Coach Brown/AD Benson Thread

[Clickclack]

19 minutes ago, Dane Pound said:

A solid No to this. The 5th place finish this year was not a result of coaching or players. It was at the whim of the AE conference schedule makers.

The lousy part of this decision is that whatever issues I've had with recruiting in the past couple of seasons, they seemed to figure it out this year. Horton, Kelly, Champion and Doles were all good recruits. On paper, we would have had a lot of talent returning next year.

Funny the way the arguments have gone. It seems like the alumni/fans furthest from Albany are mostly "OK" with the coaching change. While the alumni/fans closest to Albany aren't OK with it. The hard part for Benson and the Admins is that it's the people closest to Albany that go to games, etc.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree if he should get a pass on 3 losing season and 4 out of 5 times not getting out of quarters but it's a moot point now.

I would have been fine either way and I'm not a long distance fan. I vehemently disagree that the program was in good shape. Sorry...paper talent doesn't win. Did they show promise this season? Sure but 3 games ago they were an unmitigated mess losing to sbu at home.

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Clickclack

[Dane Pound]

40 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

I would have been fine either way and I'm not a long distance fan. 

 

I know you're local. You would fired every coach a few times over by now.

PS. that was a joke.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Dane Pound

[Clickclack]

5 minutes ago, Dane Pound said:

I know you're local. You would fired every coach a few times over by now.

I didn't call for Browns job...

Edited March 2, 2021 by Clickclack

[alum73]

8 hours ago, UA'08 said:

And do you think Albany wins the bidding to host the quarterfinals in 2023 without him?

Yes

[Clickclack]

1 minute ago, alum73 said:

Yes

Seconded...hard Yes!

[MRSGDG]

Brown wrote an open letter to the community 

 

[OrangeDane]

Haven’t  posted in many moons...long time donor...way before there was a GDAC....and I dont want and won’t exchange banter over the efficacy of this move...in sum this move disappoints and disgusts me..it is an affront to a fine academic institution and a coach who embodied its ideals. Unless Benson goes and/ or Brown is restored my contributions to UAlbany Athletics are over and I have urged colleaques and friends to do likewise. 
This action should not stand and can not be tolerated by any right thinking individuals.

That’s it.

Edited March 2, 2021 by OrangeDane

[Clickclack]

9 minutes ago, MRSGDG said:

Brown wrote an open letter to the community 

 

Classy read, even in his final moment and interaction at UA he did it the right way. That reads to me as someone who is content with this change and ready to try and make a run at a new opportunity. Maybe I'm crazy! I didn't detect any bitterness even though the back-story and the premeditated nature of the move is rotten to the core. 

[Eli]

10 minutes ago, MRSGDG said:

Brown wrote an open letter to the community 

 

That's a great letter. Thank you Coach Brown.

6 minutes ago, OrangeDane said:

Haven’t  posted in many moons...long time donor...way before there was a GDAC....and I dont want and won’t exchange banter over the efficacy of this move...in sum this move disappoints and disgusts me..it is an affront to a fine academic institution and a coach who embodied its ideals. Unless Benson goes and/ or Brown is restored my contributions to UAlbany Athletics are over and I have urged colleaques and friends to do likewise. 
This action should not stand and can not be tolerated by any right thinking individuals.

That’s it.

Unfortunately, I see no way Benson gets fired (unless this new hire doesn't pan out in 2-3 years) or brings Brown back at the direction of the school president, etc. That would be a death sentence career wise and the most awkward working relationship in a very public job.

[MRSGDG]

10 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Classy read, even in his final moment and interaction at UA he did it the right way. That reads to me as someone who is content with this change and ready to try and make a run at a new opportunity. Maybe I'm crazy! I didn't detect any bitterness even though the back-story and the premeditated nature of the move is rotten to the core. 

It was "mutual" in the UA Press Release of course his letter has to sound content and nice. He has never been someone to throw people under the bus, plus he is on a job hunt. 

[Clickclack]

5 minutes ago, MRSGDG said:

It was "mutual" in the UA Press Release of course his letter has to sound content and nice. He has never been someone to throw people under the bus, plus he is on a job hunt. 

While I understand your sentiment and recognize the reality, my opinion is unchanged from what read and private conversation. Will has put up with a lot of BS, I keep having this nagging thought that he may not be as broken up about it as people think. He'll land on his feet and take on the next challenge. Obviously it's always hard to move on after that many years and uncertainty of where things will go from here but, how do I put this delicately, there will be some release in not having to deal with some of the clown-show. 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Clickclack

[MRSGDG]

16 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

While I understand your sentiment and recognize the reality, my opinion is unchanged from what read and private conversation. Will has put up with a lot of BS, I keep having this nagging thought that he may not be as broken up about it as people think. He'll land on his feet and take on the next challenge. Obviously it's always hard to move on after that many years and uncertainty of where things will go from here but, how do I put this delicately, there will be some release in not having to deal with some of the clown-show. 

