South Florida
Mar 10, 2007 11:13:36 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Mar 10, 2007 11:13:36 GMT -5
McCullum's Time Is Up
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By BRETT McMURPHY The Tampa Tribune
Published: Mar 10, 2007
TAMPA - Robert McCullum said he needed more time to turn around the University of South Florida men's basketball program. However, Athletic Director Doug Woolard wasn't willing to wait any longer.
After four consecutive losing seasons, McCullum was fired by Woolard on Friday afternoon. McCullum had two years left on his six-year contract and will receive a lump payment of $451,000, equal to the final two years of his base salary, Woolard said.
McCullum, 40-76 overall and 10-54 in conference play, had an inkling this could happen. In a team meeting Monday, he told his team a coaching change may be coming. Yet he continued to go on the road to recruit the past few days.
"I didn't have enough time to win in the Big East Conference," McCullum said. "If people want to disagree with that, that's your business. I don't think any Division I coaches would disagree.
"It requires more than two years. There were a number of things that happened that were beyond my control."
Ironically, McCullum's firing, speculated within the coaching grapevine for several weeks, was announced about 4 1/2 hours before Seth Greenberg, who McCullum replaced at USF, took the floor with his Virginia Tech club in downtown Tampa at the ACC Tournament.
"We didn't have enough time to win in the Big East Conference," McCullum said. "It becomes a philosophical issue, 'You should have done this or done that.'
"Realistically, if all the pieces had fallen into place, we would have won more. They didn't. We didn't have the margin of error. Is it my fault we didn't have more margin of error? Yes. I made some bad hires, I take responsibility for that. But if the administration doesn't want to take responsibility in other areas, then so be it."
In McCullum's four seasons at USF, the Bulls actually fared better against tougher competition. USF had a higher winning percentage (25 percent) against nationally-ranked conference opponents than against unranked league foes (16 percent).
McCullum was 4-12 against Associated Press-ranked opponents, while USF's previous six coaches were a combined 4-57.
"When you step back and review the past four seasons and our 40-76 [overall] record and 10-54 in conference play with only [two] conference road wins, I thought we needed to be farther along," Woolard said. "There was no single factor.
"Our expectations in this program are that we can compete night in, night out in the Big East. We expect to compete night in, night out and we need to make the investment and the commitment."
Woolard said head coaching experience is not required for the next coach. Woolard will be in charge of the search, but said he will receive input from several different individuals.
"I feel very bad for Robert," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said. "I know he worked very hard. That job is the toughest right now in major college basketball. Playing in the Big East against those traditional powers, I think they need to find somebody that can market and sell this area and make it exciting.
"I think personality plays a part. They need to find a dynamite guy. This is a very, very important hire for South Florida."
Possible candidates could include Saint Mary's Randy Bennett, Wright State's Brad Brownell, Drexel's Bruiser Flint, Virginia Commonweath's Anthony Grant, UMass' Travis Ford, George Washington's Karl Hobbs, Butler's Todd Lickliter ,Charlotte's Bobby Lutz, Winthrop's Gregg Marshall, Xavier's Sean Miller, South Alabama's John Pelphrey and Holy Cross' Ralph Willard, assistants Larry Shyatt (Florida), Frank Martin (Kansas State) and Kevin Willard (Louisville) and former coaches such as Jim O'Brien, Pete Gillen, Steve Lavin and Rick Majerus.
With only the top 12 teams qualifying for the Big East Tournament, McCullum's Bulls were the only team that did not qualify for the Big East Tournament the past two seasons. The Bulls finished 3-13 and in a tie for 14th place in the 16-team league this season after last season's 1-15 last-place finish.
The Bulls have lost 20 consecutive conference road games, the nation's second-longest streak. Last year, USF lost a school-record 17 consecutive games until upsetting No. 20 Georgetown.
"I didn't come here not knowing how to rebuild or revitalize a program," said McCullum, who came to USF after a three-year stint at Western Michigan. "I'm no dummy. I've been in the [rebuilding] process of that so many times. I had no idea [when I was hired] we were going to the Big East.
"I loved living here. When you're at any place three or four years, you meet a lot of good people. I appreciate the people that were supportive. I think there were a lot of people that didn't want this decision to be made. We would have liked to have more time to continue the revitalization project that was slowed by the move to the Big East."
