Musick to Arkansas.

[theeagleman5]

Lotta pressure to win at Arkansas 

[theeagleman5]

God Bless Kelsi Musick...she's a class act and a fine coach. TheEagleman not much of a Hog fan but we wish her well and she has to feed her family. Guessing ORU will need some new players in addition to a new coach. What about that Kyron Stokes?? 

[ORUJason]

I have wondered about Kyron as well.  He is still in Tulsa but has not been in coaching for the last few years and has been working in mortgage sales/financial services or something similar I believe.  I think his interest in coaching has not necessarily waned but his family situation dictated that he stay in Tulsa.  I am not wanting to put words in his mouth.  I know other former coaches who have chosen to stay in Tulsa vs living on the road trying to follow the assistant coach route.

[Mr_TwoFive]

3 hours ago, ORUJason said:

I have wondered about Kyron as well.  He is still in Tulsa but has not been in coaching for the last few years and has been working in mortgage sales/financial services or something similar I believe.  I think his interest in coaching has not necessarily waned but his family situation dictated that he stay in Tulsa.  I am not wanting to put words in his mouth.  I know other former coaches who have chosen to stay in Tulsa vs living on the road trying to follow the assistant coach route.

That ship has sailed guys. There would have to be an act of God - a miracle lol. I have enjoyed life away from college coaching. My daughter would love for me to go for it again but I’m enjoying life away from the craziness. I rather not have to deal with NIL. The door is 99% closed. 
 

For now. 

[TrueBlue82]

It’s obvious that Kelsi negotiated this deal sometime between/near the end of the season and the WBIT game, and knew when ORU tipped off on Thursday night that she would be the subject of a high profile announcement, to be released the day following whenever ORU eventually lost.  That put her in a very difficult position on Thursday. If ORU wins the game and goes on an extended run through the tournament, Kelsi loses critical time in recruiting for and forming her new team (from the current UA roster, the transfer portal, and others). As ORU found out in the College World Series year, that extra time can be very costly.  
 

So, Thursday night, Kelsi is trying to win a game (for her players and for the University) that would ultimately hurt her team for next year, and potentially delay her future career progression. In no way am I implying that Coach Musick didn’t give 110% effort for ORU on Thursday night, but on the other hand, she would have to be superhuman to not go into that game with some mixed emotions. 
 

I don’t like it, and it’s not fair to the team or the University - or to Coach Musick - to be put in that situation. But I also don’t see anything change on the horizon to improve the situation. The combination of high stakes, high profile, and critical timing is a powder keg, and someone always gets burned.  
 

[ORUJason]

This is a great observation concerning the back door discussions and distractions of a coach who knows they are going to leave heading into a postseason game.  The ORU women’s team played poorly vs Missouri State.  

The ORU vs Duke game in the NCAA tournament 2 years ago had the same feeling.  I suspect Coach Mills knew he was heading to Wichita State and that ORU team performed very poorly against a superior Duke team.

I have seen this in the NFL as well when an assistant coach is getting a head coaching job and suddenly their team plays poorly in the playoffs on their side of the ball.

Preparing for the interview, then interviewing, and having discussions with your agent and family take a lot of time and focus away from the game plan.  Often the result is unfortunately a poor playoff performance for the team that had been focused all season long to position themselves for the postseason.

[ORU82]

Additional food for thought.  Tyla Heard announces on March 15 she is entering the transfer portal, 10 days before the portal opens and 5 days before our game at MSU which she did not play in.  Could she have known something about Coach Musick leaving at that time (March 15)?  Our play against MSU was arguably the worst we played all year.  Finally, and as pointed out above, you really do not negotiate a 5 year/$3 mm dollar contract in a couple of hours the morning after your team suffers one its worst losses of the season.

If the contract was already a done deal before the MSU loss, did Coach Musick have the good graces to at least inform ADTJ of the situation and see if ORU wanted to counter the offer, even if it was for less $$, or relieve her of her coaching responsibilities prior to the MSU game so that perhaps the team could focus more on the game and less on where Coach was going after the game?

