And he knows that better than anyone. See his time at ISU red

_________________
Cigarboy sucks!

It used to be that coaches stayed and professional athletes stayed.
Money and free agency changed all that and that is to be expected.
I wonder though what is the success rate of mid major coaches who took the leap and did not make it.
I believe the job that Porter would take (I hate to say it) is Depaul
He stays in Chicago, gets a big bump in salary, a "better" conference and DePaul has more patience than most.
I don't blame him if he does take a better job. I think the program is strong enough now, to remain a solid competitor in the Valley.

I refuse to believe he would leave for Depaul.

I guess what bugs me about the whole "is he going, is he staying, bla bla bla" stuff is that less than 36 months ago years ago, he made this huge deal about being "All in". Hell, he even named his book after that mantra. He's got lots of guys bought in to his program, his vision, and then the next time the team has success he cuts and runs when the money starts flowing?

He truly has the chance to continue to build a best-in-class program at Loyola. He's done an amazing job and I will always be grateful to him for what has brought to this program. He will always be admired and thought of as one of the best Loyola coaches in history. But the wishy-washy, non-answer answer really rubs me the wrong way - does not really scream "high character" action.

_________________
Merle Webb: Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here.

DePaul is a non-issue. It has not been relevant for 30 to 40 years. No one cares about DePaul outside of Chicago. PM is not going to go to a place that has a lower profile than Loyola.

Creighton is more relevant and a bigger concern for me.

PM likes to win and compete for a league championship. As a parent of a college athlete, I know one of the selling points of going to a smaller school in a smaller conference that has a tradition of winning was - do you want win conference championships? or would you rather toil at middling school in middling conference with no hopes of winning titles? PM's built his program with winners. He can't do that by finishing 5th in the Big East, 8th in the Big Ten or 6th in the ACC. It's not his brand.

He makes good money - great money - if you think where he was a few years ago. I don't think the mid-level private institutions (BC, DePaul, Creighton) are our concern. It would need to be a power 5 school, like Northwestern, Minnesota - that could offer him life changing money.

You may be right, 88, about DePaul and Creighton, but I think there is another factor at play for Porter somewhat and for most others.
They think they can make it to the top of the heap. Being 4th, or 5th in the Big East would not be the goal. Rather becoming a Villanova would be the goal; national titles and a constant top ten program. Don't forget those early years of getting bounced when he had turned around Arkansas Little Rock and then ISU only to get bounced by an AD that did not want him is in the back of his mind. Porter recently said in a alumni radio show that he is very competitive. When he plays board games with his kids he never lets them win. Rather he wants them to know they have to earn everything and they did not win because he let them. He said it builds character. We may disagree with that but on the other hand it is a philosophy he has. I think that is behind his decision on playing time as well. You must constantly earn it.
What I like about Porter is not confined to the success on the court. He graduates his players, keeps in contact with them after they graduate as well and teaches them how to succeed on and off the court. He genuinely cares.
As for the coaching carousel I would rather have the drama of success than the drama of years ago when we had to wonder if players would remain eligible or when a player gets into a fight with a security guard on campus.
Porter is a credit to the university and I hope he remains. I know there were salary cuts this year at the university for many positions.
My suspicion is that it affected athletics as well.
I agree with your comment too about the constant bla, bla and speculation. For my part, I hope for the best (stays) but am steeling myself for the worst (DePaul). Unlike a few years back we knew he kicked the tires and I thought all of that was over and then St. John's opened up and almost led to him leaving. My concern then was Mullins had already signed on with SIU and if Porter left our three new recruits (Wojcik, Welch and Kennedy) would most likely opt out and the cupboard would be bare. At least now, while we might lose some of the current team and the new recruits, we at least would have a solid competitive core.
One last comment before I shut down on this topic for good, he would be foolish to take a job at Northwestern as that is the Afghanistan of coaching jobs.

My philosophy on this topic is that if he dies decide to leave, he will do it. There is nothing we can do about it, except for embrace it. I think many of us will respect the decision. I doubt he would go for DePaul, as that is a pretty toxic environment.

Keep an eye on these smaller conference tournaments for potential replacements. There are plenty of very good options out there. I kind of have my eye Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates

-Chicago native from Whitney Young
-midwest coaching experience at Marquette, NIU and Cleveland State
-experience under some fantastic coaches, most recently Leonard Hamilton at FSU
-great recruiter
-had immediate impact on a program that was recently in the dumps for a decade
-early 40s age
-I imagine the local high school coaches at big programs would respond incredibly favorably to the hire

I think he would jump at the chance for the step up in class in his home town

I think lots of big time assistants and lower conference head coaches would line up for a chance to coach here. Much of the heavy lifting has already been done with new facilities, a changed student perspective, some national recognition and initial success.

Now, I think most of the seniors bolt if Moser leaves so it will probably be a depressed year 1, but the brand is pretty strong right now.

A new coaches job would be sustained success.

I could be wrong but I thought he is also on the short list at BC for their head coaching job. I saw somewhere that his wife is an assistant AD and so that may also help his chances too.

_________________
Merle Webb: Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here.