They Want Coach Drew

[Smj]

Hey, the local McDonald's is hiring fry cooks.    I hope Bryce does apply ....

Go Valpo!

[valpotx]

Does anyone know if Vandy would be fine with Bryce's openly Christian ways of operating as a basketball coach?  If so, they would be a large threat.  They would also be a large threat to take Alec Peters with them, because they will most likely be in the NCAA tourney, and are a solid academic school.  I truly hope that Peters means it when he keeps mentioning the pride he feels when wearing a Valpo jersey.  He could make or break us next season, more so than if Bryce left alone.  We will still do very well next season with a new coach and the roster returning. 

[ValpoDad89]

I agree with the notion that Bryce would be intrigued by Vanderbilt. With TCU gone, it is the only job that I think would test (from a private and basketball perspective) him. Like said, they play in a Power 5, had a great season after starting poorly, have returnees to soften the blow and even if Vandy is a more "progressive" private, being in the stretch of the "Bible Belt" may soften Drew's stances.

According the CBSSPORTS crew, if Wade passes, he is their top candidate. The wild card is Bryce. What does Bryce want? I know he wants fairness for his team. I know he wants to able to share his CHRISTIAN (I only highlight this because there are some that think this a bad thing, so far from crazy I cannot respond but it is the world we live in) values within his program but other than that, what is his motivation? A National Title? To be best the Drew lineage coach ever? Make us much money as possible? He doesn't strike me as being someone of any of the three. I will be wrong here but Bryce made a living we can only hope in the NBA, he is paid in the Top 3% earners and continues that for the next 20-30 years as this University LOVES him. He is electric and will get kids to come here and embarrass other conferences when we have a conference upgrade as he will outrecruit anyone on a level playing field. Meet the guy, how no one or their parents, would not put their trust in this kid and university is beyond me.

The only other "negative" is Bryce is loyal. Bryce and Powell and Lottich are tight, you can see that. He may see him moving opens up the job for Roger and Matt and I would say Roger gets at this point but he will want one of them at his side wherever he goes. But he can do this as he is financially secure and will be more so at his next contract so giving a hand up to one of "his" guys cannot be unheard. How many Horizon Assistants are thought of for a HC job somewhere else? This may be the seal as the others above will tempt but this may break him to open up jobs. Lottich and Powell played a bit professionally but never played 7 years in the NBA like Bryce.

In the end, what do anyone of us know not named Drew. If the administration can promise immediate or near term upgrades to the practice facilities, a mid-term upgrade to the ARC and they will always continue to support him, I think he stays because he knows when he goes the Program was left in so far a greater a shape then when he started. Considering what he has done, he deserves that. I guess some of that is on us too. We like the feeling of having a GREAT hoops team, then we need to throw some bucks behind it. If I give $100 and you give and you give and you give...it snowballs.

[atkins]

Terrific points, ValpoDad.

I do not see Vandy as an attractive option, but who knows?  I think we have Bryce at least through next year.  Beyond that, it is iffy.  I am comforted by the fact that Roger would be a great head coach at Valpo.

Brad Stevens was at Butler for 12 years (6 as head coach), and I suspect he would have been at Butler longer had not the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of Boston arisen.  I don't think an NBA team will be calling Bryce anytime in the foreseeable future, but I am sure Bryce has a functional equivalent in mind.

[wh]

Hey, the local McDonald's is hiring fry cooks.    I hope Bryce does apply ....

Go Valpo!

I thought we already discussed the St. Louis opening. 

[historyman]

Hey, the local McDonald's is hiring fry cooks.    I hope Bryce does apply ....

Go Valpo!

I thought we already discussed the St. Louis opening. 

As some on here have pointed out SLU likes it name spelled as "Saint Louis" to distinguish them from the pro sports in the city by the Gateway Arch (not the three point line :-) )

[ValpoDad89]

St. Louis compared to Vandy is what we have to deal with per the "rumors". So here we are as to what is more appealing? Take the Stevens reference aside, which is totally relevant. Bryce takes a Power conference job,  succeeds, his sky is the limit. What we as a fanbase have no clue is what are his motivations??? Vandy is a much greater job than either Iowa St. or DePaul and he turned those down without batting an eye.

