Northwestern site: "it is time to replace Bill Carmody"

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Um, they gave him a contract extension about a month ago. Carmody is not going to be let go anytime soon.
 

They are happy with being almost on the bubble ...so why replace him?
 

"The administration reads this forum, respects it and also looks to it as a finger on the pulse of the fan base."

Sounds like a bit of grandeur...
 


I've always thought Carmody was an excellent tactician and teacher, but there's something missing in his approach. His teams the last few years have had enough nice players that they should have found a way to sneak into the tournament.
 

Carmody has massively underachieved.
In an era where schools like Vandy are ranked in the top 25....what Carmody has done at Northwestern is underachieving even for Northwestern.
 

Rosemountian said:
Carmody has massively underachieved.
In an era where schools like Vandy are ranked in the top 25....what Carmody has done at Northwestern is underachieving even for Northwestern.
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Huh?

Vanderbilt has a decent basketball tradition stretching back to the mid-60's. They've made the tournament 11 times and the Sweet Sixteen 6 times.

Northwestern had 3 postseason appearances (all NIT) in 97 seasons before Carmody was hired. He will equal that achievement this year in his 11th season.

Neither of your comments (re: Vandy or NU) make any sense.
 

dpodoll....When are you gonna learn that an individual's opinion is more valid than anything, anywhere. It does NOT have to make sense.
 



The comparison to Vandy doesn't really make sense you are right. I was just thinking academically and not historically. Regardless, he has underachieved. Saying Northwestern has underachieved is just fact.
Postseason appearances is the most worthless stat in college athletics because in the recent past it has become so inflated. In 1978 32 teams made the NCAA tourney. In 1985 64 did. Northwesterns program in the late 60s was much better than it is today.

What I am basically saying is this. In an era with much more parity where teams like George Mason can make a final four and Gonzaga can turn into a national powerhouse, I don't think it is unfair to say 140-163 (Entering this year) is underachieving. I don't think saying 51-115 in conference is underachieving is unfair. I don't think that an average Big Ten finish of 8.6 calls for a lifetime contract. I don't think finishing .500 or better in conference play 1 time in 11 years is getting it done even for a program that has been as bad as northwestern has been.
 

I can see this both ways. Certainly it's not that hard to make an NCAA tournament now and then, and there's really no excuse for why NW hasn't done it. But Carmody has still done better then any that came before him in recent decades. Basically he's the NW basketball version of Glen Mason. Do they fire him and roll the dice? I wouldn't. It's not worth the strong possiblity of a Brewster-esque backslide to the days of 1 or 2 conference wins. Others may disagree.
 

One word why the Cats don't succeed: Defense. In their "up" they can shoot and have an offense that messes with people and they can put points on the board. Their has almost always been awful, though.
 

A better comparison than Vandy for NU is Duke. Very similar schools academically, both have major issues with football (which NU has somewhat put aside recently) and yet polar opposites in basketball. Being the only Big Ten school in Chicagoland should count for something. With the right coach, NU could be a top ten program.

Minnesota football has far, far more built in disadvantages than NU basketball.

I could see why NU would roll the dice with a new coach.

PS Anyone see the NU women's game on the Big Ten network a week or so ago? They had a student section of four. To their credit they stayed standing the five minutes i watche.
 



Winnipegopher said:
A better comparison than Vandy for NU is Duke. Very similar schools academically, both have major issues with football (which NU has somewhat put aside recently) and yet polar opposites in basketball. Being the only Big Ten school in Chicagoland should count for something. With the right coach, NU could be a top ten program.

Minnesota football has far, far more built in disadvantages than NU basketball.

I could see why NU would roll the dice with a new coach.

PS Anyone see the NU women's game on the Big Ten network a week or so ago? They had a student section of four. To their credit they stayed standing the five minutes i watche.
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Duke spends about $14 million a year on basketball, more than any program in the country. Northwestern, about $4 million, which puts them almost dead last in spending amongst major conference teams. That's an advantage that isn't wiped out by hiring a new coach.

(Numbers as of 2009)
 

Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
Duke spends about $14 million a year on basketball, more than any program in the country. Northwestern, about $4 million, which puts them almost dead last in spending amongst major conference teams. That's an advantage that isn't wiped out by hiring a new coach.

(Numbers as of 2009)
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In 1980, Duke was nowhere near the highest spending program in the country. Success breeds revenue. All NU needs is an administration that will pay top 3 in the Big Ten for the program. If they do success will follow. Possibly huge success if Duke is an example.
 

Winnipegopher said:
Being the only Big Ten school in Chicagoland should count for something.
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Well unfortunately even though the Cats market themselves as "Chicago's Big Ten Team," they clearly are not. Illinois is Chicago's Big ten team and have started to keep kids in state better. this year they have a top 10 recruiting class with all Chicago kids.

If Depaul was doing well they would even surpass NU. The City kids don't want to go to NU because there is no way they would achieve academically or even qualify to get into the school. They would rather leave and play for a big time program where they can be seen by NBA scouts and make some cash money.
 

CrocShots said:
Well unfortunately even though the Cats market themselves as "Chicago's Big Ten Team," they clearly are not. Illinois is Chicago's Big ten team and have started to keep kids in state better. this year they have a top 10 recruiting class with all Chicago kids.

If Depaul was doing well they would even surpass NU. The City kids don't want to go to NU because there is no way they would achieve academically or even qualify to get into the school. They would rather leave and play for a big time program where they can be seen by NBA scouts and make some cash money.
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That's part of it, though the generalization that none of the city kids could get into NU is a bit harsh. I would add that, just like with Gopher sports, keeping kids at home isn't as easy as it would sound in a big metro area. Often times, kids want to go away to college as is something of a tradition in this country. Going from Detroit to East Lansing or even Ann Arbor seems more legitimately like "going away" than moving from the south side of Chicago to Evanston or from Bloomington to Minneapolis. For kids coming out of high school, sometimes the grass is just greener in another city.
 

RodentRampage said:
"The administration reads this forum, respects it and also looks to it as a finger on the pulse of the fan base."

Sounds like a bit of grandeur...
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FWIW, I've been following this blog for a while now and frankly IMO it's probably pretty true. The NU community is a smaller one and the guy who heads up LTP is very plugged into the athletic dept and the wider NU athletic community. And since there aren't a ton of NU gathering places on the net it wouldn't surprise at all if they tracked what is being said there.

The expressed intent of LTP was to create an online community of NU supporters so that the culture of athletics at NU could be improved. The goal was to prove that people cared/care and to lobby for improvements.
 

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