or the team took their foot off the gas because of UCONN, but I do believe it had to be a distraction for both. Don’t know if it effected performance, but Dan has known about this for a very long time and I’m sure the team could smell it.

BTW...The Office should be on everyone’s list of top 5 shows. Best sit com ever. Better than Seinfeld.

[TruePoint]

I think we now know why Andrea was crying early Saturday night as she and Dan were walking through the lobby of the Doubletree. The lobby was full of fans cheering them on as they walked to the bus taking them to the airport for the charter flight home.

I think she knew at that time that the URI gig was over.

Andrea had been a mess for the better part of the last three weeks, for whatever its worth. I think she was crying every time she was seen in public. In the locker room, in the hotels, everywhere.

[steviep123]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

It should piss you off. It means that our coach was not entirely focused on his job at URI. I am sure that Hurley would deny this but as we have seen, many of his past words may have been chosen more for what we wanted to hear instead of what was really true.

OK this is getting a tad ridiculous. If you think that Dan Hurley has the ability to "take his foot off the gas" for basketball games in March, you're outside of your head. Certainly dots could have been connected - as is everything else in career moves, a lot of things happen behind the scenes. Doesn't mean Dan was sitting there saying "I don't care, can't wait to get out of here" and we collapsed. 1 bad game and 3 tough losses against good, desperate teams.

You seriously believe that Jared and EC, at the end of their college careers, were sitting there saying "fuck it, we don't care because our coach who wasn't going to coach us next year anyway won't be here at our alma mater?" You're high.

On the pure speculation front but just putting pieces together, I believe this was Danny's dream job - despite what many here think about it. Despite conferences and all that, UConn is UConn - this ain't the Yankee conference anymore. I think Dan legitimately wanted to be here forever - until last year's contract negotiations.

We gave nothing. We had NCAA credits and we just upped his salary a tad, added a few more flights, and that was the end of it. We flew commercial home from DC. We had "whispered" and "committed" about a practice facility in pockets but never announced it.

We knew he was never going to leave for Georgetown. Dan didn't have the kind of leverage he did with this negotiation. With leverage this year we finally put an offer out there commensurate with a first-class basketball program.

I can almost guarantee you if we put that offer out there pre-emptively, last year, without pulling teeth, without UConn or Pitt driving insane offers up there: Dan is still here.

I don't believe Tom Moore being hired here was an accident. That connection is easy. The rest of the dots between the Ollie buyout and things could line up.

I think, and this is again pure speculation, Dan's struggle to leave here late was because he thought last year was the "tapped out" offer, and he was shocked that we found a way to give him what we wanted - just too late. He thought last year was the most he was ever going to get and he expected the doors to FINALLY swing open after 5 grinding years that ended with the best in nearly 20 years. We didn't.

Unfortunately up until what looks like this week's offer, from Dan's perspective, this was pulling teeth. We had "promised" a practice facility before, it's always been the goal - but we were not giving him a practice facility. We were giving him a written promise to get one - why hadn't we done that last year? Or even the year before?

Again, pure speculation - but anyone who's been in a job and doesn't get what they feel they deserved from their employer will go and look for work elsewhere. You put out feelers in the background - you don't just announce to your boss and coworkers "HEY I'M LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB" like you're Michael Scott declaring something. I assume that's what happened, and it genuinely broke his heart when we finally came up with an offer that was a true, top D1 level offer. Just too late, and knowing the guy, it probably broke his heart because he put things in motion thinking we couldn't support him like he thought he needed to be - and then we did, after he set too many things in motion.

Our athletics department is limited by what our big donors are willing to give. Our rich people don't value sports like UConn's (or other team's) rich people do, unfortunately. Tip of the cap to those people for showing up this week, wish it was last year, but I hope you show up from day one of this new coaches' program.

At the end of the day, he is giving a first class, championship program, with first class commitments in place, (we assume) over to one of his best friends and leaving it in good hands.

Like any break up, this sucks. I think it just hurts us all because he legitimately could have been our Calhoun or Boeheim, but when we go on to more titles and further in the NCAA tournament - we'll all look back and thank the guy because he's honestly the only person we could've hired that would've set this up.

I'm ready for a stiff drink. And the weekend. And the David Cox era. And possibly watching the UConn press conference with the TV muted and James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" playing in the background.

