Dorm Report: Jobs in jeopardy

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Job security is not a luxury afforded to many who enter the realm of college coaching. Aside from a handful of head coaches, such as Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, every year could very well be the last for a head coach.

A losing record isn’t always the culprit as persistent mediocrity or falling short of elevated expectations at a historical powerhouse also can lead a coach to the unemployment line.

Surprisingly enough, Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy was a coach considered to be in that danger zone. However, he was given a two-year extension last week despite accumulating just a 50-49 mark in three seasons.

Although Kennedy may have avoided the ax, there are still plenty of other current coaches who may be coaching for more than just a postseason berth this season. They may be coaching for their jobs.

While Kennedy is seemingly safe for now, the same cannot be said for fellow SEC head coach Anthony Grant. On the surface, Grant has had a fine run at Alabama. The Crimson Tide have gone 99-71 in his five seasons at the helm, with 20-win seasons during four of those campaigns. However, he has failed to really build a contender in the SEC during that time.

Despite some strong overall win totals, the Crimson Tide are just 46-38 against the rest of the conference in Grant’s five seasons. That includes a 7-11 record last season, when Grant’s squad finished just 13-19. It may seem drastic, but at a school so used to athletic excellence on the football field, another losing year could be the end for Grant in Tuscaloosa.

Kennedy has a connection with another coach who should be wary of his own status entering this season. Mark Turgeon was Kennedy’s predecessor at Texas A&M before taking the job at Maryland.

This past offseason was a brutal one for Turgeon. In the spring, two major pieces of last season’s 17-15 squad decided to transfer with Seth Allen heading to Virginia Tech and Nick Faust leaving for Long Beach State.

There also were rumors of several other players taking off, which is not exactly the type of confidence-building news for a coach who has failed to push his squad to the NCAA Tournament in his three seasons.

The Terps are joining the Big Ten this season, which could be Turgeon’s last if they miss out on dancing in March for a fifth straight campaign.

Just making the NCAA Tournament is not a guarantee for job renewal at some spots. Indiana, which is considered one of the premier programs in the country, does not settle for the postseason. With five national title banners hanging from the rafters of Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers are one of the few teams in the nation for which a “championship or bust” mentality is expected.

Tom Crean seemed to have his team on track for steady title contention during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. The Hoosiers won a combined 56 games in those seasons and were a No. 1 seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. However, last season, the Hoosiers took a giant step backward, finishing at just 17-15 overall. Obviously, the loss of talents like Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo did not help the cause, but when expectations are sky high, just one stumble has Crean at least in the vicinity of the chopping block.

The Big Ten clearly has a few coaches who should be sweating a bit more than usual, but the conference that might be the most ripe for a face-lift in the coaching ranks is the Big East. The retooled league sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament last season, but for all that strength at the top, there was tremendous weakness at the bottom.

Nowhere was that weakness more prevalent than at DePaul. The Blue Demons, once an upstart mid-major squad, have never really been able to get their footing in either the old or new Big East. In the eight years since they got the promotion from Conference USA, the Blue Demons have gone 102-180, with just one season above .500.

Oliver Purnell has been the head coach for the last four of those seasons and has really not provided much hope for the future. In 2013-14, the Blue Demons had only 12 wins, with three of those coming against Big East foes. Their grand total for league wins since Purnell’s hiring is nine. Compare that to 57 losses and it is evident the former Clemson head coach might be looking for work elsewhere this spring unless there is a drastic improvement on the court in the winter.

The situation at St. John’s is a bit less dire, but that doesn’t mean Steve Lavin’s seat isn’t beginning to heat up. Following a season in which the Red Storm were on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, reports surfaced that Lavin was in contract extension talks, but no news has been forthcoming on that subject since.

Lavin has led St. John’s to a pair of 20-win seasons in his four years and got the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, his debut campaign. The problem with the moderate success is that St. John’s just doesn’t seem to be living up to its potential under Lavin.

The squad has featured some intriguing talent, such as D’Angelo Harrison and JaKarr Sampson, but has failed to bring the Red Storm back to the glory days of Chris Mullin. Sampson declared for the NBA Draft and talented center Chris Obekpa nearly transferred during the offseason, producing more questions than answers for Lavin and his team entering 2015.

Kevin Willard is another Big East coach who is standing on shaky ground. The head man at Seton Hall has been in the position for four seasons and the Pirates have not made the NCAA Tournament under him, even during his second season when they finished 21-13.

Like St. John’s, Seton Hall is a program that is still living off its reputation from the 1980s, but with just two 20-win finishes in the last 20 years, those days seem far away. Willard has managed to keep the ship steady, but steady mediocrity isn’t a building block for a sustained tenure. Of course, Willard helped his cause with this year’s recruiting class, which features McDonald’s All-American Isaiah Whitehead. If Whitehead lives up to the hype, it could buy a few more years for Willard.

This group is just scratching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to coaches on the hot seat. Washington State’s Ken Bone, Purdue’s Matt Painter and South Florida’s Stan Heath are all in dangerous waters as well.

Time will tell who sinks and who swims to another year.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball