How Long Before Coach Keno Jumps Ship?

[Ace Dad]

Somebody had to start the thread. Is he a lock at Drake if the Bullpups have a fantastic season?

[DawgieStyle]

Somebody had to start the thread. Is he a lock at Drake if the Bullpups have a fantastic season?

if Lowery didn't jump ship after the first or second season...i don't see keno going either

[bcrawf]

Keno has absolutely no loyalties to Drake...

His dad repeatedly jumped ship- Lehigh (?), Stanford, BC, Iowa, Drake...

Keno is not in DSM for the long term, IMO...

[tmmroy]

It'll be a while, probably at least 2-3 years, before anyone Keno would be interested in would come calling, as most good schools will want to see how good of a recruiter he is before they try to pick him up. Beyond that, I'm hoping he'll at least give Drake a chance to match the salary that any bigger school offers him, they'll eventually outbid us, but I'm hoping he'll at least stay if we can match the offer. The only other question is how attached he is to IA, since he's spent most of his life here, if he's really attached to this state only Iowa and ISU are likely to steal him then. (I'm assuming we can match any offer that UNI would make)

[MoValley John]

This is something that concerns me, but I don't think it's at least until next year. In that time, drake should be able to address just how much they are willing to pay. They need to pay more than the president makes.

[tmmroy]

Keno has absolutely no loyalties to Drake...

His dad repeatedly jumped ship- Lehigh (?), Stanford, BC, Iowa, Drake...

Keno is not in DSM for the long term, IMO...

Totally different deal, his dad stayed with the Div I program that he was successful with for as long as he could, Iowa wouldn't extent his contract, thinking that Alford would take them to the next level :lol::doh: and then Dr. Tom simply retired for a couple of years before taking the Drake job, (which was basically to get Keno his first job as a head coach) he also hadn't lived (I believe) the majority of his life in any of those places, so he didn't really have ties to the community, like Keno does(I hope/am trying to work on).

[Mc Bulldog]

AceDad, this isn't you. Bad day?

[Mecha_Bulldog]

Hard to tell with Keno. No one really knows how ambitious he is, how loyal he'll be, or even what part of the country he'd like to live. I can't imagine too many BCS-conference schools would call Keno after this year. No matter how successful Drake's season is, Keno is still a first-year coach, and I doubt many big programs would take a chance on a one-year track record. I think Keno only makes about $250k now, so he'll need a substantial raise after this year, or we'll have to worry about a non-BCS conference school stealing him.

All that said, it's a great problem to have :bulldogs:

[bcrawf]

Dr Tom had clearly worn out his welcome in Iowa City, with the breaking point being when Bowlsby told him not to recruit Joey Range and he did it anyway. The fans would have forgotten him instantly if Stevie would have had the success that Bowlsby thought he would, and to be honest, I thought he would...

Keno wants to see the big time, IMO, and I think the best way to do that is to strike while the iron is hot. Keno may love the state of Iowa, but there comes a point where there is life changing money offered and the opportunity to compete at the highest level possible.

We, at UNI, learned the hard way... I think your time is coming too, Bulldog Fans

[Mecha_Bulldog]

Keno has absolutely no loyalties to Drake...

His dad repeatedly jumped ship- Lehigh (?), Stanford, BC, Iowa, Drake...

Keno is not in DSM for the long term, IMO...

Lafayette, not Lehigh. Then BC, Stanford, Iowa, forced retirement, Drake.

[bcrawf]

Doesn't everybody get Lehigh and Lafayette mixed up...:grin:

[Mc Bulldog]

After watching UNI these past two games I'd be worried about keeping BJ. He is a hellva coach. With Hartzell jumping ship on the university anything can happen with the new AD.

[tmmroy]

Keno wants to see the big time, IMO, and I think the best way to do that is to strike while the iron is hot. Keno may love the state of Iowa, but there comes a point where there is life changing money offered and the opportunity to compete at the highest level possible.

We, at UNI, learned the hard way... I think your time is coming too, Bulldog Fans

How do you know? First, unless Drake doesn't give him a raise it'll have to be a BCS school that takes him, which means at least two more years, and probably more before he gets a serious offer. Second, Keno isn't Dr. Tom, nor is he GMac, he's Keno, and he'll have his own set of priorities with his own idea of how to meet them, and to the best of my knowledge, he hasn't shared those priorities with you, or anyone else.

