That’s how bad DePaul coach is. They have 2 top ten classes and still can’t win. If Loyola had that talent they would be like Gonzaga rn.

There’s a part of me that knows that DPU’s location would make PM really consider that job offer. Yet there’s an even bigger part of me that believes PM picks up the phone only to make up leverage for a bidding war with other schools higher on his job list. That program is in need of a complete overhaul, and there won’t be a lot of good candidates with options that would want to sign up for it.

If we were to talk hypothetically about a coaching change though, you do bring up a good point about us being turnkey, but I think there are pitfalls that we have to be wary about. A lot of guys who don’t understand what Loyola has built and what the university values will try to use it to ride coattails for two years, maybe even after just one, and leave.

Retreads from big time programs will see it as a quick rehab stint before going back to the Power 5. Young up-and-coming assistants, in addition to being unproven and potentially not ready for primetime, can use this as a cushy stepping stone before bolting instantly (see Pitino’s kid who coached FIU for one season before going to Minnesota). In the hypothetical discussion between Coach K and Scheyer, hopefully there’s also an honest third option Coach K gives him which is: “I only have another year or two left, and if you stay, I’ll make sure the keys are handed to you when I step away.” Then, at least we can avoid being jilted and in the same spot next season.

Worst case scenario, we might also kick the tires on some very talented Xs and Os coaches whose transgressions off the court would be a black eye for the program. The Bruce Pearls of the world if you will.

Yes, we will have better options than DPU and are better positioned to for the next coach to have immediate and long term success, mainly because we definitely don’t need a miracle worker, a complete rebuilder, or even the best coach we can find. I have no candidates in mind specifically, but I hope that whoever would replace Porter would “get it”, understand that while we want to be extremely successful and the Gonzaga of the Midwest while not compromising who we are as a premier Jesuit university. Yes, it would be nice for the new coach to elevate recruiting a little but not to the point where we’re in bed with the shoe companies funneling players to the highest bidder. Maybe we find an assistant who can do that and carry us for over a decade like Mark Few. I think it’s more likely we find another retread similar to where Porter was in 2011 who won’t just look at Loyola as simply a name on the jerseys of a talented mid-major team and who wants to have sustained success at Loyola for years, not just until the first big time school calls.

Porter Moser is a great “coach.” I don’t think there is any doubt about that. The knock on him is always that in 17 years of head coaching he only has 1 NCAA appearance, 1 NIT (which would have been 2, but-for COVID) appearance and a CBI title, with an overall record of 286-241, which is just 45 games over .500.

There’s no doubt in my mind as a “coach,” Porter could take over next year at Baylor, Michigan, Duke, Kansas, etc. and sustain their success. The way he has our defense playing is not a fluke. It’s the top defense in the nation because of all the hard work he put into teaching and coaching the guys all year. They make very few mistakes on defense and that’s a tribute to coaching. Offense, however, in terms of shooting percentage, falls more on the players than it does on coaching. If we aren’t hitting open shots, that’s not necessarily Porters fault if they are OPEN. In the losses we’ve had, we’ve played well enough on defense to win, and our offense in those games DID facilitate enough OPEN shots to win — they just didn’t fall down. Now if you’re offensive strategy isn’t CREATING opportunities for open shots - that would be indicative of bad coaching. But does anyone think that’s been a problem for us? I don’t. The only game this year I was frustrated with Porter’s coaching was the Indiana State game, and that’s only because I can’t figure out why Krutwig only played 18 minutes... but in 22 of 23 games I think he coached well enough to give us a chance to win, and that’s a solid number.

The past 4 years and what Porter has done is amazing, but that came at a price for Loyola. You can’t ignore all the hard work that went into the first four years after he inherited NOTHING. The ground-up build took a lot of patience by both Porter and the administration. Those were probably the hardest 4 or 5 years of Porter’s coaching career. We were losing, Porter had to run guys off to clear the way for players he thought he could win with, we had to transition to a new league, etc. He did not have the personnel to compete in the conference(s) for 4 years. It was only once he was able to get players (which he successfully did) that he could show how good of a coach he was.

