Not only is GU the first Catholic school in the F4 since MU in 2003, all four coaches have had hard earned experience with the Caths. JT is obvious. Motta at Xavier. Billy D as a player at Providence under Pitino. Howland as an assistant at Gonzaga. Three out of four Jesuits.
Yes, it is hard to recruit with the state schools, but there is something about the intensity at the Catholic schools programs that add to the resume. Maybe it is being #2 and trying harder. Or maybe it is the ability to have more freedom to run the program. But, versus the 70's and 80's when private schools kept their coach for long times, the 90's and 00's brought BB TV $$ to the big football schools, who then went to the private school coaches for hires. Cable channel proliferation, though, has now brought $$ and mega conferences like the BE, and Coaches like TC are getting bigger contracts.
Question, then, did this just up the ante? Will we always be a stepping stone? Is the hard scrabble intensity (games and fighting for recruits) something that is needed on a resume?
