Coaching news links and opinions

Published March 31, 2010 at 3:56 a.m.
Here is a short clip of Gene's press conference.

I thought Gene did a decent job at the press conference. It was respectful of Al, but clearly explained he wanted a coach who was willing to bring more passion to the position. Gene did say that Al was fired last week and they kept it under wraps to help him land the St. John's job. Andy Katz and Al's camp disputed the spin on that a little. What I was told is that the two sides were not on the same page but the firing/buyout was not official until Monday.

As for replacements, interviewees are starting to surface. Cornell's Steve Donahue will interview Wednesday. I think he would be a good candidate and supposedly he is very excited about the opportunity.

Ed Cooley will also interview Wednesday and called BC his dream job. Cooley is an interesting case in that he would be a natural transition yet he is much more emotional than Skinner. Could he bring enough passion to the role to help generate more fan interest?

No links, but supposedly Mooney is lukewarm about the opportunity. If the football searches are any barometer, Gene will not bother with lukewarm candidates. He wants interviewees to be passionate about BC.

Speaking of passion, Bruce Pearl has been at the front of most BC fans' minds. Clay Travis is reporting that BC has not reached out to Tennessee. This is a bit of a conflict from what I heard. I was told that 3rd parties reached out to Pearl to gauge his interest. Supposedly he has some interest but the process would have to be quick and BC would have to meet all his demands. I would love it, but don't see it happening. (What a shame.) Here is a roundup of all the Pearl to BC talk.

We don't have a coach, but we do have the player of the year in Minnesota.

The BCI guys looked at attendance under Skinner. Does anyone think marketing would have changed things? We had some great basketball and still couldn't draw.

In football news, Josh Haden is headed to Florida to play with his brother.

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