Been seeing some posts speculating that They feel Muss won’t be back next season. That he is off to greener pastures like Texas or some other place. They cover their bases stating that they hope this is not the case. Of course they hope this is the case. These are generally the same people who were not keen on CEM’s hiring in the first place. They are just throwing excrement on the wall hope it will stick. Trying to start the ( Is Muss the right coach to take us to the next level?) crap. Okay to the Never Muss guys out there hoping he takes the Texas job, just who is out there that can do a better job than Muss has? No wishful thinking please. Real candidates that we would have a chance at getting.
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Good post. WPS
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I think you’re reading a little too much into that thread, but I can only speak for myself: I am WORRIED Muss might be open to making a move after this season. Not because I want him gone, nothing could be farther from the truth. There’s not a coach right now that I’d trade Muss for
Why do I worry? I worry that the frustration of this season may have taken a toll on him. I worry because Muss has been a bit of a career nomad. I worry because his buyout drops significantly after this season. I worry because his proven record of success likely has him on the short list for every coaching vacancy. But mainly I worry because under Muss we’re so close to breaking through and rejoining the college basketball elite and I can’t bear the thought of a return to the days of Heath/Pel/Anderson. It’s just how my mind works, I worry.
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I agree with last post. I hope Muss stays forever. He has coached a lot of places and seems short stays anywhere. I think he’s likely recognized along more elite coaches and this has been a frustrating year and I hope he doesn’t get an itch to try somewhere else. He should not in my view because he has everything needed at Arkansas to win big and 50 years of tradition in program. I too am hopeful he stays forever.
Hmmmmm……….
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I hope he improves and learns from his mistakes every year. I don’t see any replacements out there who have proven they can improve their coaching and leadership abilities year after year any better than muss can. Muss has a solid resume. We’d be dumb not to keep him. That said I hope top of his list this off-season is not acting so immature on the sidelines and bringing gown man intensity back to our bud Walton Arena home court advantage.
And that is what has a lot of people worried. He’s good and there are some schools with very, very deep pockets. It comes down to what he and Danyelle want.
Muss wants some shooters and smart tuff players.
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Yes. Many school out there with deep pockets. But we are not destitute here either. Can’t honestly see Muss at Texas. Basketball is an after thought there. And they would be calling for his head if they didn’t get to the Final Four every year.
And just to restate my question to the Never Muss guys. Just who is out there that is not equal to, but better than Muss? And which one of them would drop everything and come here if Hunter offered?
Not sure this makes sense. Texas is a very good job. Austin might be more to the Muss family’s liking. NWA isn’t exactly a Mecca of diversity. Texas will have much better NIL. I think Muss is mostly driven by basketball, though. If he has at the UA what he thinks can win a title then he’ll stay. If he doesn’t think he can reach the mountaintop at Arkansas then he’ll go.
Isn’t every job out there better than Arkansas? You fancy me as one of those really wishing Muss would take another job. And my question still stands. Just who is out there who is equal or better than Muss that would crawl to Arkansas if offered?
Nope. Not even close. I want him to stay a long time. This has been a bad year but that’s ok. It’s gonna happen.
Yeah. I’m disappointed too. Coaches have down seasons. Even the good ones like Muss. He’ll learn from this season. The off-season when the portal opens up will be very interesting. Some of the insiders here say Muss has his eye on a few players already.
Let’s put this bad year in perspective for a moment.
Granted, these players never seemed to fully gel on the court–and certainly a coach has to take responsibility for that, but these are the guys from the #2 recruiting class in the nation that he brought in.
In his bad year, we are still pretty much a lock to be in the NCAA tournament by all of the major forecasters. I’ll take that as my coach’s worst year–Lord knows we’ve seen worse than simply making the NCAA tournament.
We’re still in the room with many of the top basketball recruits for the upcoming class.
We lost one of our best players for the entire year; we didn’t have the other best player for like 7/8ths of the season, and he’s still one win away from another 20-win season. (If we hit free throws and make layups we’re probably at 21 wins already.)
This guy’s worst season is still competitive basketball in a difficult conference, with an overall winning record against Kentucky.
I hope Muss continues to suck this badly for the next 20 years at Arkansas.
The only blatantly obvious reason I can see Muss leaving is for family concerns. Well, I can’t fault a man for doing what he thinks is best for his family. But, we can do everything we can to make sure that we make that decision as hard as it can possibly be.
To answer the OP’s question, there are only two candidates that I see out there who could instantly come in and keep the program where it is and maybe go further: Beard and Pitino. I don’t think Arkansas wants to start going down those roads.
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I don’t want him to leave but the first call I think would be to coach tang at Kansas state. Longtime baylor assistant. Curious what he could do with our resources.
Sounds like a Stan Heath hire. By the way, at the time, I thought that was a great hire. Some of that was because I thought Izzo was the best head coach in the country. I also really liked Stan and thought he was an excellent recruiter. Just couldn’t put it all together as the Head man.
Stan was a one-year wonder in a conference that you’d have to stretch to call it midmajor. Yeah he won 30 games with players he inherited. Tang is also a one-year wonder, but he brought in his best players out of the portal, which is what you have to do in modern college hoops, and he won in the best conference in the country.
So yeah, neither one has shown he can sustain success, but otherwise not comparable.
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Heath also took Kent State to the Elite Eight! They also beat a 7-seed, 2-seed Bama, and 3-seed Pitt, then lost to 5-seed Indiana. They more than earned that Elite Eight. That more than makes up for the poor conference they played in. He’s actually proved more than Tang at this point. If Tang gets K State to the Elite Eight or further then yeah, I’d give him a little edge.
Yes good post!
And I do not like the whining Muss does. Kind of leads over to the players. But Muss is not perfect! Having said this from the original poster and all the others that followed you have got to be kidding about thinking, hoping Muss is gone? That is insane & that first post was by one of the silly posters on here. We are at a level only matched a couple of times in the last 45 years! Come on guys, I’m on the Muss Bus for the long haul.
Silly or crazy to think otherwise.