This one won't be a long one. Maybe there's too much deja vu from the last time the UT Arlington men's basketball team made a coaching change. It was announced on Friday that Greg Young has essentially been fired mid-season. I'm just in a WTF frame of mind.
It's not like the Mavericks were underperforming. The currently sit in 10th in the WAC, right where the media pre-season poll had them and one spot better than the coaches. There's a young roster full of potential talent. In the current NCAA era, that doesn't mean much for the long run as the transfer portal has made some non-power schools a farm system for the "bigger" universities. There are only two seniors on the team. Had G.Y. stayed, next year could have been a big year. Now, maybe not. Roster turnover is common in coaching changes. I see no reason that won't be the case here too.
A young team will struggle, as evidenced by close games against good teams and inexplicable losses to teams at or below the Mavericks. But there have been upsets this year too. At this point, the only reason I'd see you firing a coach would be due to that young talent not being developed. That's now not the case. UTA has won four of seven. Of the three losses in that time frame, only Abilene Christian was lopsided. Yes, letting Tarleton slip away hurt, but again, that's what young teams in Division I do the vast majority of the time.
Athletic Director Jon Fagg maybe should have looked at what his predecessor, Jim Baker, did half a decade prior. Scott Cross was fired after not making an NCAA tournament, despite three-straight twenty-win seasons. Obviously Young wasn't there results-wise. However, after what Ogden put this program through, Mav fans finally thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Now, there seems a real possibility it will be reset and the nuclear winter continues.
After what Baker did with Cross, I said he put himself on a limb with a risky move. If it paid off, he would have gotten kudos. However, if it didn't, which was more likely, he'd forever be known as the athletic Director who killed a program. The same stakes aren't here for Fagg, but I just don't see the upside for this move when it looked like they were on the cusp. Now I have to seriously wonder are we going to have to sit through at least two and likely three more losing seasons?
Lastly, what kind of candidates are going to be attracted to a job where the previous three have such a mixed bag as far as support? You fire the all-time winningest for not being more winningest, you hire a guy who splits the first chance he gets, which was an assistant position and now you fire a guy after two years into a stint that you tasked with rebuilding the team to its glory, and by most measures, was completing the tasks to get there. Inconceivable.
Greg Young was a solid individual and by most accounts, a good recruiter and basketball mind. I sincerely hope he lands on his feet like Cross did.
From a historical perspective, the only thing that has consistently stopped UTA from achieving greatness is itself. From the time the Rebels entered the NCAA when it moved up from the Junior College ranks, there are chapters after chapter. It would appear that Fagg has added another.
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