Colton

[MsProudSooner]

Actually, the hiring of Sherri wasn't really stupid. Risky, but not really stupid. Don't forget that she had the endorsement of one of the best in college basketball...Geno Auriemma. That endorsement makes it not so stupid. It was still a risk, but OU took that risk and it paid off. Makes you think that maybe Geno really DOES know what he's talking about.

And I bet you dollars to donuts that if Sherri left and Joe C asked Geno for a recommendation, that person might go to the top of the list of candidates.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Actually, the hiring of Sherri wasn't really stupid. Risky, but not really stupid. Don't forget that she had the endorsement of one of the best in college basketball...Geno Auriemma. That endorsement makes it not so stupid. It was still a risk, but OU took that risk and it paid off. Makes you think that maybe Geno really DOES know what he's talking about.

From what I understand, Geno watched a couple of practices and talked with Sherri for a short time during the time he was recruiting Stacy. If that is the extent of his firsthand knowledge, that isn't much. A lot of coaches at the high school level can run great practices. Several are outstanding coaches. That doesn't mean that Sherri or any of the rest of them can coach a major D-1 school and be successful. A lot more is required than that. There is a small thing like recruiting which is probably about 80% of the job. There are money concerns. There are speaking commitments. There are donors to keep happy. Etc, etc, etc. My point is, yes, Sherri turned out to be a great hire but, Geno could not have known that it would work out as well as it did and I'm not sure how much the university valued his input. Based upon what little Geno knew, I hope not much.

That said, I do agree when it comes to running a D-1 program and winning at an unbelievable level, you bet, he definitely does know what he's talking about.

 

[MsProudSooner]

If you thought it was a good idea when Sherri hired Jan or Chad, you are the only person I've ever talked who thought that.

Let me ask you a couple of questions.

What other college coach with no college coaching experience can you name has ever hired 2 friends as assistants with zero major college coaching experience?

Do you in your wildest dreams think Joe C would allow that to ever happen again at OU?

Since Sherri was hired 1996 and the message board world wasn't widely used then, it's hard to say who thought hiring Jan was a good idea. Jan's been here 19 years and Chad has been here 13 years, so their track record pretty much speaks for itself. To play the hindsight blame game on them is kind of silly if you ask me. If you are going to blame them for players you thought were recruiting errors or you thought didn't fully develop, you also have to give them credit for great players they recruited and players who did develop to be the best they could be.

Joe's track record speaks for itself, so I wouldn't presume to second guess what Joe C. might or might not do in 2015.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Since Sherri was hired 1996 and the message board world wasn't widely used then, it's hard to say who thought hiring Jan was a good idea. Jan's been here 19 years and Chad has been here 13 years, so their track record pretty much speaks for itself. To play the hindsight blame game on them is kind of silly if you ask me. If you are going to blame them for players you thought were recruiting errors or you thought didn't fully develop, you also have to give them credit for great players they recruited and players who did develop to be the best they could be.

Joe's track record speaks for itself, so I wouldn't presume to second guess what Joe C. might or might not do in 2015.

If you go back and check, I am not blaming anyone. I'm glad they hired Sherri even though it wasn't smart at the time but, it worked out well. Did you talk to anyone when Jan and Chad were hired who thought their hiring was a good idea? I know I never did.

 

[MsProudSooner]

If you go back and check, I am not blaming anyone. I'm glad they hired Sherri even though it wasn't smart at the time but, it worked out well. Did you talk to anyone when Jan and Chad were hired who thought their hiring was a good idea? I know I never did.

I don't ever remember second guessing the hiring of an assistant by any coach because I know there is more to all of them than what I might read in a resume. Do they all turn out to be good hires? No. No head coach bats a thousand when hiring assistants.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

If you go back and check, I am not blaming anyone. I'm glad they hired Sherri even though it wasn't smart at the time but, it worked out well. Did you talk to anyone when Jan and Chad were hired who thought their hiring was a good idea? I know I never did.

Actually my family thought hiring Jan Ross was not simply wise, but very, very wise. And it turns out they were right weren't they? How many other staffs have been to 16 straight NCAA tournaments and/or 3 final fours?

So those who thought it was a terrible idea have been proven wrong. Very wrong. And they need to reassess their ability to evaluate assistant coach hires.

Actually the really - REALLY - bad decision was to shut down the women's program. Talk about a dumb-dumb idea! For about a million reasons.

And Joe C has made his share of bad decisions too. So no need to act like his decisions are the do all end all. If we claim he would not hire Sherri then his judgment would be called into question with what we now know.

 

[SoonerSpock]

To me most here are really not looking at the hiring of Sherri and her hiring of her assistants in the proper perspective. It seems to me we have two side discussing everything with 20/20 hindsight. That is not how it happened.

