gopokes1399 said:
he cant be worse but not Tad Boyle dude is 22-51 in the Big Sky
You should look closer. I am not necessarily advocating Boyle, but that is very misleading. He took over a terrible program making the transition to D-1. This is what he has done:
Year 1: 4-24, 2 Big Sky Wins
Year 2: 13-16, 6 Big Sky Wins
Year 3: 14-18, 8 Big Sky Wins
Year 4: Currently 13-3, 2-1 in the Big Sky. Should contend with Montana and Weber for the title. Current RPI is 71.
That is amazing progress.
The other thing that is impressive about Boyle is that he was the top Assistant for Turgeon at Wichita St., and that program was/is very similar to Wyoming IMO. They took over WSU when it was at rock bottom. A once proud program (Xavier McDaniel era, etc.) with great fan support that had fallen on hard times. They built that program steadily from 9 wins to 15 to 18 to 21 and finally to 26 and the Sweet 16. I followed the program very closely (I moved to Wichita in 2001 before their 2nd year and left in 2005) and they did a tremendous job rebuilding both the on the court and off the court product. They had some assistance (WSU remodeled Koch arena during that time, top notch facility), but they created a crazy atmosphere for the games there.
They also played in a league (MVC) which is very comparable to the MWC.
A couple of other positives for Boyle:
1. Regional ties - A native of Greeley, he is a natural fit in the area.
2. Price - His contract at UNC is very small (total comp under 150k I believe). If we scratch up the cash to buy out Schroyer we won't be able to make a big money hire, or hire someone with a big buyout on their own. A low to mid level MWC salary (total comp in the 400-500k range) should be sufficient to hire Boyle if he is interested.
There are cons as well:
1. Turning around a program in the Big Sky is a lot different than doing so in the MWC. He has to recruit a higher caliber of player than he has at UNC. This is where I think his WSU experience is beneficial.
2. Took a long time to turn around UNC. Every year got progressively better, but it wasn't earth shattering.
3. Needs to prove he can build a consistent winner.
Having said all that, I have no doubt that Tad Boyle would be a significant upgrade over Heath Schroyer. However, I just spent a whole bunch of time typing about a scenario that has no chance of happening. I just don't see Heath being fired.