Coach Mills' Comments About Omaha & Derrin Hansen

[ORob1]

Was anyone else surprised to hear Coach Mills totally blow off the question from the sideline reporter last night at Halftime?  She asked him something about how he felt about getting 32 points in the paint during the 1st half and he went on a rant about how dissaapointed he was in Omaha firing Coach Nelson.  It was cringey but kinda funny...He must have a closeness and history with Nelson.  He was very passionate about what a phenominal coach and person he is, how much success he's had and mentioned all the injuries Nelson has had to deal with this season.  He was really upset about the firing...but the timing was really bizarre. 

Rob

[Keenan Henderson]

He cares and knows how hard it is to coach in D1. It just shows that it is very tough to keep a job in sports if you do not win. Even guaranteed contracts will not keep you around. Hansen was 10-46 the last two years and that will get anyone fired, no matter what their record was in the past.

If Coach Mills we’re to finish 10-46 in the next two years, would he still be at ORU. Sorry but no way.

[ORob1]

Agree...

[EagleManiac]

Our group that was watching missed the original question and was incredibly confused by what he was saying and who he was talking about. When we went back to listen to the question, we were even more confused. 

I thought it was a nice gesture and show of respect to an old coaching buddy.

[lakesbison]

very cool to hear..

 

[Old Titan]

Admirable sentiment; horrible timing. 

What would have been wrong with saying the same thing in the postgame presser?

Not enough cameras, I guess….

[Idig32]

I don’t mind the timing or the sentiment. I am hesitant to even mention it, but it’s hard to ignore the irony that he replaced someone who was fired similarly after a long tenure at a school. That aside, I think it’s cool that he stuck up for the Omaha coach. 

[oruvoice]

21 hours ago, ORob1 said:

Was anyone else surprised to hear Coach Mills totally blow off the question from the sideline reporter last night at Halftime?  She asked him something about how he felt about getting 32 points in the paint during the 1st half and he went on a rant about how dissaapointed he was in Omaha firing Coach Nelson.  It was cringey but kinda funny...He must have a closeness and history with Nelson.  He was very passionate about what a phenominal coach and person he is, how much success he's had and mentioned all the injuries Nelson has had to deal with this season.  He was really upset about the firing...but the timing was really bizarre. 

Rob

Yes. Bizarre would be the appropriate word. But, the coaching fraternity is a tight knit bunch.

Honestly, he may be feeling the heat in another year or two. I mean, if you remove the fairy-tale 2 weeks last year, he'd be on the hot seat right now. Five years in with an overall record of 76-78 (.493) and 62-78 (.442) against D-1 opponents ain't exactly lighting the world on fire. And, imagine the record if we hadn't gotten one player (Max).

Don't forget...we unceremoniously canned a guy that was 270-177 (.604) with 3 NCAA tourneys and a boatload of big-time non-conference wins over P5 opponents. 

[EagleManiac]

11 minutes ago, oruvoice said:

...Honestly, he may be feeling the heat in another year or two. I mean, if you remove the fairy-tale 2 weeks last year, he'd be on the hot seat right now. Five years in with an overall record of 76-78 (.493) and 62-78 (.442) against D-1 opponents ain't exactly lighting the world on fire. And, imagine the record if we hadn't gotten one player (Max).

Don't forget...we unceremoniously canned a guy that was 270-177 (.604) with 3 NCAA tourneys and a boatload of big-time non-conference wins over P5 opponents. 

Wish I could disagree. He did turn our program around from nothing and deserves credit for that, but we haven't been much more than "adequate" during his tenure outside of last March. 

That being said, I still believe in Mills and think he is the right coach for our future. Progress rarely follows a perfectly linear track.

