It's time to review Providence

[Savannah Jay]

The big issue for most, i think, is how this was done. If Cooley wanted a change that's fine I can't really fault him for that. Up until the last minute he was deceitful and sneaky. Traits I didn't expect him to have. Sunday he claimed he had decisions to make and hen sunrise Monday morning his house is on the market. Obviously he knew he was leaving. He handled it poorly.
If he said something in the lines of " i have been in contact with another program. I have an opportunity to take on a challenge at a point in my life where i may need a change. My family and I have had discussions about what would be the best for us going forward. We are grateful for the time we have had at Providence. We love the city, state and the school. We were raised here. our children were raised here. This will always be part of who we are, our home. I am proud of the work we have done here and what has been accomplished with the backing of the AD and administration. I am proud of the quality of the young men choosing to play here. Not only for their athletic ability but for their morals, work ethic and supportive families. The fans and support of the community have been terrific. No one wants to play at the AMP. I expected PC to be my last stop and would be happy to have that be the case. However, this opportunity may be too great to pass up. I owe it to myself and family to at the very least explore the idea. It will be difficult to reach a decision but at the end of the day the decision needs to be what we feel is best for us. Either way , PC will always hold a special place in our hearts."

Bingo...this is how i'd feel if I were in Friar shoes. It's seems that the inherent dishonesty from someone they did not expect such behavior is why this seems so shitty. Most people do not begrudge someone for making a career change if they believe that's what's best for them/family. How you go about doing that is everything, IMO.

That said, PC should get a really good basketball coach for $3.8mm per year. That's more than 350 D1 coaches are making. Shoot for the moon and see what happens. No reason to take a "chance" on someone you hope is up for the challenge or someone on the back end of their career.

[Omaha1]

PC should get a really good basketball coach for $3.8mm per year.

If PC pays 3.8 million bucks for Kimmy English, the whole system is broken. The reason you would hire a relatively unknown coach is to not pay $3.8 million.

[Savannah Jay]

PC should get a really good basketball coach for $3.8mm per year.

If PC pays 3.8 million bucks for Kimmy English, the whole system is broken. The reason you would hire a relatively unknown coach is to not pay $3.8 million.

So, my point was they shouldn't have to hire a relatively unknown coach, hence the statement, "no reason to take a chance on someone you hope is up for the challenge."

I don't think they should pay English that, either, because i don't think they should hire him. Hire a more proven coach.

[Omaha1]

PC should get a really good basketball coach for $3.8mm per year.

If PC pays 3.8 million bucks for Kimmy English, the whole system is broken. The reason you would hire a relatively unknown coach is to not pay $3.8 million.

So, my point was they shouldn't have to hire a relatively unknown coach, hence the statement, "no reason to take a chance on someone you hope is up for the challenge."

I don't think they should pay English that, either, because i don't think they should hire him. Hire a more proven coach.

But it sounds like he might be the guy. Will be interesting to see.

[stever20]

But it sounds like he might be the guy. Will be interesting to see.

He seemed to be the guy from the jump. Rick Barnes ties.

[sju88grad]

The big issue for most, i think, is how this was done. If Cooley wanted a change that's fine I can't really fault him for that. Up until the last minute he was deceitful and sneaky. Traits I didn't expect him to have. Sunday he claimed he had decisions to make and hen sunrise Monday morning his house is on the market. Obviously he knew he was leaving. He handled it poorly.
If he said something in the lines of " i have been in contact with another program. I have an opportunity to take on a challenge at a point in my life where i may need a change. My family and I have had discussions about what would be the best for us going forward. We are grateful for the time we have had at Providence. We love the city, state and the school. We were raised here. our children were raised here. This will always be part of who we are, our home. I am proud of the work we have done here and what has been accomplished with the backing of the AD and administration. I am proud of the quality of the young men choosing to play here. Not only for their athletic ability but for their morals, work ethic and supportive families. The fans and support of the community have been terrific. No one wants to play at the AMP. I expected PC to be my last stop and would be happy to have that be the case. However, this opportunity may be too great to pass up. I owe it to myself and family to at the very least explore the idea. It will be difficult to reach a decision but at the end of the day the decision needs to be what we feel is best for us. Either way , PC will always hold a special place in our hearts."

GoSports, you should have been hired by Cooley to write his departure speech. I don't think he's made even one of the points that you eloquently made above. It's sad because I always liked Cooley but the way he's handled this whole process has been pretty awful, to put it mildly.

Really hoping you guys find the right fit and don't miss a beat.....

[Xudash]

The big issue for most, i think, is how this was done. If Cooley wanted a change that's fine I can't really fault him for that. Up until the last minute he was deceitful and sneaky. Traits I didn't expect him to have. Sunday he claimed he had decisions to make and hen sunrise Monday morning his house is on the market. Obviously he knew he was leaving. He handled it poorly.
If he said something in the lines of " i have been in contact with another program. I have an opportunity to take on a challenge at a point in my life where i may need a change. My family and I have had discussions about what would be the best for us going forward. We are grateful for the time we have had at Providence. We love the city, state and the school. We were raised here. our children were raised here. This will always be part of who we are, our home. I am proud of the work we have done here and what has been accomplished with the backing of the AD and administration. I am proud of the quality of the young men choosing to play here. Not only for their athletic ability but for their morals, work ethic and supportive families. The fans and support of the community have been terrific. No one wants to play at the AMP. I expected PC to be my last stop and would be happy to have that be the case. However, this opportunity may be too great to pass up. I owe it to myself and family to at the very least explore the idea. It will be difficult to reach a decision but at the end of the day the decision needs to be what we feel is best for us. Either way , PC will always hold a special place in our hearts."

