I’m sure CCC and Buie and the rest of the team will say it’s Gragg that made the difference! I just proved your point…lol.
Collins will be getting lots of calls
- Thread starter JimStarr777
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Schools would be foolish not to call CCC. As I recall, CCC got another long-term extension last year. Do we have any indications where he ranks in the conference in compensation?
There’s so much he’s built, but how much is Boo and how much is CCC? There is no Boo replacement in the house, and who knows who he might convince on the transfer market.
The only dark horse I could see making a play is Michigan State. Whereas most programs looking for a coach are on the downswing, MSU is obviously strong. The people in East Lansing know firsthand what CCC has done. They’ve got money and a coach who’ll turn 70 in January and whose only son just graduated from his program. If ever there were a time for Izzo to retire, it would be now. (And he’s no Coach K, in need of a retirement tour and a curmudgeonly departure lecture.)
Of course, I don’t think this will happen.
As an aside, with no Teddy G in town, do we know whether CCC has a mansion in Northfield?
There’s so much he’s built, but how much is Boo and how much is CCC? There is no Boo replacement in the house, and who knows who he might convince on the transfer market.
The only dark horse I could see making a play is Michigan State. Whereas most programs looking for a coach are on the downswing, MSU is obviously strong. The people in East Lansing know firsthand what CCC has done. They’ve got money and a coach who’ll turn 70 in January and whose only son just graduated from his program. If ever there were a time for Izzo to retire, it would be now. (And he’s no Coach K, in need of a retirement tour and a curmudgeonly departure lecture.)
Of course, I don’t think this will happen.
As an aside, with no Teddy G in town, do we know whether CCC has a mansion in Northfield?
And those who are able, need to contribute to TrueNU. Jacob cannot do it alone.
Yeah but he never would end either because he’s completely incompetent.
I'm not really worried about it, but I don't think there's any realistic way to keep a college coach away from the NBA if the coach desires it.
Unlike CFB, the payscale differential is much larger between top end NBA coaches and middle Power 4-6 salaries.
Just no realistic way to compete if some random NBA team comes in and says "here Chris, $8 million per year for 5-6 years"... It's tough to compete with that because hoops just doesn't bring in the same scale of revenue as CFB so it's hard to spend like you do in FB.
Only 2 NCAAM coaches had salaries higher than Fitz for example. Pretty much every established NBA coach is above that.
I do think CCC should get a top 10 NCAAM salary with an extension after this year, but even that is around $4-5 million per year, which is quite frankly not that hard for an NBA team to outbid.
Unlike CFB, the payscale differential is much larger between top end NBA coaches and middle Power 4-6 salaries.
Just no realistic way to compete if some random NBA team comes in and says "here Chris, $8 million per year for 5-6 years"... It's tough to compete with that because hoops just doesn't bring in the same scale of revenue as CFB so it's hard to spend like you do in FB.
Only 2 NCAAM coaches had salaries higher than Fitz for example. Pretty much every established NBA coach is above that.
I do think CCC should get a top 10 NCAAM salary with an extension after this year, but even that is around $4-5 million per year, which is quite frankly not that hard for an NBA team to outbid.
Not a bad place to live, he's got some coin, and a school that is not crazy with expectations. Minus his boss, not a bad gig.
What do you mean? I was just told he only succeeded due to the great Tutelage of our esteemed AD.
Our expectations are lower because of the academic requirements. Others’ expectations are higher because they do not have as rigorous academic requirements. If the expectations are set reasonably to adjust for academics, it’s the same level of difficulty as other coaching jobs.
Agreed. NFL is same. You can imagine the depraved acts that Mich would have committed to keep Hairball, but he left anyway. So, I don't worry about it anymore. Considering a lot of us (me) were ready with torches and pitchforks 2 years ago, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out
Let’s start here: We need to extend him, and he needs to get paid.
Not that that’s out of the way:
I love Collins but there is no way in hell he should be the 10th highest paid coach in men’s hoops and his pay should not scale to that level. Mother of God, have we learned anything from the Fitz situation?
It’s easy to forget that our program was in complete shambles two years ago, coming off of a humiliating stretch of awful basketball — and it was bad even by NU standards over the past 20 years or so.
And setting all of that aside… there are a TON of legit coaches in MBB including living legends: who are we kicking out of the top 10 for Collins?
It was only through 2028. I’d imagine he will get another one and of course has more leverage.
Yeah and add the bonus of just being able to focus on x's and o's as a pro HC.
That's a huge difference in the portal/NIL era and as we contemplate paying players that can leave easily.
I have no doubt that there will be plenty more coaches that take pro offers if available to escape the 24/7 recruiting/fundraising situation.
I'm saying basically just put him in at the Mick Cronin/Dana Altman/Eric Musselman kind of scale area.
To be fair, he doesn't have to get that high, but I do think a bump to at least the top 20-30 area is warranted. We're a Power 2 school.
$3.5 million is the range for #20-30 coaches. $4.1 million is the coaches in the 8-12 spot. (The differences are pretty minor until you get to the top 5-7 coaches). It's a pretty flat scale for college basketball HCs from #8-10 to #30.
There isn't the same rising scale as there is in CFB where anybody can get a $5+ million per year contract after a decent year or two (like Mel Tucker's $95 million/10 year extension after 1 great season) and then the salaries rise up to $8-10 million pretty quickly for most of the top 10-20 coaches...
There's only 34 schools pulling in the money we're pulling in here; our coaches are going to expect to be paid like the top coaches in the country at their spots.
Anyways, I do think adding 2-3 years to his deal and bumping his pay up to the $3.5-4 million range is warranted.
