Why Miller over Mack?

[xumadman]

I've been a huge X fan and supporter since I was old enough to walk and understand the game. I've seen our program improve year over year exponentially and it's been a hell of a ride. Like you I am unhappy with the direction of the program over the past 4 years. I see most of you are vocally for Sean Miller coming back to lead our program. I do feel he would do a great job as he was one of the best coaches to lead Xavier teams in my lifetime for sure. Right now Miller and Mack are not currently employed. I'm curious as why you are Miller over Chris Mack especially with the NCAA violations and questions of Miller and his dealings in Arizona.
. In my opinion I want a lifetime coach (ala Mark Few of Gonzaga) and someone I can count on not leaving us again and to me I feel that coach is Chris Mack. He already shot the moon salary wise with another school and realized the grass is not greener on the other side just because budgets are what they are. I can get behind Chris Mack and I feel like with a current understanding of the coaching landscape he will go all in on x if given another opportunity to do so. He was the first coach I thought may not leave for more $ and continue our rep as stepping stone U as he is an alma mater and can do a better job imo in recruiting and setting a standard of competing for a national championship. I have to believe we can do it here and for me I'm Mack over Miller for that reason. Educate me why I may be wrong other than your saltiness of Mack packing his bags when we attained the first #1 seed in our tournament history?

[D-West & PO-Z]

I think Mack being an absolute failure at Louisville plays into it. Miller was very successful at Arizona (even though that Final 4 eluded him). Some had issues with Mack having a foot out the door upon leaving. Mack had some big recruiting misses in his time at X, especially towards the end of his tenure.

I am sure the wounds from him leaving are a lot fresher than Miller. But I also honestly think it was the hardest for Miller to leave of any coach who has left us. He initially turned Arizona down. I think if we had already been in the BE Miller would not have left.

I also think Miller would stay for the rest of his career. I think Miller had tougher teams than X as well which a lot of people admire. I also think a lot of people think Mack will never coach again and will live out his days a retired dad in Louisville where his wife's family lives.

Just my thoughts. Give me Miller all day.

[slysyl]

Miller's wife loved living here. That is why they came back. Mack's wife wanted to go home to Louisville. Let's make MRS. MILLER happy.

[waggy]

Mack didn’t last as long in his new job as Steele.

[OTRMUSKIE]

F MACK. He can rot in hell that POS. You're going to leave your city , your school you played for, so you can coach at Louisville? where, other than your wife , you have no real ties. F him. With that said I'll take him over Steele any day.

[Strange Brew]

Miller's wife loved living here. That is why they came back. Mack's wife wanted to go home to Louisville. Let's make MRS. MILLER happy.

Are the Miller’s living in Cincy again? I’ve heard rumors but wasn’t sure.

[xudash]

I think Mack being an absolute failure at Louisville plays into it. Miller was very successful at Arizona (even though that Final 4 eluded him). Some had issues with Mack having a foot out the door upon leaving. Mack had some big recruiting misses in his time at X, especially towards the end of his tenure.

I am sure the wounds from him leaving are a lot fresher than Miller. But I also honestly think it was the hardest for Miller to leave of any coach who has left us. He initially turned Arizona down. I think if we had already been in the BE Miller would not have left.

I also think Miller would stay for the rest of his career. I think Miller had tougher teams than X as well which a lot of people admire. I also think a lot of people think Mack will never coach again and will live out his days a retired dad in Louisville where his wife's family lives.

Just my thoughts. Give me Miller all day.

Agree with this verbatim. Mack also showed a lack of character in how he handled himself as things were going negatively for him.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Miller imo is the only coach for the job. He is only 53 he played in the BEAST, he is familiar with the program and the city. He has to be your next hire. As soon as this stupid NIT is over with he needs to be hired. 1500 fans tonight should be a good message . When Steele played in the NIT his first year I want to say They had close to 7k? Shame on the 1500 who went there tonight. Sunday, I will understand going so you can see the Prince in all his glory but you Must boo Steele.

[Xavier]

Mack was most successful coach at X, Miller was the best. Macks success was not year over year but rather up and down. I think his success was more dependent on team skill than coaching. (I think he is still a good coach) Miller continued to get better and felt like better roster construction. His success felt more like a result of a well built program and culture vs Mack which was up and down depending on strong talent base.

[UCGRAD4X]

When Miller left we were still in the A10. For him to go to Arizona - Buick vs Lexus comment aside - was, at least on paper, an understandable step up career move. All the talk about Louisville being a top program compared to Xavier has been much debated, and if so, the gap was certainly closing and the move was not to a decidedly better conference / competition. Happy wife aside, Mack basically left for the $$$$.

Throwing his assistants under the bus was a dick move and a step to far. He was a good dick when he was our dick but he was a dick none-the-less and a wandering dick in the end (so to speak).

