AtlantaTiger

Ah yes, “Townson”. 🙄

Did we play to Elon’s level or did they play to ours?

Interesting. I see that one of his coaches is former TU Tiger Darnell “Sporty” Evans.

I'm guessing Rob doesn't have an agent and would negotiate any future coaching gigs himself?

As a well documented Skerry critic I will try my best to be objective but I believe it really boils down to three things with Skerry. 1. Poor recruiting (relative to other CAA programs). The talent just hasn’t been cutting it. 2. Zero player development. When you’re starting with work-in-progress/mid-tier talent you had better have a the type of staff that knows how to bring players along and maximize their potential. Has anyone seen that in our guys over the years? 3. Coaching acumen. In my opinion Pat has long appeared to be a bit in over his head. I can’t help but feel like there’s a disconnect between he and his players as though they either don’t listen to him, disregard him or lack respect for his coaching. I think he’d make a fine DIII coach. Charleston is having the season we thought we could have. Good on them.

Towson men’s hoops under Pat Skerry has largely feasted on mediocre/inferior competition. While 20 win seasons are very nice and should be commended, it’s a bit of “fool’s gold”. Skerry has a bunch of wins against lesser teams, very few signature/marquee wins (defined as either upset OOC wins or clutch conference wins) and regularly has some flat-out stink bomb clunkers. The sample size is plenty big and he is what he is as a coach. Zero reason to believe this team will get the job done in the conference tournament. I will fly back to Baltimore and personally apologize to coach if & when this team makes it to the big dance under his leadership. Great man, so-so coach.

I have no problem at all with his first four hires. He's new and needs guys he that he trusts and who are familiar with his system, style & processes to make sure they can hit the ground running in establishing a new culture at Towson. I agree that we need some local flavor on the staff in some capacity. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from the December or February signing periods. Guessing the bigger impact will come from portal newcomers.

Watching this game. First time seeing CofC this season. This Scott kid for Charleston is a monster! He looks like a defensive end playing PG. He’s listed at 6’5 225lbs. Can you say, matchup problem?!?

Sincere question, do the guys on the team respect Skerry as a basketball coach and as a basketball “mind”? I’m sure they all like & respect him as a man and as a pillar of the community that he truly is but do they trust what he’s taking about when it comes to X’s & O’s, strategy and his bball IQ? Do they respect him as an authority figure? I feel like he could read them the riot act to get them motivated and get their butts in gear and it would just go in one ear and out the other. What’s his reputation on the recruiting trail and in coaching circles?

I just think it's refreshing and fascinating to see someone who has no prior/existing connection to Towson at the helm. Our previous 4 coaches were all Towson "lifers". Felt a bit high schoolish that each coach was someone with direct ties to the program.....felt a little bit like nepotism and a small-minded approach to hiring. Having an outsider, with bona fide success and credentials at other programs with no preconceived notions or bias towards the program is great. He's coming in looking at things with fresh eyes and is not jaded by any historical connection to the program. Will he succeed? Who knows. However, he's not beholden to doing things the "Towson" way, he gets to do things his way. With each passing day and with every little bit more info/content I see or read about him, I like this hire more & more. Can't wait to see the staff he puts together.

Don’t mind his DII experience at all. In fact, I was hoping the Slippery Rock coach would have somehow found his way into the mix. I liked his record, regional connections and his age. I think that dude could have a bright future in the FCS or FBS ranks. After thinking about the Shinnick hiring some more, what I hope could be a silver lining are his connections to Florida high school programs. Wouldn’t mind some more Florida speed and talent in Baltimore.

I personally felt like we needed someone with a track record of success and a proven winner and this guy appears to meet that criteria for sure. Hard to argue with his resume. Will it translate at this level? Will top level FCS talent be clamoring to come play for this guy? Who knows? I will be very interested to see what kind of staff he brings with him. Will he just bring his current staff or will he look to upgrade? How "hands-on" is he with Xs/Os? Is he a fantastic recruiting salesman and game day motivator? More questions than answers right now, but absolutely need to throw all of our support behind him. Go Tigers!!