So when DePaul fans think Porter Moser would be a bad choice, they might not be wrong... but it’s not because of Porter... it’s because of how freaking bad their program is. Porter was 42 when he took over at Loyola and was 47 once he got his program into shape after pulling it out of the gutter. At 52 now, given how bad that program is, it might take him another 5 years of intense non-stop work to get DePaul out of the gutter. I think he definitely could do it - but why? Even if it’s more money, he knows he can’t coach forever and I don’t see him, after tasting the success of the final four, wanting to bust his ass with no shot at making another tournament run for at least 4 or 5 years when he’s 58 years old.... especially when he has a mid major contender he personally built RIGHT NOW that he can continue to build off of with no restart needed. Porter is also very conscientious. I don’t think Todd Licklighter’s situation is lost on him. Licklighter also is obviously a good coach (look what he did at Evansville- which is pretty impressive, all things considered. He had an amazing thing going at Butler, left for Iowa in 2007, made it only 3 years there, and then had to wait 10 years for another D1 head coaching job - and even getting that required a lot of luck.

I think Porter is incredibly smart. He’s done the rebuild job and I don’t think he wants to do it again (Saint John’s). At 52, he can continue to win at Loyola, and if a blue blood or major conference team with a decent infrastructure comes calling, he’ll listen. But I honestly don’t think Porter is interested in taking a job at a dumpster fire just because the logos “Big East,” “Big 10,” or “SEC” are on the team’s court.

The last ten years have not only transformed Loyola basketball but transformed Porter. Lets not forget that Porter was constantly dealing with situations where a new AD would come in and want to make a change. This certainly affected his outlook on the concept of security. I remember a conversation with him in DC when the 63 team was going to visit the WhiteHouse. The 63 team virtually ignored him as they reminiscing about 63. It gave me a unique opportunity to talk with him at length. In our conversation he stressed the need to have some longer term security to leverage as it was a important factor in recruiting. Ultimately he got that extension.
Then came switching leagues but he was able to build a foundation that eventually led to success and a Final Four.
The Final four run gave him a taste of the top and like anyone else it was exhilarating. He still was the same person but with the confidence in what he could do and achieve particularly if he had more resources.
As Porter built the program there was a lot of late hours, hard work and limited resources. A lot of sacrifice. When success came he had the leverage to receive a better deal in terms of money, facilities and security.
But success attracts suitors and who can blame Porter for testing the market. The St.John's job while very attractive had several issues. The AD did not want him but the AD boss did, the alums did not want him as he was from the second city. New Yorkers are great people but they do look at New York as the center of the universe. What could a midwesterner offer the Big Apple? Besides a St. John's legend Chris Mullen had been driven off.
Still Porter had two letters written, one accepting the job and one staying at Loyola. I think staying at Loyola introspect was the smart choice including the fact that New York became the center of the pandemic.
So now, more success and more suitors will come.
But the Loyola situation has changed as well. There has been cost cutting across the board including salary cuts. One of the leading board proponents of athletics passed away. There are other changes underway which I think make Loyola less willing and able to retain Porter. The cupboard is not full indeed.
Building a Gonzaga of the Midwest would be a good choice but given everything else I think there will be an attractive enough offer for Porter and be overwhelmed to take another opportunity. I saw a recent article about him and Boston College the pros and the cons.
While I originally thought that might be an option, I think it is more likely that Porter will attract an offer from the Big Ten or the Big Twelve.
If it comes he deserves the chance to take it and move on. Loyola will miss this unique man of character, integrity and hard work. And he is still young enough with that boundless energy to be a great success rebuilding another program.
That's my limited knowledge two cents.
In the meantime, I just sit back and think how great the Loyola program has become in the eyes of alums and nationally.
Its a great time to be a Rambler.
So, whether he goes or stays, I just say "thank you for this great run."

A couple of comments.

The Big East is not the same league we all remember. Butler, DePaul, Xavier and Marquette don't evoke great Big East rivalries. It is a great brand name, but it is not the same as it was.

(1) It moved games from ESPN to Fox and CBS. This has been a big loss. ESPN is a promotions machine. Big Monday was must see TV. I find the Loyola games, but if they are not on - I will watch ESPN - SEC - ACC - Big 12 and Big 10. The Big East is not in the mix.
(2) It was a destination league for coaches. It no longer is. Coaches from the Big East left jobs to go to Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and Louisville.
(3) When the Catholic 7 left, it lost a number of powerhouse schools that were relevant for basketball purposes - UConn (now they are back), Syracuse, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Miami, Cincinnati, Louisville.
(4) It still has Villanova and teams have made investments, but it is outside the P5 and does not have the same built in advantage that it did.