Questions the answer to which we will probably never know.

[Bogus Smith]

1 hour ago, ORUJason said:

This is a great observation concerning the back door discussions and distractions of a coach who knows they are going to leave heading into a postseason game.  The ORU women’s team played poorly vs Missouri State.  

The ORU vs Duke game in the NCAA tournament 2 years ago had the same feeling.  I suspect Coach Mills knew he was heading to Wichita State and that ORU team performed very poorly against a superior Duke team.

I have seen this in the NFL as well when an assistant coach is getting a head coaching job and suddenly their team plays poorly in the playoffs on their side of the ball.

Preparing for the interview, then interviewing, and having discussions with your agent and family take a lot of time and focus away from the game plan.  Often the result is unfortunately a poor playoff performance for the team that had been focused all season long to position themselves for the postseason.

Never forget that God directs our path.  One with a strong moral compass will stay focused on the prize.  The opportunities will be there for those that wait.  You may be offered a job today - take it or leave it - and it is up to us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discern the REAL opportunities that are ahead of us.  Especially in the world of athletics where it isn't our physical capabilities that are being bought-and-sold, but our ability to motivate, teach, and develop, the right job will ALWAYS be there if you are good enough.

[Mr_TwoFive]

11 hours ago, ORUJason said:

This is a great observation concerning the back door discussions and distractions of a coach who knows they are going to leave heading into a postseason game.  The ORU women’s team played poorly vs Missouri State.  

The ORU vs Duke game in the NCAA tournament 2 years ago had the same feeling.  I suspect Coach Mills knew he was heading to Wichita State and that ORU team performed very poorly against a superior Duke team.

I have seen this in the NFL as well when an assistant coach is getting a head coaching job and suddenly their team plays poorly in the playoffs on their side of the ball.

Preparing for the interview, then interviewing, and having discussions with your agent and family take a lot of time and focus away from the game plan.  Often the result is unfortunately a poor playoff performance for the team that had been focused all season long to position themselves for the postseason.

Great observations by everyone. It's hard to say exactly when UA discussions took place, but there were 10 days from the end of the conference tournament to the Missouri St. Game. Majority of the leg work, interview prep and interviews could have been over the phone and via zoom. 

Most times, out of respect and courtesy, ADs reach out to the AD of the HC they're pursuing. With all of the success, you would have to be naive to think that she wouldn't be a hot commodity -- Tim had to have known. Tim's smart, he knows he can't compete with UA money, ORU can't come up with a big enough counter to keep someone (more on this later). 

As for game prep, the assistants do a lot of the leg work - a lot. I'm not saying the HC doesn't prep, but the assistants put the scouting report and game plan (with the HC oversight) together. At this point, they're 30+ games into the season, practices pretty much run themselves - they aren't putting anything new, just really going over personnel and schemes. I didn't see the game, but I do know MSU gets after it and defends, but I will say I thought the game would be closer. I will try and go back and watch it.

Heard leaving: this could have been a disruption but I would think that Heard knew she was leaving mid to late in the year. Her sister was playing @ UConn and they are a TIGHT family, I'm sure she didn't want to miss the opportunity to see her sister play especially if she knew she wasn't coming back already. 

There could have been rumors going around of opportunities for Musick. Kids aren't dumb, it could have been going around in the locker room. 

As for the contract, what is there to negotiate. It's life altering money and the opportunity to coach at a P5. Musick is going to go in there and demand more? She's going to take a night to sleep on it? I highly doubt it. Its a 30 min flight in their private jet. I would think she was there on campus all morning up until the announcement. Doing it the morning of doesn't sound far fetched at all

[Bogus Smith]

1 hour ago, Mr_TwoFive said:

Great observations by everyone. It's hard to say exactly when UA discussions took place, but there were 10 days from the end of the conference tournament to the Missouri St. Game. Majority of the leg work, interview prep and interviews could have been over the phone and via zoom. 