I can deal with something like that. The biggest concern I have is paying for past performance. Next year is the one where we’re really going to see what we can do. Top coaches don’t make the tourney and then crater for a few seasons. Yes it’s NU and yes we have structural disadvantages, but if we’re going to pay a coach like a top 25 program we need to act like one too. Collins was able to get a dynamite grad transfer in Langborg: what’s he going to do to replace Boo?
I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Perhaps he grew as a coach. I felt like, post 2017, he kept trying to grab the brass ring (Nance) etc when we probably will never be that. Now he's a coach that had Blake Preston ready for a game where we really needed him.
That's what has be excited about Braun. I feel he will only get better.
According to some fans, we should only pay him if we win the BTT this year, then make the Sweet 16, and then we land in the Final Four in 2025.
I won’t name names. But these fans exist.
Those are fair concerns. I think we're all hopeful that CCC is in a place where he knows how to go about this in a way that we won't be out of the picture as long as we were after the first bid. In a lot of ways, how he coached this team is arguably the most impressive of his tenure to this point given injuries/lineup changes.
Rebuilds are inevitable at times, especially when you lose a player like Boo that ended up being generational in impact, but CCC's more than earned the time for it.
Hard not to be excited though coming off a 12-15 month period that is easily the best in the program's history.
It feels almost obvious that the program is on much stronger footing now than coming off the first bid.
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You almost have to extend him now, even if modestly - but those are the concerns.
I understand why people talk about how tough a job Northwestern is. But man, you have a run like either of the past two years, every 4-6 years or so, and you are a God. And can be a lifer with a sweet ass life. It's tough to get competitive but, let's face it, the fan base is smart enough to have adequate expectations.
Think about a mammoth of a blue blood like Louisville. Is it any easier? I lived 3 years in "The Ville" and find it harder. 22,000 seat state of the art arena. A city obsessed with their version of a local storied pro franchise. Expectations that I would argue make Indiana look like a walk in the park.
Jobs that are easier are jobs that also are less attractive. Xavier or something like that. Those don't seem so glamorous as worthy of leaving the shores of lake Michigan.
Think about a mammoth of a blue blood like Louisville. Is it any easier? I lived 3 years in "The Ville" and find it harder. 22,000 seat state of the art arena. A city obsessed with their version of a local storied pro franchise. Expectations that I would argue make Indiana look like a walk in the park.
Jobs that are easier are jobs that also are less attractive. Xavier or something like that. Those don't seem so glamorous as worthy of leaving the shores of lake Michigan.
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He couldn't end anything except potentially the NU athletic program
Sorry but going from college to NBA is not that easy a transition. And never seen anything that indicates he has interest in the pros
I have already renewed my season tickets for next year, knowing that the team will very likely take a step backward (maybe a big one). Rutgers has two five star players coming in, Minnesota can return their whole team, Purdue has another 7-plus footer waiting in the wings, etc. etc. The competition will be fierce and we still have to have actual students playing. But Chris has shown he can really coach, the students will still be there, and this team could still be a tough out at home.
Look, in the NCAA, BB consistency is often more about the talent a program is able to bring in on a regular basis. We always have problems with bringing in enough talent because of our admissions issues to be able compete in BIG. We cannot exactly reach into the public lead for talent like IL or MSU. And we don't have guys beating down our door like IN or other programsThe other important part is being able to meld them together. CCC has discovered for us as important as talent is the melding together but we are losing a couple big pieces that are substantial talents and also important in melding the guys together. There is no heir apparent to either of them right now and especially BOO so it is hard to not see a bit of downtime coming
I am about to renew mine but the 40% + increase in ticket prices knowing we are going to be down next year is concerning
And having to travel the whole year and be away from family. 82 game schedule instead of 32 or so. 6-8 month season month season instead of 4. Having to deal with guys paid substantially more than you and having to do with their egos. If the guy wants to go pro, he will do it but I don't see him wanting to do it. If he wanted to he could have gone up through the ranks in the pro coaching ranks but he stayed at DUKE and now NU
There were similar concerns voiced coming into this season. We slipped from second to third, but had the same 12-8 record. The biggest difference next year will be the loss of Buie. I love the guys who are returning, but we will miss Boo for sure.
I know it’s the preferred narrative but am not sure we will be down next year. Except for Boo, we likely get key elements back and a year better. I look for Berry, Barnhizer, and Martinelli to have monster years. I think Nicholson returns and has a great year. Obviously need a PG in the portal, as well as a big.
The loss of Boo is humongous, but if we get a pg who is half the player he is, combined with our returnees getting better, I think we’ll be very good.
The professional prognosticators will of course rank us in the bottom half of the conference going into next year, just as they did this year. But I suspect they may be wrong again.
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This years FB team was built to succeed and would have under FItz. His biggest mistake in hiring JON he rectified in a big way with the hiring of Braun and a couple others. What is substantially different is how many guys we lost that will make things really difficult in coming years. He and Schill completely mishandled it.
The BB team was ready to break through as well. But again Graggs actions made recruiting much more difficult for a couple years
Boo is a transcendent player. But there’s lots of good talent on the roster, and a great degree of selflessness and effort.
Barnhizer will be all conference (again). Martinelli and Berry will both score double digits. Nicholson will dunk and alter shots. Smith and Hunger will be a year better off the bench.
Depending on what you expect from Hunger, NU can be reasonably confident in six of their top eight. Not many can say that today.
You are missing that we are also having to replace Landborg. BOO will be hard to replace with anyone playing at his level. Do you realize that in the game against MN, he had ZERO turnovers? There were other games as well. Half as good won't get the job done
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