Cohen's dilemma....

[thekimmer]

Does he hire Doug or try to find an accomplished women's coach. Word is DN want's the women's job and he has done plenty to stake his claim now plus he now has the fanbase on his side. On the other hand there are legitimate concerns about his ability to sustain a good women's program.

The thing is if Cohen chooses to give Doug the Gary Henderson treatment he better not miss or he will be eaten alive for not hiring Novak. Plus there is the distinct likelihood he will be preoccupied looking for a men's coach at the same time. The way I would look at it is Novak has enough talent coming back next year to have a pretty good season so give him a chance and see what he can build off of it. If it doesn't work then at least you gave him a chance. The howland replacement is a can't miss too and if I were him I would not want two of those on my plate at the same time. I'd hire Novak in a minute.

 

[wrapit]

Agree .. if the new Women's coach is NOT Novak, and he/she doesn't make it to

sweet 16 in two years, Cohen will 'hear it' for not giving Novak a chance.
Everyone knows that Novak has SOMETHING - some secret sauce that is working. Do we look for someone who has a sustained, proven spicier sauce? The safe choice is to do what you say and give it to Novak.

Personally, for me, i'm still wondering why he came here in the first place .... that is my only concern. And the concern is he may not stay long, regardless of his success.

Does he hire Doug or try to find an accomplished women's coach. Word is DN want's the women's job and he has done plenty to stake his claim now plus he now has the fanbase on his side. On the other hand there are legitimate concerns about his ability to sustain a good women's program.

The thing is if Cohen chooses to give Doug the Gary Henderson treatment he better not miss or he will be eaten alive for not hiring Novak. Plus there is the distinct likelihood he will be preoccupied looking for a men's coach at the same time. The way I would look at it is Novak has enough talent coming back next year to have a pretty good season so give him a chance and see what he can build off of it. If it doesn't work then at least you gave him a chance. The howland replacement is a can't miss too and if I were him I would not want two of those on my plate at the same time. I'd hire Novak in a minute.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Hire Novak. Spend the time and energy trying to hire the men's coach. Case closed.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

I've been in the Novak camp for a couple weeks now so not to beat a dead horse

but it's 1 thing to play with 7 players. It's another thing for those 7 players to bust it like they're doing. That tells me they want to play for him. They could have easily packed it up like some of the others did. Says alot about their character but also says alot about the captain of the ship.

 

[Mr. Cook]

Hire Novak. Spend the time and energy trying to hire the men's coach. Case closed.

Agree with this for the following reasons:

1) He's done a lot with less this season
2) The players are responding to him
3) He's a known quantity
4) He's professional and makes the program look good (so far)
5) Most important: END THE SPECULATION and UNCERTAINTY. These are unique circumstances for which there is no standard "playbook"

Do a search if you feel you must to dot "i's" and cross "t's" knowing who you want to hire already. It's a "win-win" because your @$$ is covered while getting the person you want.

 

[RiverCityDawg]

I'm with you fellers...

Hire Novak, focus on the men's search. If Novak doesn't get it done in the next couple of years, move on. The risk for Cohen to miss on someone other than Novak for the women isn't worth it. On the other hand, the men's hire couldn't be more critical.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Well, he's already zeroed in on a couple coaches not named Novak. The odds are slim for Novak. But he's got a shot to beat a couple more good teams and make the tournament. But the fact is, recruiting is the single greatest priority in college athletics now with NIL. You better be able to get kids. Novak has no record of such and best have proven assistants lined up before he goes and gives his sales pitch.

 

[Connor Mead]

Haven't you all learned Cohen is the smartest person in the room and he knows the best fit for this program......just like every other coaching hire he has made.

 

[WilCoDawg]

Well, he's already zeroed in on a couple coaches not named Novak. The odds are slim for Novak. But he's got a shot to beat a couple more good teams and make the tournament. But the fact is, recruiting is the single greatest priority in college athletics now with NIL. You better be able to get kids. Novak has no record of such and best have proven assistants lined up before he goes and gives his sales pitch.

Given how his current players are busting their butts should be a great indicator to recruits of the kind of coach he is. I’m really curious how he has proven he isn’t a great recruiter. Hell, he hasn’t even had a chance. He’s been..uh..kinda busy doing a job that was thrown at him with a severely dysfunctional team in shambles.

What he’s done falls just under Jesus and the fish and bread loaves.***

 

[thatsbaseball]

Hiring Novak is easy...Cohen being our AD is the "dilemma".

 

[Cooterpoot]

Given how his current players are busting their butts should be a great indicator to recruits of the kind of coach he is. I’m really curious how he has proven he isn’t a great recruiter. Hell, he hasn’t even had a chance. He’s been..uh..kinda busy doing a job that was thrown at him with a severely dysfunctional team in shambles.

What he’s done falls just under Jesus and the fish and bread loaves.***

He has no track record of recruiting. That's why he's got to get things lined up. But I'm pretty sure he's got almost no shot anyway. Things are trending toward a couple people already. My opinion is it's done before the season is over but not announced. But that's based on rumors.

 

[PirateDawg]

Another vote for Novak!

I think he will get us in the tourney in his first year. That is a monumental accomplishment!

 

[WilCoDawg]

He has no track record of recruiting. That's why he's got to get things lined up. But I'm pretty sure he's got almost no shot anyway. Things are trending toward a couple people already. My opinion is it's done before the season is over but not announced. But that's based on rumors.

Thus the recruiting argument is just an excuse to not hire him. Per your rumor mill, they aren’t even going to give him a chance and that’s dumb AF. If he interviews and explains what he will do to recruit (outside of showing recruits his record with this cluster of a season), he should be given every chance to prove himself for another season. Damn, how often you get someone that actually wants the job outside of using it as a stepping stone PLUS he has proven he can excel?

 

[SpeckTaker]

Hire Novak now. I’ve been watching his press conferences since he got the interim title. He’s impressive as hell with his knowledge of the game. But the fact that the players love playing for him speaks volumes. Give him a chance to recruit. His current players will sell our program to the type of players we want anyway. I don’t want anymore diva 5 stars, give me gritty, hustling kids who are hungry and want to compete.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

Hire Novak. Spend the time and energy trying to hire the men's coach. Case closed.

Correct answer. If he flips in recruiting you will know it in about 2 years. He's proven he can win with who he has. Sometimes that's more important than being able to recruit 4/5 stars. Winning with who ya got tells me you know how to coach em up

 

[peewee.sixpack]

He has no track record of recruiting. That's why he's got to get things lined up. But I'm pretty sure he's got almost no shot anyway. Things are trending toward a couple people already. My opinion is it's done before the season is over but not announced. But that's based on rumors.

That statement is incorrect. Has has no track record of recruiting girls. He absolutely does on the men's side at Tulane, Citadel and Bethel. If he can recruit there I imagine he can figure out the ropes on the female side, especially with good assistants.

 

[johnson86-1]

Well, he's already zeroed in on a couple coaches not named Novak. The odds are slim for Novak. But he's got a shot to beat a couple more good teams and make the tournament. But the fact is, recruiting is the single greatest priority in college athletics now with NIL. You better be able to get kids. Novak has no record of such and best have proven assistants lined up before he goes and gives his sales pitch.

And the coaches have even less to do with it now that there is NIL.

That said, if we are going to have to have boosters divert money to NIL deals to be competitive in womens' basketball, I'd just as soon offer the job to the women's basketball coach of Starkvill Academy and Starkville High school and tell the two of them that whoever offers to do it for the least salary can have it.

 

[operch]

NAME	TITLE	EMAIL ADDRESS	PHONE
Karl Smesko

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[bully12]

Hire Novak now. I’ve been watching his press conferences since he got the interim title. He’s impressive as hell with his knowledge of the game. But the fact that the players love playing for him speaks volumes. Give him a chance to recruit. His current players will sell our program to the type of players we want anyway. I don’t want anymore diva 5 stars, give me gritty, hustling kids who are hungry and want to compete.

THIS, THIS, a thousand times THIS!! However, if there is one certainty in all of this is that Cohen will screw it up. As has been stated, he better make darn sure he doesn't screw up the men's hire. He doesn't have to cast the net very far to have a good coach already in place on the women's side. He does not have any such luxury on the men's side!!

 

[Chuck Yeager]

"Recruiting" is always the excuse given for not hiring someone. And now we need a proven P5 HC. Correct me if I'm wrong but Vic was not a proven P5 HC when we hired him. He was a top assistant and a former Natty winning program, but not a HC. Not saying Novak is the guy necessarily, but I believe recruiting relationships can be established and he could also add some exceptional recruiters to his staff.

Novak has a bunch of guards who never get a rest playing some gutsy, never-give-up hoops. Kinda rare to see something like this nowadays.

ETA: I personally wouldn't see what the harm would be to give Novak a 3 year contract to see what he can do.

 

[Chuck Yeager]

"Recruiting" is always the excuse given for not hiring someone. And now we need a proven P5 HC. Correct me if I'm wrong but Vic was not a proven P5 HC when we hired him. He was a top assistant and a former Natty winning program, but not a HC. Not saying Novak is the guy necessarily, but I believe recruiting relationships can be established and he could also add some exceptional recruiters to his staff.

Novak has a bunch of guards who never get a rest playing some gutsy, never-give-up hoops. Kinda rare to see something like this nowadays.

ETA: I personally wouldn't see what the harm would be to give Novak a 3 year contract to see what he can do.

To clarify the recruiting comment. We're Miss State. No one is going to come here and then go out and start recruiting a bunch of 4* & 5* players to come here. What we need are coaches who can evaluate talent and coach players up. Vic did that himself early on. Look at Itty Bitty. Seems like Novak can do it well too ... at least the coach players up part.