Tony Benford

[MeanGreenDan]

Eric Capper just tweeted:

"Tony Benford"

Thoughts?

Edit:

But then he tweeted "fran frachilla" and "don nelson". So F me.

Edited April 23, 2012 by MeanGreenDan

[H-towngreen]

I hope not.

[Green Dozer]

Wouldn't be so cute or funny if Sean Bass saw it just as he was doing the "Ticket Taper" and announced one of these names as the "new head coach" before he saw the other tweets.

"Eric Capper ‏ @Eric_Capper

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All this speculation is nothing more than speculation... Let the process be thoroughly vetted and everything will be OK. #Rumors

21m Eric Capper Eric Capper ‏ @Eric_Capper

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Shawn Forrest

22m Eric Capper Eric Capper ‏ @Eric_Capper

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Don Nelson

22m Eric Capper Eric Capper ‏ @Eric_Capper

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fran frachilla

23m Eric Capper Eric Capper ‏ @Eric_Capper

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tony benford

Edited April 23, 2012 by Green Dozer

[Rudy]

Thoughts: No.

[MeanGreenTexan]

How is Benford even tied to this job?

Did his agent contact RV, so RV decided he would be a nice fit?

[emmitt01]

Once again, twitter is NOT a news source.

[Green P1]

Eric Capper is quite the funny jokester.

[untgeorge]

Eric Capper just tweeted:

"Tony Benford"

Thoughts?

Edit:

But then he tweeted "fran frachilla" and "don nelson". So F me.

Of those who are not now or never have been head coaches, Benford is a great choice, the best choice. Would rather have someone with HC experience.

[greenminer]

Once again, twitter is NOT a news source.

Unfortunately for you and I, it has turned into the catalyst of new GMG.com threads.

[CMJ]

Once again, twitter is NOT a news source.

Unless it's a family member of said new coach posting something on their twitter account (which is how the JJ to LSU news broke...one of his nieces put it up like 5-10 minutes before it hit the ESPN's, NBC's and Yahoo's).

Edited April 24, 2012 by CMJ

[Jim Ganzer "IWB"]

Benford would be a great hire for North Texas. He was a finalist for SMU and was also a finalist for the USC job that Kevin O'Neill got. He is a major recruiter and a hell of a coach. Guy has been a great recruiter for Marquette in Chicago (Midwest) and California. Has a lot of ties in Texas from his time at Arizona State and his playing days at Texas Tech.

[Harry]

Benford would be a great hire for North Texas. He was a finalist for SMU and was also a finalist for the USC job that Kevin O'Neill got. He is a major recruiter and a hell of a coach. Guy has been a great recruiter for Marquette in Chicago (Midwest) and California. Has a lot of ties in Texas from his time at Arizona State and his playing days at Texas Tech.

He's a hot commodity no doubt but in our situation getting someone with head coaching experience is a plus. Appreciate you putting your thoughts on here.

[meangreenfan65]

I think there are pro and cons to all 3 candidates. Fran (head coach exp) yes, but his last stop at New Mexico, was not that impressive. Benford, no head coach exp, but high upside, and Forrest, no head coach exp, but knows the current players, very well. I think RV will make the best choice. Interesting hire!

[untjim1995]

He's a hot commodity no doubt but in our situation getting someone with head coaching experience is a plus. Appreciate you putting your thoughts on here.

See, to me, Benford is a huge risk. He has never been a head coach, may be a great recruiter, but we don't know his x's and o's ability. Trilli was an awesome recruiter, but your below average YMCA coach had better gameplans than Trilli did. Plus, if Benford does succeed here, there's no doubt that he would jump at the next opportunity, probably even jump to Tech if BCG fails or falls off the wagon (both have reasonable chances of occurring). Then we are back at square one.

Getting a guy like Fraschilla tells your team and your fanbase that we want someone who has skins on the wall and is well-known throughout the Metroplex and across all of college basketball. If we win like we should this year, Fraschilla's ESPN ties will give us great exposure. Those ESPN guys love to promote their own guys who get bakc into coaching--see Steve Lavin and Mark Gottfried for examples. When Dino Gaudio gets a job, which will probably be sooner rather than later, they'll do the same for him, too. Fran makes way more sense.

[Jim Ganzer "IWB"]

One more plug for Benford (an assistant) as opposed to Fraschilla (with head coaching experience)....

Fraschilla - yes, he has head coaching experience, but he hasn't been an NCAA head coach in 10 years, and hasn't been to the NCAAs in 14 years. In his career, he has won 1 NCAA tournament game.

Benford - While he has no head coaching experience, has been the Associate Head Coach at both Marquette and Arizona State. Benford has been in back to back Sweet 16s and has been on the bench in the NCAA tournament 4 years in a row.

Yes, covering Marquette I am a Benford fan, but each school that has passed on him by did so for someone with head coaching experience. Looking at it from a Marquette point of view, Marquette was in a downward spiral and despite requests for a proven winner, hired an assistant coach in Tom Crean who revitalized the program and in 9 years took MU to the NCAA 5 times with one Final Four trip. He left for Indiana and once again, despite requests for a proven winner, Marquette hired another assistant in Buzz Williams who has been to four straight NCAA tourneys with back-to-back Sweet 16s.

Point is, so many schools want experienced head coaches, but a coach with 20 years of experience that is a high powered recruiter with ties from coast to coast can be a better option than a former head who has been out of the recruiting game for 10 years.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Jim Ganzer "IWB"

[CMJ]

Of course Buzz Williams had been a head coach before.

[MeanMag]

Buzz Williams had head coaching experience prior to Marquette if I am not mistaken.

I think you might not know how well thought of Fran is in the area and in the international community. In my opinion, both options are high powered recruiters. One has head coaching experience.

[Jim Ganzer "IWB"]

Yes, Buzz was a head at UNO for one season, the year post Katrina, wasn't a good

Looking at Twitter, now do you understand why I was posting?

Edited April 24, 2012 by Jim Ganzer "IWB"

[Censored by Laurie]

Looking at Twitter, now do you understand why I was pushing Tony?

Maybe you missed this?

[MeanMag]

Looking at Twitter, now do you understand why I was pushing Tony?

Post what you were referring to. Also, for such a Marquette follower, you sure seem eager to unload benford. Why?

[Green P1]

Seems now like little Eric Capper tried to break the news too soon and got his grubby little hands swatted by the AD. Twitter will make some people do some stupid things.

I'd fire him for insubordination.

[Maduro]

Anyone know his preferred style of play?

he's from a team that got the ball in Jae Crowder's hands a lot. I think this will be a great coach for Tony Mitchell.

[Jim Ganzer "IWB"]

Not eager to unload Benford at all - this will hurt Marquette, in all aspects. I have gotten to know Tony. He is a great guy, a very hard worker and a hell of a recruiter. he deserves a head job, and it is time he got one. As I said before, he was the runner up for USC and SMU, but mid majors like Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois etc all passed because they wanted head coaches.

He will get it up and down court. He will bring a variety of defenses mixed to match the opposition.

[TIgreen01]

Not eager to unload Benford at all - this will hurt Marquette, in all aspects. I have gotten to know Tony. He is a great guy, a very hard worker and a hell of a recruiter. he deserves a head job, and it is time he got one. As I said before, he was the runner up for USC and SMU, but mid majors like Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois etc all passed because they wanted head coaches.

He will get it up and down court. He will bring a variety of defenses mixed to match the opposition.

The more you post, the more scared I am of this hire. Just sayin...

Edited April 24, 2012 by TIgreen01

[MeanGreenDan]

he deserves a head job

So do I, but I was not in the running for the job...