I gotta say, this whole Hurley situation is sounding eerily:
Demanded a longer than typical contract.
Wanted the AD to open the vault in order to come here.
Considering the state of the program after HC Ash....err...HC Jordan, a longer than typical contract was justified?
It's pretty funny reading this thread along with the HC Schiano threads about needing a 8 year contract.
One is a savior and one is a villain for asking for the same thing it seems.
Note: I couldn't care less about Hurley coming here.
Relatively unproven Hurley vs GS returning who really knew the job and was successful here? C'mon.. that's not apples to apples. Mike Rice had a better resume than Hurley when he came here and if asked for a long-term guarantee.. well.. that would have gone well... right?
I am siding with the guys who say Hurley did not want to risk coming here so he made outlandish demands that no one should have agreed to.
Lets say Hurley looked at the blue blood bball programs as his ultimate goal.
If he jumps to Rutgers and does well.. he gets that shot at a Blue Blood. But if he does poorly? It is step down and then work his way back up.
But the way he played it? He stays at URI improves his resume and eventually, he makes the jump to UCONN, a blue blood, because they got desperate after 2 losing seasons in the AAC under Ollie.. who actually won an NCAA Tourney in his 2nd year (largely with Calhoun's recruits). But years 5-6 were losing seasons.
Now, once with UCONN, a blue blood.. that's his shot. That was the goal.. and he made the most of it... and did it faster than if he had come to Rutgers and had success here. As a young coach, success at Rutgers would me many offers coming his way and he would have bolted, I think.
We end up with a great coach and UCONN did too.