Coaching is key if you don't have the talent. You don't need NBA talent to win a lot of college basketball games. For every year there is a Kentucky - there are teams like Villanova and Virginia. Their kids are talented and they have one or two fringe NBA players, but for the most part they are winning with good college basketball upperclassmen.

DePaul hasn't made the tournament in 15 years. They haven't been relevant since Joey Meyer.

I don't think the job is attractive.

They need to find someone who can coach and be patient. It will be tough to do because we all know that it is a Big Ten town. DePaul is in the basement of the basketball landscape well behind - Illinois, Northwestern and Loyola

Great insights 88. Just like the General Motors brand, the Big East is not so great anymore.Classic over reach by DePaul.

The comment above is totally wrong in so many ways. First off I came from a big East team (friars). Also can people dm me some mvc twitter accounts. I want to here from other fans too.

Big East is nationally televised for every game. Alway on fox sports. You cannot say that the league is down because Syracuse and Louisville are gone. Look at those teams now. Not what they were. Also nova has picked up all the slack.

Big East is a place where coach come to stay. Again even the mvc is like that. It’s about fit. Also reciting in the big East is been way up across the board. The last place team in the conference is pulling in a top ten class.

The big East is the best conference top to bottom, the friars almost lost to DePaul again. There is so much parity and it’s fun. Every game is a blood bath

This has been a great discussion with a lot of good insights. DePaul fans are crazy, they should be thrilled with a coach like Porter. To honestly think Beilein, Matt’s, or Pitino is coming through the door is delusional.

One interesting tidbit is looking at Marquette’s message board; there seems to be a push for Porter up there with a lot of fans wanting him and some not being thrilled but would be supportive. Marquette I think would be very appealing to Porter as it’s a catholic school, near Chicago/Midwest recruiting, and is a step up to the big east. I could see him be successful and consistently having a tournament team in Milwaukee if they offered him.

One poster on that board made an excellent point that hasn’t really been brought up though; do any of these school have the financial ability to fire and hire a coach during Covid? Example was Marquette, if they fire Wojo it’s about $6m remaining on his salary, Porters buyout let’s say is $2m, and they’d likely have to increase his salary so let’s say another $2m; a lot of their posters said financially they don’t think they could swing $10m to buyout and bring in a new coach since college budgets are being slashed, sports dropped, coaches taking reductions, no fans/ticket sales, etc. it was an interesting point.

That makes you think that only a school with huge pockets like Indiana, Michigan St, Notre Dame, etc would be the only ones available to poach Porter. While I think he is a great coach, he was resurrected our program, I’m not sure he’s on a Michigan State blue blood level where those type schools could get anyone they want, including poaching someone from another Power 5 school. I agree with most posters here that I don’t think Porter leaves unless it’s for a clear upgrade, or ungodly amount of money, and it has to be in the Midwest. Northwestern’s board said it’s unlikely they fire Collins as bad he’s been due to budget shortfalls and a new AD; and I dont think any of the Big 10 schools are going to make a move within the next few years. It’s doubtful a school like Arizona would come calling for Porter if they were to fire Sean Miller or a similar large school outside of the Midwest. I really do think Porter would only jump for Creighton or a Big Ten, or Marquette type job.

All in all, Porter may be staying due to other circumstances, maybe he isn’t looking to leave at all with a good job and security at Loyola. If he were to go he’d be missed but ultimately Loyola will be fine. He’s built a good program, I’m not sure who would be a good coach to hire, maybe someone like Scott Nagy from Wright State, or Darrin Horn from Northern Kentucky would be looking to move up. We can’t discount Valentine either who has been learning from Porter and seen how to run a tight program. Either way, as previously stated Loyola is in a golden age right now, let’s enjoy the ride and the team and worry about things later if they do in fact happen.

Marquette fired 40 professors. They won’t hire a new coach. That’s a bad look to pay millions for a new coach. Saw DePaul raised millions for the basketball and athletic department a couple weeks ago

1. For what it is worth..THe Mosers still have two boys in high school....may want to see them finish at Loyola Academy
2. Does Loyola have any sugar daddies?
3. LU has to know the value of their recent success has had on the over all value for the school. right?