I've got a lot to say about this whole deal, so I apologize in advance for what I expect to be a long post. Read it, or don't, I don't really care. But, I think writing it will be cathartic for me, so here goes.
Holder
I apologize to some of you who I disagreed with over the last 5 days. I have heard two different stories about the interactions between Holder and Underwood. Prior to today, I did not believe the version in which Holder screwed things up and gave Underwood reason to leave. I was adamant in my support for Holder. He is our AD, and no matter your opinion of him, it can not be denied that OSU athletics has made vast strides under his watch. Despite his warts (which proliferated exponentially in recent days) he should be judged on the bottom line. He has done a pretty damn good job sans men's basketball where he has compounded one mistake with a bigger mistake and done so repeatedly. Suffice it to say that I don't have as high of an opinion of him as I did 5 days ago. He is still our guy, and he has my support. I will always root for his success. But, he is going to have to do some impressive things to get back to where he was in my mind.
Boynton
I have to admit, when I saw the announcement that he was our new coach, my first thought was, "Who?". Of Underwood's 3 assistants, he was the least conspicuous. As a result, I know almost nothing about him. If you had told me yesterday that 1 of the 5 "courtesy interview" guys was going to be the coach today, I think I would have picked Boynton as the least likely. While I have no idea what to expect, I think it might say something that he is the guy who was chosen. I think it also bodes well that we are hearing that Evans and/or Henderson is/are interested in sticking around as assistant coaches. I would assume that it means that those guys respect the hell out of him. Otherwise, it would probably be a tough situation for them to go from equals to subordinates. I saw a tweet from Hammonds that praised Boynton for player development and gave him most of the credit for improvement that players made this season. Let's not forget that Bill Self was an assistant coach once. So was Brad Underwood. And Eddie Sutton. Of course, they got their first head coaching job at smaller programs than OSU, but that does not mean that their path is the only path to success. It is tough to be optimistic, but it will get easier if a lot of names like Henderson, Evans, J. Evans, Dawson, Hardy, Solomon, Carroll, etc are part of the program next season. Maybe Holder was trying to go cheap, but he could have done that with Doug, Evans or Henderson. He chose Boynton. Maybe that means Boynton is impressive and has been impressive all season. He's our guy now. I will support him and root for his success.
Underwood
So, Holder deserves a lot (the majority?) of the blame for Underwood's departure. Well, that doesn't change my opinion of Underwood much, if any. Reading his recount (via Trammel) of his conversation with Holder, all I want to say to him is, "stop being a pussy". So, Holder hurt his feelings. Grow a pair and man up. I don't blame him for taking the big payday. But, I do blame him for dicking over his players. By leaving, he may have done significant damage to the future of Evans and Carroll. Not cool. I'm sure he feels like he had no choice, and there is no going back at this point. But, it is clear that a big part of his unhappiness had to do with him having buyer's remorse and wishing he hadn't agreed to such a low contract in the first place. But, he did. He could have stuck around for another year and tried to work out his differences with Holder. He could have done right by the fans and players. I wish him nothing but failure going forward.
Doug
I have been vehemently opposed to hiring him. I can see the allure, especially when comparing to someone like Boynton. The biggest positive, at this point, is that the experiment would have been entertaining to pay attention to. The whole college basketball world would have been glued to OSU bball next season wanting to know if he was going to succeed or crash and burn. With that said, I'm dubious that he would have been able to succeed. He has interviewed with OSU twice in 370 days, and wasn't hired either time. If a smooth talker like him was not able to charm his way into the job, there must have been significant holes in his presentation. I would have been worried about his connections within the coaching world. I would have been worried about his ability to retain current/incoming players. There are a lot of places where things could have broken down for him. I would have supported him had he been hired, but I still believe it would have been a mistake and am pleased that Holder didn't go in that direction. Boynton has paid his dues as an assistant coach. Doug needs to do the same if he wants it so badly.
OSU Basketball
Today hit me hard. I spent 8 fantastic years in Stillwater. Prior to arrival, I was not a basketball fan. I started going to games, in Hamilton's final year, because it was something to do, and there simply was not a lot of entertainment options in Stillwater. By the time I was in Vet school, my classmates thought I was crazy because I refused to miss a home game. Even if it was the night before a huge exam and they were pulling all nighters trying to prepare. Since Eddie's heyday, I have remained focused on OSU basketball, and have been certain that the return to the halcyon days must be just around the corner. There were plenty of low points under Sean and Ford, but I always knew that OSU basketball was a sleeping giant and "next season" was going to be the one were we got back on track. There were always McD AA players on the roster and we always seemed to be 1 key player away. After losing BU, and (apparently) garnering minimal interest from proven coaches, I now understand that OSU basketball is nothing like I thought is was or want it to be. We may get there again. Maybe Boynton will be the one to lead us back. But, it is going to take a lot of work and a long time for the program to regain what has been lost. It is not right around the corner. Right now, it is beyond the horizon. That makes me sad. I won't give up on it coming to fruition, but, I won't be putting the program under a microscope for the time being. OSU Basketball is going to have to do some special things to suck me back in. Just like Boynton is going to have to win a lot of games to fix the GIA attendance issues. I hope it happens.
