Coaching Carousel 2026

Ben Chwarmer · Thursday at 5:04 PM

Hire Schmidt if Skinn leaves.

Pablo · Thursday at 5:21 PM

Tarleton State names Eric Haut men’s basketball head coach - Tarleton State University Athletics

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – One of the top names in the NCAA coaching carousel is now a Tarleton State Texan. Eric Haut has been named the 16th men's basketball head coach

tarletonsports.com

Ben Chwarmer · Thursday at 6:50 PM

I love Skinn. He really has an eye for talent. He legitimately took a backup center from a lower conference and turned him into a 2nd-team All-Conference player. Just imagine what Skinn could do if he actually had money to spend.

But for whatever reason, Mason hasn’t fully bought into its flagship athletic program.

It’s going to be hard to continue paying Skinn while also finding the money for NIL.

Apparently Mason is near the bottom of the league in NIL funding. St. Bonaventure basically canned Schmidt because they couldn’t afford both him and a competitive NIL budget. I worry that’s what could end up happening at Mason.

mkaufman1 · Thursday at 6:53 PM

Mason is not the bottom of NiL funding. They are top 5 (roughly)

However, there is a gap between them and the next program in the top 5 and other programs.

We aren’t bottom rung in spending.

Ben Chwarmer · Thursday at 6:54 PM

mkaufman1 said:
Mason is not the bottom of NiL funding. They are top 5 (roughly)

However, there is a gap between them and the next program in the top 5 and other programs.

We aren’t bottom rung in spending.

NIL is around 2-2.5m. Dayton, vcu is around 6 million.

mkaufman1 · Thursday at 7:10 PM

Ben Chwarmer said:
NIL is around 2-2.5m. Dayton, vcu is around 6 million.

Correct, although vcu and Dayton spend possibly more.

But we are not in the bottom. There is just a gap between top spenders. We are somewhere in the 5th or 6th range to my knowledge.

2011WinOverVillanova · Thursday at 7:40 PM

mkaufman1 said:
Correct, although vcu and Dayton spend possibly more.

But we are not in the bottom. There is just a gap between top spenders. We are somewhere in the 5th or 6th range to my knowledge.

And it is more than fair to question our leadership on whether they are aggressively lobbying the Board of Visitors for more money.

Pablo · Thursday at 8:03 PM

Duft out as Head Basketball Coach at Weber State; Moves to administrative role within the program - HoopDirt

Weber State Athletics announced today that Eric Duft will transition from his role as head men’s basketball coach into an executive position within the department. Duft will serve as the President of Basketball Operations and Development for the men’s basketball program. In this role, Duft will...

hoopdirt.com

Pablo · Thursday at 9:13 PM

Tobin Anderson to Tennessee Tech - HoopDirt

Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing) I can confirm reports that Tobin Anderson will be named will be named as the next head basketball coach at Tennessee Tech. I mentioned Anderson’s involvement here earlier today in the DAILY DIRT. Anderson spent this season as the Special Assistant to the Head...

hoopdirt.com

Jack Strop · Thursday at 9:24 PM

mkaufman1 said:
Correct, although vcu and Dayton spend possibly more.

But we are not in the bottom. There is just a gap between top spenders. We are somewhere in the 5th or 6th range to my knowledge.

Dayton and vcu have one thing in common, they are the biggest game in their towns. Dayton's and vcu's little brothers are Wright State and Richmond. Other than that, what else is there in their bergs? Dayton and vcu are the only places for potential sponsors to put their money. And because they consistently pack in their venues and draw buzz they make for a good investment. It's a bit different here... by far.

2011WinOverVillanova · Thursday at 9:43 PM

mkaufman1 said:
Correct, although vcu and Dayton spend possibly more.

But we are not in the bottom. There is just a gap between top spenders. We are somewhere in the 5th or 6th range to my knowledge.

Are you content with being 5th or 6th? Are you content with being average or mediocre? It’s high time we start aggressively lobbying the Board of Visitors to give Athletics more money.

mkaufman1 · Thursday at 9:44 PM

Jack Strop said:
Dayton and vcu have one thing in common, they are the biggest game in their towns. Dayton's and vcu's little brothers are Wright State and Richmond. Other than that, what else is there in their bergs? Dayton and vcu are the only places for potential sponsors to put their money. And because they consistently pack in their venues and draw buzz they make for a good investment. It's a bit different here... by far.

I completely agree. One of the many issues on trying to compete.

GSII · Thursday at 9:46 PM

Raise activity fees by 100 bucks. With 30k students thats $3 million right there for rev share.

Ben Chwarmer · Thursday at 9:48 PM

Jack Strop said:
Dayton and vcu have one thing in common, they are the biggest game in their towns. Dayton's and vcu's little brothers are Wright State and Richmond. Other than that, what else is there in their bergs? Dayton and vcu are the only places for potential sponsors to put their money. And because they consistently pack in their venues and draw buzz they make for a good investment. It's a bit different here... by far.

