(06-21-2018 09:27 AM)JMUNation Wrote: It is unlikely JMU buys out a coach in baseball. As bad as Spanky was, he got all five years. JMU would have to go in the toilet or have some type of player upheaval for Ike to be let go.
Keep in mind that JMU was one conference win away from snagging the 6th seed this year. They had multiple one run conference losses. None of this is acceptable to us fans but I don’t think a similar record next year gets Ike fired if he has a strong young base of players. Ike still had quite a few Spanky players on the roster last year. I doubt JMU allowed Ike to pull any scholarships either so he is limited on the recruiting cycle until all of Spanky’s recruits graduate.
The recovery for baseball has been slow. I am not arguing for or against Ike. I am only offering an opinion on why I don’t think JMU let’s him go before year five. If he finishes in the top 3 next year, he gets extended.
I mean, as bad as Spanky was, in his last 5 years, he made the CAAT 4 out of 5 times and won it once. Ike won't even come close to that. I think after 4 years, it's a 50/50 on whether we'll keep Ike if he doesn't make the CAAT, depends on how optimistic they are about his recruits. I can agree that a top 3 and a semifinal appearance will likely garner an extension.
Since Rose has been gone, the athletic department has clearly pushed harder on finding better coaches. MM was fired, Spanky retired, Lucas resigned mid season, and Martin wasn't renewed. For the most part, the longstanding coaches, other than football, are going to be given the benefit of playing out their contract.
If you're thinking about Brady, well, it actually makes at least some sense. Alger started in July of 2012, would've been really late to fire Brady and be able to hire a good coach at that point, but that is certainly what they wanted to do, so there was no way they wanted to extend him. We all know what happened after that.
One other thing to keep in mind is that we are full scholarship in baseball, iirc most teams in even the CAA aren't, so that in itself should be considered when evaluating Ike.