Capel gets a vote of confidence, just not the one he needs
3/10/2011 9:59:41 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jeff Capel's strongest allies right now appear to be sportswriters. He'd rather have Joe Castiglione in his corner, but the Oklahoma AD has gone neutral on him.
For now, this will have to do for a defense…
Tom Keegan of the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World gave Capel the following props: "The same team that had to go into overtime to beat North Carolina Central and lost to Chaminade improved so much during the course of the season it managed to pull off five victories in the Big 12. The Sooners never game good, but they did get a whole lot better."
Tepid support? Maybe. At least Keegan rated Capel's coaching job seventh in the Big 12 this year, ahead of Mike Anderson's, Travis Ford's, Fred Hoiberg's, Pat Knight's and Scott Drew's.
Mike Jones of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram came much stronger. Actually, Jones didn't so much defend Capel as question the logic in firing him. Have a look:
"For (Castiglione) to let Capel go would be alien to anything he's ever done that I know about," Jones wrote. "Was he upset about all the insanity that surrounded Capel's team a year ago? Oh yeah. Big time. But I also know he's good with the job Capel has done this season and wants to believe Capel's continuing message that better days are ahead.
"I see no reason why he would pull the plug on Capel right now, the fact that he's signed through 2016 and it would cost him some $2 million to buy out the contract notwithstanding."
Read Jones' next passage carefully: "Then what? What's he going to have to pay the next coach unless he finds another youngster in the profession who is ready to move up on a bargain contract. Is that going to excite an apathetic following that thinks winning is a birthright of crimson and cream? I don't think so."
No doubt Castiglione has a better read on the coaches market than any of us typists. For what it's worth, though, it seems that one of Capel's cards is the availability of quality replacements.
Five years ago, Castiglione took a $650,000 leap of faith because he could literally afford to. The program wasn't in tip-top shape at the time – the Sooners had a date with the infractions committee – but at least it was getting into the NCAA tournament.
Saddling an unproven mid-major coach with OU's current program? Oh boy.
So what proven major candidates exist? Does Castiglione know something we don't?
Probably, yeah. Be nice if he would let us in on it.
Capel might like to know, too.
-- Guerin Emig