To me OU had eliminated OU WBB six years before they hired Sherri as a simple cost cutting move because the sport's importance was deemed as a cost source to the administration and unimportant to the fan base in general. Moreover dropping WBB would have a significant cost savings to an athletic department operating deep in the red and borrowing money from the university to operate.

When OU reinstated the WBB program they went to St. Gregory's JC to hire Gary Hudson. He in turn hired Burl Plunkett from Oklahoma's high school system as his chief assistant. No effort was made to hire an up and coming national assistant D-I coach or a mid-major successful head coach to elevate the program. That was not in the budget. The driving force was probably to get the national media and title IX advocates off of their back and keep cost low.

When Hudson resigned following the 92-93 season. OU hired Hudson's assistant Burl Plunkett who had three years college coaching experience coaching for Hudson at OU and 31 years coaching high school. Again not looking at much more than a body to appease the players rather than develop a program as he was 60 years old at his hiring. Plunkett kept at least one OU assistant in Bob Wallis. Plunkett probably made less money than his predessor and his hiring also saved money.

Plunkett delivered in his three years at OU winning the WNIT in his first season. His second season he was 22-9 and went to the NCAA tournament. His team fell off in 95-96 to 12-15 and retired for health reasons.

When Plunkett retired I believe that program cost was still a high priority and the budget for a new WBB coach was minimal and hence the list of prospects for the job small. Fortunately for OU Marita Hynes had great insight into the potential of Sherri Coale and sold the administration on taking a big risk hiring a high school coach but not much greater than their previous two hires. For certain her salary fit OU's budget for WBB. Sherri followed the path of her two predecessor and went to the high school ranks for an assistant in Jan Ross.

Both Sherri and Jan's hiring were big risk but not unprecedented for the time at OU. Sherri has been a homerun hire and Jan has been a very good one. Three Final Fours and 16 NCAA tournaments confirm that. There is an old saying in sports that I would rather be lucky than good and for certain OU got lucky with their WBB hires.

But looking at Sherri's assets as a person it is obvious she had many talents that would flourish given the opportunity. She is bright, engaging and an excellent communicator. Marita Hynes made certain that Sherri got her opportunity. The rest is history.

Furthermore, when Sherri again needs to replace a staff member she has today a program that can appeal to the very best talent available nationally for the position and it is probable that is not someone with limited experience and only local exposure. For certain she needs to go get the best.



http://www.webcitation.org/5khCfZxxg


http://newsok.com/former-ou-womens-basketball-coach-gary-hudson-dies/article/3342909

 

[SoonerNorm]

I'm sure budget restraints had a lot to do with hiring Sherri. That would never happen in this day and time. Sherri was lucky at the time and the hire turned out to be lucky for the program as well. Clearly a win-win.

 

[giraffespots]

From what I understand, Geno watched a couple of practices and talked with Sherri for a short time during the time he was recruiting Stacy. If that is the extent of his firsthand knowledge, that isn't much. A lot of coaches at the high school level can run great practices. Several are outstanding coaches. That doesn't mean that Sherri or any of the rest of them can coach a major D-1 school and be successful. A lot more is required than that. There is a small thing like recruiting which is probably about 80% of the job. There are money concerns. There are speaking commitments. There are donors to keep happy. Etc, etc, etc. My point is, yes, Sherri turned out to be a great hire but, Geno could not have known that it would work out as well as it did and I'm not sure how much the university valued his input. Based upon what little Geno knew, I hope not much.

That said, I do agree when it comes to running a D-1 program and winning at an unbelievable level, you bet, he definitely does know what he's talking about.

I don't believe that that was the extent of their relationship. As I understand it, they kept in contact and it was like a mentor type thing. I do believe there was more to it than just Geno seeing a couple of practices.

At any rate, MY point was, Sherri had some very knowledgeable people who gave her recommendations. Geno's history indicates a very strong ability to assess talent. So, in my mind and obviously in OU's collective mind, it was NOT a stupid hire. Risky, yes, but not stupid.

 

[tycat947]

I don't believe that that was the extent of their relationship. As I understand it, they kept in contact and it was like a mentor type thing. I do believe there was more to it than just Geno seeing a couple of practices.

At any rate, MY point was, Sherri had some very knowledgeable people who gave her recommendations. Geno's history indicates a very strong ability to assess talent. So, in my mind and obviously in OU's collective mind, it was NOT a stupid hire. Risky, yes, but not stupid.

Agreed! Pretty much every hire is a risky hire. Remember GiGi? The one who would lead the whorns to mulitple NCs?

 

[scrybe]

Agreed! Pretty much every hire is a risky hire. Remember GiGi? The one who would lead the whorns to mulitple NCs?

Yes, we all remember the one destined to be the whorns' savior. :ez-laugh: