AtlantaTiger

Excuse me if I'm asking questions that have already been addressed extensively on this forum but.... 1. Do we think Skerry's players respect him? Do they have confidence in him? Has he "lost" his team? After 9 seasons of sub .500 basketball and 0 NCAA Tourneys I don't think it's unfair to question his coaching & recruiting abilities. 2. What is the relationship like between Pat & Tim Leonard? Are they best buddies or do they hardly speak? 3. What is Tim Leonard's job status/security? I don't get the impression the guy is DRIVEN to field championship caliber teams at Towson. He seems to have a disturbingly high tolerance for mediocrity from his coaches. Is he an absentee leader himself? I desperately want GREATNESS for Towson sports teams and I just don't get the impression the leadership at Towson wants that for themselves. GO TIGERS!!!

I don't think it's complicated as to why Towson fan attendance/interest is low across football & basketball. Very, very, very few people grow up as Towson fans. How many kids are raised to be Towson football fans? I'm guessing a large majority of Towson students grew up in homes that pulled for Penn St., Maryland, Notre Dame, Va. Tech, etc. Outside of North Dakota St. and a handful of other, similarly remote FCS schools, I don't know that FCS football is a major draw for students and fans. They have more interest and loyalty to the schools they grew up cheering for and would rather go to bar to watch those teams play than sit and watch Towson play Rhode Island. Short of an undefeated season I don't think anything changes that. Basketball could/should probably draw better than it does but, even then, if you don't put a compelling product on the floor, few people are going to make the effort to come out.

There's NOTHING in Skerry's past that suggests he's going to lead this team to a conference championship this coming March. In fact, there's 8 years of statistics, data and history that virtually guarantees he won't lead this team to a conference championship this coming March. How many seasons does he need? I see a lot of "wait til next year" type posts from Skerry supporters on this forum......problem is, next year never seems to come with a Pat Skerry team.

I love the people who try to argue that since Towson basketball was a complete dumpster fire before Skerry arrived that his mediocre results should be celebrated. What good are 18-20 wins a season if you don't go to the NCAA Tourney? As a one bid conference, the only thing that matters is winning the conference tourney. Having 20 win regular seasons in the CAA means NOTHING.....except maybe a trip to the "prestigious" CIT. Also, this defeatist attitude of "who could we hire to do better than Skerry", is comical. Fear or uncertainty about who or what the next coach might be is NOT a reason to NOT make a change. You know what would be nice? A new guy comes in and actually improves the program, gets to the Big Dance a time or two. Maybe that coach gets plucked away from Towson...….but because he's elevated the Towson program, he will have made it a more desirable gig for another successful coach.

Hmmm....eerily similar to a certain basketball coach we all know. Mediocrity is perfectly acceptable for athletics at TU.

As I watch this game, I’m reminded of what a poor recruiter and in-game coach Pat Skerry is. Our guys cannot create separation for decent shots and can’t finish at the rim. Too many turnovers. Fobbs is a huge fan of Fobbs. He’s convinced he’s the only guy in the floor for Towson. An ugly showing through the first 15 minutes.

Obviously, tonight's performance and effort is encouraging. In theory, if we can hang with the #15 Gators for the majority of a game, we should be able to compete with everyone in the CAA and ideally be in contention come conference tournament time. However, there is NOTHING in our recent history (last 15-20 years) that suggests we'll rise to the top. The sample size on Skerry is large enough now to know he's a very mediocre coach who will not be a positive difference maker in close games. When will Towson ever get its epic victory?? Evansville got theirs earlier this week. UMBC got theirs this past March. App State got their back in 2007. Since becoming a Towson fan as a freshman in 1996, I haven't had the pleasure of a true MAJOR win. Getting to the FCS Football Championship game was fantastic (and I was in Frisco to cheer them on), but not having that one marquee, put-us-on-the-map win is soooooo incredibly frustrating. We just don't seem to have it in us. I think it's time to move on from Skerry.

They were spot on about Fobbs.

Great opening night win, no doubt about it. Apologies if this has already been discussed in recent postings leading up to the season, but are in agreement that it's a make-or-break season for Skerry? Make "The Big Dance" or find a new HC? Go Tigers!!

I understand JMU is #2 but they are a beatable team...….but Towson always finds a way to shoot themselves in the foot, get too "cute" with it's play calling or have its defense disappear at key times. Time for new leadership for this program.

(Just thinking out loud here) I think K.C. Keeler would be an interesting name for Towson to consider if, by some miracle, Rob Ambrose were no longer the coach.

Living in Atlanta, the heart of SEC country, it was easy to find a Gator Alumni bar to watch the game. Like a record scratching, I walked in to a bunch of awkward looks from most of the patrons while wearing my Towson shirt. It was fun seeing a lot of nervous and surprised faces around the bar for the first half of that game. Really wish we could have found a way to put some points on the board.....I know "moral victories" don't amount to much but it would have been a feather in our cap....and would have helped with regard to the Vegas spread. I know it's a great pay-day for us to play Florida and also great exposure for the Towson brand but would maybe prefer to see us play some lesser FBS teams......maybe ones closer to #90 rather than #9. GO TIGERS!!

It's fantastic that they won this game but I also happen to think it's "fool's gold" to think that it's any indication of a 180-degree change in the direction of the program. A win (or two) does not make a PROGRAM. Let's see what happens come CAA tournament time.

