The only difference between Mike White and Ron Zook is no coach can come into UF and win a National Championship with the talent Mike White has recruited. Other than that...
I don’t agree. The team with Blackshear, AN, Lewis, KJ and Mann was talented enough to get to the Final 4, with it being a crapshoot after that.
Round of 32 is not his ceiling because he made an Elite 8 already. As much as you’d like to conveniently discard it it, it happened. It’s cannon.
Nobody is claiming that he isn’t well respected. But many are questioning his coaching ability. That is a fact.
Honestly, I equate this (and I'll agree with your premise that he is well thought of in basketball) with the Moneyball quote about how some people are "baseball guys." He is not really a good coach, but when he isn't leading your team, he looks a lot better. Mediocrity always looks better when it is somebody else's team (especially if you can convince yourself that mediocrity is a natural condition of that program). Really great coaches are not generally as widely liked in the sport because they have been responsible for upsetting the balance of power (think Mike Miller's recruitment by Billy and the reaction to it). Mike White isn't a danger to anybody else's job, so he can be very well respected by everybody.
The reality is he’s just not a good coach. He may be a great guy but the results aren’t there. And it’s totally false that he has high expectations. If he had top 10 program expectations he would have been fired after year 4 at the absolute latest. If we had top 25 level program expectations he would have been fired last year. At this point of 7 years of nearly no success yet somehow trending down, what program would keep him? Any argument to keep him is based on emotion and not fact. Let’s not act like he had a great resume prior to UF. He was a reach of a hire. What exactly are we hanging our hats on? What evidence is there that he is an average coach, let alone a good one?
Im sure good P5 programs will be lining up to hire a guy that has never had a good season in his life. He isn’t a total disaster. Zook and Champ got hired at a lower level P5. Could White land a similar gig where the goal is simply not be awful? Maybe Vandy is his calling card?
Safe to say White has us somewhere in the 25-50th range for our program. I’d estimate its right near the middle and trending down. That isn’t remotely close to good enough.
For me, the issue with Coach White is the same as it was with Coach Mullen: is the program improving? Is the program better off than it was a year ago, 2 years ago?? Are fans feeling satisfied with the program overall? With Coach Mullen, the answer was plain as day, as clearly the program was on a downward trajectory. Fans were unhappy. With Coach White, it just seems to me that the program is not progressing. Glaring deficiencies are apparent. I don't need to go into what those deficiencies are, as they have been delineated by many on this Forum far more educated and perceptive than I. All I know it that this program should be a lot better off than it is now. And, as with the football program, it appears that the basketball program is on a downward trajectory. Just wanted to say my piece.
For the most part it really has been a respectful discussion. I'm done piling on coach. If he comes back next year I'd root for him but probably at the same distance I have this year which is to say I don't set my watch to their games anymore. Outside of the genuine interest I have in AKAs opinions and the healthy discussion it created the only reason I feel the need to restate anything is to respond to the absurd hyperbolic misrepresentation about expectations a couple of posters continue to make here. I don't like uprooting staffs and the turmoil it creates. I rooted for White fervently and optimistically from the beginning. The only thing that waned was the optimism which admittedly is pretty low if not gone at this point. At no point however does coach deserve any disrespect or venom.
Yeah I look thru orange and blue glasses maybe to much. I still think there is some talent in that group. How do you know he's not a PG? JJ is close was playing well before he got hurt. But just my pie in the sky assumptions which never happen.
Like with Mullen, when you play games with little margin for error, bad luck/weird bounces has a greater effect on the outcome. There should have been no reason to lose to UK in football this year, yet Mullen playing conservative led to a blocked FG being the difference in the game. By slowing down the offense too soon while having a lead, White has lost multiple games that had the opportunity to change the trajectory/perception of the program. Those are self-inflicted wounds. Player injuries and things like that happen to every coach. If I am remembering correctly, Billy lacked lacked quality big men for his last season and the season went poorly. But Billy understood that and had a transfer center waiting in the wings. The number of players transferring out of the program has seemed to increase the longer White has been here.
Yes, injuries happen to every coach…. But I have been watching college basketball for 40 years and can’t think of similar scenario. White has seen 8 front court players endure season and/or career-ending injury. 8! That is an average of more than one per year! That is unheard of. And a few of them carried into the following season… such as Egbunu and Keyontae, creating not only a void but also dealing with the “unknown”. Egbunu, Stokes, Chase Johnson, Bassett, Gak, Stone, Keyontae, Jitoboh
Yeah, completely loaded. I'd guess at least 10-12 future basketball Hall-of-Famers. Mike Okauru Chase Johnson Isaiah Stokes Jalen Hudson Egor Koulechov KeVaughn Allen Chris Chiozza Gorjok Gak Kevarrius Hayes Mak Krause John Egbunu Dontay Bassett Andrew Fava Deaundrae Ballard Keith Stone
