How Hot Are Our Coaches Seats?

[Red Rooster]

Gun to your head right now SJU fans. If you could trade Mullin for Wright, would you?

You were certainly less passionate than Chest, but the two of you practically ended up in the same place. NJ probably should turn the gun on you and Chest, based on the ability to fundamentally pick up on what NJ meant in his post. Why even ask that question when that isn't remotely what NJ was was trying to insinuate? Are the two of you that obtuse or terribly insecure?

[GoldenWarrior11]

Right now, the only hot seat is with Kevin Willard. With Danny Hurley lurking in the shadows at Rhode Island, Seton Hall has the candidate in place to yank the plug on Willard if there isn't significant improvement from last year. I'm not positive Seton Hall will make that smart of a decision, however - we shall see.

At present, we have 9 coaches that appear entrenched in their positions for the foreseeable future. However, all it takes is one investigation, one arrest, one class or one fight to throw these perceptions down to the curb. Our programs need to continue to focus on getting better each season with high-quality student-athletes that represent the institutions well, led by high character coaches.

[billyjack]

I gave Wright and JT3 a "2" on the Hot Seat rather than a "1", but only because I've heard crazy VU and GU fans complain about both of them at times, because of early exits. I think those fans are completely nuts, but more of these nutty fans might come out of the woodwork.

Speaking of coaches, Wright is the most entertaining one of ours in front of the camera. In the FS1 coaches roundtables yesterday, Wright was animated and joking with others, and at ease. Mack and Cooley were a bit entertaining, but we could use more personalities like Wright. Actually Mullin is usually funny. A huge 80's BE thing was the coaches' personalities. They mostly all had huge personalities, except Dr Tom Davis and Gary Williams were kinda dry. Paul Evans was very dull too.

Personality Rating (1 being best).
Wright - 1. (animated, great storyteller, at ease)
Cooley - 3. (love his expressions, infectious personality, usually owns the room when he enters)
Mack - 3. (actually has a good sense of humor... potential to be better, but too many confuse him with Willard looks-wise).
Mullin - 4. (great attitude, best accent in league)
McDermott - 4. (pretty loose guy, nice precocious grin half the time).
Leitao - 5. (I really liked his speeches after being introduced at DePaul, well spoken... really high on him).
JT3 - 5. (good dry sense of humor, loses points for not trying hard enough in interviews).
Wojo - 7. (small sample size, no nonsense, will improve).
Holtmann - 8. (seems kinda shy, good guy, more comfortable on a basketball court than a studio).
Willard - 10. (seems very shy, great accent, can only improve).

[Westbrook#36]

Are the two of you that obtuse or terribly insecure?

This is funny coming from you or pretty much any other St. John's fan that posts on here. You guys howl at the moon in outrage over any slight, real or perceived against the Johnny's. Chest and Gumby were merely pointing out(in varying degrees of of passion), that no way in hell is Jay's seat any hotter than Mullins, none. That's just a fact. Both are completely safe for the foreseeable future.

[ChestRockwell85]

"Villanova/Jay Wright- 3 Cold, Wright has his team as the class of the league but I'm sure fans aren't happy with the quick exits from the NCAA tourney."

I think Villanova has beaten St. John's the last 14 out of 15 times we played. Jay Wright has brought in Omari Spellman and Jalen Brunson, both Top 20 / 5-star recruits over the last 2 years. Jalen was a burger boy and played on Team USA, Omari will probably be a McDonald's All-American as well. He got a transfer from the A-10 rookie of the year who put up some pretty nice numbers against St. John's as a freshman at Fordham. We have made the tournament 9 out of the last 10 years, which included a final four, elite 8s, sweet 16s, etc. We have RUN through the Big East the last 2 years, if it wasn't for Creighton in 2013-2014 beating us twice, our dominance over the Big East is almost laughable.

We have had a few early exits, there is no denying that, and Jay Wright is probably the most upset about it, but for somebody who roots for a school like St. John's, who has not won a tournament game in over 15 years, to give an unproven coach a higher grade than Jay Wright is ABSURD. I love St. John's, go to about 6 games a year, but some of your fans still think it is 1986. St. John's has got A LOT to prove and Mullin has brought in some nice pieces, but Rawle Alkins is not walking through that door. A .500 year this year would almost be good for St. John's.

I am sorry if this has come off as harsh, and I know Chris Mullin is a great guy, a tremendous basketball player, and a wonderful representative of St. John's, but before COACH Chris Mullin and St. John's are to be mentioned in the same sentence as Coach Jay Wright and Villanova, there is a ridiculous amount of work to be done.

There is nothing in the post that even comes close to stating that Mullin and St. John's are on the same level as Wright and Villanova. Nothing!

Well if you take into account that the original poster rated coaches on a scale to 1-10, with 1 being the best, for all intents and purposes he is saying Chris Mullin is the best coach in the conference, the "golden boy" who can do no wrong. This was the exact reason I didn't want Don Mattingly to coach the Yankees because if he didn't succeed it would be awful watching him fail and get fired. To rank those other coaches at a 2 and then Wright at a 3 is just not something I can agree with, in fact it is just bad.

I know we have failed in the dance the last few years, but the point is, even our "failure" has been light years beyond what a lot of these other coaches have done. Jay Wright took a program that Steve Lappas said does "OK" and turned it into a National powerhouse. A lot of these other coaches have a long way to go before they are on the level Jay is on. So again, going back to what was originally said, if Mullin is a 1, Jay Wright is a 1. If that wasn't clear in my original message we can sign up for reading lessons together.

PS - Jay was hired in 2001, since then St. John's has had 5 different coaches. Why don't you guys see how this one plays out........