Three Rutgers players just announced their intention to transfer for their final season of eligibility.....one of which is a very respectable OL. Think T-Flac tries to recruit him/them to Towson? https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2019/01/rutgers-loses-3-veteran-leaders-to-transfers-including-team-captain.html

I'm stunned that some people are going with the "wait till next season" mindset. The Pat Skerry sample size is big enough at this point to know EXACTLY what we have in him as a basketball coach and what we can expect in terms of results. This off season we WILL have players transferring out of the program. We WILL lose some players to graduation. There will never be an ideal level of roster consistency, it's just the nature of NCAA basketball in today's world. Skerry is not a strong enough recruiter of talent nor is he a good enough X's & O's coach to overcome the constant change. Until there are significant changes at the very top of the program we will continue to see the same results from Towson hoops. What's ironic is that Skerry is probably good enough to go to a low-major program like a Marshall or FAU or Akron and get to them to the Big Dance, because they could be multiple bid leagues. In a "winner-take-all" conference like CAA, he's just not talented enough to get the right guys AND coach them up to championship levels. Don't let 18 & 20 win seasons fool you.....that gets you NOTHING in CAA.....maybe a bid to 3rd tier post-season tourneys.

With regard to "big time" donors to the program, does Towson Athletics have any major benefactors? I know we don't exactly have any T. Boone Pickens-level donors, obviously, but is there a significant, well-known donor to Towson Athletics? Does anyone know what the single largest donation to TU athletics has ever been?

I’m not sure why some people believe that things are going to be any different next year or the year after....or the year after that. Virtually every year we will be losing two or three guys to graduation and another couple or so to transfer. If you’re waiting for roster consistency and stability before Skerry gets us to an NCAA Tourney, you’re going to be waiting a long time. In this day and age of college hoops it’s the coaches who are best able to adapt to the continual change and roster turnover that succeed the most. Skerry doesn’t appear to be one of those coaches. It seems like everything has to be *perfect* and that the stars will have to align just so before he can deliver a championship squad. Towson will never have the “ideal” lineup....we need a creative coach who can get his players to outperform heir given abilities. Is that Skerry?

Uh-oh, Rutgers is bringing in Darkwa this weekend for a visit.....he's no longer "under the radar". https://www.nj.com/expo/sports/erry-2018/11/a330db5309226/breaking-rutgers-hosting-germa.html#incart_river_index

Coach Ambrose made a very brief but very astute and insightful comment after the JMU game which I think can be applied to a lot of our struggles at times. He said “They’re two inches taller than us across the board.” While this does not apply to the Duquesne game, the big picture take away is that we’re too often the smaller team. The guys from JMU and many other CAA schools are built like FBS players, especially their front sevens. Our recruiting needs to improve, particularly in the area of size. Speed kills, but we need to win more battles in the trenches. Some bigger LBs would be a welcomed addition too. Also, how do we feel about our strength coach(es)? Are our guys getting stronger and bigger in the offseason as they should be?

The primary theme I would like to focus on when it comes to Towson athletics, as a whole, is “clutch”. Towson teams tend to not be clutch. When we have our opportunity to really step up and shine, more often than not, we find a way to come up short. Please someone remind me the last truly big win a Towson team has had. A truly “clutch” win when everything was at stake. I’m still pissed we couldn’t get it done against Ohio State in lacrosse Final Four in May 2017.

They appear to have a good number of FBS transfers on their roster. These guys could definitely be a tough out for us.

What's frustrating is that Coach Skerry seems like such a likable guy.....a very easy guy to pull for. He appears to do everything the right way in terms of running a clean program, a great family man who does outstanding philanthropic/charitable work and a guy with a charismatic personality. I would LOVE to see him be successful here......with success being defined as post-season W's. I just think he either gets out-coached too often and/or isn't a great X's & O's guy.

Fair enough, maybe saying we're constantly rebuilding isn't accurate. However, when we haven't known any meaningful post-season success despite a run of winning seasons, I start to wonder what it will take. Someone posed a great question earlier, have we "plateaued" under Skerry? Perhaps he's taken us as far as he's capable of.....we may need to consider that this program needs a shot in the arm with new leadership. I think we'll know the answer within the next couple of months.

I see the problem with Towson hoops as being one of two issues... 1. Pat Skerry is recruiting *exactly* the kind of players that he wants to run his system. Assuming he has been successfully recruiting his hand-picked players, then the only conclusion is that his style of play/scheme is ineffective. He runs a subpar style of offense. 2. He's NOT landing the recruits he wants/needs. In this case, the issue is he's not a good recruiter (salesman). Neither scenario is good. Some coaches are just meant to be career assistants. Not every HC is meant to be a HC. How many years of rebuilding, recruiting and starting over does Pat need before he gets it right? We got slaughtered by North Dakota State. I refuse to believe that at this point in his tenure that Pat can't find a way to WILL his players to a win over NDST. Meanwhile, Furman beats Villanova a few nights ago. Stunning. Let's ask Furman's coach what his secret is.

Could things get better for this team as the season goes along? Sure. But I have a creeping feeling it's going to be another case of "just wait til next year!". Next year, next year, next year, etc...…."next year" never seems to come for Pat Skerry's teams. There always seems to be an excuse as to why Towson basketball never achieves anything of substance. 18+ wins a season is great if you play in a conference that gets At-large bids. We don't. Prove me wrong, Coach Skerry, please prove me wrong!!!