Steelheads coaching search

[not so fast]

It looks like the steelheads have decided to try and steal Daleo from Rockford. It certainly makes sense considering the job he has done in Rockford. Boy, do I remember all the critics of Daleo when he first got the job at Rockford, some even suggesting he would not last his first season.

Well three years, three playoff teams, coach of year, all star coach twice, and I could go on and on. He has operated on less of a budget than every other coach (including joerger), and has consistantly won!

With all due respect to Ticknor, he coached the CBA like it was the IBL, and so did osborne. Neither could make the adjustment to the CBA, which is a much better league than the USBL or the IBL.

Daleo is by far the hardest working coach in the CBA, and the one guy in this business thats a straight shooter. Most of these coaches try to B.S. people. Thats where they go wrong. Daleo just "keeps it real."

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Well, there IS supposed to be a rivalry between Gary and Rockford.

If Daleo can be successful on a budget, then he is obviously the man for the job in Gary. Otherwise, the entire affair is grandstanding on both sides. Does Daleo have only a handshake agreement (an understanding) with Rockford or not? Does Gary think it is more important to quibble over a coach or more important to market the team?

Rod Baker should be chosen as coach if all this energy is going to be spent going back and forth on Daleo. Next, the Steelheads brass might want to spend a little more time at Railcats games. They can observe how the interns place something in the hands of every fan on the way out of the gates. Something the Steelheads have never done.

[Tha Man*]

If I was Daleo I would stay put.. Frankly he has a good thing going in Rockford. They way things are going in Gary he would lead them over the .500 mark and then the Steelheads would fold....I think the Steelheads better start marketing and getting those season tickets done first and the coach can come down the road.

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

This, from the Gary Post-Tribune article Steelies Give Up on Daleo:

Daleo is under contract to Rockford for the 2005-06 season, and on Tuesday the Lightning submitted a figure of $75,000, said Steelheads chief operating officer Jewell Harris Jr., for Gary to buy out that remaining year on his contract.

“It’s pretty ridiculous,” Harris Jr. said. “We’re so far apart, it isn’t even really possible to negotiate.”

After an apparent glitch in communication between the two franchises — Harris Jr. did not receive two e-mail messages that Rockford general manager Michael Neville had attempted to send, with the first bouncing back to Neville — Harris Jr. and Neville spoke by telephone near the end of the business day.

Yeah, there was a glitch all right! If your team website goes down, then your site sponsored email addresses go down the tubes also. :roll:

I usually don't like to openly agree with someone (afterall, I AM from Gary and probably have ego issues as well :wink: ), but oldfatguy from another thread was right. There are too many front office types that do not want to do the grunt work. Apparently, making headlines with a coaching search is much sexier than actually growing your business.

I rank this entire affair with the ABA (fall league) sponsoring teams in summer leagues. Sexy, but not at all productive.

[not so fast]

I don't understand Stellhead management. they seem to always be a day late to get things done. They are successful business people, but running a CBA team is a totally different type of venture. Jewell does not seem up to the task. Maybe they have too many coals in the fire, and can't put the time with the steelheads that they really need to.

And maybe ticknor and osborne wasn't the real problem, maybe its this hands on approach, by two guys who don't really understand minorleague basketball, but want to try and micro-manage. Well, that would never work with Daleo anyway. He has proven he knows how to run a team sucessfully, and does not need ownership in his way.

They should be concentrating on sales and marketing, (like you have been saying ken), and they should leave the basketball operations to someone that knows how to run it.

[Tha Man*]

Not So Fast

Thank you that is what I have been saying all along.

[lightning fan]

The stars are aligned!
NOT SO FAST and KEN are in agreement and Daleo stays in Rockford where he belongs.

YES! All is good in lightning nation. What could be next......something lightning fans have been waiting for forever I hope........

[Chuck the Writer]

What could be next......something lightning fans have been waiting for forever I hope........

Gee, I wonder if its the same thing we Albany Patroons fans experienced twice in the 1980's... and will experience again once the season starts. :)

[Tha Man*]

Maybe we could see another SF vs. Rockford matchup.. I think that would be great!

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

From the July 6th Gary Post-Tribune article, Baker still mulling Steelheads' job offer:

Rod Baker still was considering the Steelheads’ offer to become their coach as of Tuesday.

The team had expected to hear his answer on Tuesday, after the holiday weekend, but Chief Operating Officer Jewell Harris Jr. said the team hadn’t “set a hard deadline.”

“He’s working on taking care of personal/family issues that he wants to take care of prior to taking the position. We’ve continued to talk,” said Harris Jr., who last spoke to Baker on Monday.

Since the Steelheads made it clear (with all their grandstanding) that Baker was not their first choice, then it's a safe bet that Rod Baker will milk this situation for all it's worth.

Guys (Steelheads owners)!! You have to go against your nature and become a little more humble. Remember, it was that lack of humility that got you into this whole fix in the first place.

[Tha Man*]

I would be surprised if Baker took the job.

[not so fast]

These guys (jewell harris and son) have made a mess of this situation, and the good people of Gary deserves better.

I can remember seeing sellout crowds at the Rockford/Gary games at the genesis a couple of years ago.

I know I was hard on Ticknor at times, but the steelheads won't even see the days he had there. In fact, they are going in the wrong direction.

Is barry stevens coming back?

