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Brian Wardle introductory press conference
- Thread starter Da Coach
- Start date
Chairman Doug Stewart is saying this is a new era of Bradley basketball.
He acknowledged that Chris Reynolds was the best choice they could have made for AD.
He thanked Chris Reynolds for his important part in interviewing candidates and getting the hiring done.
He said Chris Reynolds said Brian Wardle was his 1st choice, his 2nd choice, and his 3rd choice. He believes they got the best candidate and he'll be a winner.
Then he introduced Chris Reynolds to the podium.
He acknowledged that Chris Reynolds was the best choice they could have made for AD.
He thanked Chris Reynolds for his important part in interviewing candidates and getting the hiring done.
He said Chris Reynolds said Brian Wardle was his 1st choice, his 2nd choice, and his 3rd choice. He believes they got the best candidate and he'll be a winner.
Then he introduced Chris Reynolds to the podium.
Dr. Chris Reynolds was very excited! He said he was more excited than he was at his own introductory press conference 10 days ago. He believes they have hired a "winner"
He recapped his decision-making regarding the need for a change in the head coach. And he acknowledged the part and cooperation of Pres. Glasser, Chairman Stewart, and Parker Search firm, then mentioned the thoroughness of the search, interviews and background searches.
After reviewing all their requirements for a new head coach, he felt Brian Wardle was the best choice.
Then he introduced Brian Wardle.
He recapped his decision-making regarding the need for a change in the head coach. And he acknowledged the part and cooperation of Pres. Glasser, Chairman Stewart, and Parker Search firm, then mentioned the thoroughness of the search, interviews and background searches.
After reviewing all their requirements for a new head coach, he felt Brian Wardle was the best choice.
Then he introduced Brian Wardle.
Brian Wardle is excited and thankful to be the new Bradley head coach. He is wearing a red tie, and a Bradley lapel pin.
He continued by thanking all the others in his life who helped him get here, especially his family. He thanked his wife, his 3 kids, his father, brothers and sisters, Parker Search, and his agent, Tom Crean and Tod Kowalczyk (former coaches he worked as an assistant under), the Green Bay AD and Chancellor, and others whom he considered mentors in his life. He also thanked his former players at Green Bay.
He said he "hit it off with Chris Reynolds right away". He is from Illinois, and is very familiar with Bradley and their history. He promises to win a lot in Carver Arena in the future. He is impressed and excited with the Bradley facilities, community, and fans. And he loves the Missouri Valley, and will "work his tail off".
He again praised Chris Reynolds. He said his intention is to make Chris "look smart" for hiring him.
He continued by thanking all the others in his life who helped him get here, especially his family. He thanked his wife, his 3 kids, his father, brothers and sisters, Parker Search, and his agent, Tom Crean and Tod Kowalczyk (former coaches he worked as an assistant under), the Green Bay AD and Chancellor, and others whom he considered mentors in his life. He also thanked his former players at Green Bay.
He said he "hit it off with Chris Reynolds right away". He is from Illinois, and is very familiar with Bradley and their history. He promises to win a lot in Carver Arena in the future. He is impressed and excited with the Bradley facilities, community, and fans. And he loves the Missouri Valley, and will "work his tail off".
He again praised Chris Reynolds. He said his intention is to make Chris "look smart" for hiring him.
Next, Coach Wardle talked about meeting with the Bradley players and discussing what kind of a coach he is and what kind of team "identity" his team will have.
He said he will make no specific promises, other than that he will work hard, and his players will work hard every day to succeed and make the University and fans proud.
He again said he is very grateful and thankful to be at Bradley and to have this opportunity. He wants to get out into the community and meet the fans.
Then he finished by thanking the crowd and saying "we're going to have some fun now".
He said he will make no specific promises, other than that he will work hard, and his players will work hard every day to succeed and make the University and fans proud.
He again said he is very grateful and thankful to be at Bradley and to have this opportunity. He wants to get out into the community and meet the fans.
Then he finished by thanking the crowd and saying "we're going to have some fun now".
Braves2006
New member
Impressed with what I've heard from BW and certainly from what others have said about him. I'm with Chris Reynolds ..I wish it was November and the season was starting!
CubbieBear
New member
This all sounds very good---and I am looking forward to progress & new leadership from CR & BW.
