Kevin O'Neill out at USC

[SoCalDukeFan]

I am not surprised by the action, only by the timing.

KO came into a bad situation and was not able to develop what I would call a program. Team was built around transfers, etc. Last year injuries decimated the team. Plus KO had some personal issues.

Pat Haden says he wants to win "the right way." While they have no West Coast connections of which I am aware, I wonder if one of K's assistants might fill the bill.

This will be Haden's first major coaching hire, hope he gets it right.

SoCal

[BD80]

Frankly, i'm amazed that KO lasted as long as he did in LaLa land. He needs a very tough skinned group of kids with zero sense of entitlement. Maybe a time machine ...

[CDu]

Frankly, i'm amazed that KO lasted as long as he did in LaLa land. He needs a very tough skinned group of kids with zero sense of entitlement. Maybe a time machine ...

I am amazed that he has continued to get jobs for this long. Ever since he left Marquette in 1994, his teams have been entirely unimpressive. He was under .500 at Tennessee each of his 3 years there. He was under .500 in 2 of his 3 years at Northwestern, including a 5-25 season in his last year there. After a few years as an assistant, he had a 33-49 season with Toronto in the NBA. Then, he went to Arizona, and as an interim coach went 19-15 in his one year as interim coach there. That resume was good enough to get him the USC job, where he had two mediocre years with Tim Floyd's players before bottoming the program out the last two years.

Seriously, here are the records of O'Neill's teams since 1994:
11-16
14-15
11-16
10-17
15-14
5-25
33-49
19-15
16-14
19-15
6-26
7-10

How does that resume warrant getting hired by 3 different BCS schools (I'm giving Tennessee a pass because O'Neill looked good coming out of Marquette) and an NBA team???

[SoCalDukeFan]

I am amazed that he has continued to get jobs for this long. Ever since he left Marquette in 1994, his teams have been entirely unimpressive. He was under .500 at Tennessee each of his 3 years there. He was under .500 in 2 of his 3 years at Northwestern, including a 5-25 season in his last year there. After a few years as an assistant, he had a 33-49 season with Toronto in the NBA. Then, he went to Arizona, and as an interim coach went 19-15 in his one year as interim coach there. That resume was good enough to get him the USC job, where he had two mediocre years with Tim Floyd's players before bottoming the program out the last two years.

Seriously, here are the records of O'Neill's teams since 1994:
11-16
14-15
11-16
10-17
15-14
5-25
33-49
19-15
16-14
19-15
6-26
7-10

How does that resume warrant getting hired by 3 different BCS schools (I'm giving Tennessee a pass because O'Neill looked good coming out of Marquette) and an NBA team???

when very few would have wanted it. Last guy was fired, sanctions in place, recruits left. KO had a rep as a strong defensive coach and one who played by the NCAA rules, two things they needed at the time.

SoCal

[CDu]

when very few would have wanted it. Last guy was fired, sanctions in place, recruits left. KO had a rep as a strong defensive coach and one who played by the NCAA rules, two things they needed at the time.

SoCal

That explains the USC hire. But what about the Northwestern, Toronto, and Arizona hires (he was only the interim, but the AD labeled him the successor to Lute Olsen)?

[tommy]

He will not be missed around these parts, that's for sure. He and Frank Martin should go work together in some alternate universe where it's appropriate and considered sound practice in guiding the development of young people to unleash barrages of uncontrolled screaming at them on daily basis until the players are utterly broken and humiliated. Yes, that's the way to mold the leaders of tomorrow . . .

[Jim3k]

The UofA got a glimpse of him in 2007-08 during the Lute Olson retirement mess and realized he was bad news, so went a different direction as fast as they reasonably could, urging O'Neill to find another job. (He had an asterisked 19-15 record at Arizona; but that W-L record was tarnished by a number of things, so despite a mediocre, but winning season, he was no longer welcome.)

After he accepted AD Jim Livengood's suggestion, O'Neill found a home at USC where, on March 10 or 11, 2011, just before a game in LA against the UofA, he got into a drunken fight with a UofA supporter in a hotel near the campus. Rather than firing him for this behavior, USC only suspended him for one game. And his recruits and their families must have known what they were getting into, not to mention the NCAA recruitment questions (Mayo) where they penalized themselves.

USC clearly had more than the glimpse the UofA had had earlier, but was willing to continue taking the risk with him--in the name of winning--which he never really did. Had Mike Garrett paid attention to the problems perceived at Arizona, USC could have avoided the O'Neill problems altogether. Had Haden fired him in March 2011, they wouldn't have the problem they have now. Clearly USC's athletic directors weren't doing their due diligence.

USC made its bed; I'm not unhappy that it has to sleep in it.

[wsb3]

Wish I could recall his exact words but Michael W. (PTI) yesterday was as harsh as DBR about O'Neill coaching young people.

[SoCalDukeFan]

http://www.ocregister.com/sports/haden-383442-usc-coach.html

This should be a good job. Beautiful place to play in a city that produces tons of great players. AD who is patient and wants to win the right way.

However USC is a football school and UCLA has a lot of history. USC's recent history with basketball is also bad from OJ Mayo to KO. Students do not come to the games. Alumni gives it lukewarm support.

KO evidently burned lots of bridges with local HS coaches. A new coach who builds those bridges could be successful. Winning will certainly help attendance.

SoCal