[eagle88]

Kind of a convoluted topic. Scott did really good for a number of years, especially when he had Corey Williams to help him recruit. Once Corey left ,our recruiting went downhill to where the last 3-4 seasons under Scott were brutal. It didn't help Scott that we lost Rotnei Clark and other good recruits to the Richard Roberts scandal. In my opinion Coach Mills subpar record is partly due to what he inherited. He came into a major rebuilding project. Much like Scott, Mills success will largely depend on his and his coaches ability to recruit as we move forward. The new and improved facilities should help the coaching staff. Like some have mentioned on other posts Mills is going to have to figure out how  to utilize both the guards and bigs effectively if we are going to be a powerhouse in the Summit.  Mills has put a good product on the floor that is exciting to watch. Hopefully he will figure out some of the missing pieces!

[darrenj]

1 hour ago, eagle88 said:

Kind of a convoluted topic. Scott did really good for a number of years, especially when he had Corey Williams to help him recruit. Once Corey left ,our recruiting went downhill to where the last 3-4 seasons under Scott were brutal. It didn't help Scott that we lost Rotnei Clark and other good recruits to the Richard Roberts scandal. In my opinion Coach Mills subpar record is partly due to what he inherited. He came into a major rebuilding project. Much like Scott, Mills success will largely depend on his and his coaches ability to recruit as we move forward. The new and improved facilities should help the coaching staff. Like some have mentioned on other posts Mills is going to have to figure out how  to utilize both the guards and bigs effectively if we are going to be a powerhouse in the Summit.  Mills has put a good product on the floor that is exciting to watch. Hopefully he will figure out some of the missing pieces!

With Corey, Chris Crutchfield and Tom Hankins that was a very good set of assistants that did the bulk of the recruiting while they were there. Very hard for Scott to replace when they left. 

Rotnei Clark was never going to ORU. Heck, they hired his dad to sit on the end of the bench and just hang out and still didn't even consider them. The coaches knew way before he signed at Ark. that he wasn't coming. 

[jmg1984]

3 hours ago, eagle88 said:

Kind of a convoluted topic. Scott did really good for a number of years, especially when he had Corey Williams to help him recruit. Once Corey left ,our recruiting went downhill to where the last 3-4 seasons under Scott were brutal. It didn't help Scott that we lost Rotnei Clark and other good recruits to the Richard Roberts scandal. In my opinion Coach Mills subpar record is partly due to what he inherited. He came into a major rebuilding project. Much like Scott, Mills success will largely depend on his and his coaches ability to recruit as we move forward. The new and improved facilities should help the coaching staff. Like some have mentioned on other posts Mills is going to have to figure out how  to utilize both the guards and bigs effectively if we are going to be a powerhouse in the Summit.  Mills has put a good product on the floor that is exciting to watch. Hopefully he will figure out some of the missing pieces!

Recruiting is fine but ya also have to develop the players

[oruvoice]

5 hours ago, EagleManiac said:

Wish I could disagree. He did turn our program around from nothing and deserves credit for that, but we haven't been much more than "adequate" during his tenure outside of last March. 

That being said, I still believe in Mills and think he is the right coach for our future. Progress rarely follows a perfectly linear track.

Well, with the 8-year contract extension, he'll have plenty of time to progress. 

[Old Titan]

I was just overall VERY disappointed in Coach Mills behavior the final month of the season and in Sioux Falls, with Fargo obviously the low point.

Instead of treating this time of year as a chance for reflection and a victory tour of sorts for 2021's late-season achievements, he instead grew more and more pensive as the season winded down, was embarrasingly short with the media in Sioux Falls, always seemed in a sour mood, and appeared to go out of his way to try to turn every comment before the microphone into a soapbox moment.

Simply wish he would stop treating each encounter with a reporter as his last, best opportunity to have something carved in a stone tablet, and instead just answer the question (dumb though it may be) in a thoughtful, considerate, and RESPECTFUL way, so the poor shlub can file their story, or throw the broadcast to a commercial break.

"Stay out of your own way," as the saying goes...

[tmh8286]

Well said, OT.

 

[TrueBlue82]

17 hours ago, Old Titan said:

I was just overall VERY disappointed in Coach Mills behavior the final month of the season and in Sioux Falls, with Fargo obviously the low point.

