Article on why Gary needs to be fired

[Hallas]

Again though, just because we hire somebody we think is the "right" coach doesn't mean they will be. I already mentioned Capel, but there's also the guy he replaced at Oklahoma; I think Indiana was really excited to get Kevin Sampson after the stagnation of Mike Davis. Then there's Billy Gillespie, who took over for a stagnating former national champion in Tubby Smith and lasted two years until fan pressure forced Kentucky to sell their soul to the Calipari.

That's where the risk comes in.

I'm not questioning the fact that it's risky. However, while we have a coach that has done great things in the past, it's an open question as to whether we can trust him to do great things in the future. A baseball analogy would be the question of taking a 34 year old Manny Ramirez versus a 21 year old who's done pretty well in the high minors. You have a moderate degree or certainty with the numbers that an experienced player like Ramirez will put up, but we have less with the 21 year olds. (Yes, I know there are MLEs, but clearly they're a work in progress; they had to be reworked pretty significantly after Wieters exposed a pretty severe bug in their algorithm.)

Gary isn't getting any younger, and I don't know how much longer he can keep sweating. At some point you have to take your chances with the younger guy, and it's starting to look like that time might be sooner rather than later. Dean Smith retired at Gary's age. I really wouldn't want to fire him, but, barring another NC, it might not be such a bad idea to convince him to let the last year of his contract be his swan song and let him come out with a bang.

[section18]

Gary meets the player early and sets up a visit to the campus. He arranges a tour with a campus admissions person and then has them attend a game. A, B, C, basic stuff. I can't believe this isn't done with everyone. I mentioned this earlier. The friend I mentioned in my earlier post with close ties to the higher ups at MD and I have exchanged 4 emails since Monday on this subject. There appears to be no structure when it comes to recruiting at MD. GW sort of wings it with the recruits. It's time for the AD to structure a recruiting program with checks and balances. Effective immediately the following needs to happen;

1. Name the recruit, their high school, address and parents name on a form.

2. Visit the high school to see a game(s). Date attending game. Speak to recruit if permitted.

3. Arrange for a visit to College Park to meet the coaching staff (everyone)

4. Arrange a tour of the campus for the player and his family.

5. Meeting with the AD and a second upon completion with Gary and the AD

6. Provide tickets to attend a MD home game and verify GW and the AD meet with the player and family

7. Per NCAA rules stay in contact with the recruit as permitted.

8. Every time something happens with the recruit it's documented, given to the AD and kept on file.

9. Gary and his staff meet with the AD for periodic updates and dates and times Gary and or his assistants attend the recruits H.S games are confirmed.

10. The checklist is monitored by someone in the AD'S office.

I have sent something similar to this to my friend and hopefully she can get the AD to set up something similar to this plan. Maybe they have something like this already. I don't think they do because of the consistency in the players stories as to the reason why they chose to go to another school. 20 minute visits? Are you kidding? Someone said he is coaching like it's still the 90's. I would bet you the top schools all have a checklist similar to what I have written above. You have to document everything you do to make sure nothing is overlooked.

If a plan similar to the one above was implemented at MD I think Gary would land more recruits in spite of his personality which can be egotistical and condescending as we all know. I think we will recruit more if the effort is there in spite of Gary. This is sad to say when the school is paying him $2 million per year to coach and recruit. They are only getting $1 million of the $2 million back from Gary at the present time. The new AD and #1 can implement this strategy/plan without any resistance from Gary. They just tell him this is the way it's going to be from today on and we expect recruiting reports on a regular basis. If he doesn't agree with this decision he can resign and they don't owe him any money. I don't think he will do that as he continues on with his desire to have 700+ coaching wins and he likes money.

[Dr. FLK]

Maryland has won at least 8 games in the league all five years -- Duke is the only other team that can say that.

Whoever replaces Gary will have a tall task to exceed his performance, even if the last five years is the measure.

Improving is difficult, so keep your mediocrity and like it?

[NewMarketSean]

What other coaches at big programs have gone through a slump similar to this one, and then returned to glory?

I'm just curious if this is something that Gary can overcome based on history or if he's pretty much finished.

[Tony-OH]

While I can see the argument that Gary's time has passed, he's not going to lose his reputation over some seasons where he "only" won 19 games. And be careful what you wish for -- a team could do a lot worse than Gary Williams, as Maryland fans should know.

Sorry Rick, but that's the worse argument of them all. We found a young hungry Gary Williams once, we can find another again. I'm not an expert in college basketball coaching, but what I do know is that there are other teams in major college basketball that have brought in new coaches and they've done quite well.

How much worse could we be anyways? This is Maryland. We should not be happy with anything less then a perennial top 25 team and Williams has not been able to do that very often since his NC.

[Burg]

Sorry Rick, but that's the worse argument of them all. We found a young hungry Gary Williams once, we can find another again. I'm not an expert in college basketball coaching, but what I do know is that there are other teams in major college basketball that have brought in new coaches and they've done quite well.

