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PressBox DFW: As Frogs prepare, Dixon rumors spreading again

G

Gil LeBreton

Active Member
PressBox DFW: As Frogs prepare, Dixon rumors spreading again

By JOHN HENRY
PressBoxDFW.com

NEW YORK — TCU and three other college basketball teams have assembled in our cultural capital at the most famous gathering place in the world, Madison Square Garden, for the NIT semifinals Tuesday night.

Big, big news surfaced on the eve of this semifinals round, perhaps a more vexing distraction than the background that is the legendary Garden.

For a second time in the last four months, TCU coach Jamie Dixon’s name surfaced in UCLA’s search for a replacement for Steve Alford. The Los Angeles Times reported that UCLA has narrowed its focus to the third-year TCU coach and Mick Cronin of Cincinnati.

Read more at: https://www.pressboxdfw.com/as-frogs-prepare-dixon-rumors-spreading-again/
 
Virginia Frog

Virginia Frog

Active Member
The end of the article:

"
The best-case scenario is Dixon stays at his alma mater.

With a raise, of course."

A raise? O.K. TCU needs to be "competitive." But..a big reward for clearly a sub-par year. Those losses vs. Okie & at WVU alone, those Ws that slipped away would have made TCU tourny-worthy at the BIG DANCE. Being on the downside of the NCAA bubble stinks.

Maybe the NIT is blessing for TCU b-ball this year where we were short on manpower so I'm not complaining. It's just in my view Dixon needs to step-it-up and recruit players that are not quitters (or that he can't get along with.)

If he goes to UC-Los Angeles (at only after year 3 in Fort Worth), he's just another Fran in my book.
 
T

TCU2002

Active Member
Virginia Frog said:
The end of the article:

"
The best-case scenario is Dixon stays at his alma mater.

With a raise, of course."

A raise? O.K. TCU needs to be "competitive." But..a big reward for clearly a sub-par year. Those losses vs. Okie & at WVU alone, those Ws that slipped away would have made TCU tourny-worthy at the BIG DANCE. Being on the downside of the NCAA bubble stinks.

Maybe the NIT is blessing for TCU b-ball this year where we were short on manpower so I'm not complaining. It's just in my view Dixon needs to step-it-up and recruit players that are not quitters (or that he can't get along with.)

If he goes to UC-Los Angeles (at only after year 3 in Fort Worth), he's just another Fran in my book.
Click to expand...

Obviously a raise would be less about the season just completed (and any specific disappointing results therein) and more about "buying" the overall direction of the program under Dixon as compared to any likely replacement. Given that he is the only coach who has succeeded here in 20+ years, I would rather roll with Dixon than see him walk.

We were fortunate when Fran left that there happened to be a future legend on his staff (and especially fortunate that the right people recognized this, given that not all the key decisionmakers wanted CGP).
 
W

Wexahu

Full Member
TCU2002 said:
Obviously a raise would be less about the season just completed (and any specific disappointing results therein) and more about "buying" the overall direction of the program under Dixon as compared to any likely replacement. Given that he is the only coach who has succeeded here in 20+ years, I would rather roll with Dixon than see him walk.

We were fortunate when Fran left that there happened to be a future legend on his staff (and especially fortunate that the right people recognized this, given that not all the key decisionmakers wanted CGP).
Click to expand...

There was almost no investment in the program for 20+ years. That may have been as big a reason why none of them were successful as anything. As others have pointed out, it's a different program now. Some of that is JDs doing but most of it in my opinion is because the school (and big donors of course) stepped up and started caring about the program and pumped a ton of money into it. Maybe it was out of necessity when we joined the Big 12 since we'd have been a perennial doormat had the status quo remained but the bottom line is it is a MUCH more attractive job than it was ten years ago.
 
BrewingFrog

BrewingFrog

Was I supposed to type something here?
Gil, thank you and your ink-stained wretches for the good work you do. (BTW: What is a "seasoned" reporter to be called now in this digital age?)

I cannot see the upside to any of these Coaches leaving their present positions and heading out west. UCLA has a ton of problems, and any coach taking the gig would have little success early on.
 
hiphopfroggy

hiphopfroggy

Active Member
Yea but he needs to stay and play with a full squad of his recruits. UCLA and the PAC are garbage. Big step down at this point.
 
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T

tetonfrog

Active Member
Virginia Frog said:
If he goes to UC-Los Angeles (at only after year 3 in Fort Worth), he's just another Fran in my book.
Click to expand...

Unless JD shows up for the NIT semifinal wearing a blue and gold tie, then he is not a Fran. Fran is a POS. JD would be going home to Cali where his folks live.

And, if he does leave, what coach is going to come here and be able to recruit for next year effectively?
 
JogginFrog

JogginFrog

Active Member
Virginia Frog said:
The end of the article:
If he goes to UC-Los Angeles (at only after year 3 in Fort Worth), he's just another Fran in my book.
Click to expand...

Understand the sentiment, but Fran was never a student at TCU. Jamie Dixon has a TCU diploma. He is and will always be a Frog. He'll always want to see TCU do well. Would be great if he continues to do so from the TCU bench.
 
AroundWorldFrog

AroundWorldFrog

Full Member
"in our cultural capital at the most famous gathering place in the world, Madison Square Garden"

LOL. Anyone that leads a sports article with that probably isn't worth reading. Everyone knows Ft. Worth is the cultural capital.
 
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hiphopfroggy

hiphopfroggy

Active Member
I like the UC coach Cronin for the UCLA job. He's been there 12 years, prolly see's UC isn't getting P5 and has maxed its potential. He's 47, 6 years younger than dixon with a salary coming in 1mm/yr less than Dixon and most likely with a much smaller buyout. He is a UC grad but it sounds like he may be gone even if it isn't to UCLA.
 
CountryFrog

CountryFrog

Active Member
I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this UCLA basketball coaching search look similar to the Tennessee football opening a couple years (although not as bad because that turned into a total embarrassment). UCLA is clearly a historic program but the job is not at the level today that I think many of the program's supporters believe it is. They'll have to try for big name candidates to appease the boosters but will likely settle for an up and comer from a smaller program.

If you're already at a P5 school and having any level of success while making a nice salary then you likely have very little interest in UCLA, unless you have some other ties to the program. I can't imagine Dixon going there unless he just really wants to get back to the area he grew up in.
 
Eight

Eight

Member
CountryFrog said:
I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this UCLA basketball coaching search look similar to the Tennessee football opening a couple years (although not as bad because that turned into a total embarrassment). UCLA is clearly a historic program but the job is not at the level today that I think many of the program's supporters believe it is. They'll have to try for big name candidates to appease the boosters but will likely settle for an up and comer from a smaller program.

If you're already at a P5 school and having any level of success while making a nice salary then you likely have very little interest in UCLA, unless you have some other ties to the program. I can't imagine Dixon going there unless he just really wants to get back to the area he grew up in.
Click to expand...

i think the one thing the ucla job does have to offer many jobs don't is the potential to win a national title if you can get things headed in the right direction.

they sit in huge pool of talent, they have had great talent that just was poorly coached, and they aren't getting much competition for that talent from cross town.

this isn't about selling john wooden to kids as some here think, but russell westbrook and the other ucla players currently in the nba. heck, they may get 2-3 kids drafted off a .500 team this year.
 
CountryFrog

CountryFrog

Active Member
Eight said:
i think the one thing the ucla job does have to offer many jobs don't is the potential to win a national title if you can get things headed in the right direction.

they sit in huge pool of talent, they have had great talent that just was poorly coached, and they aren't getting much competition for that talent from cross town.

this isn't about selling john wooden to kids as some here think, but russell westbrook and the other ucla players currently in the nba. heck, they may get 2-3 kids drafted off a .500 team this year.
Click to expand...
Oh you can definitely win at UCLA. But we saw Butler in the national title game 2 times recently. Tech just made their first ever final four. I think that coaches realize that you can win just about anywhere if you're a good coach and can assemble a good staff and get buy in from your administration.

I'm not sure that UCLA is all that different than just about any other P5 job anymore. There's great potential to win there, but it's not on the Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, Duke level where you're living in the top 10 every year just because of the name on the front of the jersey.
 
Eight

Eight

Member
CountryFrog said:
Oh you can definitely win at UCLA. But we saw Butler in the national title game 2 times recently. Tech just made their first ever final four. I think that coaches realize that you can win just about anywhere if you're a good coach and can assemble a good staff and get buy in from your administration.

I'm not sure that UCLA is all that different than just about any other P5 job anymore. There's great potential to win there, but it's not on the Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, Duke level where you're living in the top 10 every year just because of the name on the front of the jersey.
Click to expand...

i agree with the one exception being the only thing they have most other p5's don't offer is being located in a freaking ocean of talent.

no guarantee kids stay at home, but in all honesty located where they are located there is no reason they are not one of the most talented rosters in the country.

now, i very agree that doesn't guarantee success, but i would think it is far easy to sustain success at a program like ucla if you can get things turned around than a butler simply because of the talent in the area.
 

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