Instead of treating this time of year as a chance for reflection and a victory tour of sorts for 2021's late-season achievements, he instead grew more and more pensive as the season winded down, was embarrasingly short with the media in Sioux Falls, always seemed in a sour mood, and appeared to go out of his way to try to turn every comment before the microphone into a soapbox moment.

Simply wish he would stop treating each encounter with a reporter as his last, best opportunity to have something carved in a stone tablet, and instead just answer the question (dumb though it may be) in a thoughtful, considerate, and RESPECTFUL way, so the poor shlub can file their story, or throw the broadcast to a commercial break.

"Stay out of your own way," as the saying goes...

The truth is... for most of us, the disappointment in Coach Mills' media approach hasn't been in just the last month.  His media presence has been below average for his entire tenure at ORU, except for the time period from March to November 2021.  During those nine months, his media presence was OFF THE CHARTS EXEMPLARY.  As March Madness and the Cinderella run brought HUGE media exposure to ORU (which continued through the off-season), he was absolutely exceptional.  He was humble yet confident, deferred to the talent and work ethic of his players, and shared the Gospel and gave glory to the Lord in a very winsome manner.  I can't imagine that a coach of an ORU Basketball program could have handled that situation ANY better than Coach Mills.  As the new season started, I had hope that this "new persona" would continue to grace our sideline and press conferences.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen. 

I really like Coach Mills - and I fully believe that he is the right man to lead our basketball program.  Furthermore, I will be eternally grateful for how he represented my alma mater last year.  But, I also believe that this is an area of "needs improvement" for him - and a part of the job that he really dislikes.  I'm hopeful that this will be an area of focus for him, and that he can grow and mature to the point where this becomes a "non-issue" for him, as the media presence is a significant part of his job description.

And, as to how he changed from "media averse" to "media champion" (and back again) literally overnight, I have no explanation except that the Lord gave him a special anointing to cover those few months of intense media exposure (for "such a time as this").  And, I'm confident that the Lord will help guide him to overcome his weakness in this area in the seasons ahead.  

[Old Titan]

What's troubling is that his "persona" tends to coincide with his success - or lack thereof - on the flloor, which over time comes across as disengenuousness when times are good, and being a "sore loser" when times are bad.

I'm surprised that at his age and experience level, he does not exhibit a more balanced temperament.

Not an easy thing to do, but that comes with getting paid the big bucks.  Gotta be better - period.

[Dr. BB]

I harped on Coach Mills in another discussion category, but I will also say a few words here.  I personally think Mills is overrated.  Last year was indeed a miracle, but Mills has shown time and time again this year that he does not know how to use his best players in certain situations.  Yes, he has been effective in recruiting good talent.  The problem is that he fails to utilize them.  When we are getting killed in the paint by a larger team, he simply uses small guards and expects them to drive for layups.  We have had a porous defense for months.  He schedules soft NAIA teams or Division II or III teams so we can amass victories.  We simply have not been able to compete much with good Division I teams, especially this year.  The tournament last year was an exception.  Even when we lost to Arkansas last year, Mills got a technical at a crucial time, which ultimately killed us.  He whines like a baby, talks like a child, and is an idiot during most national interviews.  He tries to be an evangelist who quotes Scripture at Golden Eagle Dinners for financial donors.  I know this, as I am a member of this Club, and had to hear his miserable apologies more than once.  He basically instigated the fight at North Dakota State. There are a handful of players on our team that rarely played this year and who would have made a huge difference in key games.  Since only one player is graduating this year, these key players most likely will sit on the bench next year, while the The Teacher's Pet (Phipps) continues to get voluminous  playing time for unknown reasons.  I predict that at least 5 players will transfer out of ORU during the next 6 months.  I moved to Tulsa from Texas last year after my retirement simply to live next to the Mabee Center, see all games, give financial donations, and maybe even serve on the Board.  I drove back from Sioux Falls on my 70th birthday after the game 2 debacle the night before.  If Mills does not show any signs of enlightenment next year, I am DONE supporting this team.