Don't blow this, Ross. Write the damn check.

Kelly Bond-White is going to be really good. It is really a no brainer all things considered.

I agree that she has earned her shot, but it's far from a no-brainer to hire any assistant and expect them to do well at this level. Especially when they have been an assistant coach for 20 years and now I have to fill a new role. See our current volleyball coach.

Now I know that Vic was an assistant and got his shot and did well, but don't forget he was the head coach at Sam Houston for the better part of a decade and your first P5 shot is what the Mississippi states of the world are supposed to provide, not Texas A&M.

Well hiring Vic would make his cult happy but drive away a substantial number of season ticket holders who value integrity and inclusion.

Gap said:

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Kelly Bond-White is going to be really good. It is really a no brainer all things considered.

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this, the players love her! She's a hell of a recruiter and has her roots in the Chicago area that is loaded with talent! Watch how the girls will play hard for her! She's stuck around for a reason, it's her team next year!

taylorswift13 said:

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Gap said:

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Kelly Bond-White is going to be really good. It is really a no brainer all things considered.

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this, the players love her! She's a hell of a recruiter and has her roots in the Chicago area that is loaded with talent! Watch how the girls will play hard for her! She's stuck around for a reason, it's her team next year!

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I agree, go with Kelly Bond-White. I think she can handled the job and the team will respond to her in a positive way. Also doesn't hurt that she has the Chicago connections for recruiting.

Rudybryan said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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I agree that she has earned her shot, but it's far from a no-brainer to hire any assistant and expect them to do well at this level. Especially when they have been an assistant coach for 20 years and now I have to fill a new role. See our current volleyball coach.

Now I know that Vic was an assistant and got his shot and did well, but don't forget he was the head coach at Sam Houston for the better part of a decade and your first P5 shot is what the Mississippi states of the world are supposed to provide, not Texas A&M.

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Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Sam Houston State Bearkats (Southland Conference) (19901997)
199091 Sam Houston State 1116 59
199192 Sam Houston State 918 513
199293 Sam Houston State 620 315
199394 Sam Houston State 1017 414
199495 Sam Houston State 1314 108
199596 Sam Houston State 1810 145
199697 Sam Houston State 1315 88
Sam Houston State: 80110 (.421) 4972 (.405)

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Thanks for unintentionally proving my point. Hard to tell without formatting, but what Rudy is trying to show is that Vic was not successful at Sam Houston.

Rudy I'll save you the trouble, he went 221-62 at Miss St with back to back NCAA runner ups, which earned him the job with the Longhorns. Might be impossible to steal him from them, but I believe we've got to try, and if not then to hire a proven head coach.

I agree with all the positive things everyone is saying about Kelly. I do think she's got what it takes to be a great head coach. Just like Vic had what it took… sometimes it just takes some bumps and bruises and Texas A&M is not the place to figure things out on the fly. Just put it this way, if t.u.or any other basketball powerhouse found itself needing a head coach, they would not have tried to steal Kelly away from here without first exhausting the list of proven head coaches.

If we want continue to be a basketball powerhouse we need to act like one and hire like one.

Bucketrunner said:

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Well hiring Vic would make his cult happy but drive away a substantial number of season ticket holders who value integrity and inclusion.

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Let's talk some more about this. What's your reasoning?

I think focusing on succession is the wrong focus this season. But if you wanted Blair gone you have the watches. We have the time…

Bucketrunner said:

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Nope. I don't have to defend my feelings to anyone. And I'm certainly not the only one who thinks Kelly is the best coach and best recruiter.

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Relax, no one is asking you to defend anything. This is a forum where people talk about their feelings, occasionally tossing in some facts to back them up. I'm asking you for your opinion, because I'm curious. You're saying Vic doesn't have integrity and lacks inclusivity. If you have facts to back that up, that might change my opinion about him.

Harry Dunne said:

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Bucketrunner said:

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Nope. I don't have to defend my feelings to anyone. And I'm certainly not the only one who thinks Kelly is the best coach and best recruiter.

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Relax, no one is asking you to defend anything. This is a forum where people talk about their feelings, occasionally tossing in some facts to back them up. I'm asking you for your opinion, because I'm curious. You're saying Vic doesn't have integrity and lacks inclusivity. If you have facts to back that up, that might change my opinion about him.