Holder
I apologize to some of you who I disagreed with over the last 5 days. I have heard two different stories about the interactions between Holder and Underwood. Prior to today, I did not believe the version in which Holder screwed things up and gave Underwood reason to leave. I was adamant in my support for Holder. He is our AD, and no matter your opinion of him, it can not be denied that OSU athletics has made vast strides under his watch. Despite his warts (which proliferated exponentially in recent days) he should be judged on the bottom line. He has done a pretty damn good job sans men's basketball where he has compounded one mistake with a bigger mistake and done so repeatedly. Suffice it to say that I don't have as high of an opinion of him as I did 5 days ago. He is still our guy, and he has my support. I will always root for his success. But, he is going to have to do some impressive things to get back to where he was in my mind.
Boynton
I have to admit, when I saw the announcement that he was our new coach, my first thought was, "Who?". Of Underwood's 3 assistants, he was the least conspicuous. As a result, I know almost nothing about him. If you had told me yesterday that 1 of the 5 "courtesy interview" guys was going to be the coach today, I think I would have picked Boynton as the least likely. While I have no idea what to expect, I think it might say something that he is the guy who was chosen. I think it also bodes well that we are hearing that Evans and/or Henderson is/are interested in sticking around as assistant coaches. I would assume that it means that those guys respect the hell out of him. Otherwise, it would probably be a tough situation for them to go from equals to subordinates. I saw a tweet from Hammonds that praised Boynton for player development and gave him most of the credit for improvement that players made this season. Let's not forget that Bill Self was an assistant coach once. So was Brad Underwood. And Eddie Sutton. Of course, they got their first head coaching job at smaller programs than OSU, but that does not mean that their path is the only path to success. It is tough to be optimistic, but it will get easier if a lot of names like Henderson, Evans, J. Evans, Dawson, Hardy, Solomon, Carroll, etc are part of the program next season. Maybe Holder was trying to go cheap, but he could have done that with Doug, Evans or Henderson. He chose Boynton. Maybe that means Boynton is impressive and has been impressive all season. He's our guy now. I will support him and root for his success.
Underwood
So, Holder deserves a lot (the majority?) of the blame for Underwood's departure. Well, that doesn't change my opinion of Underwood much, if any. Reading his recount (via Trammel) of his conversation with Holder, all I want to say to him is, "stop being a pussy". So, Holder hurt his feelings. Grow a pair and man up. I don't blame him for taking the big payday. But, I do blame him for dicking over his players. By leaving, he may have done significant damage to the future of Evans and Carroll. Not cool. I'm sure he feels like he had no choice, and there is no going back at this point. But, it is clear that a big part of his unhappiness had to do with him having buyer's remorse and wishing he hadn't agreed to such a low contract in the first place. But, he did. He could have stuck around for another year and tried to work out his differences with Holder. He could have done right by the fans and players. I wish him nothing but failure going forward.
Doug
I have been vehemently opposed to hiring him. I can see the allure, especially when comparing to someone like Boynton. The biggest positive, at this point, is that the experiment would have been entertaining to pay attention to. The whole college basketball world would have been glued to OSU bball next season wanting to know if he was going to succeed or crash and burn. With that said, I'm dubious that he would have been able to succeed. He has interviewed with OSU twice in 370 days, and wasn't hired either time. If a smooth talker like him was not able to charm his way into the job, there must have been significant holes in his presentation. I would have been worried about his connections within the coaching world. I would have been worried about his ability to retain current/incoming players. There are a lot of places where things could have broken down for him. I would have supported him had he been hired, but I still believe it would have been a mistake and am pleased that Holder didn't go in that direction. Boynton has paid his dues as an assistant coach. Doug needs to do the same if he wants it so badly.
OSU Basketball
Today hit me hard. I spent 8 fantastic years in Stillwater. Prior to arrival, I was not a basketball fan. I started going to games, in Hamilton's final year, because it was something to do, and there simply was not a lot of entertainment options in Stillwater. By the time I was in Vet school, my classmates thought I was crazy because I refused to miss a home game. Even if it was the night before a huge exam and they were pulling all nighters trying to prepare. Since Eddie's heyday, I have remained focused on OSU basketball, and have been certain that the return to the halcyon days must be just around the corner. There were plenty of low points under Sean and Ford, but I always knew that OSU basketball was a sleeping giant and "next season" was going to be the one were we got back on track. There were always McD AA players on the roster and we always seemed to be 1 key player away. After losing BU, and (apparently) garnering minimal interest from proven coaches, I now understand that OSU basketball is nothing like I thought is was or want it to be. We may get there again. Maybe Boynton will be the one to lead us back. But, it is going to take a lot of work and a long time for the program to regain what has been lost. It is not right around the corner. Right now, it is beyond the horizon. That makes me sad. I won't give up on it coming to fruition, but, I won't be putting the program under a microscope for the time being. OSU Basketball is going to have to do some special things to suck me back in. Just like Boynton is going to have to win a lot of games to fix the GIA attendance issues. I hope it happens.
