Esherick to New Mexico State?

[HOYAPLAYA]

If he lands the job, I'll actually be rooting for him to succeed. Regardless of how he ran the program, can anyone give me a good reason why we should root for his failure???

[TBird41]

HOYAPLAYA said:

If he lands the job, I'll actually be rooting for him to succeed. Regardless of how he ran the program, can anyone give me a good reason why we should root for his failure???

Oh, I'm rooting for him to succeed. Do I think he will? Welllll, let's just say I have my doubts.

[SirSaxa]

hoyadrummer said:

As for it affecting money GU has to pay, I doubt it. If his contract was guaranteed (did we ever get confirmation on that?) then he and GU have probably already worked out some sort of buyout (lump sum payment to Esh of a significant amount but far less than total contract value in exchange for releasing him from committment to GU)

That's what I was going to guess as well.

We should wish him the best... why not?

[CAHoya07]

Oh man, my cousin (a 'Cuse grad ) works at NMSU in sports marketing and as a softball coach. Maybe I should warn her that Esherick was a horrible head coach for us.

And stop with the "heck ofs," Esh, you're only making yourself sound self-righteous...

But in all seriousness, I wish Esh, a lifetime Hoya, the best and hope he gets the job. At the very least, it would give me something else to talk with my cousin about over the holidays. And given his interest, even if he doesn't get this job, I'd be surprised if Esh doesn't eventually land some D-I coaching job.

[Fan Of The Game]

FormerHoya said:

(AP) New Mexico-

Former Georgetown Coach Craig Eshrick is no longer in the running for the New Mexico State job after it was discovered that he would only accept a contract for "twenty years."

Classic post FormerHoya (even though I don't think of any Hoyas as "former").

I'll root for Esherick to succeed. It'll be fun to have another team to track.

I wonder how seriously he's being considered. I mean, I could send in an application for the job...the way the release was written didn't make it seem as if New Mexico State had contacted Esherick and asked him to interview for the job.

If he gets it, more power to him. I'd be shocked to see him get another D1 head coaching job, but more power to him if he can pull it off.

[757hoyafan]

HOYAPLAYA said:

If he lands the job, I'll actually be rooting for him to succeed. Regardless of how he ran the program, can anyone give me a good reason why we should root for his failure???

ditto.......

[SoCalHoya]

word

[KHoyaNYC]

That quote of Esh's is absolutely hilarious. Takes a lot of cajones for someone like him to say something like that. He never was the most media savvy coach out there.

[hoyadrummer]

KHoyaNYC said:

That quote of Esh's is absolutely hilarious. Takes a lot of cajones for someone like him to say something like that. He never was the most media savvy coach out there.

I disagree, I remember Esherick being incredibly savvy with the media. Oh, wait, "savvy" doesn't mean "loud"? Nevermind.

[JohnJacquesLayup]

HOYAPLAYA said:

If he lands the job, I'll actually be rooting for him to succeed. Regardless of how he ran the program, can anyone give me a good reason why we should root for his failure???

Some may not want him to succeed, not because of his failures at GU, but because he was arrogant enough to blow off the worst season of GU ball in over two decades.

[jahidihoya]

If anyone would like to have a refreshing, cathartic laugh... please read this article from the March 5, 2004 edition of the Washington Times:

washingtontimes.com/sports/20040304-114608-8697r.htm

This quote from DeGoia had one thing correct (the new recruits, maybe he was actually referring to JTIII):

"I believe that this season's men's basketball team and our new class of recruits holds a great deal of promise. I have confidence that Craig Esherick, who helped to build our tradition of excellence in men's basketball, is the right person to strengthen and lead our program."

[KHoyaNYC]

hoyadrummer said:

I disagree, I remember Esherick being incredibly savvy with the media. Oh, wait, "savvy" doesn't mean "loud"? Nevermind.

Ha ha, seriously, you can't make this stuff up. hilarious.

[hoyahoyasaxa]

jahidihoya said:

If anyone would like to have a refreshing, cathartic laugh... please read this article from the March 5, 2004 edition of the Washington Times:

washingtontimes.com/sports/20040304-114608-8697r.htm

This quote from DeGoia had one thing correct (the new recruits, maybe he was actually referring to JTIII):

"I believe that this season's men's basketball team and our new class of recruits holds a great deal of promise. I have confidence that Craig Esherick, who helped to build our tradition of excellence in men's basketball, is the right person to strengthen and lead our program."

Wow. Amazing that was written only a year ago.

[hoyadrummer]

jahidihoya said:

If anyone would like to have a refreshing, cathartic laugh... please read this article from the March 5, 2004 edition of the Washington Times:

washingtontimes.com/sports/20040304-114608-8697r.htm

This quote from DeGoia had one thing correct (the new recruits, maybe he was actually referring to JTIII):

"I believe that this season's men's basketball team and our new class of recruits holds a great deal of promise. I have confidence that Craig Esherick, who helped to build our tradition of excellence in men's basketball, is the right person to strengthen and lead our program."