This isn't to say that I think he'll be here for 20+ years, just that it's a little early to be trying to guess.

[bcrawf]

Its completely my opinion, not any deep secret that I know, just a feeling I get...

I completely agree about Coach Jake, McBulldog. But don't worry there are some delusional UNI fans that think he should be fired because we are not 16-3 at this point. I honestly believe that if the hiring of the new AD is botched, we will lose both Jake and Farley within the first couple of years...

[Aegyptus]

I think he will draw some interest if Drake keeps it up, but the good thing about the evolution of the Valley recently, is that it now takes a GOOD BCS job to steal a coach away, not just some crappy BCS job (okay, McDermott is the exception but I am going to chalk that up to ignorance).

That said, I think the well is pretty dry in terms of good young coaches coming up the ranks quickly. I think you are seeing a lot more BCS-BCS transfers now instead of good BCS jobs being filled by non-BCSers. I think that helps the Valley. In today's world, I don't think you see a team like the Illini go after a Weber. Look at Michigan. Lowery got the message that Michigan was not content to grab the next up and coming non-BCS coach, they wanted a BCS transfer coach and they got one. Even WV was not content with a non-BCS coach. It fell to Kansas State to go outside the BCS ranks, and what coach in the Valley is going to leave for Kansas State (even though they did have good players coming in thanks to Huggy-bear).

I think the only open doors to Valley coaches right now are low-level BCS jobs, but why leave for a low-level BCS job when you can stay in your comfortable position in the Valley?

For those reasons, I don't see Keno going anywhere. Why would he take a low-level BCS job now and then be stuck in a losing program when he can stay at Drake, turn them into an annual contender and still get the NCAA berths and national press? The good Valley jobs now really are better than the lower half BCS jobs. That's pretty cool to think about really.

[NoPlaceLikeDome]

After watching UNI these past two games I'd be worried about keeping BJ. He is a hellva coach. With Hartzell jumping ship on the university anything can happen with the new AD.

This...is...a joke, right?

[getreal4]

Somebody had to start the thread. Is he a lock at Drake if the Bullpups have a fantastic season?


He is this year, first year, handed a winning program, etc. And the money is available to get him a nice bump after this season. Next year might be tougher, but thats a long way down the road.
Great problem to have! :clap:


:bulldogs::bulldogs::bulldogs:

[doublem23]

I think before any BCS school takes a real hard look at him, Keno is going to have to show he can recruit and keep DU at it's current level.

None of these players are really his, so I would assume some schools will want to make sure he's not another Bruce Weber first.

[Ace Dad]

Told ya!

[Dawgbit]

Told ya!

Damn kids don't listen to their elders, do they Ace Dad?

[Little Eddie]

Told ya!

AceDad...who do you like in the 5th race at Santa Anita today? I could use a nice tip or two...

Good call on your part...

[Nyghtewynd]

Wow. A good coach took a different job. Amazing predictive powers. In other news, it's Wednesday outside.

[DawgieStyle]

Wow. A good coach took a different job. Amazing predictive powers. In other news, it's Wednesday outside.


I predict tomorrow will be Thursday.

[DUBulldog]

I predict tomorrow will be Thursday.

Wow, a DawgieStyle prediction that is likely to be correct....who woulda thunk it? :innocent:

[Khan4Cats]

Wow, a DawgieStyle prediction that is likely to be correct....who woulda thunk it? :innocent:

Nah the world is going to end this evening. Dawgie will be wrong again.:innocent:

[B4MSU]

If AceDad comes up with a winner in the 5th race today at Santa Anita, he clearly sees things the rest of us don't. Oh by the way, Santa Anita is dark on Tues. and Wed.

[UNI Prof]

AceDad, this isn't you. Bad day?I'm still trying to figure out this post.

[DUBulldog]

I'm still trying to figure out this post.

Don't try to figure out what McBulldog says.....if you can figure out most of what he's saying, you're either extremely drunk or clinically insane. :innocent: