Extension for Brown

[alum73]

The signing period is imminent and there's got to be questions in the eyes of our recruits as to whether the coach is going to be here. This deal needs to get done ASAP.

[AlbanyObserver]

I would really be shocked if Brown gets an extension any time soon. Yes, I feel he has done a fantastic job and is underpaid. However, McElroy wants to see if the program can handle the high expectations for next year before committing to Brown. If Brown does well next year and wants to leave, that is his option. As much as I want Brown to stay longterm, I am confident UAlbany will have several people interested in the position if it becomes open again.

[alum73]

So we lose freshman recruits to other programs who fill their ear with uncertainty at UA. If that's McElroy's approach, I'm not in favor of it. Brown has proven to be both a good coach and recruiter. What more does our program need at this stage or any stage for that matter?

[Dane Pound]

However, McElroy wants to see if the program can handle the high expectations for next year before committing to Brown

 

I would think the fact that there are high expectations should be enough to commit to Brown. Those expectations didn't exist before he got here, he helped create them.

[AlbanyObserver]

Have you e-mailed McElroy about your support for Brown???? Little things like that can help make a difference. On the other hand, I am sure several athletic administrators view this board on a frequent basis.

[statefan]

Is this decision Dr. McElroy's to make alone, or does it have to run through President Hall? I honestly don't know, but the reason I raise the question is that President Hall clearly has more pressing concerns. Please remember that not only was there a vacancy in the presidency for a year and a half, but to be fair President Hitchcock didn't really work the job too hard in her final year. It is my understanding that the Provost position has been vacant for almost two years and another high ranking vice presidency (the title of which escapes me for the moment) has been vacant as well.

 

When President Hall arrived, he needed to assess the student body, the faculty, fill the job vacancies and counteract the very real problem existing in the minds of parents of potential students raised by the Princeton Review fiasco. I have never met President Hall, but people whose opinions I trust who have met him speak very highly of his approach to begin solving these problems, and I think everyone got a peek into his mindset with the change of fundraising principles he sought.

 

So, with all this and much more to deal with, I truely believe that Prsident Hall's first series of public perception activities cannot be spending money on football stadiums or giving raises to basketball coaches. These would be terribly detrimental to the faculty's first opinions of him.

 

Please be assured that I have no agenda here; I'm not an employee of the university, only an alum and a sports fan. I happen to like Coach Brown and have been impressed with most of his accomplishments and activities. There are some areas I feel he can and will do a better job in as he gains more experience. In the end I feel that President Hall and Dr. McElroy will make the decision, the timing and substance of which, will be in the best overall long-term interests of the University. I have a great deal of respect for the other posters in this string, but I really think complaining about the lack of a contract extension here (and on the Siena Board) is detrimental to both the University and Coach Brown. Just my opinion; I'm sure many disagree.

[GODANESGO]

Have you e-mailed McElroy about your support for Brown????

I did about a month ago, at about Conference Tournament time. He emailed me back a few days later agreeing with my positive comments about Coach Brown...including saying that he believes the program is going in the right direction under Coach Brown's lead.

[alum73]

I started 2 e-mails but never sent them. I wasn't sure if they would have the desired affect.

[Dane Pound]

I sent an email also after the tourney which was probably much like the one GoDanesGo sent.

 

I should say from my perspective this isn't a Will Brown vs. Dr. McElroy thing. I really think they have both done a great job at Albany and hope they're here a long time.

 

Admittedly I may have overracted a bit after reading some of the stuff on the Siena board (probably it's intention) and the (hopefully) humorous take on the UPS slogan was the result.

 

Actually using Siena and McCafferty as an example it sounds like UNCG did the same thing with him that AO outlined happening with Brown. They let his contract go until the end and then wanted to offer him an extention. In the meantime he looked around and took the job at Siena. I'm not saying that's what will happen in this case but it's what in part prompted my discussing this. If there is no deal and Brown walked away next year I would have regretted not mentioning it.

 

Statefan mentioned that this whole thread may be detremential to UA and the process. I hope it isn't but he's probably right about trusting McElroy to do the right thing as I have no complaints about what he's done with other sports. It may just be that over the past 5 years everything that could go wrong has gone wrong with the hoop program and I'm just waiting for the next crisis. I believe psychologists call that "defensive pessimism."

[alumni '92']

I would think the fact that there are high expectations should be enough to commit to Brown. Those expectations didn't exist before he got here, he helped create them. - Dane Pound

great posts, valuable commentary DP/GoDanesGo/alum73/AlbanyObserver ... who knows what has been said behind closed doors, but having endured the early years of this DI experience, and now seeing the path we appear to be headed following the difficult change of direction that needed to be overcome, it would seem to be highly foolish to do anything other than offer Brown a generous extension ... skilled recruiter/proven track record/personable/professional representative for the university/expressed a desire to be here for the long haul ... lock him up now, even if it doesn't fit existing AD policy ... Do the Right Thing

[DaneFan2k3]

I don't even see it as doing the "right" thing. I think it's just plain common sense.

 

Yes, you MAY get a better coach if you decide to not extend him and he leaves (or you fire him). And you MAY not. Is that a risk that our program should be taking at this point in time? I don't think it is.

 

Here is another new way to look at it: Who really looked at Scott Beeten, an assistant from a PAC-10 school, an associate head coach, and said "Hey, you're making a big f'ing mistake and it's going to set you back a few years?"

 

I doubt anyone thought that or verbalized it.

 

Nothing is guaranteed.

 

Who is going to be available in a year from now? Who will have interest in a job if the program again makes the AE tournament and wins a game or two, and then the coach is let go? Or will the team totally collapse and revert to where it was a few years back, who will have interest then?

 

Is hiring a coach from a middle-of-the-road program like UNC-Greensboro really the answer? Time will tell. (It could work out for Siena; the facilities that the Spartans have are sub-par and the people I talked with said he had done the best possible job he could do at UNC-G given his conference, facilities and general lack of support at the school).

 

You could get an assistant from a big-name program, or a guy from a smaller school like Greensboro. Or, you could get stiffed and be hung out to dry, settling for someone you didn't really want in the first place. It's really a crapshoot at this point.

 

The other option, which is why I say this is just common sense (to me), is to extend Will Brown now while you can.

 

On the one hand, the team could take off, his stock skyrockets, and he's getting calls from schools that would have to be considered a step up.

 

Or, you can look at it like he has been the driving force behind our success over the past few years and why would you chance letting that go?

[alumni '92']

Or, you can look at it like he has been the driving force behind our success over the past few years and why would you chance letting that go? - DaneFan2k3

call it what you will ... Just Do It

[AlbanyObserver]

As UAlbany is still in its infancy at the Division I level, fundraising continues to be a major issue. If McElroy doesn't renew Brown or loses Brown for waiting, I wonder what kind of backlash would result in alums and donors reducing their contributions to the athletic department???