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Post by aggiejazz on Apr 13, 2009 7:38:57 GMT -5
article on Hampton University coaching changes with comments from President Harvey, the AD and a assistant coachHAMPTON — Hampton University will enter the 2009-10 school year with new leadership in its three most visible sports, unusual flux in what is traditionally one of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's most stable and successful athletic programs. HU is the only Division I athletic program in the country to replace its football and men's and women's basketball coaches this year. All three replacements were hired within a matter of hours and promoted from the previous staffs or within the university. "I consider myself to be a student of Vince Lombardi," HU athletic director Lonza Hardy said last week, referring to the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach. "Vince Lombardi said, 'Never apologize for trying to win.' Consequently, I don't apologize for putting what I believe are the right people in the right places at the right time." (link below to the rest of the story) www.dailypress.com/spor...apr12,0,433527.story
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 13, 2009 8:03:36 GMT -5
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Post by Aggie One on Apr 13, 2009 8:17:33 GMT -5
Aside from the salary percentage issues, sounds like Harvey is preparing the Hampton alums for an impending cyclical drop off across the board in athletics.
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 13, 2009 8:27:03 GMT -5
I would agree, but according to the story the guy's been there 30 years. In his time there they’ve had one of the only two first-round ncaa basketball tourney victories in conference history. They’ve gone from a middle of the road division II program to one of the best of the bottom of the barrel division I programs. They’ve hosted a couple of football playoff games in division I and division II. They’ve expanded their stadium and built a top-notch basketball facility. The accomplishments during his tenure just don’t say failure. They say that there are ups and downs and this might be a short-term down period. If I had to buy MEAC stock, that’s the one I’d buy because it’s bound to see a sharp upturn.
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Post by aggiejazz on Apr 13, 2009 8:43:19 GMT -5
Thanks Doom, I should have checked to make the sure the link works. Thanks again.
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Post by aggiejazz on Apr 13, 2009 10:06:20 GMT -5
Joyner was very candid without being specific about coaching at Hampton. Checkout his quotes in the article :
Though Joyner witnessed many of the situations that frustrated Nickelberry, he was not dissuaded from the HU opening. In fact, at his introductory press conference last week, he essentially called Hampton the pinnacle of historically black colleges and universities.
"Coach Nickelberry's frustrations were Coach Nickelberry's frustrations," Joyner said, "and that was between him and the administration, and I'm not privy to that. I had a job to do, and I did my job.
"For myself, we are also two different people. Hopefully, I can come in with my own solutions to keep those frustrations to a minimum. In some instances, I think that knowing those frustrations, I can use them to my advantage, to try not to fall into the same problems, if that makes sense. I know where we ran into problems and I know how to get around them and make them work for us."
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Post by Aggie One on Apr 13, 2009 10:10:29 GMT -5
Sounds a lot like Alonzo Lee.
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 13, 2009 10:11:22 GMT -5
Translation: I came from an hbcu, I know we broke, I know how to work with broke, and I know better than to believe we have the cheese to compete yearly on a national scale but I know better than to admit it publicly,.
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Post by Aggie One on Apr 13, 2009 10:11:59 GMT -5
I'm just hoping the big guy graduates in May and we can sign Penny.
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 13, 2009 10:15:00 GMT -5
You and me and a whole lot of others.
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Post by truthseeker on Apr 13, 2009 18:57:28 GMT -5
how do you let a joe taylor walk & still tell people you are hiring the best for the job...??... you had the best & let him walk away...!!!
i think hampton has something up their sleeve for mens bball... i don't think a coaching change to the womens program was the answer... unless caroyln peck is available...!!!!!!!
most schools who win or want to win spend money... based off of this article... i don't see harvey headed in that direction... but who rounds out their coaching staff for mens bball will tell me alot...
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Post by Aggie One on Apr 13, 2009 23:05:55 GMT -5
Harvey is bargain hunting at Big Lots nowadays. You won't see outside known names showing up on their staffs. It'll be either internal or local high school candidates from that area.
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 14, 2009 6:47:37 GMT -5
I can’t be mad with Harvey for letting Taylor walk, sort of. Taylor has proven he can’t win a postseason game against a pwc. Harvey threw the kitchen sink into football at one point and it got them a home game two years in a row and losses both years. They had a fifth-year senior qb, about eight guys that made NFL rosters, and a home game and still couldn’t pull it out because Taylor was outcoached. Why give into any pressure to pay a guy like that more than you think he’s worth. Sure, he’s the best coach in the MEAC, but all that guaranteed was another first round loss. There really was nothing else you could provide him to help him succeed. His successor just plain stunk and proved very quickly the direction he was going to take the program. Rather than pull a “Fobbs” and keep him around after he showed an inability to coach at the required level, they trumped up some mess and got rid of him. Can’t be mad at him for that either.
