Very lackluster hire... hopefully many of us doubters will be proven wrong. This is yet just another example of why Williams needs to go.

While other schools were able to act quickly and made a hire within a couple days, Williams spent a week to only announce the interim is going to be made permanent?

No matter how you try to spin this, this was a very poorly managed process by Williams.

I think it was prudent to interview others even if he considered Jones the top candidate.

I doubt anyone on this Board knows anything about how ready Jones is to be head coach. The whining about "lackluster" hire is just self-indulgent baloney. Jones may be John Wooden re-incarnated for all we know. No one knew Bill Walsh was going to be a great football head coach before he got to the 49ers. Jones may not be the big splash coach that people here seem to need to feed their egos, but he may be a great coach, and if so, a brilliant hire. Can we please stop the uninformed hysteria.

bearchamp;842824950 said:

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I doubt anyone on this Board knows anything about how ready Jones is to be head coach. The whining about "lackluster" hire is just self-indulgent baloney. Jones may be John Wooden re-incarnated for all we know. No one knew Bill Walsh was going to be a great football head coach before he got to the 49ers. Jones may not be the big splash coach that people here seem to need to feed their egos, but he may be a great coach, and if so, a brilliant hire. Can we please stop the uninformed hysteria.

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Agree 100%. But what does Shocky think. Silence on the Great thread.

oskidunker;842824953 said:

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Agree 100%. But what does Shocky think. Silence on the Great thread.

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Being a Cal Insider certainly has its benefits, I tell ya.

bearchamp;842824950 said:

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I doubt anyone on this Board knows anything about how ready Jones is to be head coach. The whining about "lackluster" hire is just self-indulgent baloney. Jones may be John Wooden re-incarnated for all we know. No one knew Bill Walsh was going to be a great football head coach before he got to the 49ers. Jones may not be the big splash coach that people here seem to need to feed their egos, but he may be a great coach, and if so, a brilliant hire. Can we please stop the uninformed hysteria.

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Thank you. First reasonable reaction today. There are so many unknowns right now. Can't jump to ANY conclusions.

travelingbears;842824936 said:

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Very lackluster hire... hopefully many of us doubters will be proven wrong. This is yet just another example of why Williams needs to go.

While other schools were able to act quickly and made a hire within a couple days, Williams spent a week to only announce the interim is going to be made permanent?

No matter how you try to spin this, this was a very poorly managed process by Williams.

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+1. Seriously.

Or you give a nod.

"We will be conducting a national search. I want to assure everyone though that interim Coach Jones as I have gotten to know him, is a strong leader and very capable of leading a program and I look forward, if he is interested, in talking with him about his vision for Cal Basketball."

Without that nod you feed the narrative WITH RECRUITS that we are cheap, mismanaged, and not a place to invest their future in.

That is the audience with which this is a problem. Simple. Stop. Send.

UCBerkGrad;842823951 said:

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Why not wait until he makes a hire first?

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Still think that's a good idea?:rollinglaugh::rollinglaugh:

barabbas;842824979 said:

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Still think that's a good idea?:rollinglaugh::rollinglaugh:

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Now you can criticize

parentswerebears;842824967 said:

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Can't jump to ANY conclusions.

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You do know that this is a Cal board, right?

bearchamp;842824950 said:

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I doubt anyone on this Board knows anything about how ready Jones is to be head coach. The whining about "lackluster" hire is just self-indulgent baloney. Jones may be John Wooden re-incarnated for all we know. No one knew Bill Walsh was going to be a great football head coach before he got to the 49ers. Jones may not be the big splash coach that people here seem to need to feed their egos, but he may be a great coach, and if so, a brilliant hire. Can we please stop the uninformed hysteria.

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Appreciate this. Thanks.

NYCGOBEARS;842824992 said:

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You do know that this is a Cal board, right?

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Wait... Cal... you mean Calipari, right?

I will believe it when it comes in the form of an official announcement.

Good point, although your reference to Bill Walsh is not the best, since he took a moribund Stanfurd program to a 17-7 record and two bowls (in the days before there were 1000 bowls) in his 2 years before going to SF.

parentswerebears;842824967 said:

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Thank you. First reasonable reaction today. There are so many unknowns right now. Can't jump to ANY conclusions.

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Nope.

Worst MBB coach hire in Cal history after the worst hiring process in college basketball history, he shouldn't be given the dignity of a resignation. He should be fired.

Worst. AD. Ever.

And to those who argued on Williams behalf - I told you so.

Jeepers, are you speaking ex cathedra?

And you know this how? Wyking may flame out, but if he doesn't, you get the award as the Worst. Poster. Ever.

What Williams needs to do is schedule a presser and talk the media and us through the hire. Anyone know the time?

Why does Williams need to "talk" us through the hire? Ridiculous. The Athletic Department does need to make an official announcement if the hiring is true. How self important can one be.

bearchamp;842825097 said:

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Why does Williams need to "talk" us through the hire? Ridiculous. The Athletic Department does need to make an official announcement if the hiring is true. How self important can one be.

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He needs to "talk people through the hire" because these are the same people that in short order he will ask to spend 300 a seat for season tixs (thinking of doing it and donating to BHS BBall for those I can't go to) Bear Backer donations (I got my letter last week) and otherwise supporting the program.