Skip directly to the full story.
By BRETT McMURPHY The Tampa Tribune
Published: Mar 10, 2007
TAMPA - Robert McCullum said he needed more time to turn around the University of South Florida men's basketball program. However, Athletic Director Doug Woolard wasn't willing to wait any longer.
After four consecutive losing seasons, McCullum was fired by Woolard on Friday afternoon. McCullum had two years left on his six-year contract and will receive a lump payment of $451,000, equal to the final two years of his base salary, Woolard said.
McCullum, 40-76 overall and 10-54 in conference play, had an inkling this could happen. In a team meeting Monday, he told his team a coaching change may be coming. Yet he continued to go on the road to recruit the past few days.
"I didn't have enough time to win in the Big East Conference," McCullum said. "If people want to disagree with that, that's your business. I don't think any Division I coaches would disagree.
"It requires more than two years. There were a number of things that happened that were beyond my control."
Ironically, McCullum's firing, speculated within the coaching grapevine for several weeks, was announced about 4 1/2 hours before Seth Greenberg, who McCullum replaced at USF, took the floor with his Virginia Tech club in downtown Tampa at the ACC Tournament.
"We didn't have enough time to win in the Big East Conference," McCullum said. "It becomes a philosophical issue, 'You should have done this or done that.'
"Realistically, if all the pieces had fallen into place, we would have won more. They didn't. We didn't have the margin of error. Is it my fault we didn't have more margin of error? Yes. I made some bad hires, I take responsibility for that. But if the administration doesn't want to take responsibility in other areas, then so be it."
In McCullum's four seasons at USF, the Bulls actually fared better against tougher competition. USF had a higher winning percentage (25 percent) against nationally-ranked conference opponents than against unranked league foes (16 percent).
McCullum was 4-12 against Associated Press-ranked opponents, while USF's previous six coaches were a combined 4-57.
"When you step back and review the past four seasons and our 40-76 [overall] record and 10-54 in conference play with only [two] conference road wins, I thought we needed to be farther along," Woolard said. "There was no single factor.
"Our expectations in this program are that we can compete night in, night out in the Big East. We expect to compete night in, night out and we need to make the investment and the commitment."
Woolard said head coaching experience is not required for the next coach. Woolard will be in charge of the search, but said he will receive input from several different individuals.
"I feel very bad for Robert," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said. "I know he worked very hard. That job is the toughest right now in major college basketball. Playing in the Big East against those traditional powers, I think they need to find somebody that can market and sell this area and make it exciting.
"I think personality plays a part. They need to find a dynamite guy. This is a very, very important hire for South Florida."
Possible candidates could include Saint Mary's Randy Bennett, Wright State's Brad Brownell, Drexel's Bruiser Flint, Virginia Commonweath's Anthony Grant, UMass' Travis Ford, George Washington's Karl Hobbs, Butler's Todd Lickliter ,Charlotte's Bobby Lutz, Winthrop's Gregg Marshall, Xavier's Sean Miller, South Alabama's John Pelphrey and Holy Cross' Ralph Willard, assistants Larry Shyatt (Florida), Frank Martin (Kansas State) and Kevin Willard (Louisville) and former coaches such as Jim O'Brien, Pete Gillen, Steve Lavin and Rick Majerus.
With only the top 12 teams qualifying for the Big East Tournament, McCullum's Bulls were the only team that did not qualify for the Big East Tournament the past two seasons. The Bulls finished 3-13 and in a tie for 14th place in the 16-team league this season after last season's 1-15 last-place finish.
The Bulls have lost 20 consecutive conference road games, the nation's second-longest streak. Last year, USF lost a school-record 17 consecutive games until upsetting No. 20 Georgetown.
"I didn't come here not knowing how to rebuild or revitalize a program," said McCullum, who came to USF after a three-year stint at Western Michigan. "I'm no dummy. I've been in the [rebuilding] process of that so many times. I had no idea [when I was hired] we were going to the Big East.
"I loved living here. When you're at any place three or four years, you meet a lot of good people. I appreciate the people that were supportive. I think there were a lot of people that didn't want this decision to be made. We would have liked to have more time to continue the revitalization project that was slowed by the move to the Big East."