I know Dan thinks that we'll move on and he'll be a distant memory, but shit we don't forget anything around here. I need to be better about being angry because this would hurt less hahahahaha (he laughed and cried maniacally to himself).

BM, I agree with a lot of this, I'm still in the middle of figuring out my emotions of this all. On the one hand, I'm over joyed with what DH put into place here and thrilled that the AD and Pres get it. I also strongly believe that DH could have been our Calhoun or Boeheim or (name any other long term one school successful coach). I do wish that Thorr and Dooley had made this package available a year ago, and we'll never know if that would have kept him here long term or if he'd still be off to UCon, but I do hope that whoever the next coach is, Thorr and Dooley keep at least some of the package they offered to DH and continue to improve the program. There is no reason why the URI basketball program can't be a threat to be a top 4 A10 team each year, regardless of the coach. Now my hope is the next guy will be our "Mark Few"

[RhodyRam86]

My hope is that Cox or Oats or whomever else gets the position ends up being the next Boehiem, Calhoun, Coach K, etc and that UCONN wallows in mediocrity for eternity.

[steviep123]

I'm okay with that. In the end, I won't end up wishing any ill will vs. DH, but I'll never root for UConn. I do have a couple of friends that graduated from there, and I'd be happy for them (they aren't arrogant a-holes). But will never root for UConn.

[bigappleram]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

It should piss you off. It means that our coach was not entirely focused on his job at URI. I am sure that Hurley would deny this but as we have seen, many of his past words may have been chosen more for what we wanted to hear instead of what was really true.

OK this is getting a tad ridiculous. If you think that Dan Hurley has the ability to "take his foot off the gas" for basketball games in March, you're outside of your head. Certainly dots could have been connected - as is everything else in career moves, a lot of things happen behind the scenes. Doesn't mean Dan was sitting there saying "I don't care, can't wait to get out of here" and we collapsed. 1 bad game and 3 tough losses against good, desperate teams.

You seriously believe that Jared and EC, at the end of their college careers, were sitting there saying "fuck it, we don't care because our coach who wasn't going to coach us next year anyway won't be here at our alma mater?" You're high.

On the pure speculation front but just putting pieces together, I believe this was Danny's dream job - despite what many here think about it. Despite conferences and all that, UConn is UConn - this ain't the Yankee conference anymore. I think Dan legitimately wanted to be here forever - until last year's contract negotiations.

We gave nothing. We had NCAA credits and we just upped his salary a tad, added a few more flights, and that was the end of it. We flew commercial home from DC. We had "whispered" and "committed" about a practice facility in pockets but never announced it.

We knew he was never going to leave for Georgetown. Dan didn't have the kind of leverage he did with this negotiation. With leverage this year we finally put an offer out there commensurate with a first-class basketball program.

I can almost guarantee you if we put that offer out there pre-emptively, last year, without pulling teeth, without UConn or Pitt driving insane offers up there: Dan is still here.

I don't believe Tom Moore being hired here was an accident. That connection is easy. The rest of the dots between the Ollie buyout and things could line up.

I think, and this is again pure speculation, Dan's struggle to leave here late was because he thought last year was the "tapped out" offer, and he was shocked that we found a way to give him what we wanted - just too late. He thought last year was the most he was ever going to get and he expected the doors to FINALLY swing open after 5 grinding years that ended with the best in nearly 20 years. We didn't.

Unfortunately up until what looks like this week's offer, from Dan's perspective, this was pulling teeth. We had "promised" a practice facility before, it's always been the goal - but we were not giving him a practice facility. We were giving him a written promise to get one - why hadn't we done that last year? Or even the year before?

Again, pure speculation - but anyone who's been in a job and doesn't get what they feel they deserved from their employer will go and look for work elsewhere. You put out feelers in the background - you don't just announce to your boss and coworkers "HEY I'M LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB" like you're Michael Scott declaring something. I assume that's what happened, and it genuinely broke his heart when we finally came up with an offer that was a true, top D1 level offer. Just too late, and knowing the guy, it probably broke his heart because he put things in motion thinking we couldn't support him like he thought he needed to be - and then we did, after he set too many things in motion.

