Rodney Terry

[idigTexas 2284]

8 hours ago, WJC88 said:

Building a roster involves identifying the correct players to recruit.  Just because 5 of the top 10 players want to sign with you doesn't mean you sign all 5 if they don't fit your culture (see University of Kentucky).  That's the question with Terry.  Can he identify the correct players to build a cohesive roster like the one everyone is raving about at the moment.  Sure, he played a role in getting guys on campus but how much did he play in identifying the "right guys"?

As mentioned in another thread, Keyonte George wanted to sign with UT.  Beard passed.  He signed with Baylor and most people believe he was a negative for that team.  Would Terry have passed on him?  That's what people are questioning.    

Who besides Beard would have passed on Keyonte George? 

All the top alternatives to Terry who are currently at college programs are watching the rest of the tournament from home (unless you think there is any possibility we could get Few - I don't).  Why?  Were they incapable of building a roster that could win it all or did they fail to coach them when it mattered most?  In a year where winning a National Championship is as wide open as it has ever been, why have none of these better options stepped up to show us why they deserve to be the coach at Texas? 

None of us wants to see Texas settle for anything less than the best possible option to coach men's basketball or any sport.  Rodney Terry continues to demonstrate why he should be seriously considered, while the alternatives have all shit the bed. 

Maybe CDC has a home run hire in mind that we haven't considered or who we assumed was unavailable, but if he ends up "taking the easy route" and hiring Terry, he'll get no complaints from me.

 

[closetohumping 17435]

On 2/4/2023 at 5:13 PM, someguy said:

I appreciate what Terry has done in very difficult circumstances that nobody anticipated going into the season.  The team has stabilized and is performing well.  He deserves credit for that.  He also has a team full of experienced players who have been around the block and have learned how to manage adversity.  He did not build this team and he did not create the culture.  He is playing the hand he is dealt and is playing it well.  The skill set of stepping in to maintain something someone else built and the skill set of leading all facets of a program are very, very different.  For better or for worse, Terry has not demonstrated that as the leader of a program he can be anything better than mediocre.  Some guys are fantastic assistants and just aren't cut out to be fantastic head coaches.  Terry appears to be that.  If he isn't, he needs to prove that at a program that isn't Texas.

Honestly, even if Terry would win the national championship, I wouldn't want him to be the head coach.  Getting hot at the right time and guiding a team of upperclassmen to 6 wins isn't enough.  I'm not naïve, and if he did manage to pull it off I'd fully expect him to get the job and I wouldn't complain.

How is Texas Tech feeling about Mark Adams in Year 2?  Year 1 went well enough with Beard's players and with Beard's culture still mostly instilled.  One year later and things are starting to look much different.  The things Beard did well - and the things that make top head coaches so valuable - are not easy to find.

What could RT do to get your seal of approval?

[closetohumping 17435]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:26 AM, ztejas said:

Oh for fuck's sake.

Yes. He has an accent and a unique voice. Comparing him to Charlie Strong is ridiculous. He's absolutely intelligent and engaging. 

He sounds fine.  Maybe even above average.  Players seem to understand him. I certainly do.  Players don’t speak the queens English and don’t care about “mumbling “.   He’s fine as a speaker.  Best in the world?  Fuck if I know.  But good enough for sure 

[someguy 1508]

2 hours ago, closetohumping said:

What could RT do to get your seal of approval?

Nobody cares about who does and doesn't get my seal of approval.  I'm not particularly pro RT or anti RT.  I just want Texas to hire the best basketball coach they can to lead the program.  RT is somewhere on the list of realistic candidates, and the strengths and weaknesses of his fitness for the position have been discussed ad nauseum.

To answer your question directly - there is nothing that RT can do in this tournament that will make me feel like he is a slam dunk hire.  As i wrote in my earlier post, in my mind there is a big difference between taking over a team full of upperclassmen and super seniors and guiding the team and building/maintaining a program.  RT is absolutely crushing it in leading this team, and that is most definitely a big part of the job and he deserves a lot of credit.  But in my mind some folks are treating performance at a single tournament as tantamount to being qualified to lead a program.  I don't agree. 

Some things are factual and beyond dispute.  RT was a pedestrian head coach at Fresno and UTEP.  Reasonable minds can reach different conclusions on how to interpret that.  Some say success at leading smaller programs is the best way of demonstrating the ability to successfully lead bigger programs.  Others make the argument that recruiting to smaller programs is more difficult, and coaching with fewer resources doesn't let someone address weaknesses.  Getting to coach at a school like Texas with access to elite talent and more resources, some people have skills to succeed in that environment where they couldn't in the smaller school environment.  I tend to side with the former, but I can't say the latter is impossible.

I do not think RT is the worst possibility.  My opinion on hiring RT is contingent on what other candidates are out there.  If, for instance, Texas passed on hiring Donovan because RT made a final four, I would consider that a mistake.  I have absolutely no idea whether Donovan (or whoever else clear upgrade coach) is a realistic candidate.  I have come around to the position that keeping RT is preferable to hiring someone who is not a slam dunk upgrade.  There are some very real benefits to recruiting continuity and program stability, but I would still be concerned for the Peter principle, where RT's ceiling is really great assistant but isn't a top guy (a la Mark Adams, Barry Switzer, etc).  I am also mindful of the track record of assistants stepping into head coaching roles without proving it as a head coach elsewhere.  

I will say my enthusiasm for a RT hire would be higher if he maintained Donewald.  I do think Donewald has been a very large part of the success at Texas.  Obviously RT did not have assistants at the level of Donewald at his prior stops, and a great head coach has assistants who are strong where the head coach is weaker.  I'd have more confidence in the RT/Donewald pairing.  I'd want to know if that pairing could continue in the future.  If not, I would consider it an open question if RT was good at hiring assistants.  

Regardless of my opinion/concerns, it looks like RT will be hired.  I'll be 100% in his corner if/when that happens.  I'm enjoying the heck out of this run and hope it is a regular occurrence in the years to come.

[closetohumping 17435]

58 minutes ago, someguy said:

To answer your question directly - there is nothing that RT can do in this tournament that will make me feel like he is a slam dunk hire. 

Got it. Thanks