Candidate Thread: Nate Oats (Alabama)

[Trish 11,435]

1 minute ago, goonaha said:

Curious why this thread has more activity than Beard, when there's no way IU is paying his buyout and he publicly said he's not interested.

Meanwhile Beard has a far lower buyout and has flirted with us in the last week.

I think most people know he’s not leaving TX for family reasons. He’s got a personality, he’ll flirt or he’ll leave it open ended. We’ve talked about it a lot and it doesn’t seem like he’s actually possible. 

[Feathery 4,005]

10 minutes ago, JSHoosier said:

They don't have to be, but as I said without winning style is meaningless.  Wins are what matter.

Wins do matter. So go get a coach that can win and has style. 

[IU Prof 735]

Would our well-heeled donors be willing to pay Oats' buyout if he were interested in the job? He's a Midwestern guy, and has won big at every stop. 

The fact he knew IU could very well come open, but still agreed to a new contract with Alabama makes me think he's not interested. But if he were willing to come, he'd check most of the boxes Dolson said he was looking for.

[JSHoosier 19,678]

2 minutes ago, Feathery said:

Wins do matter. So go get a coach that can win and has style. 

Agree to disagree.  Wins are ultimately the only thing that matters, otherwise Crean would still be here.

[goonaha 2,972]

8 minutes ago, Treesh said:

I think most people know he’s not leaving TX for family reasons. He’s got a personality, he’ll flirt or he’ll leave it open ended. We’ve talked about it a lot and it doesn’t seem like he’s actually possible. 

I don't think most people know he's not leaving TX for family reasons. That's an obstacle for sure, but I don't know why you're presenting it is fact. It's certainly a lower obstacle than a $14M buy out for Oats who has publicly said no already.

[Feathery 4,005]

3 minutes ago, JSHoosier said:

Agree to disagree.  Wins are ultimately the only thing that matters, otherwise Crean would still be here.

Crean had an attractive style but not the substance. So he didn’t have enough wins. So in that case you are right. If Archie won, I still wouldn’t have watched much because it was a slow slog, I didn’t enjoy watching it. I’d spend my time elsewhere. A coach at Indiana needs both style and substance (fluid offensive that is appealing to go with a solid defense which will produce wins). 

[kottke 766]

23 minutes ago, goonaha said:

Curious why this thread has more activity than Beard, when there's no way IU is paying his buyout and he publicly said he's not interested.

Meanwhile Beard has a far lower buyout and has flirted with us in the last week.

The thing that makes me think Oats could potentially still be in play is the second donor to cover “transition” costs. What does that even mean? Buyout?

[goonaha 2,972]

2 minutes ago, kottke said:

The thing that makes me think Oats could potentially still be in play is the second donor to cover “transition” costs. What does that even mean? Buyout?

You think we're spending $24M before even getting to salaries to hire Nate Oats? I don't. 

[Feathery 4,005]

How clean is Oats in recruiting? I only ask because we know Alabama is not afraid to bend the rules in football recruiting. But I looked at Alabama’s basketball recruiting the last couple of years and Oats is landing 5* prospects in each of his first 2 classes. Seemed a bit odd to me for a guy who just left Buffalo to get 5* talent. 

[rcbowla 6,796]

I don't think most people know he's not leaving TX for family reasons. That's an obstacle for sure, but I don't know why you're presenting it is fact. It's certainly a lower obstacle than a $14M buy out for Oats who has publicly said no already.

I posted somewhere that at one point he was willing to coach at UNLV which is 3 hours less of a drive than Bloomington from Lubbock. I don't think location is the end all be all for Beard. Could be but I'm not sold on that notion

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[goonaha 2,972]

Just now, rcs29 said:

I posted somewhere that at one point he was willing to coach at UNLV which is 3 hours less of a drive than Bloomington from Lubbock. I don't think location is the end all be all for Beard. Could be but I'm not sold on that notion

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To me, it's the fact that his "kids" are actually in college or will be in college within a couple of years. His ex-wife is empty nesting soon so I think that drastically reduces the pull of Texas. $6M a year also enables you to charter a lot of private jets.

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,203]

How clean is Oats in recruiting? I only ask because we know Alabama is not afraid to bend the rules in football recruiting. But I looked at Alabama’s basketball recruiting the last couple of years and Oats is landing 5* prospects in each of his first 2 classes. Seemed a bit odd to me for a guy who just left Buffalo to get 5* talent. 