[boozehound]

Mack was most successful coach at X, Miller was the best. Macks success was not year over year but rather up and down. I think his success was more dependent on team skill than coaching. (I think he is still a good coach) Miller continued to get better and felt like better roster construction. His success felt more like a result of a well built program and culture vs Mack which was up and down depending on strong talent base.

Agree with this. It was very up and down. I think Mack is just a moderately better version of Steele. Mack ran the same shitty offense that Steele runs for the most part, just with better talent and better defense. Imagine what would have happened had he not secured Trevon Blueitt? The 1 and 2 seed (both squandered BTW) and the Elite 8 run likely would not have happened if you replace Blueitt with a less talented player.

Then he goes to Louisville and completely blows it in spectacular fashion. How often do you see coaches step down in season? When things started to go wrong he immediately alienated both the locker room and the fan base (more Travis Steele parallels) to the point that he lost the locker room and had to step down mid season.

I kind of hope Mack isn't done coaching, because I want to see him get a shot somewhere else to test my theory. I think he may be a much worse coach than he appeared to be at Xavier.

[markchal]

Agree with this. It was very up and down. I think Mack is just a moderately better version of Steele. Mack ran the same shitty offense that Steele runs for the most part, just with better talent and better defense. Imagine what would have happened had he not secured Trevon Blueitt? The 1 and 2 seed (both squandered BTW) and the Elite 8 run likely would not have happened if you replace Blueitt with a less talented player.

Then he goes to Louisville and completely blows it in spectacular fashion. How often do you see coaches step down in season? When things started to go wrong he immediately alienated both the locker room and the fan base (more Travis Steele parallels) to the point that he lost the locker room and had to step down mid season.

I kind of hope Mack isn't done coaching, because I want to see him get a shot somewhere else to test my theory. I think he may be a much worse coach than he appeared to be at Xavier.

If "moderately better" = 1 elite 8, a 1 seed and a few Sweet 16s, sign me up for any moderately better coach in the nation

[markchal]

Mack was a good coach and as an alum was a good rep for the school. He's unquestionably the program's most successful coach. There were more people who stayed in the stands to watch us cut down the nets after winning the BE title than were there last night for Steele's biggest March win in 4 years.

The way large parts of this fanbase have turned on Mack is infantile. I get it, sports can kinda be that way, but it's still amateurish. I'd definitely take Mack (after all, he did beat Miller in a pretty high-profile game) back in a second.

Miller...was the better coach. His teams consistently got better and always played their best at the end of the season. I would prefer Miller, who I think would be here for the next 10-15 years and make us near the top of the BE with Nova.

My only hope is that Miller (who by all accounts would leap at the job) doesn't take another job this offseason, and will only be more appealing to the admin next offseason when we go through a worse version of this

[boozehound]

I'm not sure why getting a 1 seed and failing to turn it into even a Sweet 16 is something that we are so proud of. That 1 seed was one of my worst NCAA tournament memories of the past 20 years, followed by the 2 seed that we also parlayed into an early exit. Both felt like a horrible squandering of an opportunity. In particular the 1 seed season felt incomplete to me. We won the Big East but didn't beat Villanova, then we get a 1 seed and lose in the first weekend.

You are also employing some heavy revisionist history about people 'turning on Mack'. Many criticized his coaching while he was here, and there were several periods of time when more than a few fans were questioning if he was the right guy. That Elite 8 run came at just the right time, sandwiched between 2 seasons that fell woefully short of expectations.

I'd probably take Chris Mack back too, but I don't think he is anywhere near the coach that Miller is.

[xavierj]

Chris Mack doesn’t seem to love coaching basketball and he apparently hates recruiting. You can’t have a coach that hates probably one of the most important parts of being a college coach. I don’t think he will coach in college again. Either way I wouldn’t want him back.

[markchal]

I think achieving new heights for the program is pretty great. Winning a BE title was awesome, even if it is a watered down BE. And seeing us on the 1-seed line was a pretty cool moment. Obviously getting upset stinks, but we know better than most how anything can happen in the tournament (and we've seen the same thing happen to a fair amount of top-seeds lately). Wisconsin we fell victim to a brutal call and an unlucky shot. FSU also had some weirdness (JPs 5th foul, Naji's back becoming a problem at the worst time, a total lack of bench production).

I guess it's easier to console yourself after a wonky March Madness moment when you have an incredibly successful regular season, just as it's easier to forgive an uneven regular season after a terrific run in March Madness.

We haven't had either one for years

[boozehound]

I guess it's easier to console yourself after a wonky March Madness moment when you have an incredibly successful regular season, just as it's easier to forgive an uneven regular season after a terrific run in March Madness.