How much worse could we be anyways? This is Maryland. We should not be happy with anything less then a perennial top 25 team and Williams has not been able to do that very often since his NC.

See Forest, Wake and State, NC.

There is always the possibility to get much worse.

[Miller192]

See Forest, Wake and State, NC.

There is always the possibility to get much worse.

Indiana?

[Frobby]

Improving is difficult, so keep your mediocrity and like it?

Sorry Rick, but that's the worse argument of them all. We found a young hungry Gary Williams once, we can find another again. I'm not an expert in college basketball coaching, but what I do know is that there are other teams in major college basketball that have brought in new coaches and they've done quite well.

How much worse could we be anyways? This is Maryland. We should not be happy with anything less then a perennial top 25 team and Williams has not been able to do that very often since his NC.

Go back to my earlier post, and you'll see I'm not arguing that Maryland has to keep Gary Williams. I'm simply pointing out that there's a serious downside risk in replacing him. It's not as though Maryland has sucked in recent years -- they are still an above average team in the ACC and well above average from a national perspective. Yes, you can take a risk in the hopes of moving up a notch, but you also risk moving down 2-3 notches if things don't go as planned.

I also think that if it's anything near a close call, institutional loyalty requires that Gary remain as coach. I don't need to recite all the reasons why, you already know what they are.

[Dr. FLK]

Go back to my earlier post, and you'll see I'm not arguing that Maryland has to keep Gary Williams. I'm simply pointing out that there's a serious downside risk in replacing him. It's not as though Maryland has sucked in recent years -- they are still an above average team in the ACC and well above average from a national perspective. Yes, you can take a risk in the hopes of moving up a notch, but you also risk moving down 2-3 notches if things don't go as planned.

I also think that if it's anything near a close call, institutional loyalty requires that Gary remain as coach. I don't need to recite all the reasons why, you already know what they are.

I agree with you for the most part. But, the risk of moving down a few notches (IMO) is greatly overshadowed by the benefit of moving up.

[Tony-OH]

See Forest, Wake and State, NC.

There is always the possibility to get much worse.

Neither of those school have the program history and recruiting area that Maryland has. We should always be a better program then those schools.

Yes, things could get Bob Wade worse, but that's not going to happen.

[Tony-OH]

Go back to my earlier post, and you'll see I'm not arguing that Maryland has to keep Gary Williams. I'm simply pointing out that there's a serious downside risk in replacing him. It's not as though Maryland has sucked in recent years -- they are still an above average team in the ACC and well above average from a national perspective. Yes, you can take a risk in the hopes of moving up a notch, but you also risk moving down 2-3 notches if things don't go as planned.

I also think that if it's anything near a close call, institutional loyalty requires that Gary remain as coach. I don't need to recite all the reasons why, you already know what they are.

How many more notches are there for a program like Maryland? There's no reason that school with the local basketball talent that Maryland has should ever have sunk to the level the program is currently at. Unless they go out an hire a Bob Wade-type guy, which they won't, Maryland should find a great up and coming coach that should bring a breath of fresh air and energy into this stagnant program.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Sorry Rick, but that's the worse argument of them all. We found a young hungry Gary Williams once, we can find another again. I'm not an expert in college basketball coaching, but what I do know is that there are other teams in major college basketball that have brought in new coaches and they've done quite well.

How much worse could we be anyways? This is Maryland. We should not be happy with anything less then a perennial top 25 team and Williams has not been able to do that very often since his NC.

The Orioles found a Cal Ripken once, they can find another again.

How many schools have managed to find THREE legendary coaches in same amount of time as you are asking of Maryland? Kansas, maybe?

And it isn't just about getting worse, it's about not getting better. Your complaints about Gary Williams involve the stagnation of the program, so a new coach not only much avoid a Wade-like failure but also further stagnation. That's much harder to do, and as I showed with some of the coaches I mentioned, even the smart move at the time still doesn't work out in the end.

[BaltimoreTerp]

How many more notches are there for a program like Maryland? There's no reason that school with the local basketball talent that Maryland has should ever have sunk to the level the program is currently at. Unless they go out an hire a Bob Wade-type guy, which they won't, Maryland should find a great up and coming coach that should bring a breath of fresh air and energy into this stagnant program.

Like Jeff Capel or Billy Gillispie?

[BaltimoreTerp]

I agree with you for the most part. But, the risk of moving down a few notches (IMO) is greatly overshadowed by the benefit of moving up.

What about the risk of staying in the same place?

[Dr. FLK]

Like Jeff Capel or Billy Gillispie?

I wonder if that's the logic my wife used when she settled on me: my friends found bum husbands, so I better settle on this guy because I could do worse! Turns out her friends got bum husbands because they were ugly, whiny, and high maintenance...and not because finding a decent husband is impossible. I'm sure glad that no one came along to tell her that she could have done a whole lot better...