Latest on the RMU job - please see comments
Advisory -for the forseeable future (which is a long time!) we will not be running any blogs dealing with coaches unless - as we have here - they are published reports - or I speak personally with a coach or member of a staff - MU or other wise.
I feel this is the most professional approach - which some bloggers, sadly, continue to attempt to circumvent.
This also includes those "non basketball-playing issues."
If anyonewould like to discuss this or any other matter further: e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Friday, April 06, 2007By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
St. Bonaventure still didn't have a basketball coach yesterday, but Mark Schmidt does have a decision to make in that regard over the next few days.
Schmidt, the coach at Robert Morris the past six seasons, and his wife, Anita, returned to their Moon home last night after spending two days in Olean, N.Y., where Schmidt yesterday received an offer to coach the Bonnies.
That offer is believed to be a seven-year contract that could be worth as much as $2.1 million.
That $300,000 per season deal would more than double Schmidt's current annual stipend at Robert Morris.
"I've got to think about it," Schmidt said.
It's believed Schmidt, whose Robert Morris contract runs through the 2008-09 season, will get back to St. Bonaventure with an answer by Monday or Tuesday.
"We love him," Robert Morris athletic director Craig Coleman said of Schmidt. "And we hope he stays."
The Colonials are 82-90 under Schmidt. They qualified for the Northeast Conference tournament in five of his six seasons.
I am allowing the comment feature on this post because:
1. Any comments sent here - published or not - still count as a blog hit...(we and the Press love blog hits).
2. You never know when someone might have something to say that we can actually use.
I feel this is the most professional approach - which some bloggers, sadly, continue to attempt to circumvent.
This also includes those "non basketball-playing issues."
If anyonewould like to discuss this or any other matter further: e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Friday, April 06, 2007By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
St. Bonaventure still didn't have a basketball coach yesterday, but Mark Schmidt does have a decision to make in that regard over the next few days.
Schmidt, the coach at Robert Morris the past six seasons, and his wife, Anita, returned to their Moon home last night after spending two days in Olean, N.Y., where Schmidt yesterday received an offer to coach the Bonnies.
That offer is believed to be a seven-year contract that could be worth as much as $2.1 million.
That $300,000 per season deal would more than double Schmidt's current annual stipend at Robert Morris.
"I've got to think about it," Schmidt said.
It's believed Schmidt, whose Robert Morris contract runs through the 2008-09 season, will get back to St. Bonaventure with an answer by Monday or Tuesday.
"We love him," Robert Morris athletic director Craig Coleman said of Schmidt. "And we hope he stays."
The Colonials are 82-90 under Schmidt. They qualified for the Northeast Conference tournament in five of his six seasons.
I am allowing the comment feature on this post because:
1. Any comments sent here - published or not - still count as a blog hit...(we and the Press love blog hits).
2. You never know when someone might have something to say that we can actually use.
posted by Tony Graham at 9:38 AM
12 Comments:
Schmidt accepted the job at St. Bonnies.. $300k a year, more than double he was making at RMU... never good for a school to lose their head coach in college basketball so close to the spring signing period, especially in a smaller conference like the NEC where there are probably more spring signings compared to some of the bigger conferences.
Robert Morris basketball coach takes St. Bonaventure job
Monday, April 09, 2007
By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Mark Schmidt has resigned after six seasons as the Robert Morris baseketball coach to accept the head coaching job at St. Bonaventure University.
Schmidt, 44, will be announced at a press conference in Olean, N.Y., today.
It's believed Schmidt will receive a seven-year contract worth $2.1 million to try to revive the program at St. Bonaventure.
During the four-year tenure of fired coach Anthony Solomon, the Bonnies were 24-88, including 10-54 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They failed to qualify for the A-10 tournament in each of Solomon's seasons.
Two of Solomon's wins came over Robert Morris -- 80-61 in 2005 and 78-76 in 2003.
OLEAN, N.Y. -- St. Bonaventure scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to announce a new basketball coach, expected to be Robert Morris' Mark Schmidt.
The Buffalo News and other newspapers reported Schmidt accepted a contract to rebuild the struggling program that has endured four straight 19-loss seasons. The Olean Times-Herald and The Beaver County Times of Pennsylvania also published similar reports.
Bonnies spokesman Steve Mest declined to confirm Schmidt's hiring.
Schmidt would take over for Anthony Solomon, fired last month after going 24-88 in four seasons, including a 7-22 finish this past season. The Atlantic 10 program has struggled since a player eligibility scandal in March 2003 led to NCAA sanctions.
The 44-year-old Schmidt led Robert Morris to a 17-11 finish last season, leaving his six-year record at 82-90. He previously worked as an assistant at Xavier, Penn State and Loyola of Maryland.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Tony any thoughts on the next RMU coach any one from the NEC ranks?
To Cool Hand..it has not been RMU's history to hire coaches from the assistant ranks of the NEC...not a trend in the NEC either, unless it's from their own staff ....You never know, though.
I don't understand why these teams insit on recyclying coaches with losing records? Why not give a young assistant a shot? They are giving a guy $300k per year who coached a team in the NEC to a losing record of 82-90 during his tenure. All the AD's in the NEC better look to tighten up the contracts with their coaches if record like this can get you $2.1 million.
Basketball: RMU has opening as Bonnies pick Schmidt
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Mark Schmidt, who had two seasons left on his Robert Morris contract, resigned yesterday to accept the head basketball coaching position at St. Bonaventure University.
A news conference to announce Schmidt as the Bonnies' new coach is scheduled for 12:30 today in Olean, N.Y.
Schmidt, who succeeds the fired Anthony Solomon, compiled an 82-90 overall record in six seasons at Robert Morris. His teams were 58-52 in Northeast Conference play and qualified for the NEC tournament in five of his six seasons.
Schmidt's deal with the Bonnies is for seven years and $2.1 million, which more than doubles what Schmidt received per annum with the Colonials.
"We'd have loved for Mark to have stayed, but we weren't able to be competitive with that package," RMU athletic director Craig Coleman said.
"Mark has been a great part of our campus community and he really built our program into being consistently competitive.
"It's no surprise he was courted by an Atlantic 10 school. We hate to lose him, but this a great opportunity for him and we wish him good luck at St. Bonaventure."
Coleman, who said he received "over a dozen" resumes yesterday, said Robert Morris will form a search committee and have a preliminary meeting this week.
Coleman thinks the next Colonials coach will be someone who's an assistant at a high-level program or who's a head coach "at a lower level."
The new coach will be "somebody we think is a great communicator, a disciplinarian and a great basketball coach," Coleman said.
"We'd like to do this as quickly as possible so we can get recruiting on track," Coleman said. "And so there's not the anxiety of who's going to be our next coach. But it's important not to rush to make sure we make a good choice. Two or three weeks would seem to be ideal."
The new coach will inherit a team that finished 17-11 overall and returns all its starters except point guard Derek Coleman.
It's possible Schmidt will try to include his former top assistant at Robert Morris, Steve Curran, on his new staff at St. Bonaventure. Curran currently is an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State, also a member of the NEC.
Schmidt, 44, assumes command of a program that seems in bad shape.
Not only did the Bonnies lose four players for various reasons last season, they've lost, period.
Under Solomon's four-season watch, the Bonnies were 24-88 overall, including two home wins against Robert Morris, and 10-54 in the Atlantic 10. In none of those seasons did the Bonnies qualify for the A-10 postseason tournament.
Among those expected to apply for the Colonials position are Jeff Boals, a former assistant to Schmidt at RMU who is an assistant coach at Akron, and Matt Driscoll, the former La Roche head coach who is an assistant coach at Baylor.
Others who could have interest are Pitt assistant Mike Rice and Dave Pilipovich.
Rice was an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia when current Robert Morris president Gregory Dell'Omo was the school's vice-president for external affairs.
Pilipovich was an assistant under head coach Jim Boone at Robert Morris, then went with Boone to Eastern Michigan University after the 1999-2000 season.
Most recently, Pilipovich was director of basketball operations at the University of Michigan, but he was let go when Wolverines head coach Tommy Amaker was fired in March.
To anon: I would guess there wasn't a huge line for this job.
But, either way..if I was at St. Bonnie...I would wonder about all this money for a sub .500 coach.
Whoever gets the RMU job..the Colonials look to be strong again...or should I say..ready to atone for this season...
I think Schmidt left a year early!!..but you can't argue with the contract...
Tony, with the money out there for so so coaches which High School coaches would you think could make the move to the NEC MAC level?
Tony herd from a good sourse the Jeff Ruland is a strong canditate for the RMU job...Plus the number three ast at Pitt and the number two at Ohio.Any news on the Princeton job...
It may not be fair but even NEC ADs are loathe to hire high school coaches.. one stunning exception (not in the NEC) was Marist women of the MAAC hiring the local high school legend and they've gone to the NCAAs four straight years .
The Pgh Post-Gazette seems to be on top of the RMU situation...I really haven't been following Princeton to be honest...
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