What Coulda Been.....Majerus

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akgopher

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I remember listening to him on Barreiro during the search process saying the problem wasn't him wanting the job, rather the U of MN not wanting him.

Would we be in a better place today with Majerus than we are with Tubby?
 


The problem is that some coaches are better in some situations. Dan Monson was in the tourney. Dan Monson took Gonzaga to the E8....yet he never really replicated at the U of M.

Rick M won big at Utah. And then as Utah became a more major program he couldn't keep growing it. Now he is put at a middling mid-major program in St. Louis and he is able to elevate them.
I think the two reasons the U of M didn't want him was healthy concerns (Ironic because of Tubby's cancer) and some potential NCAA violations.
 

Rosemountian said:
The problem is that some coaches are better in some situations. Dan Monson was in the tourney. Dan Monson took Gonzaga to the E8....yet he never really replicated at the U of M.

Rick M won big at Utah. And then as Utah became a more major program he couldn't keep growing it. Now he is put at a middling mid-major program in St. Louis and he is able to elevate them.
I think the two reasons the U of M didn't want him was healthy concerns (Ironic because of Tubby's cancer) and some potential NCAA violations.
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Well Tubby didn't develop the cancer until after he was hired so if Majerus had them before they were looking at him then that is valid and there is no irony.
 

zambam said:
Well Tubby didn't develop the cancer until after he was hired so if Majerus had them before they were looking at him then that is valid and there is no irony.
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Let's be honest...prostate cancer is really pretty mild as far as health concerns go. Very treatable. Majerus has apparently had 7 bypasses, and is a very big boy. I'd say he is more of a health concern by orders of magnitude than Tubby.
 


I'm cutting and pasting from the post I made a couple weeks back when Reusse posted his "we'd be better off with Majerus" blog post:

Obviously, when Tubby Smith fell into Maturi's lap, there was no way that he would look any further; it would have been foolish on Maturi's part. So this article is purely a hindsight/20-20 situation.

That being said, Reusse glosses over a few things on his good friend Majerus, who is his "go to" quote in the college basketball world.

Health wise: Majerus' health has been a long time concern with the portly coach and his five day stint with USC highlights the risks associated with hiring Majerus. Imagine the program coming off of the Monson era, having had months to track down a suitable candidate and they go to Majerus, who after a week, a month, or a year might pull the same thing he did with USC-it would have been a disastrous hire (if you point to his extended time at St Louis, I will agree with you that he seems to have his health concerns under control, but at the time of the Gophers opening, he was still a huge question mark). Reusse neglects (ignores?) to mention that Majerus resigned from Utah mid-way through the 2003-04 season due to health concerns. Couple in Majerus' frequent flirtations with other jobs, it's understandable why Maturi steered clear.

St. Louis record: Reusse speaks of Majerus having turned around the Billikens. Firstly, it was not a program in dire straits when Majerus arrived, but settled into mediocrity; Brad Soderberg had replaced Lorenzo Romar who had replaced Charlie Spoonhaur and they all were coaches who had fair to middling success at St Louis, with occasional trips to the NCAA tournament. Soderberg was fired after a season where they went 20-13 and finished .500 in conference. This year's Billikens squad is the first under Majerus to be going to the NCAA tourney; here is his records during his time at St. Louis:
2007-08 16-15 (7-9 conf)
2008-09 18-14 (8-8)
2009-10 23-13 (11-5; CBI Finals)
2010-11 12-19 (6-10)
2011-12 24-6 (12-4)

In year five, Majerus is heading to his first NCAA tournament with St. Louis, while Tubby took the Gophers to two NCAA tournaments in the same time span, while it certainly appears taking over a program in worse shape, relative to the situation, than Majerus did in St. Louis.

I hesitate to say that St. Louis is a "program on the rise"; based on one season of success, it's a bit early to do so, and relative to his coaching peers/competition in the A-10 conference, I think it would have been quite reasonable to expect earlier NCAA appearances at St Louis than year five.

This isn't to say that I don't have deep concerns about where the program is headed with Tubby; but anyone trying to advance the notion that the program would be in better shape with Majerus in control just isn't doing their homework. Let's see Majerus string together a couple more good seasons with the Billikens and stay with the program before we begin asking this "what if?" question
 

I was watching Majerus' interview after halftime today, and I was worried he was having a heart attack or something. So short of breath when speaking and slow - it was scary to watch. I've never seen a coach look so unhealthy during an interview on the court.
 

I was shocked to see him coaching when I turned on that game. I thought he had died a couple of years ago. Didn't realize he was so short.
The guy can coach, but his health concerns would scare off many AD's. Jerry and him together would have been quite a pairing.
 

The U did the right thing by not giving Rick the job. With his blood pressure the guy is a walking time bomb. Plus, Isn't a required physical part of the highering process?
 



Tubby has beaten an Izzo final four team on a neutral court. Majerus did not do so today. Are we to the point where we second guess ourselves every single time a coach or a player is successful elsewhere?
 

From the Barn said:
Tubby has beaten an Izzo final four team on a neutral court. Majerus did not do so today. Are we to the point where we second guess ourselves every single time a coach or a player is successful elsewhere?
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Absolutely, otherwise without coulda's, woulda's, shoulda's several posters on GH would have nothing to babble about.
 

eker0016 said:
Let's be honest...prostate cancer is really pretty mild as far as health concerns go. Very treatable. Majerus has apparently had 7 bypasses, and is a very big boy. I'd say he is more of a health concern by orders of magnitude than Tubby.
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Prostate cancer is what????
 

Parski1 said:
Prostate cancer is what????
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How curable is prostate cancer?

As with all cancers, "cure" rates for prostate cancer describe the percentage of patients likely remaining disease-free for a specific time. In general, the earlier the cancer is caught, the more likely it is for the patient to remain disease-free.

Because approximately 90% of all prostate cancers are detected in the local and regional stages, the cure rate for prostate cancer is very high—nearly 100% of men diagnosed at this stage will be disease-free after five years.

http://www.pcf.org/site/c.leJRIROrEpH/b.5800851/k.645A/Prostate_Cancer_FAQs.htm

By mild, I don't mean "common cold" mild. I mean that his prostate cancer is not much of a concern from a hiring/employment standpoint, because it is so treatable and the prognosis is so good.
 



I would have passed on Majerus for the same reasons the U did. That said, I can understand why SLU or anyone would bring him on board. He is a heck of a coach. I was listening to the game on the radio on the way back from a weekend away, and I kept having the same persistent thought - what if the guy did the Jared thing and lost a million pounds? Imagine.

Anyone can say what they want, but the truth is the truth - he got a Tournament win before Orlando did in their present jobs.
 

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