Report: T.J. Otzelberger headed for Iowa State

[WhoISthis]

You would think this is the thing experienced people in positions of great leadership would understand.. I don't know. Maybe he planned to actually wait, but the rumors leaked to his dismay, pissing him off and causing him to spend a few minutes basically lowering the bar for the next handful of years.

Either way, if JP didn't even bother to conduct a search then I don't want to hear him go on and on about integrity ever again.

I hope whoever we hire works out well. I'll never be upset at a coach for being hired but I can be upset at someone like JP for trying to imply what great morality he has only to make a quick decision to hire his buddy who had a losing record at a Mountain West school.

He talks about COVID-19 making Financials worse but there are coaches out there who are great who won't cost a lot relatively. Certainly not more than Prohm makes now. Craig Smith makes $700k/yr I believe. Double it and you are still paying hundreds of thousands less than what they were paying Prohm recently.

Pollard has some good qualities, but dealing with his failures with Prohm isn’t likely to be one of them. JP is exactly the type to think “I’ll show them” by being a contrarian in hiring someone that convention says you don’t hire within 24 hours of a vacancy. If at all.

There’s no downside for JP. If TJ wins he gets to puff his chest out, if he fails (after a really long leash because Prohm/JP ruined the program), no big deal. JP is fine or retired. It’s generally not good when those with authority feel they won’t be held accountable.

 

[cyclonehomer]

You would think this is the thing experienced people in positions of great leadership would understand.. I don't know. Maybe he planned to actually wait, but the rumors leaked to his dismay, pissing him off and causing him to spend a few minutes basically lowering the bar for the next handful of years.

Either way, if JP didn't even bother to conduct a search then I don't want to hear him go on and on about integrity ever again.

I hope whoever we hire works out well. I'll never be upset at a coach for being hired but I can be upset at someone like JP for trying to imply what great morality he has only to make a quick decision to hire his buddy who had a losing record at a Mountain West school.

He talks about COVID-19 making Financials worse but there are coaches out there who are great who won't cost a lot relatively. Certainly not more than Prohm makes now. Craig Smith makes $700k/yr I believe. Double it and you are still paying hundreds of thousands less than what they were paying Prohm recently.

Also wanna say I agree with the sentiment wanting any coach who is hired to work out and will not blame TJ at all if he's offered the job. I'll root for him and hope for the best.

But it won't reflect well on Pollard. TJ's buyout is like 8-10x Mark Turgeon's? I get that the salary numbers probably wouldn't be equal, but acting like TJ is the "economic" choice is pretty arrogant towards the fanbase who can look these things up.

 

[Lafaester54]

I haven’t read all this thread so maybe this has been mentioned but this just seems like a convenient, even lazy, hire.
Also there have been rumors that this was a done deal a month ago. Well, let’s just be positive and see what shakes out.

 

[mjhavlo76]

Where there is smoke there is fire.... I'm disappointed in the choice, and the hastiness behind it.

 

[HFCS]

It would be kind of wild if Caleb Grill came back. He'd have three years of eligibility?

Seems like an athletic player who could keep improving year by year.

 

[t-noah]

This could also be the ultimate Pollard smokescreen. Phil Jackson will be announced tomorrow

Tell em Groucho! Bring back the Triangle offense.

 

[t-noah]

If we win a natty idgaf what happens next

We were so close once. It could happen, and I'll bet you will still gaf!

 

[carvers4math]

It’s interesting to me that CW at least recognizes an ethical question in reporting on a coaching vacancy involving his buddy TJ, whereas JP isn’t even pretending to conduct a search and is just hiring his bestie TJ. CW’s issue isn’t even in the realm of as serious of an ethical dilemma as JP’s.

 

[peteypie]

At first, I agreed with those that said if its TJ quick. Its a bad look. After further thought, why would it be worse if he waits a couple weeks if its tj anyway? If it is him, hire him and let's get going on the trail to turn it around

 

[AttakOfDaClones]

You want a great hiring process, nothing beats JP’s hiring of Chizek. Brought in Harbaugh, Kelly, and so on and then pulls a rabbit out of a hat and lands one of the best coaching prospects in the country with Chizek. Those were the days...

 

[Cycl0nepower]

TJ’s top recruit at UNLV. His game reminds me of Dustin Hogue. He’ll be a good defender from the get-go. His jumper needs improvement though. Would be a huge get.

 

[alarson]

At first, I agreed with those that said if its TJ quick. Its a bad look. After further thought, why would it be worse if he waits a couple weeks if its tj anyway? If it is him, hire him and let's get going on the trail to turn it around

The problem isnt the time, per se.

The problem is the lack of a full process to cast a net and see who the best coach we can find is. The extremely small amount of time between this coming out and the firing provides further evidence that process didn't happen.

 

[WhoISthis]

At first, I agreed with those that said if its TJ quick. Its a bad look. After further thought, why would it be worse if he waits a couple weeks if its tj anyway? If it is him, hire him and let's get going on the trail to turn it around

Why are the only options hire TJ now, or hire TJ anyways in two weeks? False dilemma.

If you have a real process in finding the best candidate, there shouldn’t be that much inclination that you think you won’t find anyone else better than TJ. That would be tremendously overvaluing TJ being an assistant here. You’re basically implying why do a search because in two weeks we’ll know TJ is the best we can get anyways. We don’t know that. Most would say otherwise.

Add in the bull **** that Jamie tried in 2015, and it’s amateur hour.

 

[Cyclone Rebel]

TJ’s top recruit at UNLV. His game reminds me of Dustin Hogue. He’ll be a good defender from the get-go. His jumper needs improvement though. Would be a huge get.

I read somewhere that he reopened his recruitment today..he was best friends with the kid involved in the DUI. Now with TJ leaving, maybe he comes here.

 

[Cycl0nepower]

I read somewhere that he reopened his recruitment today..he was best friends with the kid involved in the DUI. Now with TJ leaving, maybe he comes here.

Where did you read this?

 

[t-noah]

Now make sure to stretch your butts, because the amount of smoke the CF staff will blow up our ***** is going to be off the charts!

This will be us:

Too ugly to like. LOL

 

[WhoISthis]

Where did you read this?

Las Vegas paper.

“Kaluma is exploring other options, per a person with knowledge of his recruitment. Syracuse, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Texas, Arkansas, Southern California, Texas A&M and Kansas were his other finalists.”

 

[t-noah]

I still think UNLV will waive the buyout.

Haha. We will keep hoping.

 

[ISUTex]

Sweet. Can't wait for the new era.

 

[AttakOfDaClones]

All that matters is that we hire the right person. JP is accountable for that and his instincts have proven valuable in the past. Nobody is pissed at him for not going through a long drawn out interview process to hire Hoiberg or Campbell. It is quite simply because they ended up being very successful.

I get why people may not like the hire, but stop hiding behind some process argument as the reason for your rage. You wanted someone else for whatever reason. Talk about why Otz is not a good hire and leave it at that. JP obviously feels like he is the man for the job strongly, assuming this is actually confirmed. I have considerably more faith in his judgement, especially when he acts decisively, than that of fans and national pundits.

I also have to point out that everyone whining about process has no idea what the facts are about this search. It is all speculation at this point, so the people getting upset about the narrative they have created in their head about how this went down should stake a step back.