Update: 4:00 PM Jim Weaver announced Seth Greenberg has been terminated.
Update: 3:20 PM Mark Giannotto of the Washington Post is reporting Greenberg has been fired.
Update: 1:37 PM Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com mentioned Seth's only remaining assistant John Richardson "is returning to Old Dominion". Might that have been the final straw?
Updates as they come will go up here, the original post is below.
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Report: "#Hokies press conference is about a change in head men's basketball coach."
Earlier today Virginia Tech announced a mystery press conference at 4:00 PM with Jim Weaver. No reason for the presser was given. Rumors started flying. Was Jim Weaver going to retire? Was Bud Foster going to accept the vacant head coaching position at Arkansas? No. According to David Teel, there's going to be a coaching change on the basketball team.
Sources: #Hokies press conference is about a change in head men's basketball coach.— David Teel (@DavidTeelatDP) April 23, 2012
It's cryptic wording to say the least. We'll see if it ultimately means Seth Greenberg is out at Virginia Tech men's basketball coach.
More on this as the news trickles out.
What do you guys think?
Comments
Too Soon
He should get another season with this group of kids.
I can believe it...
Makes sense given the assistant coaching exodus recently. Though I think now is the wrong time to do it. Last year was bad but that can't be the only reason. If this has been in the works for a while, it should have been done last year. If you're gonna give him another chance with a team after Delaney left, give him another year with Green and the freshman who now have a year under their belt.
So, let the speculation for a new coach begin. I vote Jim Harrick, becaue frankly who the hell else would want this job?
With all the assistants leaving
It's a pretty good time to just clean house and start fresh.
I agree that the wording is pretty cryptic. This wouldn't be the first time Teel was totally wrong, either.
We get the best recruiting class we've had in quite a while and
then can the head coach?!? Makes no sense whatsoever. Greenberg should at least been allowed to finish out his remaining year. How many of these recruits will we lose?
More then recruting classes..
As Coach Beamer can attest, there is more to being a successful collegiate coach then bringing in highly ranked recruting classes.
If Seth is being fired, hopefully we bring someone in who measures success in NCAA tournaments.
I wonder if all those assistants bolted because they knew this rumor may be true?
Idea?
Brad Stevens
I remember being there in 2003/2004 during the start of the VT phenomenon. He helped to make VT basketball somewhat relevant. I met him in 2004 during one of those things where the players all gathered up on the concourse of Cassell and signed shirts for the fans. I still have that shirt around somewhere.
He was a good man, and he certainly did a lot of positive things for this program. Remember what the times were like before he came here. Look at the change. Sure, he did poorly this year, but a lot of his talent left due to graduation. He took this team to the cusp of tournaments several times. He was a good coach. His time is sadly done. Good luck to him in his future endeavors.
http://twitter.com/PeteThamelNYT/statuses/194502888528166913
"Virginia Tech isn't an attractive hoops job. They should hire ODU's Blaine Taylor. Great coach. Proven system. Recruits area."
Next Coach
If all this speculation is true, who would we go out and get to be our head coach? While I have wanted this to happen for a little while now, I don't know who is left out there now that we have waited so long to fire Greenberg. With all the transfers and assistant coaches leaving this move would make sense.
Bigger Issue
I've heard that Weaver didn't appreciate being "thrown under the bus" when Seth mentioned something about not getting adequate investment in program. When the boss isn't happy with you, chances are you won't stay. I think he probably had another year, but the situation that arose with James Johnson leaving may have prompted this. I hope the two recruits this year and the rising sophomores will stick around.
You're as good as your last envelope
Seth did good work at VT, but 1 tourney appearance in 9 years isn't good enough. Last year was a real step back.
unless VTAD has something rolled up its sleeve
i think people are soon going to realize how incredibly hard of a sell this job is going to be to find a replacement, especially now that its almost may. not happy with this
Agreed.
Don't like the way they did it to Seth either. If it is in fact true that he knows nothing about it that's a crappy way to tell someone they're fired.
I can't imagine they haven't at least gauged interest thus far. If they are doing this and starting from square one then I agree this is a bad decision. However, I would bet that they already have a relatively short list and their A and B options are perceived as better than Greenberg, especially when you consider he had no assistant coaches left.
Please Oh Please
Send Bruce Pearl our way!
Tell me that's sarcasm...
I could never watch another VT hoops game again.
Nah
he has a show cause penalty til 2014 he wont coach again til then
I agree. It will be hard to support the basketball program
after this travesty.
Truly disappointed
I don't like this. I understand the problems people have had with Seth: The close but no cigar year after year with the NCAA, the sideline antics, and some of the ugly looking play we put out. But at the same time, I think he's a good coach, our recruiting had really picked up, and I think good things were on the way.
Much more importantly though, I feel like this out of the blue press conference technique is bush-league. It's what lesser schools do to lesser coaches. Doesn't seem respectful of what Seth did do for the program, which even his detractors would have to admit is an awful lot. I was there when we transitioned from Ricky to Seth, and the difference was palpable. I know a lot was pumped into the program in our switch to the ACC, but a lot was Seth's energy and enthusiasm too. I think he deserved another year. But at the very least, I think the firing should have been handled a little better.