Wow. I had forgotten the part about 22 straight losses to teams in the RPI top 50. In case anyone wants to know we are currently 3-5 against teams in the RPI top 50.

[coachmcguirk]

Not so much a defense but a reality check:

1. He was never really groomed for the GU job -- while he was a logical candidate if and when John left, he clearly was not prepared to have a declining program dumped in his lap mid-season. Don't know if it would have made a difference but a more orderly transition wouldn't have hurt.

2. I suspect he believes DeGioia screwed him by caving to the alumni instead of standing by his original statement of support. Not an unfair point, although there obviously was fault on both sides.

3. Given what JTIII is doing with the players Esh left behind, he probably thinks he wasn't given enough time to turn things around. Factor in the learning curve and maybe he's right. The problem was that he did nothing to endear himself to those who wanted him out. And we know who won that one.

3. The flavors of the month in college hoops aren't so tasty any more (Snyder, Amaker, Jarvis, Lavin, Doherty, etc.), and the current group of climbers (Wojo, Dawkins, Collins etc.) likely believe they can do better. So maybe middle-tier guys like Esh make sense for this situation.

4. Don't underestimate the power of lower academic standards. Relative to the conference NMSU is in, he might actually have better recruiting platform there than he had at Georgetown.

5. This board will explode if Ronny Thompson applies and beats him out for the job.

Here it comes . . .

[GIGAFAN99]

Can someone tell me why this isn't a good situation for NMSU or Esh?

In his five years as head coach Esh averaged 19-13, 7-9 had two NITs (including a final), and a Sweet 16 run. Now that may not "wow" the crowd on this board but if that guy applied for a job and you were an AD in the Sun Belt, you have to take a look at him. We're talking about a mediocre Big Six coach, which is a nice find for a Sun Belt school that's 5-20 this year.

Second, Esh wants to coach and he's still pretty young (48 or so). This is exactly what he should have done 10 years ago if he wanted a chance to succeed at Georgetown. If he can go to a mid-major and get some experience without the spotlight on him, it will be good for him.

I hope he succeeds. This is a good move for a guy like Esherick and for NMSU. A bad move would be taking someone with Esh's resume and signing him to a million-dollar deal to coach a once great Big Ten school like Michigan. Or taking a mediocre but shamed coach to your dying school in a dying conference like Southern Miss.

[KHoyaNYC]

coachmcguirk said:

Not so much a defense but a reality check:

1. He was never really groomed for the GU job -- while he was a logical candidate if and when John left, he clearly was not prepared to have a declining program dumped in his lap mid-season. Don't know if it would have made a difference but a more orderly transition wouldn't have hurt.

2. I suspect he believes DeGioia screwed him by caving to the alumni instead of standing by his original statement of support. Not an unfair point, although there obviously was fault on both sides.

3. Given what JTIII is doing with the players Esh left behind, he probably thinks he wasn't given enough time to turn things around. Factor in the learning curve and maybe he's right. The problem was that he did nothing to endear himself to those who wanted him out. And we know who won that one.

3. The flavors of the month in college hoops aren't so tasty any more (Snyder, Amaker, Jarvis, Lavin, Doherty, etc.), and the current group of climbers (Wojo, Dawkins, Collins etc.) likely believe they can do better. So maybe middle-tier guys like Esh make sense for this situation.

4. Don't underestimate the power of lower academic standards. Relative to the conference NMSU is in, he might actually have better recruiting platform there than he had at Georgetown.

5. This board will explode if Ronny Thompson applies and beats him out for the job.

Here it comes . . .

The board has already exploded and nothing has happened yet. The words "Esherick" and "head coach" are an explosive combination. Just wait until the_way and doseofreality read this thread. Pure fireworks.

That said, I certainly hope Esherick lands on his feet with a head coaching position and succeeds. There is no good reason to hope he fails.

[hoyahoyasaxa]

Yeah, this is a good opportunity for him. Hopefully it works out.

I think this thread went to three pages in about two hours. That's pretty good. If someone started a thread and just called it "Esherick," it would explode.

[WiseyBum]

Not to be mean or naive, but in that ESPN article am I reading it correctly to infer that his biggest competition for this job would be somebody whose coaching experience is from a high school program? Oh and he was director of video operations (Ed Spriggs-style, I'm guessing). If he doesn't get this job, I don't know that he should continue looking. Ever.

[JohnJacquesLayup]

KHoyaNYC said:

That said, I certainly hope Esherick lands on his feet with a head coaching position and succeeds. There is no good reason to hope he fails.

First I'd like to make it clear I don't want Esh to fail. Frankly I could care less how he does at anything. If he rebounds and has a great career, awesome. If nothing works out for the guy, it's a shame.

That being said, it's amazing that so many on this board are so supportive of a coach who refused to acknowledge the concerns and opinions of his own fanbase.