Still Confident in McCall?

[KahunaK]

My dream scenario is McCall having one good season where he hops to the next job and Bergeron takes over. I’m not sure McCall is capable of making that happen at this point.

Not sure why people seem to think this is a great idea with Bergeron. Bruiser and Kellogg studied under one of the best college coaches of all time and they both failed here. Changing coaches all the time is a sure way to failure. I am not sure MM is the guy but given what he faced the first few years, I'll give him two more years. He seems to be building something now and next year looks promising.

Also given the transfer portal these days, players leaving is not necessarily a sign of a bad coach. Look at the Minutewomen-three players leave just before the tournament. What would we all have said if that happened to MM. TV has done a phenomenal job but sometimes things just don't work out. Nobody is saying fire him.

I think everyone needs to make a clear accurate assessment of where UMASS Basketball and Football are and not just say "Hey, firing the coach will solve all the problems." So far, in my mind, only one coach in bball looked like he was headed in the right direction (Ford) and in football there have been NO answers.

[inthescoop]

Well if McCall gets fired, the only option to replace him right now is Bergeron. McCall will definitely be back next season.

I think that if UMass has a disappointing season next season, McCall is out and Bergeron will be the HC for Tre's last season. If that season also is a big disappointment, then we will start fresh altogether once again.

I think that's what Bamford is thinking right now.

[uz2b-len]

Tre has always been on a three year plan. I think next year is his last season. If in fact we haven't already seen his last UMass season.

[inthescoop]

You know what... when the McCall/Bergeron era does fall apart, which I hope much success to of course. I’m changing my course. I would not mind if Rick Pitino ended his career where it all started, at UMass.

[Roadtrip]

NO

[Merlin Samuels]

My dream scenario is McCall having one good season where he hops to the next job and Bergeron takes over. I’m not sure McCall is capable of making that happen at this point.

Not sure why people seem to think this is a great idea with Bergeron. Bruiser and Kellogg studied under one of the best college coaches of all time and they both failed here. Changing coaches all the time is a sure way to failure. I am not sure MM is the guy but given what he faced the first few years, I'll give him two more years. He seems to be building something now and next year looks promising.

Also given the transfer portal these days, players leaving is not necessarily a sign of a bad coach. Look at the Minutewomen-three players leave just before the tournament. What would we all have said if that happened to MM. TV has done a phenomenal job but sometimes things just don't work out. Nobody is saying fire him.

I think everyone needs to make a clear accurate assessment of where UMASS Basketball and Football are and not just say "Hey, firing the coach will solve all the problems." So far, in my mind, only one coach in bball looked like he was headed in the right direction (Ford) and in football there have been NO answers.

I don’t want McCall to get fired, because if that were the case then UMass would be stinking it up. If successful, I don’t see him staying here very long; he left his last job fairly quickly without watching a player he recruited graduate.

Bergeron is local, and I can see him sticking around for the long haul. Plus, I think he is more similar to Cal than Cal’s understudies.

[tdmass]

I'm confident in Verdi!

[eldonabe]

You know what... when the McCall/Bergeron era does fall apart, which I hope much success to of course. I’m changing my course. I would not mind if Rick Pitino ended his career where it all started, at UMass.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

[bmc24]

This program is irrelevant... has been for a while. Sad to see. I’m not even mad anymore, just disappointed we cannot sprinkle in a ncaa tourney once or twice a decade. I’ll keep watching because I’m a proud alum, but we aren’t even the best university of Massachusetts program in D1 hoop right now.

We need another leader.... someone who is older, more experienced, and not looking to jump ship. Al Skinner... someone like that.

[DoctorJ]

Isn't McCall rumored to be under consideration elsewhere? Or maybe he was. This announcement might actually hurt his marketability.

[CrazyLegs]

This program is irrelevant... has been for a while. Sad to see. I’m not even mad anymore, just disappointed we cannot sprinkle in a ncaa tourney once or twice a decade. I’ll keep watching because I’m a proud alum, but we aren’t even the best university of Massachusetts program in D1 hoop right now.

