Why Travis Ford's contract has been a burden for him and OSU

[bgrch1350]

And this is the problem with OsU basketball. Travis Ford is the 3rd best coach in school history. It's given the fan base an unrealistic set of expectations.

I disagree. I see nothing that proves that he is better than Sean Sutton as a coach. Those 2 are like 3a and 3b. Ford inherited Eaton and Harris as a Senior, Obi as a Junior and Anderson as a sophomore. And in typical Travis Ford fashion, he ran off Adams and Thomas, leaving OSU with limited posts as usual.

 

[NickZepp]

Is Holder stupid? How is a 10 year contract with no buy out for OSU a bad deal for Ford?

If the players turn on him it can be a bad deal.

 

[perryj74]

I disagree. I see nothing that proves that he is better than Sean Sutton as a coach. Those 2 are like 3a and 3b. Ford inherited Eaton and Harris as a Senior, Obi as a Junior and Anderson as a sophomore. And in typical Travis Ford fashion, he ran off Adams and Thomas, leaving OSU with limited posts as usual.

If Travis Ford and Sean Sutton are your 3a and 3b that says a lot about your program's history. They aren't as good of a program as they think they are. Those 70 year old championships don't carry a whole lot of weight. Travis Ford is giving them better than they've had for more than all of about 20 years of the programs history.

 

[tycat947]

If Travis Ford and Sean Sutton are your 3a and 3b that says a lot about your program's history. They aren't as good of a program as they think they are. Those 70 year old championships don't carry a whole lot of weight. Travis Ford is giving them better than they've had for more than all of about 20 years of the programs history.

+1!

 

[sperry]

How is the contract a burden for Ford? Seems to me it was pretty mcuh the exact opposite of a burden. Gave him immunity and the knowledge that he was going ot have time to build the program, and didnt' have to take any shortcuts to try to win by the end of his 3rd year or something. Set him financially for life.


What exactly is the "burden" there?

 

[oSuJeff97]

If Travis Ford and Sean Sutton are your 3a and 3b that says a lot about your program's history. They aren't as good of a program as they think they are. Those 70 year old championships don't carry a whole lot of weight. Travis Ford is giving them better than they've had for more than all of about 20 years of the programs history.

And I'm not sure how that is relevant in any way, shape or form.

The program that Travis Ford inherited had been one that was consistently finishing near the top of its conference and in the NCAA tournament for 15+ years.

That has a lot more relevance to where the program was than what was happening in the 1970s or 1980s.

And no, the NCAA titles in the 40s don't mean much, but two Final Fours, an Elite Eight and several Sweet Sixteen appearances over the previous 15 years should.

We had enough talent and momentum in the program, not to mention the facilities and (at the time) fan base to completely expect a minimum level of performance that is much better than what Travis Ford has done.

It's not fair to expect him to be Eddie Sutton.... but it is fair to expect him to have built some kind of continuity into the program by year six.

And given where we were as a program, the facilities we have in place, and the talent he's been able to recruit, I think it's completely fair to have expected at least one Sweet Sixteen appearance by now.

 

[skyvue]

If Travis Ford and Sean Sutton are your 3a and 3b that says a lot about your program's history. They aren't as good of a program as they think they are. Those 70 year old championships don't carry a whole lot of weight. Travis Ford is giving them better than they've had for more than all of about 20 years of the programs history.

I've posted the stats before, but the VAST majority of Aggie coaches compiled losing records. They've really had just two good coaches in their entire history, and Iba was past his prime or coasting or something the last dozen years he was at the helm. His teams made it to just one NCAA tourney from 1959 through 1970, they went to no NITs over that span, and they finished above fourth in the Big 8 just twice, in 1961 and in 1965, when they won the conference title (and made the NCAA).

 

[Dignon003]

Ford inherited players that had been going to (and losing) in the NIT for 3 seasons before his arrival. Ford>Sean Sutton and I don't think it's close. The problem is that Iba and Eddie won a lot for a lot of years. Ford never had the support of much of the OSU fan base because his name wasn't Sutton. Some in the media were the same way (Swaim and Traber). Is Travis Ford as good as it gets, probably not, but if they're going to make a change, the guy better be significantly better.

Is an Archie Miller/Bob Hoffman/Tommy Amaker type of coach worth the risk?

 

[bgrch1350]

Ford inherited players that had been going to (and losing) in the NIT for 3 seasons before his arrival. Ford>Sean Sutton and I don't think it's close. The problem is that Iba and Eddie won a lot for a lot of years. Ford never had the support of much of the OSU fan base because his name wasn't Sutton. Some in the media were the same way (Swaim and Traber). Is Travis Ford as good as it gets, probably not, but if they're going to make a change, the guy better be significantly better.

Is an Archie Miller/Bob Hoffman/Tommy Amaker type of coach worth the risk?

The players he inheritated were 3 5 star athletes and a future big 12 poy.

 

[KBaden145]

Is an Archie Miller/Bob Hoffman/Tommy Amaker type of coach worth the risk?

What risk? Only an imbecile can't see all 3 of those guys could coach circles around that guy at that school.


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[MercedeSooner]

What risk? Only an imbecile can't see all 3 of those guys could coach circles around that guy at that school.


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I'd be a little bit wary of Amaker and some of those Duke coaches -he's had his chances at big time jobs and failed miserably (just like Capel and Snyder).

 

[bgrch1350]

I'd be a little bit wary of Amaker and some of those Duke coaches -he's had his chances at big time jobs and failed miserably (just like Capel and Snyder).