We haven't had either one for years

For some reason I have a much easier time with the 2nd part of that than the first, but it might just be me. That Elite 8 run pretty much erased a pretty crappy season in my mind. Squandering the 1 seed really stung. It felt like that was a year with a real shot at getting to a Final 4, but we didn't even give it a real run.

Regardless, Mack coming back would be outright strange I think. Miller doesn't feel like it would be, but that's probably a function of time. Also the whole world just watched Chris Mack self destruct like 3 months ago. If it was 3 years from now, I might feel differently about Mack (although XavierJ has a good point about how much his head and heart are really in it anymore). Maybe we can take a look at him in a few years when the administration finally has the stones to get rid of Steele?

[Blue Blooded-05]

There are plenty of rumors that suggests Mack was committed to Hookerville before the 2017-18 season even began. The timing wasn't quite right, and Mack knew he had a legit top-10 team that season. He thought he could separate his current obligation from his future ambition.

He couldn't.

Furthermore, if I am choosing a team identity, I am choosing a Miller team. Those teams were tough and carried swagger on both ends of the floor.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

My reason is simple, Miller’s played great hard defense. Mack’s teams had to rely on zones at times.

[drudy23]

It's becoming more and more evident that Miller or Mack are a pipedream. That ship has sailed unfortunately.

[paulxu]

The way large parts of this fanbase have turned on Mack is infantile. I get it, sports can kinda be that way, but it's still amateurish.


The irony here is apparently lost.

[XUGRAD80]

It's becoming more and more evident that Miller or Mack are a pipedream. That ship has sailed unfortunately.

Why do you say that? I think it’s totally unreasonable to assume that X would make a move before the end of the season, and as long as they are still playing it’s not the end of the season. Nor have I seen Miller or Mack take another job or even be mentioned as the primary candidate for any job, expect possibly X. Until either they take another job, or it’s assured that Steele is coming back, it’s still a possibility that one of them could be here next year.

Of the two I certainly hope it’s Miller, but I’m not stuck on the idea that it’s either Miller or bust.

[Murph85]

I've been a huge X fan and supporter since I was old enough to walk and understand the game. I've seen our program improve year over year exponentially and it's been a hell of a ride. Like you I am unhappy with the direction of the program over the past 4 years. I see most of you are vocally for Sean Miller coming back to lead our program. I do feel he would do a great job as he was one of the best coaches to lead Xavier teams in my lifetime for sure. Right now Miller and Mack are not currently employed. I'm curious as why you are Miller over Chris Mack especially with the NCAA violations and questions of Miller and his dealings in Arizona.
. In my opinion I want a lifetime coach (ala Mark Few of Gonzaga) and someone I can count on not leaving us again and to me I feel that coach is Chris Mack. He already shot the moon salary wise with another school and realized the grass is not greener on the other side just because budgets are what they are. I can get behind Chris Mack and I feel like with a current understanding of the coaching landscape he will go all in on x if given another opportunity to do so. He was the first coach I thought may not leave for more $ and continue our rep as stepping stone U as he is an alma mater and can do a better job imo in recruiting and setting a standard of competing for a national championship. I have to believe we can do it here and for me I'm Mack over Miller for that reason. Educate me why I may be wrong other than your saltiness of Mack packing his bags when we attained the first #1 seed in our tournament history?

How about Miller anguished over the decision to leave. It almost didn’t happen. Thank coach Cal for the extra shove. Mack had hi$ move planned for so long we could not get recruits leaving the closest completely bare.

[xu82]

Give me the sweaty one, all day long!

[OTRMUSKIE]

Plus the way Buicks are made these days you got to think they have a cooling device so that his sweat doesn't ruin the interior.

[drudy23]

Why do you say that? I think it’s totally unreasonable to assume that X would make a move before the end of the season, and as long as they are still playing it’s not the end of the season. Nor have I seen Miller or Mack take another job or even be mentioned as the primary candidate for any job, expect possibly X. Until either they take another job, or it’s assured that Steele is coming back, it’s still a possibility that one of them could be here next year.

Of the two I certainly hope it’s Miller, but I’m not stuck on the idea that it’s either Miller or bust.

I don't know - I just don't think they'll make a move. But maybe a surprise is in order. Who knows.

I have negative inside knowledge.

[xukeith]

Matta and Miller are 1 /2 or 2/1 as best X coaches in my opinion.
Miller always was positive and had great things to say about X .Miller backed X when Steele wad in Hawaii 3 years ago.

Performance at Xavier: Sweet 16's and Elite 8's with great athletes. Winning at Arizona and able to get superior talent is remarkable.

If his wife and he are still in Arizona, (That is what I think) and are willing to come back to Ohio, they have to know we fans are willing to go to war with Miller. Support, cheer, and rally around a great coach. His issue with NCAA regulations is minor .

[American X]

Because Miller is the best coach to ever walk the Xavier sideline and Mack is a complete douche.