calumnus;842300654 said:
In principle the search firm is the one that goes out and tests the waters with all the "pretty girls," sparing you the pain of rejection (or getting them in trouble with their boyfriends).
However, I think that only makes sense if we are really SEARCHING for candidates, including assistants elsewhere.
The key is that Sandy knows Travis DeCuire. We have an "up and coming" assistant. Other (good) Cal coaches know Travis DeCuire and can give their opinion. As someone said, the Mathews' and Bird's fathers know Travis DeCuire and can opine. The players can give their opinion. She must have some idea of whether she would be happy with DeCuire. The only reason to hire a search firm, IMO, is if she wouldn't be happy with DeCuire (also interview Gates, Shareef and other coaches that express interest).
Because if she would be happy with DeCuire as a fallback, the only due diligence needed is to make sure there isn't a big name at a mid-major who wants to come to Berkeley, and everyone knows who those people are and we can do that work in house. Jack Clark recently spent time with the Smarts, he may have been doing some advance scouting. Reportedly Sandy is going up to Spokane to talk with Few. Let Sandy earn her pay, save the $250,000 or so and let the students in for free.
My main question is is Cal actually trying to get these coaches we might be spurned by like the Fews/Smarts/etc of the world? Or are we just throwing out offers we don't actually expect any of these guys to take. e.g. "Hey Shaka, here's 1.5m, can you coach for us? Oh you want 2.4m? Didn't know you were going that high, bye"
There's a difference between offering and actually trying to land someone. I'm not convinced that we are actually willing to play the game. Who knows, maybe we are. Otherwise, we're sending the search firm on wild goose hunts. Anyway this is all just in my head. . .