St. John's/Chris Mullin- 1 Freezing, Mullin is the golden boy who returned home. Everyone is still feeling good about the hire.

Villanova/Jay Wright- 3 Cold, Wright has his team as the class of the league but I'm sure fans aren't happy with the quick exits from the NCAA tourney.

Marquette/Steve Wojo- 2 Ice Cold, Folks are excited about his recruiting class and basketball IQ.

Butler/Chris Holtman- 2 Ice Cold, after coming in as an interim coach and exceeded expectations that everyone had for the team even before Miller went nuts.

Xavier/Chris Mack- 2 Ice Cold, after a sweet 16 run and the threat of him being lured away not many in the Queen City are calling for him to go.

[ChestRockwell85]

Gun to your head right now SJU fans. If you could trade Mullin for Wright, would you?

You were certainly less passionate than Chest, but the two of you practically ended up in the same place. NJ probably should turn the gun on you and Chest, based on the ability to fundamentally pick up on what NJ meant in his post. Why even ask that question when that isn't remotely what NJ was was trying to insinuate? Are the two of you that obtuse or terribly insecure?

I just saw this but I wanted to respond in regards to where I "ended up" in my original post. The below is how I concluded my initial post and I think it is fair. Again, St. John's has had 5 coaches since 2001 when Jay Wright was first hired by Villanova. We might be obtuse and insecure, but we aren't as delusional as the majority of St. John's fans I know. It is like the last 15 years didn't even happen. We are skipping right over that. I am rooting for St. John's, but boy, you guys have a lot of ground to make up.

"I am sorry if this has come off as harsh, and I know Chris Mullin is a great guy, a tremendous basketball player, and a wonderful representative of St. John's, but before COACH Chris Mullin and St. John's are to be mentioned in the same sentence as Coach Jay Wright and Villanova, there is a ridiculous amount of work to be done."

[mpwalsh8]

I won't have the same passion as ChestR but as a long time Nova fan, I think I have a pretty good pulse on how we (alumns and fans) feel about our coach. I think if polled 98% would say that we wouldn't trade Jay for anyone. Not Coach K, not Calipari, not Ricky Pitino. Considering his age, his ability to recruit, his success on the floor as a coach, how seriously he promotes the idea of true student-athletes, his charisma as a spokesman for both Villanova University and the BE Conference, etc, etc etc. He is about as good as you can get and he wants to be at Nova. It's his dream job. He is not going anywhere and we don't want him to go anywhere.

JW sells this conference every chance he gets on the National stage. Talk all you want about early exits but he is one of 2 coaches in the league to make the FF and last time I checked no other nBE school played in MORE tourney games, or has had MORE tourney wins than JW and Villanova since inception. So judge disappointment all you will while enjoying the $ being brought in to your school's coffers via tourney credits earned.

I think your rating of 3 is based on the idea that he has not met expectations in the tourney. Should he be persecuted because he lost to a lower seed 2 years in a row (not to mention that one of those teams actually went on to win the NC) or applauded for being the lone BE school to be ranked in the Top 10 two years in a row and bringing the conference on a whole, a lot of relevance and credibility. We'll be fine long term in the tourney. I just want him to get us there every year, and he has shown that in spades. AS a Nova fan I'd say Jay is at about 0.5 on a scale to 1-10 IMO.

Gun to your head right now SJU fans. If you could trade Mullin for Wright, would you?

+1,000,000,000,000 - maybe more. Jay Wright represents VU well and we could not ask a better ambassador for Villanova University.

[stever20]

Gun to your head right now SJU fans. If you could trade Mullin for Wright, would you?

You were certainly less passionate than Chest, but the two of you practically ended up in the same place. NJ probably should turn the gun on you and Chest, based on the ability to fundamentally pick up on what NJ meant in his post. Why even ask that question when that isn't remotely what NJ was was trying to insinuate? Are the two of you that obtuse or terribly insecure?

I just saw this but I wanted to respond in regards to where I "ended up" in my original post. The below is how I concluded my initial post and I think it is fair. Again, St. John's has had 5 coaches since 2001 when Jay Wright was first hired by Villanova. We might be obtuse and insecure, but we aren't as delusional as the majority of St. John's fans I know. It is like the last 15 years didn't even happen. We are skipping right over that. I am rooting for St. John's, but boy, you guys have a lot of ground to make up.

"I am sorry if this has come off as harsh, and I know Chris Mullin is a great guy, a tremendous basketball player, and a wonderful representative of St. John's, but before COACH Chris Mullin and St. John's are to be mentioned in the same sentence as Coach Jay Wright and Villanova, there is a ridiculous amount of work to be done."

The thing is, as far as how hot the coaches seats are right now- Mullin and Wright are at least equal. This isn't who is a better coach thought, it's whose seat is hotter. That's a BIG difference.

[Red Rooster]

This is funny coming from you or pretty much any other St. John's fan that posts on here. You guys howl at the moon in outrage over any slight, real or perceived against the Johnny's. Chest and Gumby were merely pointing out(in varying degrees of of passion), that no way in hell is Jay's seat any hotter than Mullins, none. That's just a fact. Both are completely safe for the foreseeable future.

Another one who can't comprehend.

The thing is, as far as how hot the coaches seats are right now- Mullin and Wright are at least equal. This isn't who is a better coach thought, it's whose seat is hotter. That's a BIG difference.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but stever actually understood NJ's subject matter. NJ's post didn't have anything--indirectly nor directly--in relation to who's the better coach. Absolutely nothing at all!

[Burrito]

This league has a solid group of coaches. If anybody's seat is warm, it is probably Willard. He had that great recruiting class last year. If he's not able to accomplish anything of note over the next couple of years with them, I could see Seton Hall going in a different direction.