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Big Sky Coaching Hot Seat

G

Griz til I die

Well-known member
DONOR
With 2 weeks to go in the regular season, I thought it'd be fun to look at all the coaches in the league who may be unemployed come Monday the 25th. I'm only gonna rank the ones that I think have a chance at getting fired and I'll rank those guys from most likely to least likely. Here we go:

1. Aaron Best- Eastern Washington. This is not if, it's when. Eastern has become a far cry from what they once were. They got their 3rd win last weekend against UNC and the absolute max wins they'll finish with is 4. They close with ISU and @ NAU. I could see a scenario where Best resigns or the AD gives Best a chance to resign just to save face, but the last 3 years have been a complete disaster for Eastern and the entire fan base is ready for a change. The general consensus is that everyone would like to see Beau Baldwin return. No idea if that's a possibility or not, but this could be a really interesting search and a huge hire for Eastern. Can't afford to be stuck in mediocrity forever.

2. Andy Thompson- Sacramento State. Did not think I'd have Andy Thompson this high on the list at the start of the season, but here we are. I know he's only in year 2 as head coach and last year was ok, but the fan base is pissed off as Sac State's season has been over basically since it started, and now with the ambitious push to get to the FBS, they may not want to hurt their on field product too much. They got blasted by NAU during the opening week of league play and that was the first sign of a season of trouble for SAC. Will they actually fire him after year 2? Hard to say, but I think there's a possibility. This will be an interesting one to watch as the season draws to a close.

3. Mickey Mental- Weber State. Another guy who's only in his second year. This guy is a joke and should've never gotten the job in the first place. Weber is an absolute laughing stock from what they once were and Jay Hill has gotta be just shaking his head as he watches this guy dismantle the program he worked so hard to build up. I think he probably gets 1 more year as he can point to the win in Missoula as reason for optimism, but they literally have not won a game since they upset us. If Weber does pull the trigger this year, they should also fire their AD since that guy refuses to make an external hire. He only hires from within and all of his hires have been terrible (see Men's Basketball and Softball).

Honorable Mention to Bruce Barnum and Ed Lamb. I don't think either of these guys gets let go, but eventually Portland State has to ask themselves when it's time to try something else, and Ed Lamb hasn't been great but they'll give him time since he inherited a train wreck.

If Best is the only one that gets fired, that won't surprise me, but I do think we could see multiple firings this offseason. Thoughts???
 
I believe Best's contract is up this year, and it's sure looking like he won't be coming back.

Thompson just got a raw deal. He's a good coach, but Troy Taylor was the engine behind Sac's success. They are an eternally middling program that he got to overperform. I think they'll give Andy another year. In one of the wildest stats I've seen, despite Taylor's dominance, he and Andy are both tied for number of playoff wins at 1 a piece.

Honestly the same thing goes for Weber, except I don't know if Mental is that good of a coach. Jay Hill made Weber, and now that he's gone, they're back to being terrible. He'll likely get another year, as well.

At this point, Bruce Barnum is an institution at Portland State, but they're likely getting close to the end of that rope. If he wins this weekend, he's definitely not getting fired.

Ed Lamb will get another year or two if for no other reason than he's a successful former Big Sky coach, and because McCaffery absolutely cratered the football program.
 
The only reason I could see Thompson getting fired is cause Sac State thinks their hot shit now that they "think" they have a path to the FBS and they'll wanna put their best foot forward in case they ever get an invite. I'm with you though, I think he gets another year.
 
Griz til I die said:
The only reason I could see Thompson getting fired is cause Sac State thinks their hot shit now that they "think" they have a path to the FBS and they'll wanna put their best foot forward in case they ever get an invite. I'm with you though, I think he gets another year.
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You really think Sac believes they are "hot shit"? If they really believe they are in line for a FBS invite, I don't think it makes sense to make a coaching change prior, since the move would most likely make the coaching pool much deeper.
 
HelenaHandBasket said:
You really think Sac believes they are "hot shit"? If they really believe they are in line for a FBS invite, I don't think it makes sense to make a coaching change prior, since the move would most likely make the coaching pool much deeper.
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I believe the fans and the community think they're hot shit. Sac State leadership I also think believes they're hot shit as well. I'd be surprised if they pulled the trigger on Thompson this year, but many want him gone, and they've been vocal about that.
 
Griz til I die said:
I believe the fans and the community think they're hot shit. Sac State leadership I also think believes they're hot shit as well. I'd be surprised if they pulled the trigger on Thompson this year, but many want him gone, and they've been vocal about that.
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Seems you have a different read on things, other than Thompson.
 
