Home Basketball Craig Robinson May Get Fired

Craig Robinson May Get Fired

140

Hearing that Bob D has a meeting with him once he returns from the women’s tournament.

And then there’s the scathing piece Eggers wrote, which mildly implies he’s not afraid of ruining any future relationship with CR. While driving through Corvallis mid-week, I heard a lot of talk radio with the same sentiment. The host was saying he had to go because the fans weren’t engaged. That there is nothing worse than a fan base that’s too apathetic to even hate the coach. Obviously I agree, having written about the apathetic football fan base for years.

The buyout is 4 mil. It might be worth paying — attendance will be sub 1k per game next year, donors are bailing, and a new coach would likely boost both. So the 4 mil “loss” might be greater by keeping him around.

140 COMMENTS

  1. yep. that piece has AB written all over it; especially the x & o’s assistant.

    That’s the kind of article I’d like to see written about Riley. The key variable between basketball and football, however, is fan turnout. Although football attendance has not been spectacular, it’s been okay to good. Credit Riley’s 8/9 win seasons for that. However, a loss to Portland State in the opener or another disgrace like UW last fall, combined with what, the sixth straight Duck victory in the Civil War at home, and even football attendance could be on the same path to diffidence that basketball is. I know that I’ve made my concession to late Riley era mediocrity. I’ve had four seats in the donor section for a decade but this year I cut that to just 2. My logic had been the desirability of the (theoretical) capacity of buying as many Rose Bowl tix as season tickets, and for a while, the presumption of scarcity for home game tickets. I can’t be the only season ticket holder who is thinking of cutting back so I predict a significant drop off in football renewals this year.

    • I wanted to transfer my tickets to my fellow holders, but they won’t let you unless it’s a family member. But I am not going to buy my two seats, some of the holders might buy them from me, however. So I will buy their tickets so they can keep the seats, we should buy at least two fewer seats. So I expected your statement about fewer renewals to be accurate.

    • I didnt renew this year. Having a kid played into that, but I just dont feel its worth spending my full Saturday going down and back to Corvo in gameday traffic, especially when most games are night games anymore. I’ll probably regret giving up my seats, but its probably better than regretting going to multiple games next year.

      • I have had 3 tickets with a friend since we graduated and we are not renewing this year and we never thought we would say that with the under 30 discount they offer. Its not the price thats the deal break, its the play on the field slightly combined with game times. I can handle some 7pm games, but not when the Beavers decide to not even show up themselves like against UW. Also getting very tired of seeing us lose to FCS teams at home as well as the Ducks. Frustrating and it truly is driving away fans.

  2. OT: That punk – ass move by Calliste with .6 seconds (resulting in a T and four free throws) cost all the Ducks backers their money….

    I love sports wagering!

  3. Here’s a post from a Duck backer who had the +6…I don’t usually laugh out loud, but I had to share this:

    “I’m just going to call Oregon a bad beat, thrash my cock with a cactus and move on”

  4. You could be reaching on this one. Is there any actual info about him being shown the door? A meeting that happens with the AD (normal) and a scathing article in the press (playing to the audience) isn’t saying he may get fired.

  5. I think CR would be smart to lobby for that Princeton AD job and if he can get it, go for it. And since he is smart, I dont expect him to be fired. He gets that job and “reluctantly” moves on, BDC “sorry” to see him go, etc.

    He stays another year, cant see how it could be better than this year in W/L and maybe worse, with attendance in the toilet, and at the end he does get fired and where is his marketability.

    We already, this year, had the record low season attendance for Gill — the spector of a virtually empty house next year should shake some action loose.

    …And I admire Eggers for tellin it like it is.

  6. Would be great if the WBB team can get deep into the tourney (just for the team and the school), the ancillary benefit is the contrast against Robinson’s performance might help force action. The WBB was in terrible shape after Wagner; talk about a contrast in recovery.

    • I think the contrast is part of what is now working against CR. The women go to the NCAA, the men cant get out of the first round in the effing CBI!

  7. I fear our Beaver women are going to get thrashed by Middle Tennessee. I looked at MT’s website and they have one player who looks like a shorter version of Joe Burton. A couple of interviews indicate they think they “won’t have too much trouble,” they’ve been to the NCAA on multiple occasions, and they have chips on their shoulders for having to travel so far and not having a higher seed, and, on a somewhat interesting note, President Obama has selected MT over the Beavs in his women’s bracket.

  8. There are some interesting dynamics here. I disagree that we need to start over. And Eggers should not have made this distinction being an actual reporter. Starting over would legitimize the claims of past futility affecting the current program.

    To a certain degree, past futility is affecting the program. But it’s not a valid rationale for mediocre coaching. Past futility is a valid rationale for fan apathy (and, slightly, recruiting issues). We had more fans at Gill during JJ’s last year. And that season was worse than anything ever in the history of OSU. But it showed how low fans set expectations.

    Unfortunately, there is no tangible evidence to show how much better the program is now than it was six years ago. And there is no comparing situations between the mens and womens programs. Rueck got the benefit of not having to live with his predecessor’s legacy every day in practice… for years after he took over. Rueck also got to piggy-back for the one tangible thing people can point to, the practice facility. Stop with the apples to oranges. The coach just isn’t getting done what we think he should be getting done on the floor. He’s not good one of two things that brings fans and money through the door. The first is being new and providing hope. He’s worn that one down. The second is winning.

    While his tenure is better as a whole than anyone since Jimmy, fans are just tired of waiting until next year. They’re already doing it in football year after year. Why prolong your suffering for a whole season after you’ve gone through the heartache of the fall?

    For some hard numbers, 6000 additional fans at the lower price of $15 per ticket would be an additional $1.5m per year. Think about the lost opportunities other than that conservative number.

    • Unfortunately, there is no tangible evidence to show how much better the program is now than it was six years ago

      Exactly true, but I think all fans would agree the program is not where they want it. So say it’s a little better off (which I think it is, due to a practice facility, some NBA caliber players, etc), the big picture is this is still a CBI level team. If they could make an NIT and show some big-picture progress on the court, I’d say give CR more time. But 7 years is a lot in this day and age. Bob D was an idiot for extending him. He feared nobody would want the job, which is irrational.

      • With basketball, if it has not happened in five years, it generally is not going to happen. A couple of players can change a program……….assuming the coaching is competent. Most would agree he has recruited much better, yet the talent has not translated into an NIT to the NCAA trajectory.
        BDC needs to pull the trigger. No sane person thinks things will be better next year. There was plenty of talent on this years squad.

      • We also now have a viable APR. CR couldn’t jettison anyone like new coaches usually do. If he tried, we would have been sanctioned almost immediately. That’s a pretty shitty level for a program to reach. That means the previous coach did more than a horrendous job. Presumably he was fired for the win-loss record. But when nobody can step in and shake the ass-hole’s legacy… and in fact has to pick up his legacy and reshape it into the form of kids who need to go to classes and pass courses… that really just sucks.

        There is no such condition now. There is no issue with facilities. There is a higher level of athlete (and student… and person) overall on the roster.

        All that’s missing is the winning. So it’s just a natural progression that needs to be made. I think CR has done a great job building the program into what it should be. Now we just need to go out and get someone who can drive the car like it’s meant to be driven.

  9. I concur with BG if it hasn’t happened by 5 yrs it’s not going to happen. But does anybody honestly think CR will move on his own, and leave 3.5 million on the table? I don’t think Bobby D will fire him and eat the contract so that is about the only way it will happen.

    I agree with Angry the program maybe slightly better, but still is a CBI program.

    • I think there could be circumstances where CR moves on his own. I think he would want that Princeton AD job, as he isnt going to move up as a coach. He has shown clearly that he is clueless as a game coach. And the team seems to lack fundamentals.

      Lets say BDC is ready for a move. Doesnt have to be firing, as he knows CR wants the AD job…..so he makes a deal. Take half the buyout and move on. If you dont, I will keep you as coach until the AD job is gone, and then can you.

      I dont see how BDC puts up with a Gill with empty stands, game after game, and cant see how he faces anything else, with CR still coach.

      • I didn’t even know they played in the CBI. lol

        I knew they were invited or what not, but I didn’t know it happened already. Basically, I didn’t look at anything related to men’s hoops once the Pac-12 tourney ended. And I only followed that hoping for some kind of dream run. I think most fans fall into this camp. Apathy is running high.

  10. Turned on the osu middle Tennessee game. That Joe Burton chick is a tank. Beavs up 35-23 in 2nd half in a battle of defenses. (or lack of offenses)

    • Yup. BDC basically has no choice but to fire him. He may still want to keep him but with crowds likely to be record low next year, the only route to go is firing Craig and bring in a new coach. The CBI loss was the final straw. Ultimately agreeing to play in the CBI may end up being a blessing in disguise

      • As others, including Eggers, have said, there may be viable ways to see CR leave and not pay the big buyout which has been in the headlines. Rsteve503 above put forth a good description of how this could be handled; but, BDC has been skinned by CR in the past and may not be able to pull this off.

          • Bush couldn’t have ever come up with anything remotely resembling anything as good as the ACA. And I give the ACA a 1 on a scale of 1-10. If you’re going to blame anyone like that, blame John Chafee. But even that’s a stretch.

            Bush did gift us Medicare D, and that’s been horrendous on medical costs… in every sector except Medicare D itself… which is unfunded anyway… yippee!

            Perhaps we could ditch it all for the Swiss model? I hear “conservatives” touting this. But I think you’d be hearing a giant howl from them if they truly knew what that would entail.
            http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/8/1442.full

            And can anyone tell me why the people who are supposed to hate unions are always incorrectly calling for tort reform instead of letting the AMA shuffle malfeasant doctors around like the Catholic Church shuffles pedophiles from one archdiocese to another.

  11. Warren Buffet offerred $10.00 for a perfect CBI bracket. There were at least a dozen submitted. As of this evening my picks are all correct!!

    Making big plans where to spend the payout. JB

  12. I still don’t see BDC firing Robinson mostly due to the buyout.

    I also don’t see a firing because BDC fears a repeat of the process when Robinson was hired.
    Many coaches showed interest only to use it as leverage to get a raise/extension. That would likely play out again if Robinson were let go now.

    – It’s safe to assume that no major HC will be interested unless there are big $. (which OSU can’t afford).
    – Which is why OSU will have to go after a smaller school’s HC. Thereby giving tremendous leverage to that coach over his current school. He gets the raise and extension and OSU has nothing.

    OSU is essentially stuck. If Robinson is fired, it’s a lot of $ and it will be BDC who will make the next hire. I don’t think the donors really want BDC to be making another hire. If Robinson sticks around, mediocrity continues.

    • Dont see it that way. OSU is now not the disaster it was when John was axed. There are always coaches looking to move up a step and advance their careers. The Pac 12 is not full of giants in basketball, so success isnt impossible at OSU.

      And there are scenarios where we dont pay that full 4 mil buyout.

      Given the looming attendance disaster if CR stays, I think there is good incentive for BDC to do SOMETHING. I predict he will not just sit back and just mumble that we cant afford it.

      And…I would rather have BDC hiring someone new, than watch CR take the program further down the drain. Rueck shows you can get lucky with someone other than a proven big name.

      • One thing nobody really wants to talk about is recruiting.

        Corvallis and OSU do not make it hard to recruit good and great players. That’s just a lie created by people who don’t want to do the work required to play the recruiting game.

        PSAs want to play in front of a full house. No elite prospect will come back after visiting and seeing a whopping 2000 people in a 10k capacity arena.

  13. Here’s a solution.
    Fire BDC and make Robinson the AD. He can fund raise better than BDC. No buyout required.
    You don’t need to go after a really big coach to be successful. There are plenty of good coaches out there for less money. Look at how competitive ND State was.

  14. “I also don’t see a firing because BDC fears a repeat of the process when Robinson was hired.”

    “OSU is now not the disaster it was when John was axed.”

    Looking at the problems with men’s basketball, and previous problem with women’s basketball and Wagner, makes me wonder if BDC doesn’t like Riley simply because he doesn’t cause him significant problems….unless you view declining interest as a problem.

    • I don’t think there’s any doubt about it, ObjC. Look at this way. Riley’s 2012 9-3 regular season and upper level bowl bid (Alamo) easily translates to NCAA basketball tourney as a 4 or 5 seed. This past year’s 6-6 and the Hawaii bowl is akin to an NIT bid. By parallel extension, if Craig Robinson had his team in those fields the past two years he wouldn’t be waiting for the call to the AD’s office. Now, cue the accusations that I’m a Riley apologist.

      • I think thats a very fair comparison between bowls to tourney births. Even in the Riley down years he is still doing the equivalent of the NIT, keeping fans watching and hungry for more. Fans have no reason to watch OSU Basketball expect for those that enjoy punishment, myself included. Its sad.

        • A loss to Eastern Washington and a 5 game losing streak had fans hungry for more? I felt about the 2013 football season how I felt about the end of the 2013-14 basketball season. I just wanted the season over with.

          • Well a loss to EWU was horrible but then they pull out a game like against Utah and pull you back in. Thats my point. The basketball team doesn’t do that. Nobody even cared with a road victory in Maryland because it was a anomaly. The football team is good for a let down or 3 a season but will also win some games they shouldn’t. It is much more exciting than the basketball program, thats what I am getting at.

            Does not mean I am content with the football program, just from a watchability standpoint.

          • Agree. There isnt much comparison between football and basketball at OSU. Riley is in gneral, successful. CR isnt. If Riley stays, its ok– fans can reasonably expect successful seasons, even if we never get a conference title or BCS bowl. If CR stays, it doesnt look good. An attendance disaster.

          • One thing is true. If Riley was the relative of the current or any past POTUS, anyone dumb enough to not think for themselves would find any chance to bring it up and pretend it was a viable excuse for them not being able to think for themselves.

            The irony is even funnier when those who do chant this propaganda laced idiocy also whisper something about personal responsibility and then proclaim that pawning it off on some deity every Sunday gives them such.

        • I dont think so. The NIT isnt much of an accomplishment. Before the NCAA tourney expanded to 64 the NIT was something, but not now.

          OSU football fans are not “hungry for more”. Riley has established himself as a good coach but with no greatness in him. He has never gone BCS, despite being the longest tenured coach in the conference, and in recent years seems to have slowed down. Fans might be content to get mostly winning seasons, with no high tier bowl games, but if they hunger for more, they are gonna starve, under Riley.

          If anyone hungers for more, as is the case in this blog, better hire a sniper and hope for a great replacement.

      • I’ll agree with a 9-3/Alamo season as being an NCAA equivalent. But the seed would be equivalent to an 8/9 seed in the tourney.

        6-6/Hawai’i is the CIT. That’s not even CBI material right there. Let’s not forget how bad our RPI would be hit by losing to a lower division school. The hoops team losing to Coppin State is 100 times more respectable than football losing to an FCS school.

  15. My final solution:
    Robinson leaves and we just pay him the damn $4m minus about $1m for his expected salary as an AD at Princeton. $1m per year for three years can easily be recouped from the lost opportunities we have now in apathetic boosters and empty seats.

    Then we go out and hire David Smart. I recall an article about him a couple weeks ago where he clearly gave his walking numbers: $500k a year for four years or $400k a year for five years. The time period is more important to him, and I think the money is low… even if he thinks it’s probably ridiculously high. But we could swing that kind of guaranteed salary and add bonus money for successes… on top of buy-out money.

  16. I saw this last night. This was not a surprising list.
    https://twitter.com/TheRecruitScoop/status/448295690817777664

    But I missed this:
    https://twitter.com/ebosshoops/status/448307292975292419

    One of the coaches I really like as an up-and-comer is Michael White, the coach at LaTech. He’s on the first tweet. Then there’s Buzz Williams getting hired at VaTech, a school who just couldn’t afford to replace their coach, let alone going out and hiring a big name away from a perennial power. He’s the reason for the new offer for Garrett.

    I would rather get Cameron Oliver than Garrett. But Garrett is no slouch, and that’s starting to show when a guy with a bunch of four star star talents incoming also decides to offer him.

  17. Guess I’ll be the first to say it. The cocks just had their way with the beavers inside in the first half. And the beavers handled the cocks inside game very sloppy.

  18. The lady Beavs are far more fundamentally sound than the men’s team. theyre gonna lose, but they play as a team and know their spots on the floor. Havent seen any of the head smacking turnovers that plague the means team

      • Yes Jack, relatives do provide cover. People do love to pile on unfairly. But he is being paid big bucks, relatively big bucks, compared to us peons. His results have been relatively modest compared to his peers, on and off the court.

        • I’m not sure that makes sense.

