Donovan Going Back to Florida?

Good points. So what, if anythiing, does this do to Donovan's reputation? Can't see this stopping someone else from making an offer down the road.

 

WB: Not a thing. Even if he goes back to Florida, I'd guess he'll be offered again soon.

 

Forcing Orlando to defraud their fans would be the damages, maybe. They sold 200 season tickets immediately... They wouldn't have "lied" to their fans about a coach who would never coach if Donovan had not reneged.

 

how many cancel? and i'd bet florida would pick up that tab.

 

To those who think Billy Donovan has done any damage with the University of Florida, think again.

He'll be welcomed back in Gainesville. Jeremy Foley will be falling over himself at having to do minimal - if any - damage control rather than find a new coach to somehow keep up what Donovan has done there the last decade.

And honestly, if Billy wants a shot in the NBA down the road, he can probably get it with another couple of years strong work in Gainesville. Probably not with the Magic, but given the turnover in the NBA, who knows if that same administration will be there if Donovan gets that NBA itch down the road?

Bobby Cremins (not Billy, Moddy) had a change of heart and ended up OK. Wichita State wasn't scared of Gregg Marshall past after he changed his mind last off-season, telling College of Charleston he'd stay at Winthrop.

I don't see how the Magic would want to keep him even if they have him under contract.

 

Uh, I think Moddy knows what Cremins' first name is. He was making a joke.

 

Headline: "Now you see him, now you don't" who does the Magic GM think he is, Jack McCoy?

 

Get real.

Cremins' career started circling the drain the minute he went back to Georgia Tech. For the record, he is now the coach at College of Charleston after being out of the business for years.

And Gregg Marshall, for as much fellatio as every national college basketball writer has performed on him over the years, couldn't do any better than Wichita State when all was said and done. Is Wichita even a top 50 job? Top 75?

I know that emotions are part of this, but it's simply bad business to do what Marshall, Cremins, Altman and now apparently Donovan did. It undermines credibility with colleagues, bosses, recruits, everyone. If you have misgivings, so be it. That's life. Even if Donovan regretted the decision, he should have taken it like a man. I'm sure at $6 million a year, it wouldn't have been that hard.

 

I'd dispute this. As I recall, Cremins on-court success and career declined rapidly after he did the about face.

Another "about face" example not yet mentioned here was Dan Dakich who was once a hot coaching property when he accepted the West Virginia job only to change his mind and go running back to Bowling Green a few days later (poor WVU was forced to hire Beilein as their fallback guy instead). After that, Dakich seemed to lose his ability to recruit, his teams started sucking, and he later ends up getting fired by BGSU.

 

Magic will allow Donovan out, Sentinel reports:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/local/orl-bk-billydonovan060307,0,3646088.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines
Oh, and check out this double byline. Lynn has sources, apparently.


Dave Curtis and Lynn Hoppes | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 4, 2007, 2:19 AM EDT

The Orlando Magic today will allow Billy Donovan out of his 5-year, $27.5 million contract that he signed on Friday.
"It's over," said a source close to the situation.

 

All the money spent on the search process for Donovan; all the money which now must be spent on a search for another coach, if the Magic has any lawyers worth their salt they can come up with speculative damages done to the organization's future plans, of course it would be hard to prove, but the bottom line would be to bring the hammer down hard with the message to coaches: "Don't fuck with the NBA. When you sign a contract with us, you're IN."

But, apparently they're just going to bend over and take it. OK, fine. Rape isn't rape if you bend over and say, "thank you sir may I have another."

 

They probably ought to. That or the Magic should allow for full refunds, if those people want it.