If Sac doesn't announce a move-up yet I'd bet Thompson is safe and given another year.

However if Sac announces a move-up I could see them also announcing a new coach to ramp the team up in their transition/probation years in anticipation of the move.

Best (I'd assume) is gone, being his contract year too - easy to cut ties. He'll be here as a consultant next year haha.

Mental and Lamb are probably safe. Mental will need to put up or shut up next year. Lamb I'd think has a longer leash. UNC knows they suck but Lamb's a steady coach and trying to rebuild the program, this was their first year using all allotted scholarships, that'll take time.
 
BWahlberg said:
If Sac doesn't announce a move-up yet I'd bet Thompson is safe and given another year.

However if Sac announces a move-up I could see them also announcing a new coach to ramp the team up in their transition/probation years in anticipation of the move.

Best (I'd assume) is gone, being his contract year too - easy to cut ties. He'll be here as a consultant next year haha.

Mental and Lamb are probably safe. Mental will need to put up or shut up next year. Lamb I'd think has a longer leash. UNC knows they suck but Lamb's a steady coach and trying to rebuild the program, this was their first year using all allotted scholarships, that'll take time.
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Lamb did good work at SUU and I think it's even harder to win at UNC. I personally would expect him to have 4-5 years to improve
 
Best is certainly gone, but no way on Lamb. They will give him time. That Weber win was a good win. I also don't think Mental goes away anytime soon.

Bobby and Thompson are possibilities, but not likely.

Vigen may get poached, although I don't think it's this year. It just might be if the Cats win the natty, and then back to the drawing board to find the 6th best option again. That seems to work out very well.
 
ABQCat said:
Best is certainly gone, but no way on Lamb. They will give him time. That Weber win was a good win. I also don't think Mental goes away anytime soon.

Bobby and Thompson are possibilities, but not likely.

Vigen may get poached, although I don't think it's this year. It just might be if the Cats win the natty, and then back to the drawing board to find the 6th best option again. That seems to work out very well.
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lmao no one is more secure in his job in the Big Sky than Bobby, but congrats, nice attempt there.
 
ABQCat said:
Best is certainly gone, but no way on Lamb. They will give him time. That Weber win was a good win. I also don't think Mental goes away anytime soon.

Bobby and Thompson are possibilities, but not likely.

Vigen may get poached, although I don't think it's this year. It just might be if the Cats win the natty, and then back to the drawing board to find the 6th best option again. That seems to work out very well.
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There is a 0% chance Bobby is fired after this year. He would have to pick an actual fist fight with a member of the administration to get fired. People can have whatever opinion they want on Hauck, but he is not in ANY way a possibility for firing.
 
ElrodGrizzly said:
There is a 0% chance Bobby is fired after this year. He would have to pick an actual fist fight with a member of the administration to get fired. People can have whatever opinion they want on Hauck, but he is not in ANY way a possibility for firing.
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I think he's just trying to rustle jimmies here, I doubt he's that stupid to actually believe that.
 
ElrodGrizzly said:
There is a 0% chance Bobby is fired after this year. He would have to pick an actual fist fight with a member of the administration to get fired. People can have whatever opinion they want on Hauck, but he is not in ANY way a possibility for firing.
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and even then, it would probably depend on which administrator he got in a fight with! 🤣
 
Missoula makes several million per home game, which translates to each additional mission because of employment. If the Griz ever misses the playoffs two years in a row, BH will be gone. He would also be removed if the UM moved up. He has zero chance of being the head coach when that move happens.
 
ABQCat said:
Best is certainly gone, but no way on Lamb. They will give him time. That Weber win was a good win. I also don't think Mental goes away anytime soon.

Bobby and Thompson are possibilities, but not likely.

Vigen may get poached, although I don't think it's this year. It just might be if the Cats win the natty, and then back to the drawing board to find the 6th best option again. That seems to work out very well.
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There is no way Viden is back at MSU. His kids can follow him, and he'll take the money. DeCuire is the poster child of that mistake.
 
I was trying to figure out who Mickey Mental really was. Had to Griz til I die's humor. So I googled the name. I'll be go to hell, that's his real name. I honestly didn't know, or care. Probably one tough SOB growing up with the name. A version of Johnny Cash's 'Boy Named Sue.'😂
 
HikeGlacier said:
Missoula makes several million per home game, which translates to each additional mission because of employment. If the Griz ever misses the playoffs two years in a row, BH will be gone. He would also be removed if the UM moved up. He has zero chance of being the head coach when that move happens.
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UM doesn’t make $2 million per home
Regular season game. Not even close. Close to &1 million at best. UM doesn’t make much for home playoff games because the ncaa gets most of the money.
 
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