I know none of that was original thinking. But it helped me to put it all down on the screen here, and as always, I appreciate TheKeyPlay being here for those purposes. You guys rock.
Amen to that last bit
TSL is an absolute shit-show right now.
Very Well Said
While watching the press conference live I got the feeling that Jim Weaver was heated, and was trying to hold back a lot of emotion. During the season Weaver said time and time again Seth had his full support. Now, he's fired. Sometime between the end of the season and today Seth must have pissed Weaver off. For me that explains the timing, Weaver's 180° change of position, and the lack of courtesy with regards to notifying Seth.
In reality he probably deserved another season. Seth and his staff did a great job recruiting all the raw talent on the roster, and he should've gotten another year at a tourner run. However, there's never a perfect time to cut the cord, and it's messy. Moving forward we're banking on Weaver making a hire that might be over his head, salvaging a recruiting class, and keeping the boatload of talent in Blacksburg.
A big thank you to Coach Greenberg. He didn't get us to the top of the mountain, but we're not buried under a foot of snow at the base.
Starting my #DANNYCOALE4VT campaign now.
Do we look at:
Jeff Capel, Shaka Smart, Tim Floyd?
I tried to say this on twitter, but clearly the 150 character limit cramped my ability to speak clearly.
Seth Greenberg was the Hokies head coach for 8 seasons. Based on reputation and Rivals ratings, the talent level on those 8 teams was the highest it has been in Blacksburg for as long as I can remember. Yet, there was not a a run in the tournament, and while many of those teams were shorted by the selection committee, the Hokie mens basketball team often lost out on those bids because they underperformed against teams that had less talent.
I make the argument that Greenberg should be canned because his players never got better. They never learned how to run an offensive set against a zone defense. There never was a true floor general, or a strong low post game. Ball movement didn't exist. The only thing Seth had to hang his hat on was the level of success the Hokies had against Duke. However, Duke played right into the Hokies strengths by almost exclusively playing man defense. Check Seth's performance against Boston College, especially lately? It takes the steam out of the Duke blather.
So, the argument for keeping Greenberg is that the talent level underachieved. Fine. Who recruited them? Wasn't Greenberg supposed to have a keen eye for talent to go with his slick tongue for salesmanship? His recruiting ability was the only argument for keeping him, so how do you say that the talent wasn't good enough for him to win. Either he recruited guys who weren't good enough, or he took guys with raw talent and didn't do anything to make them better. Either way, both are cause for a fresh start in the program. When you add the other variables, such as assistants leaving, transfers bailing, poor relationships with his superiors in the athletic department, the rumors of poor disciplne, his public gaffes (assistant pay-gate) and a ton of stories floating about boorish behavior, the equation is clear. Virginia Tech, long term, will be better off without Seth Greenberg as the head coach.
Amen
This may not have been the best way to handle the situation, but I can't say I'm sad to see him go. I was beyond tired of the late game collapses and complete offensive ineptitude.
Agree on all except for the floor general piece
I thought Gordon and Delaney were exceptional PGs who were held back by too simple/too complex offensive schemes and the perpetual lack of a post presence.
how bout this guy?
But yeah this has to be more than just wins and losses. With the mass exodus of coaches and the AD's 180 degree change of heart noted above, I think there's more than meets the eye. We'll find out more in the coming days
Fact is, since Seth had all his own players, he was at best the 4th best program in the Commonwealth, behind VCU, Mason, and ODU. UVA was getting better. Hokies were getting worse. You can't pay a guy that much to be the 4th/5th best team in your own state.
According to Weaver's Quotes
Seth was an A-hole and was fired for being one.
sounds like
Beamer was Seth's undoing. He wants a Frank to coach our basketball team.
The disturbing comment from Weaver is "He did not rule out hiring an assistant coach or a young head coach with little experience." Thanks. Get rid of Seth for a 29 year old that will get waxed in the ACC for years.
Ultimately this was poorly timed by Weaver. The only justification for not firing Greenberg the day after the ACC tournament loss was the state of the athletic budget. I am willing to bet that Weaver wanted to ride it out, but the string of transfers and coaches leaving put him on the spot.
That being said, the best thing Tech can do is seek out a good young assistant coach who wants an opportunity and who can work well with the Hokies AD. If they swing and miss, then make sure they miss on the cheap, so they can pump more cash into that practice facility. Ultimately, the Hokies don't have a great recruiting base. They compete with Duke, UNC, Georgetown, Maryland, and other top programs for the best DC metro talent (where they are barely a blip on the radar) and the other regions of the state almost never produce top basketball talent. The next coach will need to build and identity, recruit to it, and those kids will need to be a scrappy, fundamentally sound bunch that will be 4th year guys beating the super-froshes at UNC and Duke.
Shaka Smart
Any chance in the world we can get him? Or is going to stay at VCU forever?
0 percent chance
He wants a big boy program and big boy money. Would be a lateral move (at best) for him.
Again, here are the rankings of programs in the Commonwealth right now. Is this the performance he was expected to deliver?
1) VCU
2) ODU
3) UVA
4) U of Richmond
5) George Mason
6) Virginia Tech