Is Brad Stevens making a mistake

#1
T

therealUT

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#1
By staying at Butler, is Brad Stevens making an emotionally charged mistake?

During the regular season, Butler lost to Evansville, Milwaukee-Wisconsin (twice), Valparaiso, and Youngstown State. Talented teams might drop a game to a bottom feeder, but not six. UConn did much to expose, nationally, the far inferior athleticism of Butler.

Butler has rode incredibly hot shooting through the NCAA Tournament, this year. With all his emphasis on statistic analysis, Stevens has to know this is an anomaly; he has to know that unless he gets a surge of athleticism and talent into his program, the odds are against long-term sustainment.

Currently, Brad Stevens is earning around $900,000; his earning potential is probably somewhere in the $2.5-3M range. Butler cannot offer him a salary that gets close to competing with that potential. Also, unless Butler continues to make runs deep into the tournament, this is the most marketable he will ever be, while he remains at Butler.

Money isn't everything; however, even the faucet at Butler will run dry over the next five years if Butler continues to drop five or six games a year to bottom feeders.
 
#2
#2
I wish we were as good as Butler. Don't sell them too $hort. Pitt may have also looked at the teams Butler lost to just like I did. GBO!!!
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#4
#4
He's just waiting for the right job to open up. He's not going to leave a place where he's comfortable unless it's for the right job. He will continue to be a hot coaching name based on what he's accomplished these past two years alone.
 
#5
#5
Sabanocchio said:
He's just waiting for the right job to open up. He's not going to leave a place where he's comfortable unless it's for the right job. He will continue to be a hot coaching name based on what he's accomplished these past two years alone.
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I take that to mean that he is waiting for a Top 10 program. He might be waiting quite a while, then.

There have been plenty of good job openings last spring and this spring: NC State, GT, Oregon, OU, UT, Mizzou, Arkansas, etc.

If he is waiting for a KU, Duke, UNC, UConn, UK gig to open up, then he is going to have a few problems:

- Self is staying at KU. His destination job.

- K is staying at Duke and probably has a named successor for when he retires.

- Roy...never leaving Chapel Hill.

- Calhoun probably has a successor lined up; might not though.

- UK: Cal restocks the entire cupboard every two years (if not every year), and when he leaves, I cannot imagine that UK will not be hampered by severe recruiting restrictions and NCAA sanctions.

How marketable is Mark Few, now? I can't see many Top 10 programs throwing a lot of money his way, today (they would certainly approach him, however, it would be an approach of $1.5-2M, as opposed to $2.5-3M, IMO).
 
#6
#6
I think he wants to stay in Indiana. It sounds like he doesn't want to leave his extended family since he is from there.
 
#8
#8
Mattlock said:
He will coach at IU next. . .
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I highly doubt it and I would advise against it if I were in his inner circle.

Leaving a program that is completely infatuated with you for another, larger program just forty-five minutes south, is asking to be ridiculed on at least a weekly basis by spurned Butler fans and sportswriters.

I am quite sure that Stevens has thick enough skin to handle the response; however, if he struggles at IU, those voices get louder and their influence becomes stronger on IU boosters.

Seems to me that such a move would be taunting both fate and failure.
 
#9
#9
therealUT said:
I highly doubt it and I would advise against it if I were in his inner circle.

Leaving a program that is completely infatuated with you for another, larger program just forty-five minutes south, is asking to be ridiculed on at least a weekly basis by spurned Butler fans and sportswriters.

I am quite sure that Stevens has thick enough skin to handle the response; however, if he struggles at IU, those voices get louder and their influence becomes stronger on IU boosters.

Seems to me that such a move would be taunting both fate and failure.
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I agree with this. It would be similar to Kevin Stallings leaving Vandy for UT.
 
#10
#10
therealUT said:
I highly doubt it and I would advise against it if I were in his inner circle.

Leaving a program that is completely infatuated with you for another, larger program just forty-five minutes south, is asking to be ridiculed on at least a weekly basis by spurned Butler fans and sportswriters.

I am quite sure that Stevens has thick enough skin to handle the response; however, if he struggles at IU, those voices get louder and their influence becomes stronger on IU boosters.

Seems to me that such a move would be taunting both fate and failure.
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1. Being spurned by the Butler fans and sportswriters doesn't sound overly intimidating.

