Geno Ford on radio in Peoria this afternoon

[Da Coach]

Geno Ford will be on Jim Mattson's radio show this afternoon on ESPN radio, 96.5 FM at 3:25 PM. -

https://twitter.com/hoijim/status/697154070721617920

Unfortunately, I won't be able to listen, but if anyone has a chance to hear what Geno has to say, could you post a report/

[tornado]

I have it on but the link to listen live does not seem to be working - even tried a different browser...

[lightsout]

Geno said his biggest regret is not recruiting more shooters!

[tornado]

Jim Mattson says Geno wishes BU & Coach Wardle well...

[Da Coach]

More of what Jim Mattson said about his interview with Geno Ford-

[lefty]

Hard not to like Geno??¦??¦.I went to the first day of Pac-12 tournament in Vegas last year courtesy of Greg Graham and ended up sitting with Jaden and Geno??¦.before he was let go. It was an interesting and fun 3 hours or so.

[tornado]

I think most Bradley fans like Geno and know he was thrust into an difficult situation...
First, the admin horribly screwed up his hiring and hung a terribly stressful $1 million lawsuit debt on Geno's neck with their negligence. Then Geno was forced to work with what even Kirk Wessler called micro-management and upper level meddling - like the former coach, not freely able to do his own job as he wanted and pick his own staff. Then he had to deal that last year with concerns about the finances - NOT just in Athletics but campus-wide - all caused by the mis-management, wasteful & reckless spending of the administration & of the people above him.
Geno was paid well, so most don't feel too sorry for him, but likely only one head coach ever has been required to try to work & succeed in such an adverse environment - but at least Geno had the full and almost pathologically over-the-top support of the press.

[tornado]

Here's an audio file so you can hear the Geno Ford segment online

https://soundcloud.com/ampillinois/geno-ford-february-9th-2016

My recap if you don't want to listen....

Geno talks first about his gig as a color analyst for ESPN3..but he repeatedly laments and misses being a coach and being in the lockerroom....and dealing with the "kids" and "game stuff"...

Then Jim Mattson asks point-blank "do you want to get back into coaching" and Geno says an enthusiastic "yes" but doesn't pin down what his timing is...but he does seem to say it'll be this coming year or next.

Jim then asks whether his firing will cause him to alter his system or coaching style...then Geno recaps all the prior success and conference championship...but admits he didn't land enough "shooters" and went too hard after "length" - just big guys for rebounding

Geno then compliments Brian Wardle and wishes him well, calls him a "good coach"...and says he has had the chance to see a couple games and is optimistic that Bradley is on the right track.

Geno then talks some about his brother (assistant at U of I) and how tough the Illini's luck has been with injuries.
"You can't play 2nd unit guys in any conference - especially high major conferences - and expect to compete."
..then he gives a couple examples..
(so Geno definitely does say you can use injuries as an excuse)

Then he talks about the top teams and who might go all the way - specifically mentions Xavier (who lost later the same night Geno said this)...and Kansas...
and says there's maybe 15 different teams can go all the way.

Then Geno talks a little about life after coaching...mentions his kids - and son Darren coaching at the junior college...
then Geno goes back to talk about how hard it is to NOT be part of a team or coaching in any way...and how much he misses it...
Then he jokes about coming back for a game and tout it as "Boo Geno Ford" night...then he asks Jim Mattson ...."but don't give the fans my cell number"...

[wily coyote]

I my opinion , Geno was a class act. He was very personable and well liked by those who knew him on the outside. I had the good fortune to play golf with him twice. Just sorry it didn't work out for him at BU and hope he lands in the coaching box real soon. In order to succeed ,it's said you have to surround yourself with good people. I'm not saying he didn't but he did win COY twice at his last gig. Glad he landed on his feet in Florida ,it's definitely warmer down there than here. Would love to see him return and enjoy a BU game.Hope that can happen.

[pfcmsh]

Booed Because He Had It Coming

More of what Jim Mattson said about his interview with Geno Ford-

If Coach Ford was booed a lot, he deserved it. He and his supporters almost destroyed Bradley BB. Hopefully the slide is about over. He was paid a lot of moneyand didnt get many results. That also hurts our program and it hurts our school. 3 MVC wins last year?? After recruiting and coaching for 3 years prior to? It only takes a few games to see that one doesnt have shooters on the team. We will win that many this year with 80% of our playing time and scoring coming from freshman. Fred Van Fleet and his family wanted him to attend Bradley. Coach Ford rejected him. Unbelieveable.

[tornado]

Geno jokingly refers to the "three people who didn't get the chance to boo me when I was coaching there"
...well, I hope he realizes those who booed were actually a very small minority...
..most fans, even when displeased, still never booed him - I never did....and have never booed at any Bradley team or coach.

But you want fans, and you want the fans fully involved so if the results are bad there's a chance of some boing just because the fans want better - and I suspect he knows that
Those four years were four of the worst ever and our fans were used to better

[lefty]

If Coach Ford was booed a lot, he deserved it. He and his supporters almost destroyed Bradley BB. Hopefully the slide is about over. He was paid a lot of moneyand didnt get many results. That also hurts our program and it hurts our school. 3 MVC wins last year?? After recruiting and coaching for 3 years prior to? It only takes a few games to see that one doesnt have shooters on the team. We will win that many this year with 80% of our playing time and scoring coming from freshman. Fred Van Fleet and his family wanted him to attend Bradley. Coach Ford rejected him. Unbelieveable.

Not sure what the point is??¦.Geno knew he didn't get the job done and understood why he was fired. He handled it all with complete class??¦.

I wish him nothing but the best

[pfcmsh]

My Point

Not sure what the point is??¦.Geno knew he didn't get the job done and understood why he was fired. He handled it all with complete class??¦.

I wish him nothing but the best

Hi Lefty,

My point was ,if Coach Ford was booed, he deserved it. That's all.

[tornado]

... handled it all with complete class??¦.

well, yes & no...I give him credit for handling it way better than many (and especially considering the crappy situation he was stuck in - see above)
...but he kinda left a few subtle slams against the fine fans at Bradley--
he did repeatedly say the fans were uneducated, and didn't understand why we were so much better off moving to the Ren-Con, and suggested, as Mike Cross did also, that the fans simply weren't patient enough and demanded too much too soon...and that the cupboard was so completely bare that he had nothing to work with when the only good players and all the starters & top scorers he had for nearly four years were the players from the cupboard.

[lefty]

well, yes & no...I give him credit for handling it way better than many (and especially considering the crappy situation he was stuck in - see above)
...but he kinda left a few subtle slams against the fine fans at Bradley--
he did repeatedly say the fans were uneducated, and didn't understand why we were so much better off moving to the Ren-Con, and suggested, as Mike Cross did also, that the fans simply weren't patient enough and demanded too much too soon...and that the cupboard was so completely bare that he had nothing to work with when the only good players and all the starters & top scorers he had for nearly four years were the players from the cupboard.

I think you made waaay too much of some quotes by Geno??¦.