Most times, out of respect and courtesy, ADs reach out to the AD of the HC they're pursuing. With all of the success, you would have to be naive to think that she wouldn't be a hot commodity -- Tim had to have known. Tim's smart, he knows he can't compete with UA money, ORU can't come up with a big enough counter to keep someone (more on this later). 

As for game prep, the assistants do a lot of the leg work - a lot. I'm not saying the HC doesn't prep, but the assistants put the scouting report and game plan (with the HC oversight) together. At this point, they're 30+ games into the season, practices pretty much run themselves - they aren't putting anything new, just really going over personnel and schemes. I didn't see the game, but I do know MSU gets after it and defends, but I will say I thought the game would be closer. I will try and go back and watch it.

Heard leaving: this could have been a disruption but I would think that Heard knew she was leaving mid to late in the year. Her sister was playing @ UConn and they are a TIGHT family, I'm sure she didn't want to miss the opportunity to see her sister play especially if she knew she wasn't coming back already. 

There could have been rumors going around of opportunities for Musick. Kids aren't dumb, it could have been going around in the locker room. 

As for the contract, what is there to negotiate. It's life altering money and the opportunity to coach at a P5. Musick is going to go in there and demand more? She's going to take a night to sleep on it? I highly doubt it. Its a 30 min flight in their private jet. I would think she was there on campus all morning up until the announcement. Doing it the morning of doesn't sound far fetched at all

Spot on, 25!!  Spoken like a person that's been there and done that! 

[Dave Connor]

11 hours ago, Bogus Smith said:

Never forget that God directs our path.  One with a strong moral compass will stay focused on the prize.  The opportunities will be there for those that wait.  You may be offered a job today - take it or leave it - and it is up to us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discern the REAL opportunities that are ahead of us.  Especially in the world of athletics where it isn't our physical capabilities that are being bought-and-sold, but our ability to motivate, teach, and develop, the right job will ALWAYS be there if you are good enough.

Thank you! When Paul Mills left for WSU, with all the negative reactions from fans, I thought maybe God was leading Paul to go where His light is dim...

[Bogus Smith]

In case you're interested in seeing the presser of introducing Kelsi to the Arkansas media, you can find it here.

[Mr_TwoFive]

Decision should be made, if it’s not already made, on Saturday. Not sure if it will be announced then but I would assume soon after. 
 

If I was a betting man, I’d bet we find out the Men’s and Women’s new HC at the same time. 
 

WBB: I don’t know all the candidates but one is a familiar face - and my pick to be the new HC. 
 

Should be an interesting weekend!

[oruvoice]

Krista Ragan-Binam would be my choice. 

[Bogus Smith]

Need to be careful with that one......she has been booted by more high schools than a kid in alternative school.

[oruvoice]

4 minutes ago, Bogus Smith said:

Need to be careful with that one......she has been booted by more high schools than a kid in alternative school.

Yeah. It was tongue in cheek, thus the winking emoji. 

She's too old school for these kids today. 

[theflyonthewall]

I wish ORU had gone for Jhasmin Player, she was Associate HC for the OSU Cowgirls these past three years, and did a bang up job when HC Jacie Hoyt had her maternity leave and her daughter very recently.

Solid Christian, great recruiter, great coach

 

Alas, Incarnate Word tapped Jhasmin first.

[Bogus Smith]

I don't know that we could have afforded her.  And even if we could, there are probably quite a few candidates that are qualified to come to a school that could launch their career into a P4 school.  ORU has sent a few women coaches into their best seasons - Yow to Florida, Finkbeiner to Utah State, and now Musick to Arkansas.  The next coach, if they work hard, will find themselves being a desired commodity in the coaching ranks.  I haven't heard of many coaches going from Incarnate Word to a higher level job. 

 

Alas, if they had only been patient for the right opportunity instead of the first opportunity.