That said--(and not trying to sound like Debbie Downer)--I can remember feeling similarly excited when Coach Ford was introduced
I am hoping and praying that four years from now that we are in a post season tournament somewhere (and not continuing our dreadful streak of Thursday night appearances at Arch Madness)
A new era has begun boys:biggrin:
That said--(and not trying to sound like Debbie Downer)--I can remember feeling similarly excited when Coach Ford was introduced
I am hoping and praying that four years from now that we are in a post season tournament somewhere (and not continuing our dreadful streak of Thursday night appearances at Arch Madness) A new era has begun boys:biggrin:
bula-bloom
New member
geno ford intro press conference
geno ford intro press conference
Does anyone have geno's press conference on a video link? I'd like to compare. It's a bit ironic that both intros were on 3/28..hope that's where the similarities stop.
I watched today's and think bw sounds like a good choice. .I didn't feel the same way about foRd I don't think but that was a long time ago.
Looking forward to the change.
geno ford intro press conference
Does anyone have geno's press conference on a video link? I'd like to compare. It's a bit ironic that both intros were on 3/28..hope that's where the similarities stop.
I watched today's and think bw sounds like a good choice. .I didn't feel the same way about foRd I don't think but that was a long time ago.
Looking forward to the change.
CubbieBear
New member
Was reading on GB Phoenix forum--some are glad he is gone and they are already predicting who will replace him--many wish him well and feel he will have success here. One poster said he left GB for 750K salary to come here (about the same amount GF was getting). I had not heard that the amount/length of his contract been disclosed yet--anyone know??
I don't have the precise salary information, but my sources also say the deal is similar (maybe a small amount less) to what Geno was earning, and the length of the initial contract is 5 years.
That is another piece of fallout from the botched job of running things these past 4+ years. Once you pay such a huge amount for an unproven coach who was not successful, it is hard to negotiate anything less when you hire the next guy to bail the program out.
I am not saying Brian Wardle isn't going to be worth the money. Actually, I think Bradley will get more from the investment in Wardle, than they ever got these past 4 years. It just left Bradley in a difficult negotiating position.
That is another piece of fallout from the botched job of running things these past 4+ years. Once you pay such a huge amount for an unproven coach who was not successful, it is hard to negotiate anything less when you hire the next guy to bail the program out.
I am not saying Brian Wardle isn't going to be worth the money. Actually, I think Bradley will get more from the investment in Wardle, than they ever got these past 4 years. It just left Bradley in a difficult negotiating position.
Dave Reynolds article about Brian Wardle, from today's introductory press conference-
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150328/SPORTS/150329115/12701/SPORTS
Dave asks Brian Wardle about the player complaints at Wisconsin-Green Bay-
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150328/SPORTS/150329109/12701/SPORTS
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150328/SPORTS/150329115/12701/SPORTS
Dave asks Brian Wardle about the player complaints at Wisconsin-Green Bay-
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150328/SPORTS/150329109/12701/SPORTS
After reading Kirk's column-
Wessler: Patience a virtue the Braves must embrace
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150328/SPORTS/150329103/12701/SPORTS?Start=1
A couple things stood out to me-
What the heck does this mean? (It's the 3rd paragraph)-
Can they mend broken fences with the fans; rubble that has almost as much to do with public relations missteps as losing games? Can they re-engage Bradley students, who’ve been mostly neglected as an important constituency since home games were moved off campus to the Peoria Civic Center 33 years ago?
"rubble"? What is he referring to?
"Public relations missteps"? Huh?
Is Kirk saying that what lead to 86 losses the last 4 years, attendance dropping almost in half, and one of the most poorly coached programs in Division I, was "as much to do with public relations missteps as losing games?" :roll:
First- What games was he watching these last 4 years? The losing and the fan defection was caused by poor recruiting, poor team play, and poor coaching. Why is that so hard for Kirk to see or admit?
And second- Isn't blaming "public relations missteps" a direct shot at Bobby Parker and the public relations people? How are they to blame?
Then- Kirk spends most of the rest of his column telling us how bad Bradley is, and that it's not going to get better quickly.
Why is Kirk just seeing that now? He's just spent the last 4 years shamelessly promoting Geno and his bad team, telling us how much better ("by a light year or two") Bradley is, and how things were improving under Geno, and how Geno was building things "the right way", how great the talent was, and how the team had such great leadership and depth.