I'm sure there has to be some relief to longer have to deal with the BS of Benson, etc. That has to be somewhat a weird/good feeling, but I wouldn't take that this is the outcome that was wanted. As other have posted his father was clearly stating he was "loyal" on Twitter. He wanted to stay, Benson just made it difficult along the way.  And I agree with you, he will land on his feet for a new adventure, but again I wouldn't take that as he is okay about it. And I know everyone can have their own opinion. I get not all of us have the personal facts so it is what it is on this board, based on what you want to believe or not. That's why I don't post on this board so much. The conjecturing gets old. But I do get that's the point on online forums, to shoot the sh it and guess at what is going on. Sometimes people are right and other times wrong, but that's the point of the board. 👍 

Edited March 2, 2021 by MRSGDG

[cwdickens]

5 minutes ago, MRSGDG said:

I'm sure there has to be some relief to longer have to deal with the BS of Benson, etc. That has to be somewhat a weird/good feeling, but I wouldn't take that this is the outcome that was wanted. As other have posted his father was clearly stating he was "loyal" on Twitter. He wanted to stay, Benson just made it difficult along the way.  And I agree with you, he will land on his feet for a new adventure, but again I wouldn't take that as he is okay about it. And I know everyone can have their own opinion. I get not all of us have the personal facts so it is what it is on this board, based on what you want to believe or not. That's why I don't post on this board so much. The conjecturing gets old. But I do get that's the point on online forums, to shoot the sh it and guess at what is going on. Sometimes people are right and other times wrong, but that's the point of the board. 👍 

Nicely said ..... Will Brown will coach again .... Likely has fielded few inquiries .... Our loss.. Our school's loss,  our community's loss

[godanesgo99]

We can keep debating all we want, but its now done with no real chance of being reversed.

What Will did was prove that we can bring in high quality student athletes, perform at a high level and make it to the NCAA tournament. He made Albany a destination for players that could go higher, but wanted to play right away and be part of something growing. He made players that were underrecruited feel good and want to come here to prove they could have made it elsewhere. He showed it could be done at UAlbany. 

The UA job should be an attractive one (outside of budget issues, NYS problems, and UA problems) as the team has always been competitive, is in one of the top 60 media markets in the country, and could be a springboard.

Let's hope that Benson uses those things to find someone that wants to take what has been built and grow it to the next level. My initial response was to be mad at Benson and the athletic staff. It made me want to cancel my basketball and football season tickets, but at the end of the day - I bleed Purple and Gold and will continue to support our fine student athletes and our school.  

Edited March 2, 2021 by godanesgo99

[Clickclack]

16 minutes ago, MRSGDG said:

I'm sure there has to be some relief to longer have to deal with the BS of Benson, etc. That has to be somewhat a weird/good feeling, but I wouldn't take that this is the outcome that was wanted. As other have posted his father was clearly stating he was "loyal" on Twitter. He wanted to stay, Benson just made it difficult along the way.  And I agree with you, he will land on his feet for a new adventure, but again I wouldn't take that as he is okay about it. And I know everyone can have their own opinion. I get not all of us have the personal facts so it is what it is on this board, based on what you want to believe or not. That's why I don't post on this board so much. The conjecturing gets old. But I do get that's the point on online forums, to shoot the $iena and guess at what is going on. Sometimes people are right and other times wrong, but that's the point of the board. 👍 

I'm not suggesting that he left voluntarily, or if given the choice he wouldn't have stayed. That is not my contention, I think the reality of what happened is pretty well out there at this point. My only point is, especially as new opportunities open up for him, it's not the end of the world. I'll add one more thing, that yes, there are people who as you put it "guess at what is goin on" I would content there's a blend of that some truth, some conjecture from everyone here, but there are more than one or two people here who also have/had personal relationships over the years with the people involved in this saga. I would venture to say that there are buckets of water being carried here and everyone has their own biases, both ways. Different fans/posters having different runways for how much mediocrity or losing they are willing to deal with. Those that have had a more personal relationship with the staff are more lenient than those that don't have a personal relationship. Due to circumstances as they have unfolded, some long seated and very personal relationships are being severed in the context of coach/fan and some of that pain is palpable. It's understandable, it will take time. 

As Coach Brown moves on, the attention should turn even more towards the administrator, Mark Benson and how he runs this entire athletic department. If he wasn't under a microscope before, he should be now. 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Clickclack