Poll: tony Paul HC pick +

I picked Andy but if we are only going with tony p picks than I would take JR Blount.

Quite frankly, all 4 rumored finalists are about the same.

Montgomery did coach for 10 years and actually had to call time-outs in games. He also knows our facilities and still wants to coach here. He's local. Maybe he could get MSU back on our schedule. But he was unable to sustain his rebuild at NIU.

Washington has not moved around much for an assistant. That's a plus. But he has no experience running the show. How well would his reputed recruiting skills at UM translate to us?

Haynes left Detroit to play at Kent State. Except for 2 years at UM, he never returned anywhere near Detroit for work. He's Detroit by birth only. He's moved around a lot in his career. That suggests that if he had any sort of success here, he'd be looking for a Dennis Gates quick exit - maybe before the needed foundation was laid.

Blount did work at small D3 St. Leo's in Florida, a rural campus with not much around it. He also worked at Drake which is pretty comparable to us. He is noq part of a staff that has made the Sweet 16 two years in a row.

Of those 4, and again emphasizing how little I really know about them beyond the bare resume, I'd rank them:

1. Blount: Youngest; experience w/ small Catholic school (St. Leo's) and small D-1 private (Drake). Successful at every stop.
2. Montgomery: He's been on the staff, so he knows what are problems are, and he still wants the job. I consider that a big plus. Should know Michigan HS hoops. Head coaching experience (albeit not too successful).
3. Washington; Michigan guy, has been in Horizon.
4. Haynes: Not seeing much to make him stand out, but he is young.

But whomever chosen (at least from those 4), I'll not complain--those making the decision have more info and are more vested than me. We'll have to see the results.

I have to disagree with this. I don't think we have had talented teams since MD has taken over. We have had some talented players, ie, Davis, Stone, etc. but I think you could take all of the best players in the MD era and put them on one team and they would lose to the team of Holman, Lowe, Minnerath, Simon, Anderson, Calliste, Mccallum.

I find it odd that Montgomery is seen as possibly a good pick by some on this board because he knows about our problems and sub par facilities but still wants the job. Of course he wants the job. He turns 54 in a few days. Based on what I’ve been able to find online, he’s probably making somewhere around 300K as an MSU assistant coach. Assuming Vowels will continue paying roughly what he paid Davis, it would be about a 200K pay raise for Montgomery. Sure, a lot of that gets eaten in federal and state income taxes, but it’s still a nice pay increase for a guy who might retire in less years than he has fingers.

What I’m saying is, I could see an MSU assistant coach who is 34 staying put and waiting for a better HC opportunity. But when someone is 54 and has a less than impressive past HC resume, the Detroit Mercy job is the best you can hope for. Especially if he can get a 5 year contract with most or all of the money guaranteed. Also, while I don’t think the HC job at UDM is anything close to an easy job, the HC still runs the program. I don’t know what life is like for Montgomery at MSU, but I’m guessing that Izzo and others control his calendar and make him do things that a HC would simply be above doing. Assistant coaches do the heavy lifting and head coaches are ultimately responsible, but as Mike Brey has said, head coaches are basically stealing when you consider the pay they get for the work (at least when things are going well). I’ve learned enough about organizations and executive jobs to know that one is usually happier getting paid more and leading a bad <division/academic department/college/basketball team/insert whatever you want here> than taking orders and being a work horse of a good one. Especially in your 50s.

All that said, I don’t see Montgomery’s interest in the job despite our flaws as a selling point. I see a guy who would rather be the captain of our ship than Izzo’s Assistant to the Regional Manager during his last hurrah of work. I’d rather us hire a younger guy who is thirsty to win and willing to throw everything he has at the job. If Montgomery couldn’t make it work at NIU in his 40s, I don’t see him making it work at UDM in his mid to late 50s.