• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!

BSC Men's Coach Hot Seat Report

CopperGold14

Well-known member
Idaho -- Zac Claus is in year 3 and now has a sparkling new arena. The Vandal fans are getting tired of losing but the question is how long the AD will give him and his staff to try to recruit to the new facilities. His seat is on fire.

NAU - Shane Burcar is losing at a pace similar to Claus. This year the Lumberjacks have beaten 3 D1 teams and they'll likely win a few more against some of the bottom feeders in the conference. This is his third year as well. Both he and Claus were tagged interim coaches after they replaced a fired coach, which usually doesn't bode well. Burcar's seat is hot to the touch.

Idaho State-- Ryan Looney is the surprise hot seat coach in the conference. Last year in his second year in Pocatello, the Bengals program was on step when they finished 8-6 in the league and had an above .500 record overall. This season with the same players, he is leading them to record shattering lows, as ISU is one of the lowest RPI, Torvik, Kenpom etc. teams in the country. They are 0-11 against Division 1 opponents. The question with his staff is whether the school will give them more time after the breakthrough during the Covid season. Status: Looney's seat is smoking hot.

Weber State--Randy Rahe is probably not on the hot seat, but since he's far and away the highest paid coach in the conference he seems to get scrutiny when you talk about coach job security in this league. This year his team was projected to lead the league and possibly dominate with what they had coming in and coming back. They have settled into what looks more mediocre and disappointing than what was expected. His track record of success likely has his seat insulated well enough to just say it is slightly warm to the touch.

Those are your coaches who might be polishing up their resumes in the BSC. Sac. St and Portland St. are not faring well, but their new guys will likely be given time to build. Riley at EWU has done better than most expected after Leggins and the rest of his staff and most of the top players blew out of Cheney. SUU, Montana, MSU, and UNC are all cruising along on performing well. I could see one of the coaches in this category like Decuire, Sprinkle or Simon getting offers from bigger leagues like the MW, Conf USA, MVC, etc. depending on how their teams perform into March.
 
I don’t think any of those coaches are gonna get fired this year. However, if Claus and Burcar can’t start stringing together some wins this year and then are god awful again next year, it’s time to start having serious conversations. Plus when’s the last time NAU fired a coach in anything?

I don’t think ISU will get rid of Looney either. He did a nice job last year, and it’s hard to get quality coaches to ISU. They’d be wasting their time cause I don’t think they can do much better.

Randy Rahe will be at Weber for life. I don’t see them ever firing him. If anything, I think he would step down.

With Sac State having an interim head coach and a tough season, I think they will have a coaching search this off-season. Their AD has been very aggressive in turning the athletic department around down there. He’s made great hires in football and womens basketball, and he’ll want to put his own staple on the mens program now.

And finally, I don’t see any coaches moving up this year. Todd Simon might get a look if he gets SUU to the tournament this year, but I think he’ll get a better look if he has success in the WAC next year against GCU, NMSU and ACU. I don’t see Sprinkle leaving this year. It might be another 2-3 years before he starts getting serious looks, and Decuire’s been here 8 years now and hasn’t left yet. It seems pretty clear now that the only job he would consider leaving UM for is UW, and it look like they’re having a decent enough year that they’re not gonna let him go.
 
I had just noticed that Oregon State has a 1-5 conference record, with 3-13 record overall. So that is concerning. :(

Griz til I die said:
I don’t think any of those coaches are gonna get fired this year. However, if Claus and Burcar can’t start stringing together some wins this year and then are god awful again next year, it’s time to start having serious conversations. Plus when’s the last time NAU fired a coach in anything?
 
Proud Griz Man said:
I had just noticed that Oregon State has a 1-5 conference record, with 3-13 record overall. So that is concerning. :(

Griz til I die said:
I don’t think any of those coaches are gonna get fired this year. However, if Claus and Burcar can’t start stringing together some wins this year and then are god awful again next year, it’s time to start having serious conversations. Plus when’s the last time NAU fired a coach in anything?

Making the Elite 8 and then signing a contract that pays him $3 million per season through 26-27 make Coach Tinkle untouchable. The buyout on a contract like that makes firing him impossible. He is safe for at least this season, next and probably the year after. He could go winless and that wouldn't change.
 
Griz til I die said:
I don’t think any of those coaches are gonna get fired this year. However, if Claus and Burcar can’t start stringing together some wins this year and then are god awful again next year, it’s time to start having serious conversations. Plus when’s the last time NAU fired a coach in anything?

I don’t think ISU will get rid of Looney either. He did a nice job last year, and it’s hard to get quality coaches to ISU. They’d be wasting their time cause I don’t think they can do much better.

Randy Rahe will be at Weber for life. I don’t see them ever firing him. If anything, I think he would step down.

With Sac State having an interim head coach and a tough season, I think they will have a coaching search this off-season. Their AD has been very aggressive in turning the athletic department around down there. He’s made great hires in football and womens basketball, and he’ll want to put his own staple on the mens program now.

And finally, I don’t see any coaches moving up this year. Todd Simon might get a look if he gets SUU to the tournament this year, but I think he’ll get a better look if he has success in the WAC next year against GCU, NMSU and ACU. I don’t see Sprinkle leaving this year. It might be another 2-3 years before he starts getting serious looks, and Decuire’s been here 8 years now and hasn’t left yet. It seems pretty clear now that the only job he would consider leaving UM for is UW, and it look like they’re having a decent enough year that they’re not gonna let him go.

Well said, only one i could see getting fired this year is Claus, 3rd year and absolutely no traction.They still don’t resemble a D1 program and is hard to find anything positive. Other than Idaho CopperGold blowing hot air, must be boring winter in Deer Lodge
 
wyomingriz said:
Griz til I die said:
I don’t think any of those coaches are gonna get fired this year. However, if Claus and Burcar can’t start stringing together some wins this year and then are god awful again next year, it’s time to start having serious conversations. Plus when’s the last time NAU fired a coach in anything?

I don’t think ISU will get rid of Looney either. He did a nice job last year, and it’s hard to get quality coaches to ISU. They’d be wasting their time cause I don’t think they can do much better.

Randy Rahe will be at Weber for life. I don’t see them ever firing him. If anything, I think he would step down.

With Sac State having an interim head coach and a tough season, I think they will have a coaching search this off-season. Their AD has been very aggressive in turning the athletic department around down there. He’s made great hires in football and womens basketball, and he’ll want to put his own staple on the mens program now.

And finally, I don’t see any coaches moving up this year. Todd Simon might get a look if he gets SUU to the tournament this year, but I think he’ll get a better look if he has success in the WAC next year against GCU, NMSU and ACU. I don’t see Sprinkle leaving this year. It might be another 2-3 years before he starts getting serious looks, and Decuire’s been here 8 years now and hasn’t left yet. It seems pretty clear now that the only job he would consider leaving UM for is UW, and it look like they’re having a decent enough year that they’re not gonna let him go.

Well said, only one i could see getting fired this year is Claus, 3rd year and absolutely no traction.They still don’t resemble a D1 program and is hard to find anything positive. Other than Idaho CopperGold blowing hot air, must be boring winter in Deer Lodge

Wyoming Griz, I almost need an interpreter to read your posts with all of the grammar issues.
 
Back
Top