I did not want to post this on Coach Burmeisters thread....but the post did get me to thinking....How could we really evaluate some of those coaches after Gene Sullivan and before Father G. reinvested in Athletics. You need time and resources besides being a good coach and it seems Coach Burmiester had neither. Time is important to bring in your own guys and coach your own system,,,resources to recruit and schedule travel facilities and quality and support of your athletic director.
Of the four coaches Willie Ray was moving down, larry Farmer was moving down,,,,,Coach Burmeister had his best year his last year. and Coach Whitesell who had the longest tenure while having an over all winning record was 8th in the Horizon League his last 3 years
Curious if anyone had thoughts on whether any of these coaches would have been highly successful if they had been given time and resources?

Why do I get the sense that Nate likes to assign homework?

where else could you do it?

Loyola suffered from a vision problem. All of them could have been successful but failed for different reasons. It starts at the top.
Will Rey had the shadow of academic failure hanging over him. I think he knew the x's and o's but lacked strong assistants to help him and when he went the JUCO route, the gamble failed as 5 of 6 became ineligible.
Larry Farmer could recruit but I never felt he truly was in charge as he always huddled with his assistants during time outs. As if he needed advice as to what to do.
Also his assistants were lazy. I don't think they put in the time.
Jim Whitesell was successful at Loyola and but to a degree he was held back by not being able to take a chance on marginal athletes.His Buffalo gig will tell us more either way.
Porter has been successful because he works his ass off. I have never seen a harder worker. He has opened doors to recruiting areas previously off limits. But it is also clear he runs the show and is in charge and does it his way. I believe he can sustain the success.
However, Loyola is at a critical juncture. I believe Porter will eventually leave and I would not blame him but is there a successor in the wings.
On the things that I think has made Butler successful is they wisely groomed successors.
When Porter was contemplating the St. John job (I bet in retrospect because of the pandemic he is thanking the lucky stars he did not take that job in the hot bed area of infections), Mullins had taken the Southern Illinois job. Mullins would have loved the Loyola job but took SIU when he thought Porter was done looking and was definitely staying. Now think of what would have happened had Porter left; Mullins would have been gone, Gordon would have surely joined him as most likely Valentine would have too. (Valentine allegedly felt he needed a lot more seasoning and would not have been ready for a number one job). If Porter left the three recruits (Welch, Kennedy, Wojcik would gotten releases from their LOI's) and the cupboard would have been pretty bare.
Valentine has now gained some seasoning and has been mentioned as one of the top fifteen up and coming assistants. You could see last year that he was much more active on the sidelines and gaining confidence.
I believe Valentine could take over and be successful. He is also young, has a lot of energy and key contacts. I hope Porter and Steve are in fact grooming him should the day come that Porter moves on.
I believe that continuity is very important in developing both a brand and a system.

Building off what 25yearstreak said, ESPN released their list of top 40 coaches under 40.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... basketball

Mullens grabbed the last spot and Valentine just missed the cut. The good news is that Porter is developing his assistants.

Valentine with an honorable mention. Good to see.

I think if Porter left for St. John’s we were going to get Bryce Drew. I’m glad he stayed but I wouldn’t have hated that hire if it happened.

There's no successor currently in the wings. Valentine is maybe it if Porter left in 3 years, but I'd be really worried if we handed the reigns over to him if Porter leaves after next season. Is he even 30 yet?

The ESPN list is kind of interesting. It sickens me to see Will Wade so high up there, but they include a lot of guys who are not on the most solid of footings (Pitino at Minnesota sticks out to me).

If Porter leaves next year, I think a lot of names on this list would jump at the opportunity to coach Loyola. Scheyer and Murray stick out. The Gonzaga assistant Michaelson is also intriguing considering that they already have a head coach in waiting in Lloyd. Howard at Kansas and Farokmanesh at Colorado State might be fits as well. The Florida assistants might be out of our recruiting area but are probably familiar with our program. Streak brings up a good point about losing our incoming class last year if Porter left (Kennedy especially) which makes me a little nervous because next year we're going to be replacing 5 guys barring no transfers. That said, we can now get a lot of guys who in a not-too-distant past wouldn't have even picked up the phone to listen to Loyola's offer.


I wouldn't be. The whole Drew family are a bunch of snakes. It'd be tough to root for him.

I thought that Homer Drew was an honorable man. Where was I wrong?

_________________
Let's go Braden!

The Drew family cheats like crazy. How do you think they got all those kids from all over the world to play at Valpo with that gym and those facilities? A cursory google search will show how little Scott's coaching peers think of his reputation at Baylor.

I agree that, barring a complete meltdown, if Porter ever left we would be a very attractive landing spot for a lot of top, up-and-coming coaches, and we would have options. We haven’t had to replace a coach because of SUCCESS in forever.