As for the basketball coaches, same deal. Win or go home. You really don’t have to outpay or overpay people to get good coaches. You just have to know a good coach when you see one and offer him or her a good opportunity. Harvey understands that much and it’s gotten him the most accomplished athletic department in the conference even though they were one of the last teams to join the conference. And they did it without overpaying anybody.
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oleschoolaggie
Official BDF member
2009 Poster of the Year, 2009 Most Knowledgeable Poster
Posts: 24,207
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Post by oleschoolaggie on Apr 14, 2009 8:15:14 GMT -5
I can’t be mad with Harvey for letting Taylor walk, sort of. Taylor has proven he can’t win a postseason game against a pwc. Harvey threw the kitchen sink into football at one point and it got them a home game two years in a row and losses both years. They had a fifth-year senior qb, about eight guys that made NFL rosters, and a home game and still couldn’t pull it out because Taylor was outcoached. Why give into any pressure to pay a guy like that more than you think he’s worth. Sure, he’s the best coach in the MEAC, but all that guaranteed was another first round loss. There really was nothing else you could provide him to help him succeed. His successor just plain stunk and proved very quickly the direction he was going to take the program. Rather than pull a “Fobbs” and keep him around after he showed an inability to coach at the required level, they trumped up some mess and got rid of him. Can’t be mad at him for that either. As for the basketball coaches, same deal. Win or go home. You really don’t have to outpay or overpay people to get good coaches. You just have to know a good coach when you see one and offer him or her a good opportunity. Harvey understands that much and it’s gotten him the most accomplished athletic department in the conference even though they were one of the last teams to join the conference. And they did it without overpaying anybody. i agree with most of what you said. but harvey can afford to pay coaches lower salaries because he doesn't need a hall of fame coach to compensate for the school's lack of facilities and financial resources. he should be able to hire the typical above average coach and contend for an meac championship. the only knock i have with harvey is his selection of coaches. sure, he doesn't have to over pay coaches but he also doesn't have to limit his selection of head coaches to his assistants. the last two times he hired hampton assistants, he fired both and one of them after only one year. i also disagree with harvey letting taylor walk. rather than contend for or win the meac in football, hampton football is now unraveling. even though hampton had a squad completely loaded with talent, they barely finished above .500. now the program is in shambles (based on hampton's standards), they've had 3 different head coaches within a 3 year period of time, and no telling where hampton will finish this year in the meac. i'd say at best they're looking at a 3rd or 4th place finish. so hail naw i wouldn't have let taylor walk. sure, his playoff record was not impressive. but other than the richmond game, his teams have been in position to win. i believe he was on the verge of breaking that barrier having learned from previous experiences. no, i wouldn't have let taylor walk. i would have paid him whatever he was worth which probably was less than what famu paid him. the man's a proven winner and he brought "unprecedented" national publicity to hampton. now, hampton's program is taking a pie in the face. doesn't that kinda remind you of our demise, except in a less dramatic way? after hayes got fired, we got 1 more good year out of our program in large part because of hayes' recruits. after that, the friggin' roof fell in... |
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 14, 2009 8:33:39 GMT -5
sure, his playoff record was not impressive. but other than the richmond game, his teams have been in position to win. i believe he was on the verge of breaking that barrier having learned from previous experiences. no, i wouldn't have let taylor walk. i would have paid him whatever he was worth which probably was less than what famu paid him. the man's a proven winner and he brought "unprecedented" national publicity to hampton. now, hampton's program is taking a pie in the face... That, along with him trying to pimp more money out of Hampton every couple of years, is exactly why I would let him walk. What I wouldn't do is promote Jerry Holmes just because he was the guy that happened to be sitting on the toilet in the stall next to the one I was in when I made the decision. With that infrastructure Harvey and co. had the time to do a national search and find another Taylor. Just like Taylor was overachieving at a d-2 school that was a few hours away, there is another overachieving d-2 coach (or three) toiling away nearby looking to make the move. My thinking is that they believe their system is good and anybody can succeed there. Unfortunately for them they've already proven that's not true. As for unprecedented national publicity, nope. Merfield brought unprecedented national publicity. I-AA football is to far under the radar for anything past local recognition or recognition by I-AA nuts. Numerous people didn't know who App was until they beat Michigan, and that was after they'd won two national championships in a row. Perhaps the number of NFL players they've had has brought them some additional notoriety, but those kids come to Hampton and they are still coming, they aren't necessarily chasing Joe Taylor around. If it was me the only way I'd have given Taylor more money is if he could sit across from me and tell me specifically what he needed to get past the first round. If he couldn't tell me, goodbye. It doesn't remind me of our demise at all really. Our infrastructure wasn't there and honestly still isn't there. We hadn't raised the athletics budget in six years and it was already rather low. Hayes would've seen his win total dip in those circumstances, albeit not nearly as dramatically. |
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