04/18/24
February 13, 2002
I had thought that UNC's botched search for a replacement for Phil Guthridge (where coaches with something like 3,000 career wins either rejected or were rejected by Carolina, in favor of the guy who is now leading them to their worst season ever, and prompted rivals to make 'I Said No To Dean' t-shirts) would always be the most horribly screwy coaching search ever. Now less than two years later it is time to play I Said No To The Bucs. I guess I'm young, but I can't remember anything like this in any sport....
And people wonder why I worship Pat Bowlen and revile Al Davis! I hope that McKay does resign. In the last 4 years I have become a stanch Tampa Bay supporter, and the firing of Dungy made me sick at heart. To see the Glazers swimming in the mes they made (and reaping the deficits thereof) would make me a mucho happy dude. I would feel great sympathy for Tampa fans, if I didn't believe that most of them would agree with me.
posted by Wulfgar! at 04:06 PM on February 13, 2002
A couple of years back the Chicago Bears called a news conference to announce the signing of a head coach who hadn't signed anything yet, Dave McGinnis. Needless to say, McGinnis was not to happy about this turn of events and declined their offer. Since it was one of the worst coach-hunt turn of events I'd ever seen I was laughing at the Bears along with every other NFL fan out there. In the end though, that debacle paved the way for Dick Jauron to come on board and he has proved to be more than capable as HC of the Bears. Maybe the Bucs should announce a press conference and then call McGinnis and have him decline their offer.
posted by 86 at 04:52 PM on February 13, 2002
I don't think Matt Daugherty deserves the blame in UNC. When they hired Guthridge the school's recruiting efforts took a huge hit, because no one wanted to come play for an octogenarian who wasn't going to be coaching long.
posted by rcade at 05:00 PM on February 13, 2002
I can't find the link ATM, rcade, but every school with at least three McDonald's all-americans has at least a .600 record. Every school except Carolina, that is. Yeah, it is not all his fault- but he certainly hasn't helped. He's still got tons more talent than, oh, I dunno... Hampton? Davidson? And his recruiting choices do not seem destined to bring the team back to greatness, either. But that is, perhaps, a thread for next weekend, when we have Duke-Carolina ;)
posted by tieguy at 05:15 PM on February 13, 2002
I think it's a little too early to judge Daugherty. If he turns it around, and I think he will, N.C. will have their coach for the next 20 years. Though the situations are comparable, N.C. was, and remains, one of the top head coaching jobs in the sport, something Tampa doesn't have to fall back on.
posted by justgary at 01:58 AM on February 14, 2002
There is usually a drop off when there is a coaching change. Coach Gut was an exception, because he just slide down the bench some and had essentially the same players.
posted by corpse at 09:10 AM on February 14, 2002
Note: the t-shirt link is a slight self-link, as I have helped administer the parent site there from time to time, but it's the only link I could find with a picture of the shirt.