It strikes me that Kirk has been wrong about nearly everything these past 4 years, so why should anyone put stock in his opinions now?
Wessler: Patience a virtue the Braves must embrace
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150328/SPORTS/150329103/12701/SPORTS?Start=1
A couple things stood out to me-
What the heck does this mean? (It's the 3rd paragraph)-
Can they mend broken fences with the fans; rubble that has almost as much to do with public relations missteps as losing games? Can they re-engage Bradley students, who’ve been mostly neglected as an important constituency since home games were moved off campus to the Peoria Civic Center 33 years ago?
"rubble"? What is he referring to?
"Public relations missteps"? Huh?
Is Kirk saying that what lead to 86 losses the last 4 years, attendance dropping almost in half, and one of the most poorly coached programs in Division I, was "as much to do with public relations missteps as losing games?" :roll:
First- What games was he watching these last 4 years? The losing and the fan defection was caused by poor recruiting, poor team play, and poor coaching. Why is that so hard for Kirk to see or admit?
And second- Isn't blaming "public relations missteps" a direct shot at Bobby Parker and the public relations people? How are they to blame?
Then- Kirk spends most of the rest of his column telling us how bad Bradley is, and that it's not going to get better quickly.
Why is Kirk just seeing that now? He's just spent the last 4 years shamelessly promoting Geno and his bad team, telling us how much better ("by a light year or two") Bradley is, and how things were improving under Geno, and how Geno was building things "the right way", how great the talent was, and how the team had such great leadership and depth.
It strikes me that Kirk has been wrong about nearly everything these past 4 years, so why should anyone put stock in his opinions now?
I suspect that it was referring to moves made by Dr. Cross, such as eliminating the spaghetti supper, altering the Red & White game, talking about more games at the RC, and so on??¦ I don't think he meant PR specifically as it relates to the job that BP does.
wily coyote
Active member
I think you are on the right page with your assumption. Another big problem I think he was saying without saying had to do with how hard it is to recruit JC kids because of our standards and no P.E. program. Geno liked to recruit JC kids but had a hard time getting the kids he wanted into school. That was also a problem for JL too. Transferring hours from JC's to BU has been a problem for some time and I don't see it changing. IMO maybe we should relax those standards a little bit since we don' t have PE as a major. DeAaron Williams was a prime example of that . I'm not saying let in every Tom ,Dick and Harry but use some common sense.
I'll admit i don't know the first thing about Coach Wardle, but i did like his response to the question asked regarding verbal abuse on his players. Being accountable and stating he's grown from the situation is the mature answer i was hoping for.
Now, if we can get a Keifer Sykes-type player here at BU (he played for GB the past few years), then we'll really get the excitement back at Carver. I know i was excited about the Geno hire back then and continually hoped that he would succeed, but i'm ready for this new chapter of BU basketball, and hope the results are different...and we don't start Arch Madness until Friday next season!
Now, if we can get a Keifer Sykes-type player here at BU (he played for GB the past few years), then we'll really get the excitement back at Carver. I know i was excited about the Geno hire back then and continually hoped that he would succeed, but i'm ready for this new chapter of BU basketball, and hope the results are different...and we don't start Arch Madness until Friday next season!
I disagree....the main reason Geno had trouble even landing good juco players is because he did it the wrong way. He nearly always waited until the end of the recruiting cycle, after he missed on all his primary recruits, and high school recruits, then turned to recruiting Jucos only as a desperate fall-back option.
The only time he actually targeted and signed a juco player early, it turned out to be one of the best recruits he ever signed in his 4 years- Tyshon Pickett.
In the previous coach's tenure- we signed a lot of high quality jucos like Marcellus Sommerville, Lawrence Wright, Zach Andrews, Tony Bennett, Will Franklin, Matt Salley, Theron Wilson, Dodie Dunson, and Chris Roberts. It's amazing how many of them were starters, difference-makers, and key players on winning teams. The key difference is, most of them were scouted, evaluated, recruited, and offered early in the recruiting cycle, and not as desperate fall-back options.
When a coach jumps in very late to recruit a juco kid, usually one of two things happens- He is getting in too late to land him, or he's able to land them because they don't have many other offers and the kid turns out to be a marginal player at best.