I get your point, and I think it’s directionally correct. But Dayton is only about an hour from the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds. They also have a really popular minor league baseball team right in town. So in terms of proximity to pro sports, it’s not that different from Fairfax being about 30–40 minutes from the Commanders.

Dayton is also very much a military town, with a large portion of the population connected to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. That means it’s a fairly transient community, yet the city still embraces the university and its basketball program.

Mason hasn’t really figured out how to get Fairfax to embrace it in the same way. In my opinion, part of the issue is that Mason is run more like a company than a community.

Ben Chwarmer · Thursday at 9:50 PM

GSII said:
Raise activity fees by 100 bucks. With 30k students thats $3 million right there for rev share.

Raise it by 500! Not exaggerating! No one is going to notice any extra 250 per semester! That’s an extra $15 million!

DRK331 · Thursday at 9:56 PM

I think I found out where Mason fans can donate to Mason Athletics:

https://securemason.gmu.edu/s/1564/GID2/16/19-giving.aspx?sid=1564&gid=2&pgid=651&cid=1709&bledit=1&sort=1&dids=877.905.827.847.29.35.42.39.166.40.41.38.30.26.71&appealcode=26AT10

GMU79 · Thursday at 10:08 PM

The whole NOVA's team thing is small parochial minded, imo. Who the heck, besides NOVAites, even knows what that means or cares!?
If Mason brass doesn't start thinking big we'll never have a team/program that the largest university in the state should have.

Jack Strop · Thursday at 10:41 PM

Ben Chwarmer said:
I get your point, and I think it’s directionally correct. But Dayton is only about an hour from the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds. They also have a really popular minor league baseball team right in town. So in terms of proximity to pro sports, it’s not that different from Fairfax being about 30–40 minutes from the Commanders.

Dayton is also very much a military town, with a large portion of the population connected to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. That means it’s a fairly transient community, yet the city still embraces the university and its basketball program.

Mason hasn’t really figured out how to get Fairfax to embrace it in the same way. In my opinion, part of the issue is that Mason is run more like a company than a community.

Apples to oranges. Or, winter to summer. The Reds and Dragons don't play ball when the grass is brown and the seats are frozen. The Bengals' season is practically wrapped up by the time A10 conference play begins. Many of the Dayton homegrown might be Guardians and Browns fans (... it's possible to like the Browns, just like @mkaufman1 likes the Jets

). ... but I digress. Also, the few pro sports that are nearby, I am sure cost A LOT more $$$ to attend than a Dayton Flyers game. The Flyers of the The University of Dayton is the ONLY game in town.

So what that Dayton is an Air Force berg??? The goal of sponsorships is to create visibility for a company's products or services to assist in generating sales. When the Flyers do well, win, and generate buzz then sponsors piggy-back upon the buzz. And, last time I checked, Air Force folk have eyes and ears and spend money where they live. That's marketing 101.

In Fairfax, it's way more difficult to cut through the clutter. Far too much higher-quality competition. The Mason community is far smaller and drowned out by the static and noise of a big, international city. There's no comparison to Dayton or Richmond.

Ben Chwarmer · Friday at 3:24 AM

Jack Strop said:
Apples to oranges. Or, winter to summer. The Reds and Dragons don't play ball when the grass is brown and the seats are frozen. The Bengals' season is practically wrapped up by the time A10 conference play begins. Many of the Dayton homegrown might be Guardians and Browns fans (... it's possible to like the Browns, just like @mkaufman1 likes the Jets ). ... but I digress. Also, the few pro sports that are nearby, I am sure cost A LOT more $$$ to attend than a Dayton Flyers game. The Flyers of the The University of Dayton is the ONLY game in town.

So what that Dayton is an Air Force berg??? The goal of sponsorships is to create visibility for a company's products or services to assist in generating sales. When the Flyers do well, win, and generate buzz then sponsors piggy-back upon the buzz. And, last time I checked, Air Force folk have eyes and ears and spend money where they live. That's marketing 101.

In Fairfax, it's way more difficult to cut through the clutter. Far too much higher-quality competition. The Mason community is far smaller and drowned out by the static and noise of a big, international city. There's no comparison to Dayton or Richmond.

I see your point, and some of that is definitely fair. My point about the military is that it’s a transient community, with a large percentage of the population coming and going every four years, and they still have a huge fan base. People don’t necessarily grow up as Dayton fans, but many become fans once they move there.

Dayton is what I want Mason to strive to be. Despite some challenges, they’ve overcome them and become a real fixture of the community.

FlPatriot · Friday at 7:39 AM

GMU79 said:
The whole NOVA's team thing is small parochial minded, imo. Who the heck, besides NOVAites, even knows what that means or cares!?
If Mason brass doesn't start thinking big we'll never have a team/program that the largest university in the state should have.

I’ve been on these boards a long time and this is a common refrain. The AD just never seems to get any traction when it comes to community outreach and investment. It was true prior to all of the money flying around college sports and the deficit is even more noticeable now.

Side door indeed.

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