He knows what it takes to win. College basketball does too. Indiana, I’m not so sure.

Good coaching goes a long ways, but talent is hard to overcome. Finding that talent becomes a big challenge when obstacles are in the way.


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[hoosierfan84 296]

31 minutes ago, Treesh said:

I think most people know he’s not leaving TX for family reasons. He’s got a personality, he’ll flirt or he’ll leave it open ended. We’ve talked about it a lot and it doesn’t seem like he’s actually possible. 

Well, we've talked a lot about BS and how he's "actually possible", so there's that. Most people thought he was on his way to B-town, so I don't put much stock in what most people say they know or don't know right now. You know, sources and all. Bottom line is until a guy says emphatically no, everybody is still in play, despite what sources say, and despite what anyone "knows". 

[Hardwood83 4,576]

4 minutes ago, hoosierfan84 said:

Well, we've talked a lot about BS and how he's "actually possible", so there's that. Most people thought he was on his way to B-town, so I don't put much stock in what most people say they know or don't know right now. You know, sources and all. Bottom line is until a guy says emphatically no, everybody is still in play, despite what sources say, and despite what anyone "knows". 

True. I have suspicions about the interest of a lot of these guys, but no way to know. Make a list and start asking. Again, we don't need 8 candidates, only one. Hopefully the right one. 

[Hoosierinbham 160]

4 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

He knows what it takes to win. College basketball does too. Indiana, I’m not so sure.

Good coaching goes a long ways, but talent is hard to overcome. Finding that talent becomes a big challenge when obstacles are in the way.


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Stated VERY well.  Let's just say recruiting is NOT an obstacle at Bama.

[Feathery 4,005]

4 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

He knows what it takes to win. College basketball does too. Indiana, I’m not so sure.

Good coaching goes a long ways, but talent is hard to overcome. Finding that talent becomes a big challenge when obstacles are in the way.


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I get that. I don’t see IU paying money directly to recruits/families. I see IU doing things within the rules but finding ways to maximize money to the players with the new NIL rules. 
 

If we don’t care about ethics, then just hire Pitino and be done with it. 
 

As far as Oats, it could be a Will Wade type situation where he is fine getting dirty in the SEC. I’m not sure that’s the case but when a guy goes from midmajor to power 5 and is landing 5* talent, it doesn’t appear to be legitimate. He isn’t a candidate by his own words, and I doubt IU would look his way bc of what we are discussing now. 

[rcbowla 6,796]

Oh and I love Oats system from what I've seen but I see his buyout as being too much to pay unless you are 100% convinced he's the long term answer. Not sure you can feel real confident in that at this point

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[hoosierfan84 296]

5 minutes ago, Hardwood83 said:

True. I have suspicions about the interest of a lot of these guys, but no way to know. Make a list and start asking. Again, we don't need 8 candidates, only one. Hopefully the right one. 

Oh, I'm fairly sure Dolson gauged potential interest, but I'd say beyond that, fans manufactured the remainder of the drama. I'd say there's a really good chance Stevens never was a possibility, that he was asked, but everything else was assumed by message boards. Could well be Stevens never had the slightest intent of coming back to Indiana. In fact, that's my preferred line of thinking. But, if you're in his seat, you always listen and never say never until you have all the details. But that's just my .02 cents worth.

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,203]

I get that. I don’t see IU paying money directly to recruits/families. I see IU doing things within the rules but finding ways to maximize money to the players with the new NIL rules. 
 
If we don’t care about ethics, then just hire Pitino and be done with it. 
 
As far as Oats, it could be a Will Wade type situation where he is fine getting dirty in the SEC. I’m not sure that’s the case but when a guy goes from midmajor to power 5 and is landing 5* talent, it doesn’t appear to be legitimate. He isn’t a candidate by his own words, and I doubt IU would look his way bc of what we are discussing now. 

The NIL rules will open the floodgates. Hopefully IU can use that to its advantage.


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[IU Prof 735]

37 minutes ago, Feathery said:

How clean is Oats in recruiting? I only ask because we know Alabama is not afraid to bend the rules in football recruiting. But I looked at Alabama’s basketball recruiting the last couple of years and Oats is landing 5* prospects in each of his first 2 classes. Seemed a bit odd to me for a guy who just left Buffalo to get 5* talent. 

He was landing 4 stars at Buffalo, which is atypical for a MAC level program.