Mack to Louisville?

[amen426]

Call me soft, but I hope he stays. Plus, we need a strong X in the BE and with coaching changes nothing is guaranteed. Honestly, I am completely shocked X has kept it together for so long. X, Creighton and Butler need to remain top 40 programs, IMO for BE to remain big league conference.

Definitely would have liked Mack to stick around, but the whole notion of the BE NEEDing a strong X is false. We just NEED a 2nd program (outside of Villanova) to have the level of success that X had over Mack's run... Whether it be Marquette stepping up; Xavier replacing Mack and not skipping a beat; Georgetown finally returning to prominence, etc.

That being said, I don't expect Xavier to fall into the gutter with this coaching change. But, I didn't expect Marquette to miss 4 out of the last 5 tournaments after Buzz, either.

Hopefully Marquette and Xavier can switch roles for the next 5 years.

[chapman]

$4M per year and with the impending sanctions he may make it to year five of seven before he's expected to have a really good team?  Sweet deal.

[Marcus92]

Yep, hard to turn down for a family with 3 younger children.

Making less than $2 million a year, Chris Mack was clearly a horrible father, husband and provider. Now, of course, he will instantly become a better one.

[Marcus92]

Programs like Xavier (not to mention Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall and Butler) are the difference between a conference like the Big East and the WCC. One is ranked among the 3-4 toughest in the country, year after year. The other is virtually anonymous and ignored apart from Gonzaga.

Exposure and quality of competition matter. Look at all the scheduling discussions here over the past few seasons. That's one of the biggest reasons why schools have migrated up to conferences like the ACC and Big 12, and not the other way around. Nobody ever willingly leaves a power conference and goes back to the MVC, Horizon, A10 or Conference USA.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Will Mack schedule MU now with a home and home or will he run for the hills like Slick Rick and Mock Turtleneck Mike?

[Billy Hoyle]

Only if they didn’t sign a LOI.

there is no such thing as a "LOI."

[Billy Hoyle]

Nope.

Porter Moser to Xavier, Custer to Xavier in that scenario.

why would Xavier go after Moser?  Before this season his career record at LUC was 89-105 and after this season his conference record is 48-76. A major program like X doesn't take a mid-major coach who caught lightning in a bottle for one season after years of mediocrity.

[Babybluejeans]

It seems like there have been some big departures of Big East coaches across the last decade or so, all with the intent on "trading up." Here's a question: how have they done? Have any won a national championship? Has the grass really been greener? Off the top of my head, we've got:

Thad Matta - left Xavier for USU and had comparatively long run for OSU, made a Final Four; no titles; fired last year (Xavier not in BE at time)
Todd Lickliter - left Butler for Iowa and had three consecutive losing seasons, then fired; not a head coach anymore (Butler wasn't in BE at time)
Sean Miller - great recruiting classes for Arizona but not much to show for it because zero Final Four appearances; recent scandal and may be canned this offseason
Brad Stevens - succeeding with Boston Celtics, no Finals appearances yet
Bert - two tournament appearances with VPI, losses in first round
Chris Holtmann - had a nice year with OSU; TBD

At least from those, no one has won a national championship and only Thad Matta has made a FF appearance (one). Brad Stevens is the most successful but going from college to NBA is not really comparable. Obviously this is about money as much as anything, but in terms of winning, it sure doesn't seem like leaving has delivered anyone to the Promised Land.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Let's not forget Tanned Tommy...

[Its DJOver]

Let's not forget Tanned Tommy...

On the topic of coaches that left, without getting too far off topic. The 2019 Maui field was announced and both tanned Tommy and Brent will be there.  Be interesting to see what happens when the bracket comes out.

[Loose Cannon]

There's already a 30+ page thread about who their next head coach should be....

http://www.xavierhoops.com/forumdisplay.php?54-Men-s-Basketball

That should be an interesting List.

[LAZER]

It seems like there have been some big departures of Big East coaches across the last decade or so, all with the intent on "trading up." Here's a question: how have they done? Have any won a national championship? Has the grass really been greener? Off the top of my head, we've got:

Thad Matta - left Xavier for USU and had comparatively long run for OSU, made a Final Four; no titles; fired last year (Xavier not in BE at time)
Todd Lickliter - left Butler for Iowa and had three consecutive losing seasons, then fired; not a head coach anymore (Butler wasn't in BE at time)
Sean Miller - great recruiting classes for Arizona but not much to show for it because zero Final Four appearances; recent scandal and may be canned this offseason
Brad Stevens - succeeding with Boston Celtics, no Finals appearances yet
Bert - two tournament appearances with VPI, losses in first round
Chris Holtmann - had a nice year with OSU; TBD

At least from those, no one has won a national championship and only Thad Matta has made a FF appearance (one). Brad Stevens is the most successful but going from college to NBA is not really comparable. Obviously this is about money as much as anything, but in terms of winning, it sure doesn't seem like leaving has delivered anyone to the Promised Land.

Dana Altman has a S16, E8, & F4 at Oregon

[Silkk the Shaka]

It seems like there have been some big departures of Big East coaches across the last decade or so, all with the intent on "trading up." Here's a question: how have they done? Have any won a national championship? Has the grass really been greener? Off the top of my head, we've got:

Thad Matta - left Xavier for USU and had comparatively long run for OSU, made a Final Four; no titles; fired last year (Xavier not in BE at time)
Todd Lickliter - left Butler for Iowa and had three consecutive losing seasons, then fired; not a head coach anymore (Butler wasn't in BE at time)
Sean Miller - great recruiting classes for Arizona but not much to show for it because zero Final Four appearances; recent scandal and may be canned this offseason
Brad Stevens - succeeding with Boston Celtics, no Finals appearances yet
Bert - two tournament appearances with VPI, losses in first round
Chris Holtmann - had a nice year with OSU; TBD

At least from those, no one has won a national championship and only Thad Matta has made a FF appearance (one). Brad Stevens is the most successful but going from college to NBA is not really comparable. Obviously this is about money as much as anything, but in terms of winning, it sure doesn't seem like leaving has delivered anyone to the Promised Land.

Matta & Miller never coached in the BEast

[We R Final Four]

Or Lickliter. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

Or Lickliter. 

Agreed, or Altman

[forgetful]

Mack coached under Miller, who was implicated in a massive scandal.

Former Xavier players were also associated with the investigation (I believe).

Louisville fires their coach for being under FBI investigation, associated with the same scandal.

Is it really wise to hire your new coach, who is also at least tangentially tied to the same scandal/investigation?

[We R Final Four]

Gillen———->Prosser
Prosser——->Matta
Matta———->Miller
Miller——-—>Mack
Mack———->?????

X has done a very nice job of replacing their exiting coach, regardless of how that coach did at their new school.

[GooooMarquette]

Not about needs as they are obviously well taken care of at $1.7 MM.  It’s more about security and the future.  In any event hard to turn down when the job itself is really the same.

His family's future should be totally taken care of - in a very comfortable fashion - after a couple of years at that salary level. He has been at X for 9 years already, and after this season he'd have at least 5 more barring a major scandal.

At this point, it isn't about his family's security or future. It's about the ego boost of having a bigger number.

[NickelDimer]

Mack coached under Miller, who was implicated in a massive scandal.

Former Xavier players were also associated with the investigation (I believe).

Louisville fires their coach for being under FBI investigation, associated with the same scandal.

Is it really wise to hire your new coach, who is also at least tangentially tied to the same scandal/investigation?

You’re under the impression Louisville cares about these things?

[wadesworld]

Mack's wife is from Louisville.

Whether you're making 40K and getting an offer of over double what you're paid or making $1.7M and getting offered over double what you're paid, you're getting offered more than double what you're paid.

Thad Matta is available for hire for Xavier.

The Big East is fine.

Actually, the Big East is far greater than fine.

[cheese ball chaser]

It seems like there have been some big departures of Big East coaches across the last decade or so, all with the intent on "trading up." Here's a question: how have they done? Have any won a national championship? Has the grass really been greener? Off the top of my head, we've got:

Thad Matta - left Xavier for USU and had comparatively long run for OSU, made a Final Four; no titles; fired last year (Xavier not in BE at time)
Todd Lickliter - left Butler for Iowa and had three consecutive losing seasons, then fired; not a head coach anymore (Butler wasn't in BE at time)
Sean Miller - great recruiting classes for Arizona but not much to show for it because zero Final Four appearances; recent scandal and may be canned this offseason
Brad Stevens - succeeding with Boston Celtics, no Finals appearances yet
Bert - two tournament appearances with VPI, losses in first round
Chris Holtmann - had a nice year with OSU; TBD

At least from those, no one has won a national championship and only Thad Matta has made a FF appearance (one). Brad Stevens is the most successful but going from college to NBA is not really comparable. Obviously this is about money as much as anything, but in terms of winning, it sure doesn't seem like leaving has delivered anyone to the Promised Land.

Can we please get out of our "Big East is the best" biased bubble? Sometimes coaches leave and do better, sometimes they don't. Yeah, if you're evaluating teams based on championships and final four appearances it's going to look like they should've stayed. Especially Brad Stevens to the Celtics...Just because he doesn't have an NBA finals appearance doesn't mean it wasn't the right move. Yeesh.

[MU82]

But, I didn't expect Marquette to miss 4 out of the last 5 tournaments after Buzz, either.

Already counting on us missing next season?

Because the first miss in the "4 out of the last 5" was with Buzz at the helm.

[Eldon]

The X board is saying that Mack met with Lville in NYC during the BE tournament.

They're also saying that Mack left for $1M more (not $2.3M)

[Silkk the Shaka]

The X board is saying that Mack met with Lville in NYC during the BE tournament.

They're also saying that Mack left for $1M more (not $2.3M)

Shady. You gotta be ten toes in the boat thinkin' nothing but title at that point in the season with the position they were in.

[Herman Cain]

Would like to see X promote from within and hire Travis Steele .