So, your support is not based on the players or the program, it is based on the "suck up" from the AD. Some information from Jones would seem relevant; kind of offense, kind of defense, kind or players he wants to recruit. Unless you are underwriting the coach's contract (like with Tedford years ago), his process isn't really the business of the alumni.

bearchamp;842825165 said:

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So, your support is not based on the players or the program, it is based on the "suck up" from the AD. Some information from Jones would seem relevant; kind of offense, kind of defense, kind or players he wants to recruit. Unless you are underwriting the coach's contract (like with Tedford years ago), his process isn't really the business of the alumni.

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it is based on whether the AD makes a compelling case that this was done for reasons that make sense rather than reasons that say "we had to go cheap and this is all we could afford. Send more money for my bloated staff".

PS. Cause I will flat out bet you that our new guy is among/is the lowest paid coach in the conference.

Just wondering: what are the statistics on the "bloated staff"? Why is the AD required to make a compelling case to you? Isn't the case made by the performance of the coaches he hires?

bearchamp;842825173 said:

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Just wondering: what are the statistics on the "bloated staff"? Why is the AD required to make a compelling case to you? Isn't the case made by the performance of the coaches he hires?

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Do they refund season tix purchases?

Seriously, what business do you think the AD is in. He sells ENTERTAINMENT. There are a lot of other things that are wrapped into that but, at the core, that is his JOB. Pricky worked for Brando. Most other people selling ENTERTAINMENT work at...you know....the selling part.

bearchamp;842824950 said:

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I doubt anyone on this Board knows anything about how ready Jones is to be head coach. The whining about "lackluster" hire is just self-indulgent baloney. Jones may be John Wooden re-incarnated for all we know. No one knew Bill Walsh was going to be a great football head coach before he got to the 49ers. Jones may not be the big splash coach that people here seem to need to feed their egos, but he may be a great coach, and if so, a brilliant hire. Can we please stop the uninformed hysteria.

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I agree that most fans here don't know how ready Wyking Jones is for the head coaching job at Cal. Clearly, he has paid his dues, and some of those dues were paid under a very good coach, Rick Pitino. He has put in enough years to be named head coach somewhere, but we should have a little concern that he has been hired as head coach of a program with some great history like Cal and a strong conference like the PAC12. For a coach without experience in a job like this, it takes perhaps about 5 years to judge him. I watched Cuonzo for three years and could not find a lot to like about his teams, but I couldn't find enough bad to want his resignation either. I was willing to wait a year or two more to judge. With Wyking, he needs time, and if not our support, at least willing to wait and see how he does.

Aside from that, the statement about John Wooden is really not applicable, in the sense that Wooden was never an assistant coach, like Wyking. A three-time All-American as a player, Wooden began his coaching career as a head high school coach, where he coached for 11 years. He then got the head coaching job at Indiana State, where he coached for two seasons before landing the head Coaching job at UCLA, where he was an immediate success, winning the PCC Southern Division 4 years straight, with two trips to the NCAA regionals. In 1956, Wooden and UCLA took 3rd place in the NCAA regional. Still, Wooden did not win his first NCAA title until 1964, sixteen years after landing the head coaching job at UCLA. Wyking may become as successful as Wooden, but I doubt that many Cal fans would be willing to wait that long for anyone to win the NCAA or make a run in that tournament. I know I'm not.

This underscores my contention that the best fit for Cal would be someone with head coaching experience. Wooden had 13 years of that experience before he was given the UCLA job, and it still took many years more for him to become great. We can't set the bar too high for Wyking. If he is any good, he will learn and grow with the program and the game, and hopefully become successful.

I worked with Mike at an economic consulting firm way back in 1983 or so, and reconnected with him several times within the last few months. I assure you, Mike is one smart dude. Don't let his mild manner give you a false impression, the man is a top-notch thinker.

Have seen nothing thus far. Hope you're right.

No credit for the Wilcox hire?

MoragaBear;842824895 said:

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Come on, man. That's silly.

If Cal made Jones the interim head coach and promised him a shot at the HC job, why in the world would he move to Missouri with Martin, especially with family on staff at Cal, too?

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And a wife who is from Berkeley?

"Honey, I've been offered the interim HC and a legitimate shot at being hired as HC. But let's leave your hometown and your family so I can be a lower tier assistant with Cuonzo."

"Oh, Wyking, I'd say you're out of your flippin' mind, but then I realize that if you don't go with Cuonzo, some BI posters will think Cuonzo didn't want you. Sure, let's go to Columbia."

Cal8285;842825285 said:

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And a wife who is from Berkeley?

"Honey, I've been offered the interim HC and a legitimate shot at being hired as HC. But let's leave your hometown and your family so I can be a lower tier assistant with Cuonzo."

"Oh, Wyking, I'd say you're out of your flippin' mind, but then I realize that if you don't go with Cuonzo, some BI posters will think Cuonzo didn't want you. Sure, let's go to Columbia."

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Great, funny stuff.

socaltownie;842825166 said:

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it is based on whether the AD makes a compelling case that this was done for reasons that make sense rather than reasons that say "we had to go cheap and this is all we could afford. Send more money for my bloated staff".

PS. Cause I will flat out bet you that our new guy is among/is the lowest paid coach in the conference.

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I would hope so. No reason to pay him like he's a guy with more experience and bigger achievements on his resume.

bearchamp;842825242 said:

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No credit for the Wilcox hire?

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Zero credit for the Wilcox hire. Until Wilcox demonstrates he can beat our peers, he is just as likely to be a dismal failure as a success. I laugh at all these people who think Wilcox is somehow a good hire. Nobody knows anything...