I agree with you with respect to how it was handled and the optics that resulted from that process.

Xavier took Thad Matta away from Butler, but both schools were in different conferences at the time. I don't know how Thad handled it with Butler when he decided to exit there, but he did exactly what you are pointing out here when he left Xavier for Ohio State, and that was with Fr. James Hoff, SJ, Xavier's President and a former key cog at Creighton lying on his deathbed.

Video shots from a helicopter showed Matta exiting an SUV to go into a meeting on Ohio State's campus to seal the deal late one night. He made the evening news that night in Cincinnati and Columbus.

I understand that it's a fine line with the coach who is trying to leave. What if a deal falls apart in the last minutes etc.? But there has to be a more honorable and above board way to handle these situations.

Sneaky is simply a bad look that is hard to justify. How about possible consequences years down the road. If you don't leave in some reasonably graceful manner, it won't be easy when you may want to go back and visit old friends later. Time may heal all wounds, but it probably cannot eradicate all of the resentment that will bubble under the surface because of all of this.

I think you've made a fair point. On the other hand, Cooley is pursuing more money and a perceived stronger platform from which to practice his craft. I have to imagine that this process has torn him up inside - I can't imagine he would ever want to hurt Providence College. But I also have to believe that he is looking forward now, and that he is not terribly concerned about being invited back to Providence for a dedication of his statue at some point in the future.

Again, that right there is the shame of it: the old adage about burning bridges. Why do that?

[kayako]

Do you think you're breaking news with anything you said? Not once did you mention what I originally responded to... that this situation is anything like Big East players transferring to another Big East school. It's obviously totally different. You just went on an entire soliloquy about something completely different than what you originally stated. Just admit your original take stinks, and we'll move on.

Yes, I do believe the other Big East school should condemn the hiring. Like, 100% obvious yes. No not like it's an act of terrorism, but nice snarky commentary. This entire situation is SHADY is because it's IN CONFERENCE. If it's all just no big deal, why has it never happened in the entire 45-year history of the Big East? I don't know why that's so hard to understand or comprehend. If this was Michigan, no one would care.

Yeah I realize it was a needlessly long reply, and it's probably better to not directly challenge individual points you've raised. I'll gladly take the L with snarky comments, but we're just gonna have to disagree about targeting intra-conference HC vs. transfers. It hasn't happened in 40+ years, but as twitter informed us yesterday, it's not like schools didn't try to. If this is the biggest sticking point, it's just lessons learned and in future contracts make sure there's a HUGE buyout for conference rivals.

[EMT]

Here's the deal:

Cooley is a serial womanizer. He thought he was Tony Soprano and Nurys was Carmella. Cooley got caught one last time and the wife told him if he wanted to stay married, they had to leave RI.

Ed was living in a condo in Providence for a while and they were living separately. When it became clear that Ewing was done, Cooley's agent backchanneled to Gtown. Gtown courted Cooley prior to hiring Ewing so he knew there was interest. DC worked for the wife because the daughter is still down there.

The funny thing about the house listing in East Greenwich is that it was planned a while back as they were building a new house in a neighboring town, Exeter. The timing of the listing hitting yesterday was just coincidental and would have happened if he didn't even entertain leaving.

The whole line about Cooley sick of being the big fish in a small pond is BS. Cooley's ego wishes that the pond was smaller. His actions embarrassed his wife and kids.

The ultimate revenge for the wife is more $$$ and an annual reminder to Cooley on what he was forced to give up.

As a Friar fan, the most upsetting thing about this whole saga is 1. Ed wanted to stay and his wife made him move. 2. Idiots like Fanta and Goodman are stating that Cooley hit his ceiling at PC and that PC can't compete for NIL and that's BS. 3. Cooley clearly negotiated with Gtown beginning in Feb. 4. Cooley was unethical in the transfer portal knowing he was leaving. 5. Pitino WAS slow walking SJU because he wanted his career to come full circle but Fr Sicard would not allow Nap to hire him.

[GoldenWarrior11]

They might not be identical, but Buzz's departure from Marquette offered eerily similar parallels.

Buzz was regularly courted by other schools prior to 2014 (SMU, Arkansas, OK State just to name a few). When he interviewed with VT, it was just days after the BET loss to Xavier. As soon as he was hired, his mouthpieces (Goodman namely) started using the narrative that the new Big East is behind the P5, couldn't compete and that Marquette wouldn't be able to maintain it's success with football playing schools. It was not only wrong, but it was personal.

Then, he took the assistants and almost all of the recruits. It left an empty cupboard. It took Wojo (who tried so hard to do things the right way) several seasons to get a full team again.

Marquette, too, had offered many raises and extensions to Buzz. It took care of him and his family. No coach stays at a school forever anymore, but there is a way to handle an exit. Buzz and Cooley left a lot of room for improvement.

To me, I'll never forget the pain of seeing Buzz screaming "LET'S GO! HOKIES!" chant and speaking of all the (limited) VT historic players at opening press conference. Friar fans will be hurt for a long time, rightfully so. But that pain will subside as soon as the Friars make the next tournament. Let's hope they hire a winner.

Keep your head up, Friars.