Our athletics department is limited by what our big donors are willing to give. Our rich people don't value sports like UConn's (or other team's) rich people do, unfortunately. Tip of the cap to those people for showing up this week, wish it was last year, but I hope you show up from day one of this new coaches' program.

At the end of the day, he is giving a first class, championship program, with first class commitments in place, (we assume) over to one of his best friends and leaving it in good hands.

Like any break up, this sucks. I think it just hurts us all because he legitimately could have been our Calhoun or Boeheim, but when we go on to more titles and further in the NCAA tournament - we'll all look back and thank the guy because he's honestly the only person we could've hired that would've set this up.

I'm ready for a stiff drink. And the weekend. And the David Cox era. And possibly watching the UConn press conference with the TV muted and James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" playing in the background.

I know Dan thinks that we'll move on and he'll be a distant memory, but shit we don't forget anything around here. I need to be better about being angry because this would hurt less hahahahaha (he laughed and cried maniacally to himself).

Agree with most of this, but wouldn't say UConn has people that care more about basketball success....they just have more of those people. The same people who keep this program afloat, are the same people who came to help in this situation for URI. They weren't new supporters hopping on the bandwagon to try and make a last second save. At least not to my knowledge. The names you see on buildings, in the hallways at the Ryan, on the donor lists were the people trying to be part of the solution. It just is a much smaller pool than they have at CT, and they can only do so much. Which is already a lot. I agree with TP, if this was his dream job which is the new narrative, then whatever we did last year wouldn't have mattered bc we wouldn't have the 4 National Championships and dozen or so NBA players that seem to be what is attractive to him. We owe Dan a huge debt of gratitude for building a culture of success and the foundation for a major college program we all want...he will always be a special coach in URIs history. However, there is no way around feeling jilted, and that all the 'love of the game' stuff wasn't in fact less important than it was made out to be.

[URI_05]

The fans and donors don't care narrative gets annoying. The money comes after the winning starts, not before. When Calhoun got to UConn, they gave him a state car and he had to fight to get a Cadillac to use while recruiting. The money there didn't just happen, it came after they started winning.

[ramster]

at least you got through a whole memo without once again blaming the URI fanbase.

UCONN as a dream job is just strange. He could do so much better. No better place to play than the Ryan Center.

The Practice Facility is going to happen. He knows that for a fact.

It was for money - don't kid yourself.

And for those like Koch who make the statement that URI could have put an offer like this together last year - well URI had not won the A10 last year and had not gone to the NCAA for a second year

He should have taken the URI Offer Thorr and Dooley put out there - but he did not. He could have but he did not. There was plenty of time to consider. He could have asked for a couple of more days to think about the Thorr Dooley offer but he did not. Nobody was pushing him for a quick commitment at UCONN or Pittsburgh. He made his decision. It is not the fault of Dooley or Thorr or URI Fans. No fault, no one to blame. He is going to a program he said he would never go to. UCONN is a huge rebuild. What he said in the past is not showing up in his actions today.

[rhodyruckus]

Big picture, this is not ideal but it's fine, honestly. It is disappointing, but it is fine. As long as the lessons about program building and culture that Dan brought here and used as the basis for growing the URI basketball program can carry over and continue in Kingston, things will be fine. Hire the right guy, give him the right resources, make the right investments...we have the recipe. I trust the people in charge. Thinking about what could have been will be nice someday when we already have good stuff. For now it just sucks and whatever people want to do to rationalize it is cool with me.

This is where I'm at. Dan gave it his all here and did an exceptional job all things considered, sucks how things went down at the end but spending 9 years coaching prep before going to the college game my suspicion is he had a "business plan" coming in. Starting at the lower level with Wagner and working up from there but there must have been a very short list of schools he was shooting to wind up at. While URI was good enough for him to spend 6 years here I don't think we were his "destination" regardless of what happened. Seeing as where we were 6 years ago that was probably based on a faulty "ceiling" he perceived which the latest offer brought into question, but only Dan could answer that.

But in the end, besides a small handful of coaches around sports (Bill Belichick, Gregg Popovich, Geno Auriemma, etc.) everyone is replaceable. We need to move on, keep the culture and improvements on an upward trajectory, and avoid a Jim Baron, Derek Kellogg, or god-forbid a Jerry D type of hire. What is funny is I thought Ed Cooley was that type of dead-end coach which would keep PC at the Keno Davis level of performance and he has proved me wrong.

