Coaching hire time lines

[tsull]

Its now April and Western Oregon doesn't have a men's basketball coach. I know the search isn't going that well but I'm puzzled as to why. By january, it was obvious Wes Pifer was going to get fired. He was like 3 and 15 and getting blown out in every game. I had hopes that the athletic director would have a long, extensive list of people who qualified for the job and contacted them to apply..

They relied on certain people to recommend a person to the forefront, a guy with an incredible winning record but as I noted earlier, a fair amount of baggage. I don't believe he's in the mix anymore and that's probably a good thing. The problem is a lack of a backup plan.

I could be wrong, but it seemed like Saint Martin's hired Landon pretty quick; and it also appears Central Washington University moved fast on Rinta. That's what I recall. I don't remember some long drawn out process taking a month and a half after the season has ended. I know we're not UCLA or even Point Loma, but we've been pretty decent over the years with the exception of the last four or five.

We can't find anybody? Really?

[Goods]

I've never really got a sense of urgency from WOU on hires, getting good hires and (based on what you're telling me, Tim) fundraising. If you're not going for national championships (which is fine) and just happy to be .500 in each sport, then you're going to get that same effort with your staff. And if you do hit it out of the park with some coaching hires, they'll use WOU as a springboard to get the heck outta dodge once their resume allows them to.

[tsull]

I've never really got a sense of urgency from WOU on hires, getting good hires and (based on what you're telling me, Tim) fundraising. If you're not going for national championships (which is fine) and just happy to be .500 in each sport, then you're going to get that same effort with your staff. And if you do hit it out of the park with some coaching hires, they'll use WOU as a springboard to get the heck outta dodge once their resume allows them to.

I think this is spot on. I don't think we have the Division II infrastructure to play for national titles in any sport. Maybe track and field and I think women's basketball if they'd ever get those hires right. There's some good in-state talent in Oregon and our past several coaches don't seem to know where the state of Oregon is, even though they are living in it.

We did quite well with Brady Bergersen and Jim Shaw on the men's side, they each stayed 4 years, I would have loved each one to stay longer but that's okay. They built up the program before it got torn down. But waiting so long to make a men's hire, when you basically knew in January you're probably going to have to make a change, is crazy. Doesn't appear they have anyone lined up.

But I think you're correct they're just kind of happy to be .500 in most sports. It's kind of odd. They've never prioritized fundraising that much since going division 2 and it's a scholarship division.