On the other side front, DePaul sits in a hoops fertile ground and has a state of the art arena being built. Close to his home but no where near Vandy from a competitive standpoint. What does he do and I don't want be Devil's advocate on a day when OUR SAVIOR rose from the dead but one can see the appeal.

[bbtds]

Does anyone know if Vandy would be fine with Bryce's openly Christian ways of operating as a basketball coach?  If so, they would be a large threat.

My best guess is that Tennessee in general and Vanderbilt specifically would be more welcoming of Bryce's emphasis on "true christianity" first then the 4 other programs with openings mentioned previously. That does not preclude that the AD and administration at Vanderbilt would hire Bryce without something spoken about possibly "tamping" down this side of Bryce's coaching. A lot depends on how Bryce would feel about this opinion and whether Bryce could express in words why this is so important to him to the AD and administration at Vanderbilt. I have a feeling many programs are not ready for the coaching style of a Bryce Drew.

[rogerwilco]

Vanderbilt makes too much sense.
I'm worried.
Then again, I don't know what Bryce's motivations are per his coaching career.
I mean, he has money. Does he want more?
A new challenge? Perhaps.
I don't think he's a prestige guy, so I can't imagine him taking a job just because it's a name school.
What does he want and what's his end game? How far into coaching does he want to go? Power-5? NBA?
Or, is he happy being in the Valpo bubble? Scott didn't have the same loyalty to VU, so I wasn't surprised to see him leave.

[historyman]

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/about/mission/


Vanderbilt University is a center for scholarly research, informed and creative teaching, and service to the community and society at large.

Vanderbilt will uphold the highest standards and be a leader in the quest for new knowledge through scholarship, dissemination of knowledge through teaching and outreach, creative experimentation of ideas and concepts.

In pursuit of these goals, Vanderbilt values most highly intellectual freedom that supports open inquiry, equality, compassion, and excellence in all endeavors.

There is no mention of anything christian in their statement although it is known as a bible belt institution which MAY make it a bit more tolerant of this missionary by example of actions philosophy that Bryce uses.

[usc4valpo]

I hate to say this - I am not sure Vanderbilt is looking at Bryce Drew, but if they were interested in Bryce, he should strongly consider it. Honestly, Vanderbilt is an outstanding university with tremendous academic standards, lots an lots of old southern cash, and a pretty decent basketball tradition. He may be a good fit there.

[classof2014]

The biggest threat to Bryce leaving was last year when the Iowa State job opened up. It's rare when  a projected top-10 program has a head-coach vacancy. I don't foresee him leaving for Vandy but you never know.

[valpo64]

Does anyone think that MLB will come up with a "kicker or 2" for BD once this season ends?  I think that could happen.

[NativeCheesehead]

MLB and the Prez need a good plan when it comes to the ARC. I think this goes a long way to keeping Bryce here another 5+ years. We are not going to get nor do we need a new arena. But some good enhancements to the arena itself (bowl lower level seating, concessions/restroom improvements, new lighting, etc) or expand the BBall offices a little bit is something that can be done without breaking the bank.

If Bryce leaves because he wants to see how far his talent can take him, there's nothing we can do but wish him well. But if he leaves because any of the powers that be take it for granted that a Drew will stay at Valpo,  that would be a big blow.

[Valpower]

Does anyone know if Vandy would be fine with Bryce's openly Christian ways of operating as a basketball coach?  If so, they would be a large threat.

My best guess is that Tennessee in general and Vanderbilt specifically would be more welcoming of Bryce's emphasis on "true christianity" first then the 4 other programs with openings mentioned previously. That does not preclude that the AD and administration at Vanderbilt would hire Bryce without something spoken about possibly "tamping" down this side of Bryce's coaching. A lot depends on how Bryce would feel about this opinion and whether Bryce could express in words why this is so important to him to the AD and administration at Vanderbilt. I have a feeling many programs are not ready for the coaching style of a Bryce Drew.