[Seawrightspostgame]

No way ponying up earlier would change anything. Saying that is just denial. Which is fine. But I would hate for that to linger on this board far into the future and then young people buy into it 30 years from now.

This year attendance was up. PC is in the rearview mirror. Last year only Fatts and Preston were signed. This year they absolutely destroyed the recruiting cycle. If someone wanted to be here, you would presume the offer, the circumstances, and trying to keep the thing going would be too much to say no to.

I mean the articles have talked about how broke he was at St Benedicts. That is almost 10 years ago. Taking the UConn money isn't saving him from that gas station moment. The guy was already saved.

[ElmCityRhody]

does anyone find it weird that hurley didnt even visit UConn before accepting ?

i mean. you don't at least check out the facilities, etc, etc ?

or maybe he did on the down low.......

[ElmCityRhody]

I AM GOING TO HURL(ey)

[rhodyruckus]

does anyone find it weird that hurley didnt even visit UConn before accepting ?

i mean. you don't at least check out the facilities, etc, etc ?

or maybe he did on the down low.......

Nah, Dan never does that. You didn't see the Norlander article where he literally walked through the Kingston facility the first time and found out then it was in shambles? [/sarcasm]

When he got to Kingston, the basketball offices had no branding, no identity. He referred to his office as "the dentist's office" because of its aging wallpaper and drab furnishings. The team's locker room had cinder-block walls, a rusted-over wet bar and a TV with bunny-ear antennas. Next to it, old VHS tapes of game tapes were scattered about. The floors were worn. The weight room was smaller than what Hurley had at Wagner.

Seriously the coaching profession is incestuous and guys are always talking and visiting each other's practices, although mostly you hear about pros visiting colleges and vice versa. I'm sure between themselves and their agents, there is a good scorecard of what is available where. Plus I'm sure Moore fantasized to Hurley what a catch the UConn basketball facilities were.

[sandman012]

I hate the narrative that Hurley maxed out here. At some point you have to look at some of the shortcomings the last two years, and realize those were definitely not maxing out the potential.

Agree completely — and people like Gresh feeding that PC narrative don’t help the cause. We are no where near maxed out on this program. 2 first weekend exits? Pleeaase that is not close to our ceiling.

My only concern with cox is if he shares our vision and has the passion that will excite the fan base. Oats was able to do that at Buffalo after Bobby left and I think Oats is better coach than Bobby. I think Cox May be a better coach than Dan (is it coincidence that the team’s fundamentals were better when he came in?) but can he sell the program the way Dan did to the fans. Time will tell. I don’t rule out Pitino as some have. He would bring this program to the top.he is a great coach.

a bit naive maybe, but I hope with this past year we are beyond needing a coach to sell the program, and that winning (and competent marketing) takes care of that

[rhodyruckus]

I AM GOING TO HURL(ey)

He has the precious banners over his shoulder. Are you saying we couldn't put together 4 banners in Indianapolis Colts style? "2008: Started Season 20-4"

[theblueram]

I thought i read on the projo the uconn offer was $2.5 mil for 6 years. Is that correct? And he turned down our offer of $2 mil for 7?

[skwalk47]

And that annoys the p1ss out of me, because if that's the case, it definitely had an effect from mid Feb on...costing us at least a 6 seed, probably a 5 and a better chance to get to the 2nd weekend. I'm grateful that he resurrected this program, but I'll never wish UConn luck.

Exactly cuz youll hear moaning about how the top team in the A10 couldn't even get better than a 7 seed!! And that couldnt possibly lead to Elite Eights and Final Fours and the road is soooo hard.

When all along it could have been possibly self imposed to some extent.

Also I think ATP is just cautioning that its not confirmed, not that he doesnt think its a possibility.

You need a new Avatar.

[ElmCityRhody]

I thought i read on the projo the uconn offer was $2.5 mil for 6 years. Is that correct? And he turned down our offer of $2 mil for 7?

wait.. what ?!?!!?!!??!

[ElmCityRhody]

WTF


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2765 ... itt-offers

[ElmCityRhody]

oh.. 2.75M in "1st season" it appears