Butler Fires LaVall Jordan
As the kids say, "title says it all."
I've always liked LaVall and think he'd be a HOME RUN if Howard Eisley moves on or of Martelli retires.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.indystar.com/amp/7039613001
Too bad for LaVall. I think anyone would be happy to have him back if the need arose
we may have a spot open up if Martelli leaves...
Let's do a trade - Martelli to Butler as coach, Jordan to UM as assistant, and Butler's best "just a shooter".
Really too bad for him that he just couldn't make it work at his alma mater. Definitely extenuating circumstances with injuries and the pandemic, but sometimes it just doesn't work.
Hoping he sees success in the future, as he does appear to be a quality coach and person.
I mean LaVall Jordan is clearly neither Brad Stevens, Tony Hinkle, nor Chris Holtmann. But 3 postseason chances isn't enough to be certain that he couldn't become a Thad Matta...
Well, all of those coaches also won at Butler before they were in the Big East. Big difference not having to compete with the Big Boys. Sounds like Lavall was kinda behind the 8 ball being the lowest budget in the conference.
This is a shame and a black eye on the AD who waited until today when his buyout dropped precipitously.
LaVall had his best team in 19-20 when they would have been a high seed in the tournament before it was cancelled. Unlikely to see him back at UM though, Washington and Eisley both getting new deals and Martelli probably wants to be here a few more years before retiring.
Unfortunately, we probably see Coach Jordan as a top assistant at a rival school next year (OSU, coached by his predecessor at Butler) has an opening.
Wait, why is it a black eye on the AD to wait until the buyout drops? I have not seen his contract but in general the AD would be borderline incompetent by firing him on say 3/20 when waiting 10 days saves a bunch of money. And if LaVall's agent wanted him to be fired earlier so he could find another job, the agent could always make a deal with the AD or simply negotiate different buyout terms or windows on the front end. How is the AD wrong to make a decision and live by the terms of the contract? I don't get it.
Edit: maybe you mean it's bad for Butler waiting so long? Possibly but maybe Butler is working behind the scenes to find/secure a new coach and it's taking this long. I don't know all of the details here but it seems to me like all parties understood that 4/1 was a possible window when a buyout would occur.
I will be quite surprised if Martelli isn't a head coach next year, and still with us, especially after that four game taste, again.
I have no clue what Martelli's aspirations are, but he's 67. Not sure it's worth it to start at a rebuilding gig when he's in a good situation making a half mil a year as an associate head coach. I'd probably just take my 500k a year in a nice city like Ann Arbor and cruise into retirement
That would be a easy call for me....
Being a HC in D1 football or basketball sounds like year round hell to me. I'd probably get suspended before my first practice.
It is widely known that he has no interest in returning to the head coaching ranks, especially given that any program that would hire him as a HC today would be a rebuilding mid-major.
...and he'd be making the same money.
I wish he would go to Ohio U since it sounds like their coach is probably getting the job at Butler
Black eye? Common sense.
Western is still in need of a head coach. And I doubt LaVall wants to go back to being an assistant.
There's a reason or a hundred that Washington turned that job down--twice. LaVall is too smart to go there.
bummer for him, great opportunity for some mid-major. the guy makes point guards.
Thats a bummer for him. Agreed he'd be a great addition but it seems like he'll probably find a spot this off-season to try and rebuild his resume and get another head gig, making us unlikely since it seems our guys are staying put. But I'd absolutely love it if we managed to get him in a year or so for the "former HC helps share the load" Martelli role.
Who knows, maybe he gets another HC job right away. Wish the best for him, love watching our guys do good things even if elsewhere.
I'm sorry to see this. He was such a significant part of Michigan's success when he was in AA. I hope that he gets another opportunity somewhere. I have to believe that he has a lot of coaching left in him.
What a crappy way for Butler to handle this. They last played three weeks ago. If you are going fire him, tell him your intentions up front and negotiate a lower buy out.
How do you know they didn't tell him their intentions so that he could start looking? Wtf would they eat the buyout?
I don't, but a good indication is that his assistants didn't leave (as far as I know). You amend the contract to push the lower buyout up a few weeks. Its better for all involved.
His lawyer should make him say no to that and then threaten to sue them for having effectively fired him while the buyout was still higher if he doesn't get the whole thing.
Brad Stevens set the expectations of that program and its fanbase way out of whack. He pulled a rabbit out of a hat in getting them to two consecutive title games and was literally inches away from beating Duke (!) in one of them. I don't know whether that's replicable, but they seem to think it is.
The conference titles column of this chart is just incredible.
That isnt right, Collier, Matta, Lickliter, and Stevens all won conference titles
I dont think it's unreasonable for Butler fans to expect to finish with a winning record given Matta, Stevens, Lickliter and Holtmann all had success.
Stevens took it to another level but he didn't build the program.
Barry Collier, who is their AD, got the ball rolling in the late 90s with three tourney appearances in his last four years. Thad Matta made the second round in his one season before moving to Xavier and then Todd Lickliter made two sweet 16s in his 6 years before Stevens arrived.
So they had a string of five successful coaches (not counting Miller who only coached one season before taking a medical leave), four if you don't count Matta's one year, and Stevens was the third of the four.
So they have shown success at Butler is replicable...or they've just gotten super lucky.
Stevens wasn't a one hit wonder. He wasn't the first or the last successful coach there in the modern era.
This would be a pretty wild April Fools' joke.
April Fools! Hah . . . Good one