Just looking for some perspective here from other experienced D-I coaches.

I'm coaching Tulane in Rupp. We made the Elite 8 last season and I probably would have been either the first or second choice for most jobs, but I had all 5 starters returning so I decided to come back for one more season. (In retrospect, probably a mistake, since Arizona was available.)

I coached Georgia for a long time in Wooden with a fair amount of success so I have some familiarity with the upper levels of D-I, but I don't know what would be the best choice for a "destination" job. The three most appealing jobs currently open in Rupp are Boston College, FSU, and Oregon.

BC has the highest baseline prestige of the three, but it almost seems like the worst choice to me for a couple reasons. One, you're a long way from all your conference mates. I know every year there are hurt feelings on conference bullentin boards and threads in here about "stealing" recruits, but there are also a ton of coaches who go out of their way not to compete with conference mates. However, BC is so far away from the other 11 ACC schools you're rarely if ever going to benefit from that kind of generosity. On the other hand, at BC you're stuck in the middle of Big East and A10 territory, so it would seem to me you'd be in battles all the time.

FSU seems a good job--lots of Florida recruits to go around and other ACC/SEC schools aren't *that* close. Oregon seems intriguing as well--can dip into CA and split the elite Pacific Northwest recruits with OSU and the Washington schools.

But BC does have the highest baseline prestige...

Anyway, just looking for opinions. I don't care about the current situation; rebuilding doesn't scare me.

Personally, I think a good coach would be successful at any of those three schools.

I also think it varies from world-to-world. For instance, in Allen, the ACC has long been a monster conference, being there would be much more attractive to me than the Pac-10. I might also look at if there are secondary conferences that are really strong in your world in a way that would provide a bunch of additional local competition.

Oregon is going to be a much less fertile recruiting area than the other two. Personally I'd prefer BC. Lots of recruits in the area, good prestige, good conference. I respect your point that you're farther from conference mates, but I think there can be some good with that along with the bad. More than anything, being in an area w. a ton of recruiting options is an advantage, imho. And I think FSU can be pretty hit-or-miss as far as recruits go.

(And FWIW, I might prefer BC over AZ.)

Dalt sums it up pretty well. Really would depend on much more then the school name for me to make a choice. I'd likely choose 'Zona of all the ones mentioned. But that would be based on baseline alone, it would also matter how strong the texas teams were in said world.

Conference strength is a huge factor and likely #1 in my book. Dalt is right in saying that a good coach can be successful at any of those schools, whichever one you decide on you should be good.

I think you need to look at what the best job is in the world currently. And that is easy.

FSU is a WAYYYYYYY better program in Rupp right now. They will have only one season of SIM control when you take over. Also, in Rupp, the PAC 10 is way down (you know, CUSA is ahead of them in RPI lately), which hurts Oregon...and the ACC is on the way up.

However, given how the SEC is rolling right now, it may not be a bad idea to stay from those battles! You don't want none of that! (j/k)

Oregon is exceptionally well-situated greographically. That would be its main advantage, unless another of the Oregon-Washington Pac 10 schools compete in prestige (or unless there is an A-ish Gonzaga or likewise mid-major). Otherwise, Oregon can have its pick (within reason) of top recruits within the OR, WA, ID, MT, WY states, along with any top players in Far West Canada.

My comment is predicated on the idea of a strong PAC 10. Throw that out, and the geographical advantage may be mitigated by Big 12 and Big 10 incursion.

js, I know you've done extremely well at Oregon. But I notice that only three of your players are from Oregon or Washington, with a bunch being from Montana/Wyoming/Utah/Canada. That wouldn't be so easy in another world (like Allen) where Gonzaga is B+, Montana A-, Idaho State B, Utah B, Wazzou A-, etc. So I think that what you perceive as a geographic advantage is very situational. And I'd also submit that if you are forced to get most of your recruits outside of your local recruiting zone(s), I have a hard time agreeing that would equate to being geographically well situated.

Also, in your world, Wazzou is a sim, Wash is a B- and Oregon State is a B. So I'd submit that in any world when you are the unquestioned big dog in the area, that's going to make you feel pretty good about things.

I'd take Oregon but that's just because it's my favorite team.

In all seriousness, I agree with what John said. Pac 10 in Rupp is down and FSU is a better option.

You said you are not worried about rebuilding so I would take the job that has the best conference in the world, and combine that with the best possible recruiting location out of the 3 and make your decision based on that.

Thanks for the opinions. I suppose I'm leaning toward FSU a bit, but I'm a UNC grad and even in WIS don't relish the idea of playing the Heels every year. That might push me to Oregon. Maybe something even more attractive will shake free as well.

What is your conference like, the way you are winning right now Tulane and your prestige might get way up there. Unless you have a connection to a school you want to coach like UNC for example, maybe staying at Tulane might be better than those 3 openings. But that is only if things look good for the future, if you could build a consistant winner there then you could just wait until the perfect situation opens up.

You do only have 3 Sr. on the roster right now, I would tend to stay where you are right now unless a job you really want opens up, or you lose like your whole team to the NBA.

Quote: Originally Posted By dalter on 2/11/2010
js, I know you've done extremely well at Oregon. But I notice that only three of your players are from Oregon or Washington, with a bunch being from Montana/Wyoming/Utah/Canada. That wouldn't be so easy in another world (like Allen) where Gonzaga is B+, Montana A-, Idaho State B, Utah B, Wazzou A-, etc. So I think that what you perceive as a geographic advantage is very situational. And I'd also submit that if you are forced to get most of your recruits outside of your local recruiting zone(s), I have a hard time agreeing that would equate to being geographically well situated.

Also, in your world, Wazzou is a sim, Wash is a B- and Oregon State is a B. So I'd submit that in any world when you are the unquestioned big dog in the area, that's going to make you feel pretty good about things.

But you'd have to also admit that, in general, the PAC 10 is going to bring in more revenue than the conferences of the schools you mentioned (with the obvious exception of Washington), which might mitgate it back to Oregon's favor.

As far as BC goes, if it is a strong ACC, then you'd have the same revenue advantage on the Big East and A10 area competition, so looking at that their relative success compared to the ACC might help as well.

No, we're comparing the Pac-10 to the ACC, not the Big Sky, et al. Yes, I would assume that the Pac-10 would, on average, bringin more revenue than smaller conference in that area. But that's true in all worlds. The key variable from world-to-world that I was pinpointing is that there may be other (even numerous) non-BCS schools in the area with the ability to make your life very difficult.

daalter, I completely agree with you. That's why I followed up with the requirements for being the "big dog."

Quote: Originally Posted By jpritchard on 2/11/2010Thanks for the opinions. I suppose I'm leaning toward FSU a bit, but I'm a UNC grad and even in WIS don't relish the idea of playing the Heels every year. That might push me to Oregon. Maybe something even more attractive will shake free as well

See, since I can't get my alma mater (Iowa), I love playing them instead.

And I bet you are right that something will shake out. Heck, we didn't know mjwilson would be leaving Tenn or FDND343434343 would be leaving FSU at this point last year. Something good will open up I am sure.