For whatever it's worth, I think we kind of do want somebody who is so hot in coaching ranks that he's almost gone before he gets here, but with some caveats.

Namely, that he comes from a coaching tree and he feels encouraged by the athletic department to treat Athens as an extension of that tree. He should be building his staff from that same tree and do so with the expectation that he's going to win and be gone in 3 years, and that his replacement when that happens is sitting to his left on the bench.

If our program becomes known as a place that wins games and gets coaches better jobs, that's a good thing, provided you build infrastructure that allows for some continuity. I think the only way to make that tenable is to feel like you're confidently able to hire from within. Three regimes in three years will cause havoc in any sort of organization.

Don't tell that to the people who think Ohio is above that model. ;)

Previously, I thought he might end up working at Nebraska with Miles. I'm not sure he'll be at Nebraska next year.

Ummm, isn't that essentially what 2005 and 2010 were all about? It's not as if Ohio was even remotely close to being the best team in the MAC those years.

Related to the Ryan Taylor, and other comments in the thread -- My first comment had absolutely nothing to do with Saul, Ryan Taylor, or anyone here since Saul's arrival. It was specific to the idea that JC's last recruiting class, and the "cupboard" left for Saul, besides Tony, Mo, and Setty, wasn't terribly well stocked, and left me wondering how good a JC team would have been in 2014-15, and beyond. Setty, by the way, is a great example of a player who definitely improved under the current coaching staff.


JC's last recruiting class looks like this:

Kendall Crute: ended up quitting basketball to become committed to the church, and I think enrolled in a seminary school. Good for him as a man, but not a world beater as a hooper obviously.


Tariq Owens: We all know his story - he's signed to play at four universities in five years if you count Ohio. Based on this history, I'd bet if JC stayed, he doesn't stay all 4-years. I wouldn't call him a world beater, but defensively, he's a very good talent. He would have been fun to see paired with Mo. In a lot of ways, his numbers are similar to what we say about Doug: Good defender/rebounder, lacking on the offensive end.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/tariq-owens-...


Nehemias Morillo: Had two solid years at USF. Could have been a solid MAC player assuming his time at USF translates to whatever he would have been asked to do at Ohio. Also not a world beater, or stud player in my mind.
https://gousfbulls.com/documents/2016/3/21/3376112.pdf


Rodell Wiggington: Turned out to be a solid role player at the MAC level for UB. Numbers wise, and role-wise, not all that different than Gavin Block, though Gavin is probably a better passer, while Wiggington is a better defender. Like Gavin, definitely not a stud, world beater player.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/rodell-wiggi...


If anyone wants to take it farther, and point out the High School Juniors that JC was recruiting for 2015-16, that's a good addition to the conversation. I can't recall who was a JC recruit, and don't have time to dig right now to decipher who was a JC recruit, and who was a Saul recruit from that year's lists.

Ironically, Miles is also in the midst of a lame duck contract year. I believe he signed a 1 year extension after last season.

Yep, agreed. Everybody liked the hire at the time, regardless of how many mouths around here are foaming.

You are correct. He was extended 1 year through the 20-21 season. It does sound like he might not make it after this season.

What pleasure do you get out of repeating these sentiments over and over again? We all get it. We are having a very bad season -- by OHIO standards -- and we are very likely to have a new coach next year. I for one am very sorry that things seem to be going in this direction. I have much sympathy for Saul. I think he's a good man. If he's let go, I will sincerely wish him well in all his future endeavors.

Nobody likes to see somebody lose their job and have their family uprooted. But not many will have the money in a slush fund like Saul. I'm no CPA...but at 500K per year....he made 2.5 million dollars while head coach at Ohio...minimum.

My guess is that he paid at least $750,000 (30%) in taxes over these five years. So before all his monthly nut bill payments and mortgage....let's say he cleared probably $1,750,000 during his tenure after taxes. There is a good chance that after he paid all his bills, mortgage and other misc living expenses over these five years that he walks out of here with a cool $1,000,000 in profit after his five year stay in Athens. He's doing just fine and I'm sure Saul did a good job of saving his cash living in Athens for half a decade. Moving forward though Saul will probably never see or touch 500K in salary again in this business.

+1

No doubt injuries did him in, similar to Groce at Illinois.

He still won 59% of his D-1 games and a NCAA tourney game. And as I said above, some evaluators may see it differently than some on here do. We’ll see.