I truly believe you could give Mooney a 10 mil Nil budget and the results

[sman]

I think we've all agreed it hasn't been good enough, and nobody wants to give him more time.
but he's back next year with NIL money to spend.
you can either root for UR ... knowing that success means he'll continue to be back.
or root against UR to end his time ... which most of us can't do.

 

[Spiderguy]

I think we've all agreed it hasn't been good enough, and nobody wants to give him more time.
but he's back next year with NIL money to spend.
you can either root for UR ... knowing that success means he'll continue to be back.
or root against UR to end his time ... which most of us can't do.

I'll go on record as someone who was cooked long ago by Mooney. I've seen this coming for years & watched all the bad coaching & admin decisions about the program. Nothing surprises me how bad we are. It should surprise no one. I realize we've picked up some converts along the way.

I'll always root for the team & players regardless of my opinions about CM & Hardt.

 

[SpiderRick]

I will simplify this. Mooney has been running the same coaching system and scheme for 21 years. Richmond has been playing the same teams in the A10 for 21 years. I would say that they all know what's coming next year.

 

[vt4700]

work with me here, vt. it's just a dream.
I'm not saying add these players after their peak seasons.
if all 3 of those former great Spiders hit the portal from wherever in this dream scenario after their freshman years, they could each be had for way less than $700k. Burton might get expensive after his sophomore season, but the others still wouldn't.
now Mooney just has to find those future studs.

So, you are asking to hit on 3 guys in this coming portal year who are like our best or one of our best players from 3 different eras. Well, yes, I think if any team could name 3 of their best players ever, over a 13 year period, and get them in the portal this year, that would be great for them.

 

[vt4700]

say for argument's sake we were offering transfers $100k.
say now we're able to offer $500k+.

that gets you in the door with a different level of transfer.

If he is playing in the same easy to coach against offense and defense, does it matter?

 

[sman]

So, you are asking to hit on 3 guys in this coming portal year who are like our best or one of our best players from 3 different eras. Well, yes, I think if any team could name 3 of their best players ever, over a 13 year period, and get them in the portal this year, that would be great for them.

the point is we seem to have a totally different budget.
you miss on high school recruits.
you even miss on $100k transfers. you kind of know what you're getting and they're good. it's just not top talent.

it's not proven yet, but I'm confident that barring injury you won't miss on $700k transfers. those are "best players on our roster" guys.

 

[Spider B]

If you are going to increase NIL to top of A10 that indicates that UR is serious about winning (i will believe it when i see it). But you just can't throw money at it. Why not reset the entire program leadership like SLU did. A total reset. This is the perfect time. Go all in and get the right coach in place.

 

[Urmite]

I’m still upset about missing the NCAA in 2015 because we only had 40% of the NIL of the top teams in the A10…

 

[Spider17]

If you are going to increase NIL to top of A10 that indicates that UR is serious about winning (i will believe it when i see it). But you just can't throw money at it. Why not reset the entire program leadership like SLU did. A total reset. This is the perfect time. Go all in and get the right coach in place.

The cynical view is that the university wants Mooney to be the coach for life so they’ll do anything they can to help even if it’s at the expense of what’s best for the program.

I think the practical, nuanced answer is that increasing the funds for next year is still cheaper than buying out Mooney’s contract. He is well respected and has had success in recent years so they want to give him the benefit of the doubt and whatever opportunities necessary to help him succeed. If we have another year like this next season with a doubled NIL, he will surely be gone.

 

[sman]

If he is playing in the same easy to coach against offense and defense, does it matter?

imo ... yes, the players matter.

 

[Spider17]

Think of players like having the ingredients and the coach is the chef to put things together. An average chef can only do so much with a few, simple ingredients. A great chef can still create a wonderful dish by making the most of the ingredients he has. A bad chef can look better than he is when working with the best ingredients (this is what UR hopes can happen with Mooney).

Ideally we have a great chef and give him the best ingredients possible. Then a masterpiece is created. This is what I’m hoping UR sees with Roussell.

 

[Spider17]

So to complete this analogy.

The owner of a steakhouse restaurant (UR’s leadership) has a chef (Mooney) making dishes (winning games) with ingredients he has (players) to serve to the customer (us fans).

The chef who has worked at the restaurant for 21 years has had adequate ingredients and while revenue hasn’t been the greatest, hasn’t been the worst either over the years. The restaurant has gotten some awards over this stretch. However, 3 of the past 4 years, the chef began serving customers burnt steak. The customers complain to the owner that they’re paying for this food that is burnt.

The owner talks to the chef who says the reason his steaks are burnt is because there is a Michelin star restaurant (VCU) down the street serving Wagyu/Kobe beef. The owner, rather than asking the chef to perhaps change the way he cooks the steak or find another chef who can prepare the steaks adequately with the kitchen and ingredients they have, decides to give the chef Wagyu beef as well.

So next year when the customers are upset they’re eating burnt Wagyu/Kobe beef, the owner is going to scratch his head wondering what went wrong.