This year's HOT SEAT

[tornado]

Let's start the talk of which coaches are on the hot seat for 2018-19...

In the MVC we have 3 brand new guys at Drake, Missouri State & Evansville so they are pretty safe...
then we have the upper crust guys at Loyola, ISU, UNI & Bradley who are safe.
Valpo's new to the MVC and on the rise so Matt Lottich is very safe.
But there has been some discontent at Indiana State and SIU so I think those two guys, Greg Lansing & Barry Hinson are the closest to the HOT SEAT but both currently have the talent to finish in the upper half.
But if they don't - especially if they finish miserably, then they will feel the heat.

In the Big Ten, perennial Hot Seat resident & Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino will be there again according to ESPN
...He started last season 13-3 and looked like he had shaken the HOT SEAT talk, then all heck broke loose with the Ex-ISU Redbird Reggie Lynch sexual assault scandal plus a bunch of bad losses - and Pitino's Minnesota Gophers went just 2-14 the rest of the way!!! Fans are getting a little tired of this crap!

Other recent bottom-dwellers Illinois, Penn State, Northwestern, & Rutgers all have new or reasonably new guys or are have been on the rise (especially Pat Chambers at Penn State after a 26-win season & NIT Title) so I don't see any problems there - but.....

Iowa fans are getting restless with what looks like a gradual downward slide over the past 4-5 years - and a 4-14 season in the Big Ten last year. If McCafferty is well under .500 again this year, he's maybe the 2nd hottest seat in the Big Ten.

Elsewhere locally - for the 1st time in forever, nobody will have Chicago State on the Hot Seat, but I think NIU might be getting warmer....

anyone else with thoughts on this??
If Dan Muller or Porter Moser excel in the MVC this year, look for their names to get mentioned again during the hiring frenzy next spring...
and dare I say one other MVC coach also fits this slot if they do well enough....

[Da Coach]

The only thing that has kept Hinson and Lansing in their jobs is the financial problems at the two state schools (SIU & Indiana State) which made it impossible fire them. But unless they overachieve this year, I think both could be in their final seasons.

[tornado]

our "HOT SEAT" thread from each of the past two years have listed Marty Simmons & Paul Lusk right at the top along with Barry Hinson...

But in 2017-18 Hinson finished 2nd in the MVC while Marty & Lusk were both 1 game out of last place, playing on Thursday.

[tornado]

well, maybe we have to take Barry Hinson off the "hot seat"...
interesting discussion among SIU fans is that SIU reportedly gave Barry an extension recently...

he was already under contract thru 2020 at $350K plus other salaries for incentives, additional activity, etc..so if he has been extended thru 2021 or 2022, then his buyout would be pretty prohibitive...
This was the kind of really stupid and costly move that JG/MC made in 2014 when they extended Geno after a truly mediocre year (we were 16-16 in the regular season)
...and thus made it far more costly to buy out...

[Da Coach]

Looking at the MVC coaches on the "hot seat", I only see two-

With Saturday's home loss to Drake, Indiana State dropped into a last place tie with Bradley in the MVC. And though their home attendance is actually up a little this season, there are now more calls than ever for head coach Greg Lansing to be fired. His previous yearly renewing "rollover" clause, which "ensured that Lansing had a perpetual five-year contract with Indiana State University" was cancelled by Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales a couple years ago. Now he will have only 2 more years left after this season, and a buyout will be more reasonable. They have not had a winning season since 2013-14. Lansing is definitely on the hot seat, and could be out after this season if Indiana State can come up with the money to buy out his final 2 years.

Barry Hinson has been on the hot seat since the 2014-15 season after posting losing records his first 3 seasons at Southern Illinois, despite some improvement over the things from the final years under Chris Lowery. And the SIU fans' calls for him to be fired have only grown louder these past 4 seasons, despite the fact SIU has posted winning records each of the past 4 seasons (including this season, so far). The lack of an MVC championship or an NCAA or NIT bid keep him on the hot seat. However, SIU suffers from serious financial problems, and Barry's favorable contract (see the above post) make it difficult to buy him out.

Despite the unexpected losing season, there is no chance that Bradley coach Brian Wardle will replaced this year.
And the remaining head coaches have either had enough success (Moser, Muller, Jacobson, Lottich) or are new enough (DeVries, McCarty, Ford, and Lottich) that none of them is in danger.

[tornado]

well - just maybe there is some talk in Cedar Falls - people are beginning to notice that Ben Jacobson doesn't have a lot of talent and doesn't have much coming in down the road...
I have read some grumbling and here's an article saying Ben Jacobson is one of the top 10 coaches on the Hot Seat - http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/i...-hot-seat.html

[SycamoreFanatic]

If Indiana State attendance is reporting "up" it is only because of the sellout for the 40 year anniversary game vs Loyola skewing the average. Anyone watching any of the games on ESPN3 or ESPN+ can see that there are probably not 2000 in the stands even if more are sold and reported. Lansing "might win" the next game (home vs Evansville) but I wouldn't go to Vegas with that possibility. Doubt he wins another after unless a possible one & done against another loser at Arch Madness. Even with the talent he has available he is still driving the 10th best team in a 10 team league in the ground. If anyway financially feasible he needs to go. Take away his non-D1 wins & he is not even a .500 coach in his career at ISU. Has gone downhill since an inherited NCAA team in his first year.