Amaker was solid at Seton Hall and Harvard. Don't forget, He coached Michigan through the Chris Webber probation days.

 

[MercedeSooner]

Amaker was solid at Seton Hall and Harvard. Don't forget, He coached Michigan through the Chris Webber probation days.

A lot of bad press came out on Amaker after he left Seton Hall to go to Michigan which in hindsight sounded similar to a lot of what we said about Capel in the years after he was fired from here. He ran a really loose ship and in that last year they imploded and he had players brawling in the locker room (Andre Barrett and Eddie Griffin).

Granted that was a long, long time ago and I am sure he is a much more mature and better coach then he was then.

 

[DenverSooner]

And I'm not sure how that is relevant in any way, shape or form.

The program that Travis Ford inherited had been one that was consistently finishing near the top of its conference and in the NCAA tournament for 15+ years.

That has a lot more relevance to where the program was than what was happening in the 1970s or 1980s.

And no, the NCAA titles in the 40s don't mean much, but two Final Fours, an Elite Eight and several Sweet Sixteen appearances over the previous 15 years should.

We had enough talent and momentum in the program, not to mention the facilities and (at the time) fan base to completely expect a minimum level of performance that is much better than what Travis Ford has done.

It's not fair to expect him to be Eddie Sutton.... but it is fair to expect him to have built some kind of continuity into the program by year six.

And given where we were as a program, the facilities we have in place, and the talent he's been able to recruit, I think it's completely fair to have expected at least one Sweet Sixteen appearance by now.

I agree. OSU fans should expect Ford to compete for ∫ig XII Titles (top 4 finishes with a win now and then), make the tournament and regularly (once every 3-4 years) go to the Sweet 16. There is nothing wrong with those expectations.

 

[perryj74]

And I'm not sure how that is relevant in any way, shape or form.

The program that Travis Ford inherited had been one that was consistently finishing near the top of its conference and in the NCAA tournament for 15+ years.

That has a lot more relevance to where the program was than what was happening in the 1970s or 1980s.

And no, the NCAA titles in the 40s don't mean much, but two Final Fours, an Elite Eight and several Sweet Sixteen appearances over the previous 15 years should.

We had enough talent and momentum in the program, not to mention the facilities and (at the time) fan base to completely expect a minimum level of performance that is much better than what Travis Ford has done.

It's not fair to expect him to be Eddie Sutton.... but it is fair to expect him to have built some kind of continuity into the program by year six.

And given where we were as a program, the facilities we have in place, and the talent he's been able to recruit, I think it's completely fair to have expected at least one Sweet Sixteen appearance by now.

The reason why it is relevant is because outside of Sutton and Iba's early years what OsU is getting right now is about as good as the program has ever experienced.

The OsU basketball program is Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton. Outside of that the OsU basketball program has been mediocre at best and that's being kind. The program Travis Ford was handed isn't as good as you OsU fans think it is and to act like the damage hadn't already been done to Eddie's accomplishments with the program in Sean's two years isn't being fair to Ford.

You're right it isn't fair to expect him to be Eddie Sutton but I'd say he's got every other coach since Iba beat when you start comparing their records and accomplishments. No other coach besides Sutton and Iba have taken OsU to the Sweet 16, in fact no other coach since Iba has led OsU to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament except Eddie and Ford.

Like it or not this is OsU basketball to everyone outside of Stillwater.

 

[KBaden145]

The reason why it is relevant is because outside of Sutton and Iba's early years what OsU is getting right now is about as good as the program has ever experienced.



The OsU basketball program is Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton. Outside of that the OsU basketball program has been mediocre at best and that's being kind. The program Travis Ford was handed isn't as good as you OsU fans think it is and to act like the damage hadn't already been done to Eddie's accomplishments with the program in Sean's two years isn't being fair to Ford.



You're right it isn't fair to expect him to be Eddie Sutton but I'd say he's got every other coach since Iba beat when you start comparing their records and accomplishments. No other coach besides Sutton and Iba have taken OsU to the Sweet 16, in fact no other coach since Iba has led OsU to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament except Eddie and Ford.



Like it or not this is OsU basketball to everyone outside of Stillwater.

Sounds mean but a lot of truth in there.


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[perryj74]

I agree. OSU fans should expect Ford to compete for ∫ig XII Titles (top 4 finishes with a win now and then), make the tournament and regularly (once every 3-4 years) go to the Sweet 16. There is nothing wrong with those expectations.

Why should they expect that? It's never happened in their program history outside of Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton. Unless Bill Self experiences some Eddie type issues in Lawrence that's more than likely not going to change especially now that almost their entire athletic department focus is on football.

 

[bgrch1350]

Why should they expect that? It's never happened in their program history outside of Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton. Unless Bill Self experiences some Eddie type issues in Lawrence that's more than likely not going to change especially now that almost their entire athletic department focus is on football.

You don't get players like Smart, Nash, Anderson, Eaton, and Muonelo and not expect to make the tournament and then not get past the 1st round of the playoffs or even make the playoffs. There are 2 Big 12 POY named. You have to do more with that than what Ford has done. And it falls on Ford b/c you can't constantly take guys and move them out of position. These 4 and 5 guard lineups has made his teams mediocre. He constantly runs off his post players.

And something is wrong when you have just as many recruits/players leave/kicked off your program as you have had stay. (not including the 2014 class)

 

[perryj74]

You're missing my point here. I'm not trying to say Travis Ford has done a good job. I agree he is an average at best coach that is grossly overpaid.