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Deliberately ran up the score when MS played us at CS!

I think if KBW wants the position and is offered the position we would be in good hands. She may not want a head coaching gig and that's also something to consider. However, It appears to me that the new coaches that were brought in this season (3 of them) had to have known this was happening. I also believe KBW had a huge role in their selection. This leads me to believe the position may already be hers.

aggiedrjdub said:

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I think if KBW wants the position and is offered the position we would be in good hands. She may not want a head coaching gig and that's also something to consider. However, It appears to me that the new coaches that were brought in this season (3 of them) had to have known this was happening. I also believe KBW had a huge role in their selection. This leads me to believe the position may already be hers.

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To KBW's credit: she is patient and currently doesn't show a desire to hog attention. That means it could be a done deal and we wouldn't know until it's announced if you're waiting on her to signal it.

KBW has paid her dues for this gig........

Rudybryan said:

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KBW has paid her dues for this gig........

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There are no dues when you're paid. It's a check.

greg.w.h said:

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aggiedrjdub said:

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I think if KBW wants the position and is offered the position we would be in good hands. She may not want a head coaching gig and that's also something to consider. However, It appears to me that the new coaches that were brought in this season (3 of them) had to have known this was happening. I also believe KBW had a huge role in their selection. This leads me to believe the position may already be hers.

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To KBW's credit: she is patient and currently doesn't show a desire to hog attention. That means it could be a done deal and we wouldn't know until it's announced if you're waiting on her to signal it.

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This is what I'm thinking as well. She's an incredible coach and the athletes love her.

Vic made his choice. He is a Longhorn.

KBW should be our next head coach.

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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Bucketrunner said:

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Nope. I don't have to defend my feelings to anyone. And I'm certainly not the only one who thinks Kelly is the best coach and best recruiter.

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Relax, no one is asking you to defend anything. This is a forum where people talk about their feelings, occasionally tossing in some facts to back them up. I'm asking you for your opinion, because I'm curious. You're saying Vic doesn't have integrity and lacks inclusivity. If you have facts to back that up, that might change my opinion about him.

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Deliberately ran up the score when MS played us at CS!

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So let me get this straight, he lacks integrity and doesn't like marginalized people because he ran up the score on us?

Our job wasn't open when Vic was being courted by Texas.

Match or beat the offer made by Texas and Vic will come home.

Make no mistake, Vic's defense is what was responsible for the National Championship.

Blair was the chubby-cheeked front man that everybody loved, kind of like Santa Claus.

Vic was the elves back at the shop doing the hard work.

aggiedrjdub said:

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greg.w.h said:

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aggiedrjdub said:

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I think if KBW wants the position and is offered the position we would be in good hands. She may not want a head coaching gig and that's also something to consider. However, It appears to me that the new coaches that were brought in this season (3 of them) had to have known this was happening. I also believe KBW had a huge role in their selection. This leads me to believe the position may already be hers.

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To KBW's credit: she is patient and currently doesn't show a desire to hog attention. That means it could be a done deal and we wouldn't know until it's announced if you're waiting on her to signal it.

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This is what I'm thinking as well. She's an incredible coach and the athletes love her.

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She has paid her dues and she is a great recruiter and the kids do love her.

All of that is easy to accomplish when you are an assistant coach and don't have to wear all of the hats and carry the burden of being a HC. It can be a very difficult transition from one to the other, when all of the sudden you have to hold the team accountable and they don't like you as much anymore...and you have to assemble a great staff and count on them for a lot of very important things like recruiting that you don't have time to do all yourself anymore.

It should be scary to you how well Vic has done vs. what a bust he was his first time around at Sam. It should be scary to you that KBW is a 45 y/o assistant that has never run a program and has had the great Coach Blair at her side lifting the heavy weight for 20 years. It should be scary to you that volleyball hired the top assistant in the country and she has bombed.

Maybe Vic is not the one, that's fine. But this is Texas A&M. Women's basketball powerhouse. KBW needs to go pay her dues as a HC at a lower level and we need to go hire the best sitting HC available. Her time will come when she has proven that she can lead a program.