[tornado]

Ranking the MVC coaches as to how HOT their seats are

10 - NOT hot at all - Porter Moser - can't imagine even one Loyola fan wants a change - I think they'd fire Sister Jean before they'd fire Porter
9 -- NOT hot at all - Dana Ford - 1st year and doing pretty well
8 -- NOT hot at all - Darian DeVries - 1st year and doing way better than expected
7 -- NOT hot at all - Brian Wardle - safe, despite the unexpectedly down season, especially with a solid recruiting class coming in
6 -- NOT hot at all - Walter McCarty- safe, 1st yr but some bad losses (23pt loss to struggling InSU) but suspended once
5 -- NOT hot at all - Matt Lottich- not deserving of 5th place cuz he's done a good job, but that shows how solid guys above him are
4 -- Barely even in "Warm" discussion - Ben Jacobson- getting warm, lunhappy fans, but zero chance of getting $Millions to buy him out
3 -- Slightly Warm - Dan Muller - seat getting warm but ISU simply does not have the revenue to buy him out. Will need a good 2019-20
2 -- Getting very warm- Greg Lansing- judging from sentiment expressed here, his seat is getting pretty hot. Steve Alford is available
1 -- Already at the full blown HOT level - Barry Hinson - already speculation he will be fired after the tourney in St. Louis unless he wins it.
...Will they be bold and approach Fred Hoiberg or Weber assistant Jerrance Howard?

[Da Coach]

Hoiberg has been rumored for the UCLA job, but he is still under contract to the Chicago Bulls through the 2019-20 season at $5 million per year. His "contract carries offset language should he land another job", meaning any salary he would earn by taking a job next year would be subtracted from what the Bulls owe him. So since he wouldn't benefit financially from working again until the 2020-21 season, maybe he would wait until then to take another job.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-spt-bulls-nikola-mirotic-bucks-20190211-story.html

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Hoiberg has been rumored for the UCLA job

I would think Nevada's Musselman would be a top choice for UCLA as well.

[Chico]

Just don’t have a 32-3 season or make it to the Sweet 16. Sure way to get fired at BU.

[SycamoreFanatic]

FIRE LANSING NOW! I have never seen so much more talent than usual as he has this season and he has pi**ed it away. I will not be surprised to see a couple of the better players go to P5 teams after this miserable season.

[tornado]

of the two guys mentioned here for the UCLA job - both have gone heavily via the transfer route when recruiting...
I just wonder if the UCLA fanbase would want to go that way


Speaking of transfers - the top player in the MVC who would have been expected to return was Evansville's Ryan Taylor,
and he transferred out. He had a lot of options but chose to go to Northwestern. I don't know if he expected them to get to the post-season, which is what kids do when they grad-transfer - but sadly they won't be going anywhere.
They are currently 3-9 in the Big Ten and just barely ahead of 2-win Penn State.
But also - Ryan Taylor's production and numbers are way, way down.
Last year he averaged 21.3 ppg on 42.6% shooting and 42.4% from 3-pt.
But this season, he's only averaging 11.6 ppg, 36.9% shooting and 34.4% from 3-pt. His rebounds & assists are also only half of last yr.
BUT - it's not for lack of gunning up shots - as he's already launched as many 3-pt attempts this year as he did ALL LAST SEASON (and Northwestern still has maybe 10 or more games left.

[egib52]

of the two guys mentioned here for the UCLA job - both have gone heavily via the transfer route when recruiting...
I just wonder if the UCLA fanbase would want to go that way


Speaking of transfers - the top player in the MVC who would have been expected to return was Evansville's Ryan Taylor,
and he transferred out. He had a lot of options but chose to go to Northwestern. I don't know if he expected them to get to the post-season, which is what kids do when they grad-transfer - but sadly they won't be going anywhere.
They are currently 3-9 in the Big Ten and just barely ahead of 2-win Penn State.
But also - Ryan Taylor's production and numbers are way, way down.
Last year he averaged 21.3 ppg on 42.6% shooting and 42.4% from 3-pt.
But this season, he's only averaging 11.6 ppg, 36.9% shooting and 34.4% from 3-pt. His rebounds & assists are also only half of last yr.
BUT - it's not for lack of gunning up shots - as he's already launched as many 3-pt attempts this year as he did ALL LAST SEASON (and Northwestern still has maybe 10 or more games left.

I understand going to the P5 program to soak in all of the extra "benefits", and maybe a shot at the tournament. However, it is rare for that kind of transfer to be good for a player's personal production. Competition is better and teammates tend to be better. I hope that more players relish the opportunity to be the man at the school they spent the beginning of their careers at instead of a role player.

[tornado]

Interesting article in today's Pantagraph...

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/co...84a984445.html

an article like this kinda seems to be saying the fan base wants to find someone who is gonna be successful at ISU -
---that they should have never fired Bob Donewald 30 years ago -- almost like they wanna dump Muller & bring back Donewald.