Georgia Tech’s whiff at Chris Mooney doesn’t look good
Georgia Tech apparently couldnt show Mooney the money.
This doesn’t mean Georgia Tech is not going to get a good basketball coach when this is all over, and it certainly doesn’t mean the program is doomed for all eternity.
But what happened Sunday doesn’t look good.
Georgia Tech couldn’t hire away the Richmond coach. A program that should be top five annually in the ACC couldn’t hire away a coach from the Atlantic 10. The biggest reason most likely is financial. What does that bode for the future?
Richmond coach Chris Mooney, believed to be the Jackets’ top choice to replace Paul Hewitt, decided to remain at Richmond for a 10-year contract extension. This comes after Buzz Williams, another potential Tech
Dan Radakovich shouldn't have problems selling Tech.
candidate, decided to stay at Marquette for a new contract. Missouri State’s Cuonzo Martin, who was interviewed by the Jackets, was hired at Tennessee (although it’s not known if he would have received an offer from Tech).
That leaves Dayton’s Brian Gregory (who has one NCAA tournament win in eight years) and Tulsa’s Doug Wojcik (who never has coached in the NCAA tournament) as the known candidates.
This should not have been a difficult hire for athletic director Dan Radakovich. Atlanta is a desirable city, the ACC is a conference steeped in basketball tradition and the Tech campus sits in the heart of one of the top basketball recruiting bases in the nation. Getting a basketball coach to come here should be a lot easier than getting a football coach to come here.
But the tight economic situation in the athletic department and the $7.2 million payoff given to Hewitt clearly is hindering the process. That’s not going to leave a good impression with fans, alumni or possibly recruits.
It should be noted that Mark Fox was not Georgia’s first choice, and he certainly turned out OK. Former athletic director Damon Evans wanted Jeff Capel (who took the Oklahoma job), and Anthony Grant (who went to Alabama) and Mike Anderson (Missouri) also were both considered ahead of Fox in the pecking order.
But it was easier to understand the doubt at Georgia because basketball so many viewed basketball as the ugly step sister on campus and the school never had fully committed to the program before.
That’s the case at Tech. The Jackets have a resume. But right now Radakovich seems to be having trouble selling the program.
By Jeff Schultz
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142 comments Add your comment
terpfan
March 27th, 2011
9:21 pm
Any truth that Jay Wright from Villanova might be interested? Heard he might be interested in getting out of the Big East.
Huh?
March 27th, 2011
9:21 pm
Yes, Jeff, you may be right in theory, but then why even have an interview with a perspective coach if you are already going to hire him? Have you ever interviewed for a job that you did not then get an offer for? Well, hello!.. It happens every day, even in the world of coaching! How could GT or any other school really hand over the keys to an entire program without interviewing their candidates. What you are saying makes good print material, but it is ludicrous.
Shot at the Buzzer
March 27th, 2011
9:22 pm
While, as a Tech alum, Mooney was my first choice, I cannot say I am sad to see he decided to stay at Richmond. I think it is good that a coach is loyal to his current team. He got the security he needed and stayed where he is comfortable and loved. I admire a coach who is not always out looking for the next stepping stone.. So, while sorry for Tech, glad for Richmond and Mooney.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
March 27th, 2011
9:23 pm
“But the tight economic situation in the athletic department and the $7.2 million payoff given to Hewitt clearly is hindering the process.”
Just SAD…He is still killing us, and he isn’t even our coach anymore….
Phil
March 27th, 2011
9:24 pm
Obama’s brother-in-law is still out there!
StraightJacket
March 27th, 2011
9:24 pm
Jeff, be serious. Just once.
After the relentless criticism of Hewitt’s “EVERGreen Contract”, do you REALLY think GT would offer anybody short of a re-born John Wooden a TEN YEAR DEAL?
Mooney would have been a great fit, but is still a bright, promising, young coach from a mid-major. He is NOT John Wooden, reborn. How often does a 38 year-old coach at a mid-major get a 7 figure salary contract for TEN YEARS? My guess is that the list is short. Richmond has a higher risk tolerance, but to say they “outbid” Tech? Nonsense. Good for Mooney, and this was meant to be, but most Tech fans would out looking for DRAD’s head tonight if he’d offered ANYBody a TEN YEAR CONTRACT.
The process continues, but to say Tech has “money problems” because it wouldn’t match a TEN YEAR DEAL is more than disingenuous … it’s downright misleading.
private plane watching
March 27th, 2011
9:26 pm
dream team! Wait till next year
eight57
March 27th, 2011
9:27 pm
Mooney wouldn’t have been my 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice honestly so big whoop he’s not available.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
March 27th, 2011
9:29 pm
Trust me, eight57, I agree Mooney was a risk, but we are going to be stepping down from there, not up!! I wished it was different, but we just don’t have the $$ right now.
