John Brannen

[leo from jersey]

I know I sounded very pro player/ parent, and all might have guilt. The thing is certain people have been hired and well paid to avoid this mess. If things are not running smooth then results usually follow right or wrong. I just had enough of that handing out cookies thing. These guys are not band parents after football half time with the hot chocolate and treats or community athletic league parents. It is not so easy as simply slinging fiery darts and arrows. Perhaps some cookies need to be given to fans as well.

[coach]

Love UC will always love and support this program. I’m on John At the same time, I’m on John Brannens side of this whole thing. This entire process is completely bulls***. Milk this thing until you get as much money as you possibly can. He deserves this money for his name being dragged through the mud damaging his career because some 18 year olds think practice is too hard and their parents are crying because they wanna hand out homemade cookies after the game.

Everybody is assuming he's gone, but as crazy as all this is who knows for certain. At this point it would not completely surprise me if they came out and said after the investigation they didn't find anything significant and Brannen is still the coach. Short of some guys reconsidering and staying the fan base is going to be up in arms so i'm not sure whom it benefits other than those who want "transparency". I know one thing i've had tickets for 35 years plus, and i'm not going to buy any for a team thrown together at the last minute. We went through this once before with the Huggins/Zimpher standoff, and i'm not going to subsidize it again. It's ridiculous though that we are at this point after so many folks came to the table to renovate the Shoe. If all they come up with is practice being to hard, etc. unless Brannen comes out at the end and indicates it was a good idea to do this i tend to question Cunningham/Pinto leadership. Does anyone think those teams that played yesterday practice easy? Did anybody see Jay Wright laying into that kid in the huddle after he threw the ball away at the end of the Nova/Baylor game? Given Brannen hasn't said a peep, it's hard to really know the facts, but i doubt they have 4 or 5mm to get out from under this. I try to give Cunningham some benefit of the doubt, but given when he started i/those around me really haven't gotten to meet him with this Covid so it's kind of a wild card. I was somewhat relieved when i read Decoursey said Archie Miller would crawl to Cincy for the job. I'm more worried about who's going to be the coach rather than the roster. That's got to be solved first.

The thing i still find most interesting about this past two weeks is the kids other than Diarra who left got a lot of playing time which as true frosh is a luxury and not the norm. These weren't 5 star kids, and it's almost like the stress of playing and not being up to the standard they had in high school was to much for them. Most guys want to play, but there is work both mental/physical if you're going to be a cog in the machine and not just sitting and watching. At this point, there are quite a few teams with more transfers than we have so I'm not sure we're going through anything unique here. It's unfortunate when you have a young team which was appearing to be improving. Unless they go down a ladder in competition, i don't think they will see more minutes next year assuming they are playing.

[leo from jersey]

we might never know. Most fans as I said, follow the uniforms. If there is a change, then all eyes will be on the current. That is the way sports are. As you know, very well coach, for most, the mantra is "what have you done lately". For old folks like us, we get joy in talking about some of the old teams, but they are still bearcat teams.
Coach - I have not watched any games but tOSU beatdown. A question - did the kid go back in after the huddle or was the time expired?

I was buying new fishing gear yesterday. I can still physically participate in that sport as well as arguing with total strangers on the net.

[Lobot]

Somebody knows something or this is a mistake. This is was originally posted at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram which I find interesting becuase Cunningham did his undergrad at TCU.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/shaka-sma...190410439.html

"With openings at Indiana, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and now Texas, plenty of good jobs are available, and opportunities for agents to squeeze some more hundreds of thousands of dollars out of athletic departments for their clients."

[Rufus]

It just may be that its discovered that the AD himself has been derelict in his duties. We went into covid protocol shortly after He was hired and the bulk of his tenure has been initiated from his working from home. Clifton was closed excepting just a few students (athletes). Could be Brannen hasn't commented on this as he feels he don't have anything to defend. I can't believe an AD just hiding under his desk while the entire alumni assoc is wondering what was going on for an entire week. JC had a week to find wrongdoing and came up empty so he decided to hire investigators to find something. He may want Brannen gone but perhaps its JC that should be worried. As some else has pointed out, I havent heard one single allegation against JB that could be considered reason to fired. And in this day of living our lives under the microscope of social media its inconceivable that something hasn't leaked out now after more than a week.

[coach]

I don't think Cunningham is acting without the President and the Trustees being on board here fwiw.

[longtimefan]

I know I sounded very pro player/ parent, and all might have guilt. The thing is certain people have been hired and well paid to avoid this mess. If things are not running smooth then results usually follow right or wrong. I just had enough of that handing out cookies thing. These guys are not band parents after football half time with the hot chocolate and treats or community athletic league parents. It is not so easy as simply slinging fiery darts and arrows. Perhaps some cookies need to be given to fans as well.

Well that's the point. If Brannen was such a monster that he drove kids away, that's on him. On the other hand, if he recruited a bunch of kids that were too soft or too whiny to compete with a tough coach at this level, that's also on him. No matter what happens at this point, it's not good for John Brannen. Unfortunately, dealing with helicopter parents is a problem all over, not just at UC. Coaches have to learn to deal with that, too.

[leo from jersey]

I don't think Cunningham is acting without the President and the Trustees being on board here fwiw.

we finally agree. Even the president is not on the top of the pecking order. They have sway, but i have dealt with boards as I am sure you have.

[leo from jersey]

Well that's the point. If Brannen was such a monster that he drove kids away, that's on him. On the other hand, if he recruited a bunch of kids that were too soft or too whiny to compete with a tough coach at this level, that's also on him. No matter what happens at this point, it's not good for John Brannen. Unfortunately, dealing with helicopter parents is a problem all over, not just at UC. Coaches have to learn to deal with that, too.

we don't know if helicopter parents (whatever that is) are the problem. It is used as an o too easy excuse today. A good coach vets the parents too. A poor coach blames them and everyone else. It is a hard job with crappy hours, but the pay and benefits are good. I am happy to watch and give my two cents. Retirement is everything it is claimed to be.