We need another leader.... someone who is older, more experienced, and not looking to jump ship. Al Skinner... someone like that.

Yeah, going back in time, UMass needed to swing for the fences in '96 after Cal left. That first hire after a legendary coach leaves really sets the stage for the future of your program.

I always liked Bruiser, but he was a caretaker not a program builder.

Now UMass is stuck looking for an up-and-coming coaching superstar that would stick around. Hard to find those type of homerun hires when you're back to being a mid-major nobody.

[uz2b-len]

I'm not in such a hurry to get rid of McCall, even though I think he has some real deficiencies. A posted a couple of times about Mark Schmidt's career and how long it took him to start winning consistently. I just took a look at Porter Moser's career, now that he's back in the Sweet 16 with Loyola of Chicago. Three winning seasons at Arkansas-Little Rock, finishing no higher than 5th in the Sunbelt Conference. Then four seasons at Illinois State with with never a winning record in the Missouri Valley Conference. Fired. Four years assisting Rick Majerus at SLU. For some reason, I don't know why, then Loyola of Chicago hired him. Maybe they were looking hard for an Illinois guy. Six straight losing conference record (two in the Horizon and then Loyola moved to the MVC). Didn't get fired. After all that, bang! The NCAA Final Four! Lost in the NIT first round the next year, and no post-season the following year. Now back in the Sweet 16. So, these last four years are just what we want to see from our coach. But it took Moser thirteen years to get to this level. That's how long it can take to get really good at this job for a lot of coaches. As for Schmidt, in his first seven years at SBU (after six at Robert Morris), he had one winning conference season and five losing seasons. Now he's widely regarded here as one of the best if not the best coach in the A10 after seven winning seasons in a row. Just sayin'.

[Slapthefloor93]

I'm not in such a hurry to get rid of McCall, even though I think he has some real deficiencies. A posted a couple of times about Mark Schmidt's career and how long it took him to start winning consistently. I just took a look at Porter Moser's career, now that he's back in the Sweet 16 with Loyola of Chicago. Three winning seasons at Arkansas-Little Rock, finishing no higher than 5th in the Sunbelt Conference. Then four seasons at Illinois State with with never a winning record in the Missouri Valley Conference. Fired. Four years assisting Rick Majerus at SLU. For some reason, I don't know why, then Loyola of Chicago hired him. Maybe they were looking hard for an Illinois guy. Six straight losing conference record (two in the Horizon and then Loyola moved to the MVC). Didn't get fired. After all that, bang! The NCAA Final Four! Lost in the NIT first round the next year, and no post-season the following year. Now back in the Sweet 16. So, these last four years are just what we want to see from our coach. But it took Moser thirteen years to get to this level. That's how long it can take to get really good at this job for a lot of coaches. As for Schmidt, in his first seven years at SBU (after six at Robert Morris), he had one winning conference season and five losing seasons. Now he's widely regarded here as one of the best if not the best coach in the A10 after seven winning seasons in a row. Just sayin'.

This is all a good point. I think that while people should do a better job recognizing that it can happen and to not feel surprised by it, though, it shouldn’t be the expectation/a reason to keep a guy. Even if there’s a good chance that he makes something out of it eventually, there’s an equally good chance for endless nothingness.

As far as McCall in particular, I’m ready to see what he has one more time in a normal season, regardless of who transfers out — not having good players leave is also part of coaching so get the whole thing done. Recruit the right guys if that does happen, not like there’s going to be a shortage of them on the market.

[Floyd]

IF the majority of the key guys stay, this next season will be the first time MM has had a somewhat consistent roster. IF they fill the holes with players of need and who fit the style they want to play, next year should tell us where the program is headed.

If everything blows up in the next few weeks, next year could set us back quite a while

I'm staying optimistic that the young group stays together and grows into a tough, hardnosed team.
Gotta catch a break here at some point

[uz2b-len]

Integrating something from another thread, maybe it's not just about the coaches improving over the years, but also stability.