Gordon
March 27th, 2011
9:29 pm
This is the first I’ve heard that Martin was interviewed by Tech. When did that happen? Also, how does this leave just Gregory and Wojcik? What about Gregg Marshall?
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2011
9:30 pm
I don’t see any school offering a 10 yr deal for a new coach. Offer 10 yrs to keep the coach you have only.
Lethal Weapon
March 27th, 2011
9:31 pm
if Shaka is leaving, GT will be the place if DRAD can wait another week. GT and company need to find a way to get to Shakas people(agent, wife, relative, best friend just to see if he would talk after the tournament. otherwise why waste this time. Surely, Shaka is aware of the deadline that is becoming an issue.
Now all the Mooney lovers are jumping on the Marshall bandwagon, why Marshall? Even if he wins the NIT, so what? I lived in SC and none in that state is as impressed with him as much as you people on this blog seem to be. (just 22 yr olds that went to Winthrop when he was coach there) Why did not SC or Clemson hire the former Winthrop darling? Both passed on him and now GT is stuck with him?
GT should call Bobby Cremins and offer him the job before going after Marshall. NOT IMPRESSED.
PRICE AND NEAL should be the choice. There are plenty who want that so do not think you Marshall people have the overwhelming majority because you do not.
BTW, when some of the reports said that Dayton coach was coming to GT, the Dayton fans on their blogs were celebrating and hoping to get rid of him.
Roark
March 27th, 2011
9:37 pm
hey jeff…it was reported today on the Braves telecast that you were now writing fiction for the ajc.
William Satterwhite
March 27th, 2011
9:38 pm
Lethal Weapon, I’ve made this point before regarding Marshall not getting a shot at Clemson or South Carolina but quite simply, Big South coaches generally don’t jump directly up to the SEC or ACC. That’s a huge leap.
Jeff Schultz
March 27th, 2011
9:41 pm
StraightJacket — Your comment suggests Mooney would only come to Tech for a 10-year deal (or more). I doubt that’s true.
Jeff Schultz
March 27th, 2011
9:42 pm
Lethal Weapon — Said it earlier (and in past): Shaka Smart would get people excited. He might be the last possible candidate who would get people excited.
UGA REALLY STANDS FOR JOE DIRT
March 27th, 2011
9:47 pm
If we can’t afford mooney, there is no way we can afford shaka smart! Vcu will surely back up the brinks truck to sign him or some other program will pay more than GT!! What a fraud of DRAD to come out in public and state that “WE HAVE MONEY TO LAND AN ELITE COACH” and say that hewitt’s contract “WILL NOT EFFECT OUR SEARCH” when in fact it has! We can compete with richmond in terms of money???? Mooney made 700k and i can’t believe we can’t land this guy for financial reasons given what DRAD has said in public. If the tulsa coach and this dayton clown are our top two choices…i will take forrest gump for 500k and lets just go cheap and call it a day!!! DRAD, this is pathetic! Take your butt to miami if this is the best we can do!! Don’t say things in public if they are not true! Your credibility is 0 right now! Pitiful
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2011
9:54 pm
What does HEWITT FAN think?
HEWITT FAN needs to tell us what the ATLANTA CELTICS want us to do.
Ron Jirsa
March 27th, 2011
9:54 pm
Jeff, your Kirby Smart analogy is right on. However, Damon pursued both Capel and Anderson but not Grant. For all those out there that mock using an executive search firm like Parker, this is why you do it. Enhanced confidentiality so you don’t look as foolish in public.
Jeff Schultz
March 27th, 2011
9:58 pm
Ron Jirsa (not really you) — I soft-pedaled the Anderson/Grant pursuits. But I know that — publicly — both were considered higher profile than Fox. Personally, I didn’t have a problem with the Fox hire. I actually liked it. You can go back and check. But we all know Caple was first choice.
HSV Jacket
March 27th, 2011
10:02 pm
Disagree that Smart is the only candidate left who would create excitement. Neal/Price would definitely create excitement, but at huge risk. I think it’s likely that Smart winning today put him beyond what Tech seems willing to spend.
TomB
March 27th, 2011
10:07 pm
Jeff, do you know for a fact that Mooney was offered the job? The reason I ask is because of the rumored interest that Tech has in Marshall. If Tech was interested in Marshall why would they offer first to Mooney without interviewing Marshall.So, either you inside sources regarding Drad’s intentions or you have first hand knowledge that Mooney was offered the job. Which is it?
Ron Jirsa
March 27th, 2011
10:07 pm
Fair enough. Sometimes the hires that don’t happen are the most intriguing. Remember Glen Mason’s flip-flop that landed Donnan the job. The fact that Ray Goff was about the fourth choice. And how fortunate we were that Parcells flirted w/ AB to leverage the Miami deal and we wound up w/ Dimitroff.