Could someone enlighten me on what they feel Bryce's specific Christian requirements would be of another institution?  I am not in any way an insider of the program and keep hearing about his Christian ways of coaching, but, honestly, besides knowing that he engages the team in prayer (including the post-game prayer circle), I'm not sure what that entails--especially that would be troublesome to other institutions.  Would he need to be able to impose religious requirements on the players, either as a condition to be recruited, play, or remain on scholarship?

[vu72]

Does anyone know if Vandy would be fine with Bryce's openly Christian ways of operating as a basketball coach?  If so, they would be a large threat.

My best guess is that Tennessee in general and Vanderbilt specifically would be more welcoming of Bryce's emphasis on "true christianity" first then the 4 other programs with openings mentioned previously. That does not preclude that the AD and administration at Vanderbilt would hire Bryce without something spoken about possibly "tamping" down this side of Bryce's coaching. A lot depends on how Bryce would feel about this opinion and whether Bryce could express in words why this is so important to him to the AD and administration at Vanderbilt. I have a feeling many programs are not ready for the coaching style of a Bryce Drew.

Could someone enlighten me on what they feel Bryce's specific Christian requirements would be of another institution?  I am not in any way an insider of the program and keep hearing about his Christian ways of coaching, but, honestly, besides knowing that he engages the team in prayer (including the post-game prayer circle), I'm not sure what that entails--especially that would be troublesome to other institutions.  Would he need to be able to impose religious requirements on the players, either as a condition to be recruited, play, or remain on scholarship?

Not sure there would be any, rather just a comfort level with being openly Christian.  I don't know if any of the current players aren't Christian but certainly in years past their have been Muslim players.  At certain public and private institutions his Christian positions (openly praying, thanking God at press conferences, Bible study with players) would be possibly viewed as illegal or possibly "old fashioned/backward".  In either case I would think those prospects would rule those opportunities out for Coach Drew.  Certainly some public schools like Texas A & M would welcome his approach.  It doesn't have to be a private Christian based college.

Obviously this is just conjecture on my part as I have never had this discussion with any member of the Drew clan.  Unless or until someone does have that conversation, conjecture will be all it can be.

[Smj]

Oh no....   I hope Bryce doesn't see this

http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?from=appsharedroid&jk=37f76265a8df8886

Go Valpo!

[FWalum]

Oh no....   I hope Bryce doesn't see this

http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?from=appsharedroid&jk=37f76265a8df8886

Go Valpo!

Well if we are worried about this job then maybe we ought to be concerned that the Concordia Lutheran job in Fort Wayne is open.  Bryce would fit right in because the out going Principal and new Executive Director Mychal Thom is a former Oakland player and Mid-Con Scholar Athlete of the year in 2000. 

[VULB#62]

Salary is pretty good too: $37K. It does have some physical requirements among which are: bending, lifting negotiating stairs....

[valpolaw]

The Georgia Tech job is also open.....

[jloose128]

Not that I was super concerned, but the Saint Louis job is no longer open; they are going with Travis Ford. It'll be fun to watch their message board melt down over this hiring.

[hailcrusaders]

Not that I was super concerned, but the Saint Louis job is no longer open; they are going with Travis Ford. It'll be fun to watch their message board melt down over this hiring.

I just can't get over the fact that one of their board's more frequent users has a profile pic of Bryce Drew.

[valpotx]

Besides the fact that I love seeing us win, I am loving the fact that our continued season has prevented several schools from speaking with Bryce.

[bbtds]

Not that I was super concerned, but the Saint Louis job is no longer open; they are going with Travis Ford. It'll be fun to watch their message board melt down over this hiring.

I just can't get over the fact that one of their board's more frequent users has a profile pic of Bryce Drew.

Budweiser delution syndrome.  :-)

[hailcrusaders]

Besides the fact that I love seeing us win, I am loving the fact that our continued season has prevented several schools from speaking with Bryce.

The irony is that we almost assuredly would be done by now if it weren't for Keith Carter, our SLU transfer.

SLU board's massive coaching candidate thread had a solid two pages following the Valpo-BYU game, with more commentary than our own GDT. They were cheering for BYU and were disappointed.