She might be a HOF coach but and she might "only" be a phenomenal assistant. Right now, the truth is nobody knows which and no one likes hearing this, but being a great person and likeable is not enough. Some of you think that Vic is neither of those things, which only proves the point.

No. You are hoping to pump up the man who left an Aggie function to fly home and recruit one of our players the man who Blair gifted with the player who got him any achievements he had at MSU.

What IS proven in this thread is that a Vic hire would be very divisive to the fan base.

I will also say that hiring an assistant from our own very successful program is way better than hiring one from the outside, but it does worry me that the program dropped off a little bit when Vic left and that his program at a lesser competitor became more successful than ours.

No one can really know how much each coach brings to the table, but I think that's a legitimate concern about how big his contribution was to our program.

All of the accolades that are being touted about KBW are the exact reasons that it would NOT make sense to hire her. She's unproven. Nice, players, coach, good person, great recruiter does not equal good head coach.

Go with proven HC material. Go get Vic.

Hiring from within would probably not change much. We need a proven winner to come in and shake this program up. I'm tired of sweet 16 exits.

Harry Dunne said:

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After reading all of this, it being a done deal makes sense and I think you're probably right. I also don't disagree with most of what I have read, other than the silly and false slander of Vic.

Here are some final thoughts:

• I have never heard a bad thing about KBW. From anyone. Seems like an excellent person. Has been a first-rate assistant coach.
• Vic is not unethical or non-inclusive. That's just dumb. I think the poster above doesn't understand what that means. Say what you will about Austin, but they fully vet their coaches. You better believe that if there was even a whisper of that stuff he would not have gotten the job.
• That said, I have heard from a lot of folks that Vic has rubbed the wrong way. Was it gracious to run the score up? Absolutely not. He was sending a message.
• Here's what's going to be the shocker for some of you: I have heard from people within the athletic department that behind closed doors, Coach Blair is an absolute jerk. This isn't just one sour grapes account. Several support staff types have told me that when it comes to getting what he needs for his program he will berate, bully and intimidate whoever, whenever. If you're surprised by that, you haven't known many high-profile coaches.

I think most don't realize what it takes to be successful in the highest profile women's sport and the 3rd or 4th most important program on campus. The Grandpa Blair act is for the community and no doubt he is a good man, but you don't win a national championship without being an absolute shark and competitive to the point it is ugly and relentless when it comes to getting what you want. He and Vic are probably more similar than not.

If anything, my worry with KBW is that she is too nice. That's all good and fine when you're the assistant, but will be be able to show her teeth as a head coach? Because winning at this level is not all puppy dogs and rainbows.

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VERY interesting take on Coach Blair. I've talked to someone who worked with him for YEARS...and was told the EXACT opposite. Guess it depends on who you talk to.

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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Bucketrunner said:

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Nope. I don't have to defend my feelings to anyone. And I'm certainly not the only one who thinks Kelly is the best coach and best recruiter.

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Relax, no one is asking you to defend anything. This is a forum where people talk about their feelings, occasionally tossing in some facts to back them up. I'm asking you for your opinion, because I'm curious. You're saying Vic doesn't have integrity and lacks inclusivity. If you have facts to back that up, that might change my opinion about him.

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Deliberately ran up the score when MS played us at CS!

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look at the score when we played MSU the first time Vic was coach.

You know there is a way to keep the score from getting run up on your, play better.

Quote:

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Say what you will about Austin, but they fully vet their coaches.

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not to derail, but they have a football coach who's stripper live in side piece, monkey, bit a kid on Halloween. This same coach left his wife and kids for said stripper and monkey.

So unless vet means they had the monkey checked out about a vet, I wouldn't give them in Austin that much credit for vetting anything.

BQ_90 said:

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Quote:

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Say what you will about Austin, but they fully vet their coaches.

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not to derail, but they have a football coach who's stripper live in side piece, monkey, bit a kid on Halloween. This same coach left his wife and kids for said stripper and monkey.

So unless vet means they had the monkey checked out about a vet, I wouldn't give them in Austin that much credit for vetting anything.

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Ok. Now this was funny!