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2011
10:11 pm
many coaches use this to get more money from the Devil they know than move to a DEVIL they don’t know.
Lethal Weapon
March 27th, 2011
10:15 pm
let’s take a look and compare….
Brad Stevens/Butler 4 yrs 116-24 w/l 82% winning average
Shaka Smart/VCU 2 yrs 55/20 w/l 73% winning average
Bobby Cremins/C of C 5 yrs 109/56 w.l 66% winning average
Gregg Marshall /Wichita St 4 yrs 80/55 w/l 59% winning average
so, if we cannot hire Stevens or Smart, then attempt to re-hire the SOCON coach of the year, Bobby Cremins. If you people didn’t know him, you would want him. And for those that say he is too old, why? Because he doesn’t dye his hair black like Coach K? Then hire PRICE/NEAL. Is anyone going to say they cannot win 59% of their games in 4 years?
for the blogger who said he was impressed with the crowd at the Wichita State game vs. COFC, what else do those people have to do in that hick town? Bobby had the same crowd when he hosted the defending NIT champs, Dayton. Too funny
Charlie D
March 27th, 2011
10:16 pm
Anybody ever considered talking to that young man at Butler ????????
TomB
March 27th, 2011
10:20 pm
Lethal Weapon; Bobby Cremins hair was gray when Tech hired him in 1980. Lol.
TomB
March 27th, 2011
10:22 pm
Jeff, If you don’t have sources confirming that Mooney was offered the job, then this is some sloppy reporting.
StingerSplash
March 27th, 2011
10:22 pm
That a small school like Richmond would throw a 10-year deal at Mooney, with unknown incentives and parameters, says to me that they were truly worried he’d get a good package from Tech. I wouldn’t say this doesn’t make Tech look good; quite the contrary. Other schools are worried their rising stars are going to a bigger, much bigger, fish that they are putting a lot more bait on the hook for the catch they already have.
There are still some very viable and good candidates out there. Sure, Brad Stevens would be a terrific hire but there really isn’t anything else to compete for resources at Butler, so he can pretty much name his price there and it’s almost certain it will get met.
D-Rad may have to adjust his timetable. Or, he can just set up a desk in the concourse at the Final Four and hail passing coaches for a sitdown, since just about every coach goes to the Final Four to watch, politic or look for another job, if they are not coaching in it.
Lethal Weapon
March 27th, 2011
10:28 pm
Satterwhite, Marshall was at Wichita for 3 yrs when Clemson had an opening last yr. His winning percentage was 53 percent. Didn’t see Clemson or Wake give him a call.
Marshall didn’t even win his conference yet. So his claim to fame in the last four years is that he made the NIT quarterfinals at a bigger school than Winthrop and GT fans are suppose to be all giddy about him?
I don’t get it. I know the GT guys can recruit for Tech. That’s what I know. And chances are they know how to coach too. You want a .500 coach that you don’t know but none of you believe a former NBA superstar and Neal could do that well? What a joke
You know, it is like Drew Barry and Dennis Scott said, Price and Neal can handle it. And I would take their word over any of your anytime.
All I see on this blog is Ray Goof’s name thrown out as if Mark Price is Ray Goof. Mark Price has more character than any of these people.
Tech people ought to be ashamed.
willie
March 27th, 2011
10:28 pm
Mooney was no sure thing at all. I’m glad we didn’t overpay for a guy just because he won a couple of games in the tourney. Shaka and Stevens won’t come either unless we back up the Brink’s truck, which we won’t. Let’s just take our time and find a solid guy that we don’t have to overpay for.
Bill
March 27th, 2011
10:40 pm
I don’t blame Rads for not giving Mooney 10 years..we just had that BS contract with Hewitt and we don’t need another. Richmond has known for weeks GT was interest in Mooney and they didn’t want to lose him so they gave him 10 years…Thats to long for any coach in my opinion so let them keep him. When you miss one deal usually there’s a better one waiting. have faith in Rads. Go Jackets!
Summerteeth
March 27th, 2011
10:44 pm
I don’t think anyone is going to lose any sleep because we didn’t get Mooney. He may not have been D-Rad’s choice. That is fine with me.
green jacket
March 27th, 2011
10:50 pm
Jeff, i disagree with your statement that “Smart might be the last possible candidate that would get people excited”. You underestimate how ready GT nation was for Hewitt to go. We have a lot of faith in DRAD. And like other alums, I’ve put my money where my mouth is to help him get his choice.
PMC
March 27th, 2011
10:52 pm
Perhaps it shows more about the weakened state of affairs in college basketball.
The guy is winning at Richmond. Smaller town, (less pressure, if you can call one legit paper and 2 radio stations pressure in Atlanta) probably almost the same money.
Why uproot your family for a program that is seriously in the dumps unless it’s serious money?
No ACC program and certainly not Tech’s is beyond fixing in a year with the right coach. They’ll get a good one I’m sure, but the fact that no one is busting the door down for this job just proves that they made the right decision on Hewitt if it wasn’t a year or two late.
You don’t have to be at a big school to win championships now with Butler and VCU in the finals.
If college basketball is going to be full of young not ready freshmen who think they are awesome at big schools and heady intelligent seniors who stay 4 or 5 years at small schools it would seem that the middling college jobs are going to have to start over paying or at least substantially paying guys to leave especially if they like where they are.
Tech, unfortunately due to an awful decision with Hewitt’s contract….cannot afford that luxury without some manna from heaven so to speak from a donor.
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2011
10:54 pm
I am FAR FAR FAR from excited about Shaka unless he comes for $800K for 4 yrs. It can go as high as $1.2 mil but only if some lofty goals are met quickly.
Mike H
March 27th, 2011
10:55 pm
Jeff, this is just the beginning of the search. Did DRad want Mooney? Of course. Does that mean all of the things that you’ve speculated? Of course not. The truth is that we really don’t know the details of the offer or what was said. I understand it’s your job to report what we know and speculate on the rest, but I think it’s a little early to be playing the ‘gloom and doom’ card.
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2011
10:59 pm
I also don’t think you offer more than 5 yrs. More like 4 yrs. The coach coming in will have a pretty good core group of players and a good recruit. The NO HOME COURT sucks. So a 1st yr is ifybut winable. That is 3 yrs in a new home with the ACC and ATL recruiting market for the new coach to prove himself. Don’t pay a ton with little expectations.
Hairy Dawg
March 27th, 2011
11:00 pm
Haha! The joke by coke is broke. This just proves Dawgs is dominants state in basketball as owners to. The more the pestky bugs try the more exposing as loosers. Yech got no coaches that any goods in big sports. That why although nothing but chumps. Dawgs is playing basketball in good conference and got NCAAT in only second year of Coach Fox. Now we unloading whooping can to bury bugs in all sports. Goooo DAWGS!
Jeff Schultz
March 27th, 2011
11:01 pm
Mike H – Go back and read the very beginning of this blog. I think you’ll find we’re closer to being on the same page than you think.
Jerry
March 27th, 2011
11:02 pm
Just because Tech is in the ACC does not make Tech a basketball school. The program is in shambles and it will take a miracle worker to rebuild it into something worth following. I think it will take a very special person to take on that task. Mooney probably wasn’t up to it.
Georgia Tech is and always has been a football school.
Go Jackets!
when you say budweiser..
March 27th, 2011
11:03 pm
Hairy, maybe you should focus on fixing your baseball team. that’s 4 out of 5 now….
supersize that order, mutt
March 27th, 2011
11:04 pm
Hairy should also focus on his grammar and spelling (or lack thereof). Boy, talk about a stupid man!!!
GTBob
March 27th, 2011
11:07 pm
It’s really not that big of a deal. We probably offered him somewhere around 1.3 million for 5 years, and then Richmond came back with less money but a 10 year contract. He weighed both options and decided to stay where he was comfortable. It happens. He isn’t the only good coach out there, we will be fine.
Johnny FuPa
March 27th, 2011
11:07 pm
I know this sounds crazy because he was just fired, but we should look at Jeff Capel. He’s the one that built the VCU program and took Oklahoma to the Elite 8. He also was a point guard that learned under Coach K at Duke.
Tech Forever
March 27th, 2011
11:09 pm
Hairy Dawg
There is not one complete sentence or coherent thought in your entire post….and I am now dumber for having tried to read it.
Tech Forever
March 27th, 2011
11:10 pm
Hiring a Duke assistant or former player is akin to hiring Vince Dooley as AD after Drad leaves as far as I’m concerned.
realist
March 27th, 2011
11:23 pm
Show how far the program has dropped.
DRad waited 2 years too long to make a switch and we are going to pay for it.
No desirable name is coming here to take a chance on cleaning up this mess.
Dadgum....
March 27th, 2011
11:23 pm
Look Smart doesn’t have to be paid all salary anyway guys. Go check out Greenberg’s deal at VT. He makes about a million but salary is only around 300k but with reachable incentives etc. GT will have to be creative financially but should be doable. If I was Drad I would be calling Shaka’s agent tomorrow to gauge interest. Shaka makes about 400k at VCU. No way he will be overpriced for Tech.
AD Schultz
March 27th, 2011
11:23 pm
Way to paint a very bleak picture of a situation that certainly is not a “big whiff”. While I liked Mooney, the end of the world is not approaching because Mooney was offered a 10 year contract to stay at his current school. I feel confident that there is another talented coach out there… believe it or not Schultz, there are other coaches out there besides Mooney and Stevens. There actually can be a good hire even if it is not the “hot” coach of the moment. I know that does not satisfy shallow sports writer personalities, but it actually can happen.