We need to make a splashy HC hire to draw interest to the program and to drive ticket sales. Is there a "poor man's" Deion Sanders available? 😉

William & Mary really crapping the bed right now.

Been a while since I’ve been back to Johnny U. but couldn’t a creative architecture design group find a way to squeeze in a few extra thousand seats in both end zones if needed? Make it a complete bowl?

Not saying you need to disclose any names but do you have any idea who's in consideration at this point?

Sure, I suppose the Net Rating thing is a valid point but for a program that hasn't made the tournament since *1991* maybe we should pump the brakes on pondering how our Net Rating is going to impact our tourney seed. Let's see if Pat can finally prove that he can even get us in as just a 16 seed before we start debating our merits for being a higher seed. I honestly don't know how much a win over Clemson would have roused the sleepy TU fan base. They're certainly a solid squad this year but they've been a bit of an up & down program over the years and it's still undoubtedly a "football school". It would take an upset win over a UVA, UNC or other blue-blood basketball school for it to truly fire up the passive TU fans.

I know that beating a team from the big, bad ACC would have been a feather in our cap and would have been a notable win on Skerry's resume but ultimately this game means absolutely nothing. We could have beaten them by 20 and it would have made ZERO difference come March. For all intents & purposes there's no difference if Towson plays Clemson or if Towson plays FDU, Holy Cross or Mercer as our entry into the NCAA Tournament isn't determined by strength of schedule or "quality wins" with no At-large bids in the CAA. Please also note that I'm not throwing shade at any of those other schools I just mentioned as they've all had more success reaching the NCAA Tournament in recent years than our Skerry-led Tigers. To scrutinize or agonize over an early season non-conference game seems like a waste of time. It all boils down to 3 days in early March. Just. Win. The. Conference. Tournament.

Not that this process is taking a long time, per se, but the fact that we haven't announced a hire yet makes me think the target candidate is currently with a program that is still playing meaningful games, whether at the FCS or FBS level. My anticipation grows with each passing day!! Go Tigers!!

How many others are in the portal? Is there a comprehensive/running list somewhere?

I happen to think Towson’s football program is at a pivotal point and needs an experienced HC with a program-building and/or championship winning background. I don’t love the idea of rolling the dice on young coordinators or position coaches. I get that these guys could probably relate very well to young recruits but we need someone who can come in and bring instant credibility as a HC. The future of our program is at stake.

He’s been touched by the hand of Nick Saban, he’s good. Lane Kiffin and others have resurrected their head coaching careers after Saban rehabilitates them. Flood will be a HC again. Mark my words.

I make this suggestion based on a hunch that he’s not going to be with UT much longer. I don’t think Flood is the OC that UT is banking on to take them back to national championship relevance. I think his days are numbered at Texas but he’d be a great get for a program like Towson.

If we’re now accepting of the idea that FBS/P5 coordinators are a legitimate option, I would like to submit Kyle Flood as a candidate. He’s currently OC at Texas which just feels like a short-lived stint and an odd fit to begin with. UT isn’t setting the world on fire (no fault of his honestly) and they change coaches there at the drop of a hat. He’s an east coast/northeast guy with good coaching chops having been at Rutgers and an official “graduate” of the Nick Saban School of Coaching Reformation. At 51 he’s hardly over the hill and I don’t see him being a hot candidate for many P5 head coaching gigs. Maybe he gets a shot at a mid-major FBS program in the MAC, C-USA or American but why not give the guy a call and let him tell you “no”.

Rob was/is a tremendous position coach and offensive coordinator. Not every great coordinator makes for a great head coach. I believe his time at Towson prior to being HC and his time at UConn are indicative of his value as a coordinator. He can easily transition to an OC at a Group 5 school and even a lesser Power 5 school. Just don’t think his demeanor and personality are well suited for a head coaching gig. He’s a Tiger for life and his success should not be discounted. Just wasn’t able to sustain any momentum. Onward & upward, Tigers!