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

from Rockford and Gary thread:

Hmmmmm. You guys must not be on the Steelheads' mailing list. :P

The new Steelheads coach has already been selected, no rumor--just fact. The formal announcement will be made next week during a luncheon. I just found out a few minutes ago. What I didn't find out is the name of the coach. Therefore, Russ Bergman may be the new head guy. I don't know. He was one of the candidates though.

Under the table money? Call me right off the boat, but why would you want to give a player money under the table in the CBA? There is no hard salary cap in the CBA. Only suggested guidelines.

City Council members being against the Steelheads? It's always been that way in Gary to my knowledge. Those same city council people are also against the baseball Gary Southshore Railcats (and the Railcats make a profit EVERY year). It's all about petty, personal agendas in this town. I've said that before on this board. We tend not to support one another in Gary because of those petty politics.

Season ticket sales and corporate sponsorships? I'll get a better feel for what's going on at the luncheon next week (if I don't burst into flames first--its been awfully hot lately). I know some people have their checkbooks open already. However, success or failure will come down to marketing.

[not so fast]

One reason you would give players money under the table is because you don't want the other players to know how much each player is really getting, so they don't ask for more.

I don't know anything about your small town politics of Gary indiana, (nor do I care), if they can go around and call themselves councilman in a town that looks like Gary looks, then they have balls of steel and no shame. But if this team does poorly and attendance and ticket sales are down, I am sure the few that are against it will have little trouble in convincing others to turn against it.

As far as marketing, well if the team loses and has a bad season, people simply won't support it. I've been there to several Gary games. Those fans are not going to come out to support that team if it continues to lose. Too bad they screwed up the Daleo hiring, at least then they would have been guarenteed to win. By the way, check out Russ Bergmans history, He always bankrupts teams, by overpaying some of these guys for the sake of wins. Thats where Daleo has them all beat. He wins by abiding by the rules of a realistic budget, dealing with players and agents straight, even if it means losing snap hunter to Gary last season, rockford still won!

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

You might want to check on your sources of information. Russ Bergman will NOT coach the Steelheads. See the article below:

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2005/07/27/sports/pro_sports/b8993369de3963ac8625704b000d8cf6.txt

Just like I said, the official announcement will be made later this week (Friday) at a luncheon. The 2005-2006 Steelheads schedule will also be announced at this luncheon.

[Tha Man*]

The only reason he is not going to be coach is beacause he recieved a better paying job overseas (Russ).

[not so fast]

My sources are just fine, and the facts are Rus made a last minute decision to reject the job because of the potential job in Russia.

The fact is, if Jackson is such a great choice, then why was he the fourth choice? Man what a bunch of crap. Jewel must think everyone is stupid. All you have to do is look back on his orignal list of potential coaches and Jackson was no where on it.

And why is bryan Gates leaving Idaho? Whats in it for him to be an assistant for a rookie CBA coach that he has more experience than? And, why not keep osborne on as an assistant, who just outcoached Bryan gates in the USBL?

Finally is Jackson going to move his family to Gary? This I have to see. I can't blame Ticknor for not moving to Gary, that really shouldn't be a job requirement.

One thing ken steelheads fan, you are one loyal fan to the organization, I hope they give you the best seats and anything else you want (autograph basketball, etc...)

Poor renaldo thomas, looked over again by jewel harris!!!!!

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Jaren Jackson and Bryan Gates were formally announced as head coach and lead assistant coach at a fairly well attended Genesis Center luncheon. A related article is below. A few photos of the event can be found on the fan site below this post:

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2005/07/30/sports/pro_sports/850f34c09b1667548625704d008207fc.txt

I would have preferred to see a few more season ticket holders and corporate sponsors in attendance. There were too many politicans at the luncheon, in my opinion. Too many politicans in one room always lowers my comfort level. :)

Oh well, if you want to remain in this business then you obviously have to remain tight with the local politicos.

[not so fast]

I can't quite understand jacksons answer to the judges question, based on the article. can someone tell me what the hell he is talking about ?

Also, how could Gates get the job over Thomas?

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Coach Jaren Jackson's entire response was not printed in the article. Jackson told Judge Randolph that he would give Randolph's son a look, but reminded the judge that basketball was a tough business. The newspaper reporter began the quote where Coach Jackson began elaborating on his personal experiences of being bounced around the NBA, cut, released, and bounced around the minor leagues.

He was saying to the judge (and to the crowd) that there was no guarantee the judge's son would stick with a team (in any league).

How could Bryan Gates get the job over Renaldo Thomas? Thomas burned his bridges with the Steelheads. If he wanted another coaching position with Gary, then he should have said nothing to the media that could have been interpreted as negative.

Edit: I forgot. Coach Thomas didn't just burn his bridges, he totally destroyed them with laser-guided accuracy. The Rockford Lightning free agent camp to take place in Gary (one block away from the Genesis Center), but held in East Chicago (on Gary's western border) last year sealed any chance of Thomas coaching for the Steelheads in the near future.

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Renaldo Thomas was recently named head coach of the (Gary) Lew Wallace High School boys basketball team. That should make a certain someone happy. :roll:

High school basketball is a better fit for Renaldo than minor league professional basketball could ever be. The only problem I foresee is the possibility of Lew Wallace High School closing after the new school year. Public schools in Gary are still in the process of consolidating.

[not so fast]

congrats to renaldo!

How come steelheads website has nothing on it about their new coaching staff? How come Ticknor wasn't offered job in front office? When will Gary run a free agent camp for those inspiring young men in the Gary area? Don't they deserve at least a look? Is jemeil Rich coming back to Gary?

Ken, when you talk to jewell, please get answers to these important questions.