          The women did well relative to women’s hoops on that level. But let’s not pretend that it was great ball without obvious and correctable mistakes. The projection of greatness by some due to relativity is just ridiculous. Last night’s game, for example, gave us an example of a game where it took both sides almost two minutes to hit the rim.

  19. They played well. The good news is BDC will now be back to fire CR (according to rumors, at least)…

    Knowing BDC, he will extend him for 10 years + 1 for each CBI

    • Yep…..thats tellin it like it is. Man, the pressure is gonna be on, next year, assuming CR is back. I think he will be, …too money tough to fire him. Better bring in some hot JC transfers, CR!

      • Apples to oranges boys.

        Goe gets my “complete bullshit” vote for today. The two jobs are completely different, and one is made easier by the other.

        Let’s start with someone telling me what the two offenses of either team are. I’ve watched both teams play. I know what they are.

        I will never argue effort. The women do have that in spades over the men. I think this is what confuses most people when they think they’re talking about hoops. And I can’t blame them. I know it when I watch football and do the same. But at least I know to separate it and make it its own metric. Still, it’s a valid point no matter how muddled the observer makes the view. And I forgive because I think it’s the most important metric in sports.

        • And the program Rueck inherited was not worse. It was much better because Scotty didn’t have to inherit a legacy and keep it and make it his own. He got to start fresh.

          What exactly was the program when he took over?

          Two people.

          What was it when Robinson took over?

          Years of baby-sitting and headcases and suspensions and bullshit like that… years of it. And those lunkheads got to teach the new recruits… who pass it on down the line.

          • Robinson’s best year was the year he inherited those lunkheads. You’d think there’d at least be SOME improvement, regardless of the residual effects of those players.

          • Disagree.

            This last year was his best.

            His first year was 13-18 and a gratuitous invite to the CBI. It was decent at the time because the post-season run foretold a coach who could get it done in the post-season. That turned out to be an anomaly. He may have had that energy when beginning this journey. But it’s not apparent now.

          • And saying this last year was his best doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all getting better. It did get better from last year to this year… and from any other year to this year.

            But will attrition make that a moot point? There’s a reason we say “X years” are enough years. Now it’s just the same-old with the same attrition.

          • If you’re going to conveniently leave out the CBI record, then 13-17 is correct, but they finished strong and went 18-18. I’d say that’s better than this year’s 16-16, considering the strong finish that year and the fizzle we saw this year. (finished 8th in Pac 10 that year and 10th in Pac-12 this year)

            I guess you could argue 2011-12 was his best year at 21–15 (7-11 9th in Pac-12) with a CBI Semi-final loss. But it’s been downhill since that season and as he’s progressed into using only “his” players.

          • mabe you could enlighten me to what offense our mens team runs because it looks like freelancing rat ball to me 90% of the time.

    • Frt… I think Gill is awesome. I don’t know where schmuck boy gets the idea the lower bowl needs some $15m overhaul. I would like to sit in those seats without having to spread my legs apart so wide so as to take up the leg room of the people on either side. So maybe that’s what they’re talking about.

      But that’s not what they’re talking about.

      They’re talking about really nothing important and then giving over your identity to corporate sponsorship.

      But I guess that’s another rant.

      Gill needs new lighting and sound… and maybe a scoreboard over the court if it can structurally be swung… literally. Other than that, it’s actually a draw for recruits. It’s better than most arenas when we talk recruiting. It’s an old school feel with size. That’s nearly impossible to find these days. When you rate arenas, one of the top five now and forever is the Palestra. Gill has that feel, and recruits see it immediately.

    • And I disagree with the notion that our women made a “memorable” run. I think they will make memorable runs in the coming years. But what they did this year should be the norm, not memorable.

      Cue the “it’s hard to recruit to Corvallis/OSU” apologist crowd.

      Sorry… I forgot… in 3…2…1….

  20. I like the idea of this being a landmark year for Beaver wbb but to expect good performances year-to-year henceforth. I was somewhat weary of all the hype – I understand it and there really wasn’t much else to get excited about but I would love it if this was almost routine.

    I, too, like Gill. I believe so much could be done with it at a fraction of projected costs for a new facility. It seems curious that BDC would come up with the idea for a 2-story bb practice facility; perhaps that was his one creative moment. I’ve worked with historic designations and if that is the stumbling block for a renovated Gill – go through the legislature or Congress, for that matter.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here