[Crusher58]

Somebody knows something or this is a mistake. This is was originally posted at the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram which I find interesting becuase Cunningham did his undergrad at TCU.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/shaka-sma...190410439.html

"With openings at Indiana, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and now Texas, plenty of good jobs are available, and opportunities for agents to squeeze some more hundreds of thousands of dollars out of athletic departments for their clients."

Can't imagine the author knows more than anyone else. It's all speculation. The choices: A. Brannen stays and relationships improve post Covid, B. Brannen is released and a stop gap is put in place to keep recruits, and those currently committed to the program back out, C. Brannen stays and AD is released, D. Brannen is released and a terrific new coach is introduced, E. Brannen is found to have breached contract by his treatment of players and a search for new blood begins. There are more options I'm sure.

This week of "discovery" will set the stage. Hopefully, apart from the individuals involved, there will be concrete actions to improve the program.

[longtimefan]

I'm seeing a lot of traffic on Twitter speculating about Archie Miller as the next coach here. IU now has a bunch of guys in the portal because he was fired. Perhaps he could bring some of those guys to help replenish our roster. It doesn't have to be a lost decade with the right hire. I'd be OK with this. Any other names out there we should be looking at?

[Crusher58]

As far as a quick analysis of options:
A. Win/Win with improvements identified for post Covid
B. Lose/Lose Expensive and potentially harmful to program on multiple fronts
C. Win/Lose Unlikely as issues are focused on Brannen's direct influence on players
D. Lose/Win Expensive and unlikely. For this program a more cost effective method is needed long term
E. Lose/Lose Time and money wasted. Long term reset.

I am always in favor of Win/Win. However, this is never the easiest option. Will take folks willing to check egos.

[CincyBearcats2]

Excuse me. Practice is too hard? I hope you realize what work and time goes into the development of a D1 player outside of the program. The hours of training. The parents drive and fly all over to AAU events and many train with their kids or spend quite a lot of money to get the right trainers and basketball camps. Yes, once the talent is seen, most camps are free and equipment for teams. but it ain't handing out cookies. You have your school's HC, the AAU HC and your various trainers all barking out orders until the commitment. Then you have the school taking charge.

Do you have parents complain? Yes. But you must understand many of these kids have no the economics at home so they are not hard to guide. Others have parents who played and most understand the process, but are wise when you have those going beyond the normal authority. My one son had a coach with breath of a wino. His wife divorced him and he got real abusive (physical) with kids that came from a stable home. My boy was younger, but some of the older parents did some research. He lost his college job and his previous HS job for the same reason, but all was covered up. He was especially tough on the kids whose fathers were ex NBA players and financially secure with great relationship with their sons. After some difficulties, he resigned. One of the players had severe problems later and he was no pansy. The constant put downs and other abuse caused him to react horribly when a problem came up later while he was in college. I will not say what happened. I will say he wanted to please all .

I said that to say with all the forum pontificators who believe one report and then another plus use any excuse for losing (the kids- the coach- covid) , have no clue and probably have not been in the situation. These kids are the kids of people and they know abuse. They are usually tough people so it takes a lot to get to them. The culture which we are a part of has caused the schools to be hands off for a winner often at any means. HCs have a lot of power and control, with being raised on wanting to be Bob Knight instead of John Wooten. It does affect their personalities. Not all react adversely, but they are in a pressure cooker from themselves, the school and the fans.

We got to stop the jumping to conclusions for our entertainment. We might never know what happened. We might only know what the final result is. We will have to live with it. As soon as the new season starts most will be forgotten. Our stake is on the uniforms and records and seldom on the people.

I know we all love our team and we also have an emotional stake in what is happening as true fans should. I just caution on all the knee jerk reactions and then the finger pointing based on whims and speculation.

I liked ZH a lot because he was not the thug (at least I thought so) that many labeled him. He did try. I don't know what was promised to him, but I have heard coach speak before. All I know is when I saw a kid beaten down on the bench with the HC playing game minutes games with him, and JB did, I figured we were seeing the tip of an iceberg. We were. I never bought into all the easy excuses that he was ill and not game ready. I saw his movements. He improved on defense and was active offensively. Then I saw MS sitting quietly (he's emotional) and almost as depressed. If we watched closely you could see some troubling things.

I just wish many of you could have seen back to back championships instead of the excrement of a program we currently have. I don't blame the culture because people make the culture. I have no clue to what is going on except the typical CYA. I just think we all should stop the senseless attacks.

so about the practice is too hard thing I mentioned... that’s actually a fact. David Dejulius said guys complained that the practices were too hard and that their legs were tired on gameday so John Brannen literally cut the practices in half. That’s where my “complaining about practices being too hard” comment came from. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page....

[leo from jersey]

so about the practice is too hard thing I mentioned... that’s actually a fact. David Dejulius said guys complained that the practices were too hard and that their legs were tired on gameday so John Brannen literally cut the practices in half. That’s where my “complaining about practices being too hard” comment came from. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page....

I was talking about the cookies. 'Hard" practices are a subjective thing. Not bragging, but I lifted after long practices as did many I knew. Some laid on the bed. David D has shown me he is a quitter. I take everything he says with a grain of salt.

[CincyBearcats2]

I was talking about the cookies. 'Hard" practices are a subjective thing. Not bragging, but I lifted after long practices as did many I knew. Some laid on the bed. David D has shown me he is a quitter. I take everything he says with a grain of salt.

If he’s a quitter.... why’d he come back?
in your original statement you said you liked Zach Harvey.... is he not a quitter?