Do you think it's an upgrade at least? I read that Kleinecke thought he'd signed his best recruiting class this year.

I don't think it will be a step down. Time will tell if its an upgrade

Joffe was the best of the candidates. Good choice!

who didnt get interviews.

Hagerty from Arkansas, Ole Miss coach

Pretty average hire for the most part. Hopefully he can recruit.

I think it's a great hire. Turned Miami (OH) from nothing to nationally ranked in 2 years. Turned Maryland from unranked and the worst team in the toughest tennis conference (ACC) to ranked in the 30s in just two years. Recruited great players at both places.

I was really down on the other candidates but this guy IMHO is a great hire. If he could do that at Maryland, with much tougher competition and far fewer resources, then he'll get us where we want to go.

My prediction is Joffe will get us in the top 20 in the next 3-5 years and leave for one of the big California programs if the opportunity is made available.

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My prediction is Joffe will get us in the top 20 in the next 3-5 years and leave for one of the big California programs if the opportunity is made available.

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Absolutely agree, he will likely do a Gillispie/Turgeon on us, but I would rather change coaches every 4 years and have a top 20 team than be stuck in mediocrity.

Maybe he'll do a Blair, if we're going to use basketball comparisons.

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The end of the quote above could easily be summed up as "we shouldn't hire someone credibly suspected of being a sexual predator." It doesn't matter whether it is a man or woman, nor what their sexual orientation is.

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Congratulation on fully grasping the primary point of my argument. Is there anyone who would support hiring "...someone credibly suspected of being a sexual predator."? I think not.

[This message has been edited by sharpdressedman (edited 7/11/2011 9:45p).]

I know the recent men's basketball coaching turnover has scarred a bunch of Aggies, but remember that Texas A&M is a destination job in every other sport across the board. There is no reason to ever leave A&M unless it is to coach at an alma mater or move to be closer to family, etc.

As far as I can remember, outside of Gillispie and Turgeon, no head coach in the last 15-20 years has left A&M to take another BCS level job.

SharpDressed - for someone who is a self professed medical professional - your original language ("lez" ) is hardly a credit to your professionalism. You write like a homophobe, not a doctor.

You have yet to cite anything that says a lesbian is more likely to be a predator than a heterosexual female.

It is a moot point of course since Joffe is a male and I assume not a sexual predator. I am willing to bet BB made no special effort to determine if he is or isn't.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 7/12/2011 1:54p).]

HiddenAg
Joffe has moved jobs every few years so he is obviously looking to move up at any opportunity. Do you really think that you can recruit easier at Texas A&M (in tennis) rather than USC, UCLA, Stanford, or Pepperdine for that matter. All the good americans are from California or Florida so why would they leave to come to College Station. Oh yeah, because our facilities are so much nicer than everybody else. Whatever!

No, but Spice...He went to med school, and spent two weeks on a psychiatric rotation. Just...stop questioning his authority. [Great call on the "lez" comment...simultaneously using his profession as his authority, and being totally unprofessional. Another reason why I'd like to know where he practices so that I can avoid him, lest I wake up from surgery with p****** drawn on my face].

Back to the matter that matters - At what ranking does a program become that destination in a sport like women's tennis? For men's Bball, obviously perennial Sweet 16 doesn't get you there. For women's tennis, would a top-15 program, with the men as a top 8 (yes, I think in some sports cross-gender success matters), make this a staying point? If Stanford comes calling, nobody's going to turn that down. But beyond that...Perhaps a chance to work with a men's program would be what could lure him away in a few years.

Mens BB coach for Womens Tennis coach. Fair trade?

SlickRick - maybe the best Americans come from those states. But maybe there are better players than we have today in Texas or other American states. Good enough to improve significantly. And in a few years we are consistently top 20 (or so) and some of the elite Americans may choose A&M.

Gary Blair is getting top girls from far away places now. Why can't Joffe do that, if he is good?

I never said Joffe wouldn't do a good job! My point was look who wins the majority of the national titles in tennis. CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS! Maybe a Georgia and a Florida every once in a while.

Sure - that's the way it is today. But is hasn't always been that way, and it won't always be that way.

Schools from California and Florida win swimming totals more often than others. But schools from Texas, Arizona, and Georgia win them too.

I am not predicting anything of course. But if Texas A&M can win a women's basketball NC, why not tennis?

I am optimistic that it can be done, but I am just saying look at the history. It isn't going to be easy. Baylor is one of the few programs that has been the exception over the years. It pains me to say that, but it is the truth.

California schools win NC's in EVERYTHING more than anybody else...I count 7 last year, and that was sort of a thin year for the Cali schools.

And can you really call something a systematic, state thing...when it's really just one dominant program? Saying that California schools win all the titles...you could just as easily say that "Stanford wins all the titles."

There's a lot of people in California, and a lot of big D-1 schools. The sweet 16 had only 3 Cali teams and two Texas teams, the Texas teams just happened to have to play each other, while the three Cali teams were in three different brackets.

Look at it this way. 15 out of the 30 D-1 women's basketball titles have been won by schools from Connecticut and Tennessee. 4 have been won by schools from Texas. How could a coach ever hope to compete coaching in Texas?

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Gary Blair is getting top girls from far away places now. Why can't Joffe do that, if he is good?

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If you mean far away places like Russia, then yes, I think he is going to do that but the reason why he won't get American girls to come here over Stanford and Duke is because the average blue chip women's tennis player is much, much, much more concerned with academics than the average women's basketball blue chip.

Denton has gotten great Americans for a similar reason to Blair - because they're coming to prep for the ATP, not to get a blue chip degree. Not that A&M is a weak degree, I think it's stronger than ever. It's just not up there with Duke and Stanford - at least not in the eyes of the people that make the rankings that the kids look at.

I have heard from several womens college tennis coaches that tennis (tradition, facility, coaching, etc) is #3 in the minds of both American AND foreign girls (behind #1 academic reputation and #2 location). We have a lot of things going for us but we are never going to be in the top 25 in academics and we are never going to be in the top 25 in location (we'll always be behind all of the major CA and FL schools and we'll always be behind tu, SMU and other schools in more attractive metro areas).

I don't think its crazy to think that A&M is a destination womens tennis job but for a guy that played at Pepperdine and got his start at USC, I doubt this is his dream job.

All I want is for him to get our team to the top 10. After that he can just hand the reins to Weaver and XIAggie can die a happy man.

[This message has been edited by Harry Dunne (edited 7/12/2011 7:37p).]

any news on weaver??

Nothing official on Weaver yet, but all indications point to that he is staying on board. I think Joffe would make a lot of people in the community and in Aggieland very happy if he keeps Weaver

[This message has been edited by bigboyaggie (edited 7/12/2011 8:27p).]

While I don't think it is a done deal, I don't think he is committed to anyone else at this point in time.

Harry I think you're underselling our academics..


We have a pretty strong academic tradition part of AAU etc, etc...What school in Florida has a stronger reputation?? Not FSU,miami no, Florida is about even.

The Florida schools offer a better location.

Oh rly? Tallahassee Gainsville ?? I think not..

The only who can claim that is Miami, and they're not even in Miami. hth.

Yes our academics are probably about even with Florida and truthfully College Station is a much nicer place than Gainesville, which is really unimpressive. What Florida has on us is tradition (several national championships) and location. Even though it is an hour and a half from the beach, it is the flagship school for one of the two best tennis states in the US and it is very close to a ton of academies so they get a lot of exposure.

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Oh rly? Tallahassee Gainsville ?? I think not..

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You're right, not the cities themselves, but what they are close to. In-state Florida kids that want to stay close to home and the best tennis academies in the country.

The difference in Gainesville and Stanford from CS is the campus. Their campuses are heads and shoulders better than ours to the normal person. Of course, we all, including me, love the A&M campus, but it doesn't measure up to Stanford and Florida. When recruiting a guy, campus couldn't matter less. But with women, they would go to a nicer, prettier place over a boring ugly campus. Not saying that it plays a part in all women's recruiting, but it could.

Have you ever been to the UF campus? Maybe it is just a difference of opinions but I didn't think it was that nice (Stanford is VERY nice).

I'm big time with Harry on his assessment of campus appeal. But talking to the ladies here the last few years we're not selling real estate here where the first three items of importance are location, location, location. IF it were to come down to that type of criteria to make a decision most appreciate more what Bobby did for their "home away from home" in the locker room and the amenitites we've put into Mitchell. NOW if we could just get the indoor facility off the ground and make it top shelf material, THAT I think would be a BIG draw to some teetering prospect. But again, I'd think that would be WAY down the list of considerations. First order of business - create a winning environment. What I'll be watching the first rattle out of the box is how Joffe motivates the ladies when their down in the match. See what kind of fire making ability he has to maybe not so gently light a bonfire under some skirts and pull some matches out of the jaws of defeat.

Gotta love fall tennis. We don't have to wait all the way until the spring to see what's happening.

From what I have heard, Joffe has made it clear (after his hire) that he will not be recruiting many, if any, American players. He has also said that there will be no American players on the team in the next 2-3 years.

On a side note, rumors are that Christy Potgeiter has already left A&M and will not be returning next year.

This is all interesting because the powers that be have said before that they want to make A&M, and the future facility, an American tennis player training center. Does Joffe have different ideas?