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The calculus for coaches and players has completely changed in the last 2-3 years. Before, although the Power 5 was clearly better than mid majors, the mid majors had a chance. Now there is a canyon between the 2. For coaches, your only chance at getting to the tournament is winning your conference tournament. For players, especially ones who don’t have pro potential, you only have 4 years to cash in. The amount of money that is being paid at the power 5 level is astronomical compared to the mid major. Can you honestly blame 20 year olds who made the jump? I can’t.

Also, I imagine most of the Power 5 interest that Jacobson had was closer to UNIs deep tournament runs of prior years. The last few years UNI has been treading water so those offers likely dried up. I like to see the Valley have strong coaches and strong teams. But from a birds eye view, Jacobson to Utah State seems about a good as fit as could be. Both sides seemingly value stability and he has strong coaching chops. With Utah State moving to a stronger PAC (9/10) next season, I think they have a good chance at sustained success.
 
just a reminder - and this is NO KNOCK on Jake, he's a good guy and a great coach....

In his 9 yrs as Bradley head coach, Jim Les had 2 NCAA Tourney wins, an NIT Tourney win & made good runs all the way to the championship games of two other post-season tournaments - and had a total post-season record of 10-5, but it wasn't good enough and he got fired.

In his last 9 yrs as UNI head coach, Ben Jacobson has ZERO NCAA Tourney wins, one NIT win and a total post-season record of 1-3
and yet that's good enough that just this season he was given a 5-year contract extension and a raise, then gets hired away for double the $.

In the last 10 years, Ben Jacobson has four 20-win seasons
In the last 10 years, Brian Wardle has SEVEN 20-win seasons.
 
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buxcies said:
The calculus for coaches and players has completely changed in the last 2-3 years. Before, although the Power 5 was clearly better than mid majors, the mid majors had a chance. Now there is a canyon between the 2. For coaches, your only chance at getting to the tournament is winning your conference tournament. For players, especially ones who don’t have pro potential, you only have 4 years to cash in. The amount of money that is being paid at the power 5 level is astronomical compared to the mid major. Can you honestly blame 20 year olds who made the jump? I can’t.

Also, I imagine most of the Power 5 interest that Jacobson had was closer to UNIs deep tournament runs of prior years. The last few years UNI has been treading water so those offers likely dried up. I like to see the Valley have strong coaches and strong teams. But from a birds eye view, Jacobson to Utah State seems about a good as fit as could be. Both sides seemingly value stability and he has strong coaching chops. With Utah State moving to a stronger PAC (9/10) next season, I think they have a good chance at sustained success.
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No, you can't blame the players.

Ben Jacobson's best chance at a Power Conference job might have come way back in 2011. He was reportedly offered the Texas A&M job, with a boost in salary. He turned it down saying that it was the best decision for his family at the time. Texas A&M was in the Big 12 at the time, but they jumped to the SEC the following year.
www.northerniowan.com

Jacobson meets with Texas A&M, chooses to stay at UNI

Two months ago Ben Jacobson announced he would remain as the University of Northern Iowa’s head men’s basketball coach after rumors swirled that he was a candidate for the University...
www.northerniowan.com www.northerniowan.com
 
There will be a race among coaches to get to a program with a largest NIL available for them to utilize, because that is the primary driving factor in program success now. I don't know a ton about UNI, but being located where they are, there can't be a lot of booster support or major NIL money coming in, and the programs results the past 5-10 years have generally reflected that.

Makes perfect sense for him to leave now, get into a program that will be in a somewhat major conference soon, and have access to a bigger NIL.
 
yoda said:
facts and experience tell us it's hardly "jaded" - it's pretty much the reality of it 95% of the time.
I suppose Casey Alexander just wanted to view the majestic scenery of Manhattan Kansas...


also - St. Bonaventure is dipping into the DII ranks for their next head coach-
https://twitter.com/x/status/2038632405875966110
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Alexander and Jacobson are possibly two different arguments. Alexander saw generational wealth and jumped at it. Jacobson may feel professionally he did all he could at UNI. Maybe he told himself he wanted one more NCAA appearance before he left. I don't think it's fair to equate each situation as the same
 
I would say the main reasons Jacobson is leaving is more money to add to retirement and more NIL money to recruit. He really has done as much as he could at UNI and after getting smoked this season in the NCAA Tour. he realizes it is too hard to take good mid-major programs and win games anymore in the big Tour.
 
All Wardle has to do is win a couple NCAA tourney games, maybe advance to the Sweet 16, and teams will come knocking.
 
This is not a criticism of Seth Tuttle, but if I was making the decision at UNI, Kyle Green would be my top choice. He's much more experienced, has extensive connections, and served as Ben Jacobson's recruiting coordinator for most of the 16 years he was at UNI.
This is what Iowa State head coach T.J. Oetzelberger said about him when he was hired there-
“Kyle has tremendous integrity, is hard-working and one of the best teachers of the game that I’ve been around,” Otzelberger said in Monday’s press release. “He is an innovative defensive mind with a gift for implementing schemes and concepts. Kyle is an elite recruiter with a dynamic personality. The experience he has gained as both a head coach and assistant coach will have a great impact on our program.”
iowastatedaily.com

Kyle Green added as men’s basketball assistant coach

Newly appointed Iowa State men’s basketball Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger added Northern Iowa assistant Kyle Green to his coaching staff as an assistant coach, according to a press release from the Iowa State Athletic Department on Monday. “Kyle has tremendous integrity, is hard-working and one of...
iowastatedaily.com

If it's a money-saving issue, then maybe Tuttle gets the job. I suspect Green is getting paid more as an assistant at Iowa State than many MVC head coaches earn.
 
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