Barring a miraculous late-season run to an ACC or NCAA Tournament Championship, little doubt remains that Pete Gillen will (and should) be fired as Head Basketball Coach at the University of Virginia Basketball at some point in the next 45 days.
If you weren’t smart enough to realize this simple truth based solely on the Cavaliers performance, all you need to do is to take a quick look at some of the signs that are pointing to the current “Death Spiral” in Charlottesville.
* If you have followed my ramblings on the internet over the last decade (man, I am old) then you are probably familiar with my philosophy of the “Death Spiral” – a spiral of events that basically cannot be reversed and create death for the existing coach.
One of the primary signs of the “Death Spiral” is when a losing coach starts to rake in the endorsements of those coaches who are consistently beating his ass and ultimately are responsible for causing his termination. (Do you think that the guilt of the winning coaches play a role in their need to feed the public with worthless testimonies of grandeur for their little Betty?)
Note: You must make sure that you do NOT confuse the importance of opposing coaches’ comments in the Death Spiral Analysis with worthless comments from the media. Generally speaking, talking-heads in the media have NO PLACE setting standards or policy for YOUR SCHOOL (unless, of course, they are saying what you want them to say).
With all of this said…this article from The Roanoke Times indicates that Gillen is definitely toast: (Well, that article AND the fact that the Cavaliers got beat by 40 this weekend.)
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg paid tribute to Gillen prior to the Cavaliers’ visit to Virginia Tech last Thursday, and Saturday it was Roy Williams’ turn. It was reminiscent of a Mike Krzyzewski ode to Gillen following Duke’s first-round victory over UVa in last year’s ACC Tournament.
“Pete Gillen is one of the gentlemen in the coaching profession and, not only is he a gentleman, but he’s a guy that everybody respects a great deal,” Williams said. “You can look at his record year after year after year.
“It is a very difficult time for him. My first year at Kansas, we lost eight games in a row. Nobody remembers that now, but I remember it. Pete has more desire in his little finger than all of the Cavalier fans in the world.”
So, what are other coaches SUPPOSED to say? What are they going to say?
Have you ever heard an opposing coach actually endorse firing one of their colleagues? If so, I’d love to hear about it.
I wish I were rich so that I could offer a reward to the first coach to say any of the following:
(1) “Of course I think that Coach (X) is doing a great job. I am 18-2 against the guy and will own him forever. Please don’t fire him and hire anyone better. I’d hate to lose this guaranteed W on my schedule every year.”
(2) “No matter how nice of a guy the coach is, he gets paid seven-figures to shit or get off the pot. I love the guy, but I totally understand the frustration of the University’s supporters and feel sorry for all parties involved. ”
(3) “I really wish you guys would bring in Bobby Knight for a few years. I could use the competition.”
Just out of curiosity…how often did Dean Smith used to tell the world how good of a job that Coach K was doing? Gee, I wonder how that got by us?