2. No coach ever takes a job expecting to fail. Their egos won't allow it.

Stevens WILL be the next Indiana coach.
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#11
#11
Besides the money at a bigger school why leave? He's already made it to back to back national championship games something even the traditional powerhouses seldom do and he's in a conference that he should be the #1 team almost every season. I think the only thing that the NC game exposed this year that they had one of those nights where they couldn't throw it in the ocean if they had too. They might have lost to Evansville, Milwaukee-Wisconsin (twice), Valparaiso, and Youngstown State like you said but they also beat the likes of Pitt,Florida and a smoking hot VCU team at the time.

If he can live with the $$ he's getting at Butler and his family is happy there is no reason to leave. He might not get the 5 star recruits that he would at a Mizzou, NC State or here but he gets guys that buys into the "Butler Way" and we have seen what that can lead too.
 
#12
#12
AJeray4TN said:
1. Being spurned by the Butler fans and sportswriters doesn't sound overly intimidating.

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I doubt it is intimidating. Like I said, he is most likely thick-skinned; however, it could lead to an early exit if results are either not good enough or quick enough at IU.

Crazed Vol said:
Besides the money at a bigger school why leave? He's already made it to back to back national championship games something even the traditional powerhouses seldom do and he's in a conference that he should be the #1 team almost every season. I think the only thing that the NC game exposed this year that they had one of those nights where they couldn't throw it in the ocean if they had too. They might have lost to Evansville, Milwaukee-Wisconsin (twice), Valparaiso, and Youngstown State like you said but they also beat the likes of Pitt,Florida and a smoking hot VCU team at the time.

If he can live with the $$ he's getting at Butler and his family is happy there is no reason to leave. He might not get the 5 star recruits that he would at a Mizzou, NC State or here but he gets guys that buys into the "Butler Way" and we have seen what that can lead too.
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Without continued success, Butler will not be able to afford to pay his current salary in the long-term. He is easily making twice as much money as any other coach in the conference; most likely three to four times as much as over half the coaches in the conference. Even this season, Butler did not win the Horizon regular season conference championship; therefore, he is not in a conference where he should be the #1 team every season.

Butler did beat solid teams in the tournament; Butler was red-hot throughout the tournament. Once they could no longer buy a bucket, they were solidly beaten by a UConn team that was also having a poor shooting night.
 
#13
#13
AJeray4TN said:
1. Being spurned by the Butler fans and sportswriters doesn't sound overly intimidating.

2. No coach ever takes a job expecting to fail. Their egos won't allow it.

Stevens WILL be the next Indiana coach.
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A don't you think Creen will be at IU a while?he was the hot coach not too long ago. Matter a fact Creen would look good in an orange jacket. JMO.
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#16
#16
vol-un-tear said:
A don't you think Creen will be at IU a while?he was the hot coach not too long ago. Matter a fact Creen would look good in an orange jacket. JMO.
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NO WAY do I want Crean ever to be our coach at UT!
 
#19
#19
Stevens is not a flash in the pan. He could go sub-500 next year and still have people begging for him. His credibility is established. He's not leaving because of what jobs are open not because he give's a rat's ass about Butler.

Think of it this way. If he turns down a 3M job, he is in effect PAYING 2.1M a year for the priviledge of staying at a program with sub-par facilities where he can't compete for top recruits. For loyalty to a school he did not even attend and has only coached for 5 years or so? Preposterous.
 
#20
#20
I think Stevens is a good coach, but not great. He should have taken advantage of some serious money before potentially being exposed as a fraud at Butler. He's either really wanting to hold out for the potential Indiana job, or he's being dead serious when he says that he's not in it for the money.
 
#21
#21
TennesseeFan07 said:
I think Stevens is a good coach, but not great. He should have taken advantage of some serious money before potentially being exposed as a fraud at Butler. He's either really wanting to hold out for the potential Indiana job, or he's being dead serious when he says that he's not in it for the money.
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In what scenario would he ever be "potentially exposed as a fraud?"
 
#23
#23
To do what he has done at Butler he is better than just a good coach. Maybe he wasn't overly excited about any of the job openings this spring. According to what he says publicly I also think he is enjoying his time at Butler and feels loyal to the program as well. That being said if a top program opens up in the midwest especially Indiana and crazy money is thrown at him I think he will leave within 1 to 2 years.
 
#24
#24
Indianavol4eva said:
losing a bunch of games and not making the tournament for a few years straight.
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Sorry but after 2 nc games in a row he is not a fraud. How will he just start losing games? Wake up one morning and not remember how to coach? Early onset dementia? If he stays at Butler he will win that league for many more years to come and will get a automatic NCAA bids.
 
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