At first glance, it would seem that the numbers were against Louis Orr returning as Bowling Green's men's basketball coach next year.
The Falcons just finished a 13-19 season. They lost at home in a first-round Mid-American Conference tournament game -- for the second year in a row.
In his six years at BG, Orr's teams have compiled an 89-101 record.
And yes, there's one other number ... 1968, the last time the Falcons earned an NCAA Tournament bid. That's the longest drought for any Mid-American Conference member (excluding Buffalo, which has never earned an NCAA bid).
Yet the school confirmed Thursday that Orr will return as the team's coach again next season. Click here to read the story about it.
And I think there's at least one number that may go a long way to explain why Orr will return: 100.
If you remember, less than two months ago Bowling Green announced that it would be cutting 100 faculty positions next year.
Click here to read The Blade story about those cuts. Click here to read a Blade follow-up about a protest to those cuts.
Put yourself in the position of Bowling Green administrator who has announced those cuts ... and felt that backlash. Now imagine having to explain to those protestors that you have just ...
- Fired a coach will a year remaining on his contract.
- HIre a new coach and new set of assistants, essentially meaning the school is paying for two sets of coaches.
Where does this money come from? Unless the program is endowed with big-pocket donors willing to foot the ball, that's a hard question to answer.
And here's one other thing to consider about Orr: He does a LOT of things right with the BG program, namely. ...
- His teams and his players always play hard.
- His APR reports and grade-point averages are solid.
- His players don't show up on police reports and a good, respectable young men.
- Individually, coach Orr is well-respected and well-liked, both as a person and as a coach.
If the wins and losses were better numbers, we wouldn't be having any discussion about the job. But yes, the numbers under the "W" and "L" columns aren't satisfying to anyone in the program, which is why Orr's situation has become an issue.
Click here to read the story from Monday's loss to Miami, where both Orr and graduating senior A'uston Calhoun talked about Orr's job situation.
Agree? Disagree? Click on the "comments" button below this post and add YOUR thoughts. GUIDELINES: Please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. I reserve the right to delete comments that don't fit these guidelines.
I agree with all of this and, personally, don't think his performance has been poor enough to warrant letting him go before his contract expires. However, there are a lot of fans who really don't care that players work hard or that Orr is a nice guy or that BGSU is having financial difficulties. Anecdotal evidence leads me to believe that BGSU is risking a further erosion of attendance here, which can't be good for the program. We'll have to see if it actually happens...but it is clearly a risk.
And although I don't think he should be let go now, I also believe that a contract extension will not be warranted without significant improvement next year. Unfortunately, that would appear to be a very difficult thing to accomplish, given the players who will not be returning next season.
Posted by: StatManMatt | 03/14/2013 at 10:21 AM
The team has lost at home to 20+ loss teams in the first round of the MAC tournament two years in a row.
Attendance is pathetic...there's a complete lack of interest amongst the students and local community.
Coach Orr is a great guy...but his job title isn't great guy. He should not be back for the 2103/2014 season. I understand the optics of firing him with a year left..I understand that historically BGSU has not fired coaches with time left on their contracts (Gregg Brandon was an exception). When you consider the lost revenue from a further deterioration in attendance and the potential revenue increased attendance under a new coach might bring, using $$$ as an excuse seems shortsighted.
As it sits now...I have no interest in watching another year of the "guards playing catch on the perimeter for 25 seconds before someone hurries up a j" basketball that coach Orr has brought us. I'll show interest in the program when the University does....
Posted by: Phil | 03/14/2013 at 10:47 AM
It sounds like Orr is going to be a lame-duck coach next year which will not help with recruiting. Who will commit to BG if we don't know who the coach is going to be? I don't see BG winning a lot of games next season to save Orr's job. The Falcons will be in for some lean times the next few years.
Posted by: Michael Henry | 03/15/2013 at 07:09 PM
Phil: I think using the argument that "revenue" will drop with another attendance drop is kind of silly.
Average attendance last season wasn't even 2,000 fans per game -- and that includes 4,200 for the Michigan State contest. Without the MSU game, the attendance was roughly 1,800 per game.
Let's say average attendance next year falls to 1,500 ... and let's say EVERY person lost bought the $14 chairbacks. That would be a revenue drop of $4,200 per game ... which, frankly, is inconsequential. And truth is, the drop may include students, who don't pay for tickets.
I'm not saying apathy shouldn't be a concern ... but decreasing revenue isn't significant enough to be a concern, either.
Posted by: John_Wagner | 03/18/2013 at 03:48 PM
You only addressed half the equation John....Orr has killed the interest in the program. As I said..the POTENTIAL revenue were missing out on could be significant. It's not the 300 or 500 per game you think we might lose, it's the 1500 or so per game of additional attendance and revenue this team should have.
Posted by: Phil | 03/18/2013 at 06:05 PM
OK, Phil ... I hear what you are saying -- but I disagree.
The 2012-13 average attendance was the second-LARGEST for BG since 2004-05. The largest, as you would probably guess, was last season -- the first year at the Stroh Center, where the average was 2,157.
That 2004-05 average was 2,451 ... and I would be willing to bet a large portion of that was student attendance (in other words, no extra income).
But I will play along ... let's say a new coach goosed attendance up that 2004-05 level (+500 fans per game) and EVERY ONE of those new fans paid $14 for their ticket.
500 new fans X $14 X 15 home games = $105,000 in new revenue, or still not enough money to pay off a coach's contract.
And remember, I don't think it would improve by that much, and not all of those new fans would be paying $14 for their seats.
Frankly, I think 1,500 in addition per-game attendance is not realistic at this point in time.
Posted by: John_Wagner | 03/18/2013 at 07:24 PM
Interest in the program has been destroyed. We are arguing about attendance that is less than many high schools draw. How pathetic is that? This sets the program back multiple years, not just 1 more.
No recruit is committing to a program where they know the coach isn't coming back. Another year of apathy and lost fans.
Students haven't seen a consistent winner in 10+ years. Orr's recruits have produced nothing but disappointment and first round MAC tournament losses.
Frustrating. So frustrating. And we get at least another year of this. This program isn't even close to the upper tier of the MAC. The worst part being the program should be riding momentum with the opening of the Stroh, instead it routinely plays in a 1/4 full arena and can't even get to Cleveland for the MAC tournament.
And people don't think he deserves to be fired...just utter apathy around this program.
Posted by: Andy | 03/18/2013 at 07:50 PM
His teams always play hard? That's laughable. If reason #1 to retain a coach is because they play hard, Dan Dakich would have a lifetime contract. Dakich coached teams played harder in layup drills than these teams do.
His players don't end of in the blotter? Again, another argument to deflect attention away from the putrid product on the court.
I'll find other ways to fill my basketball fix until this administration begins to care about this product again. Just so sad.
Posted by: Ryan | 03/18/2013 at 08:03 PM
John...it's debateable how much of an increase we could see with a change...I don't think it's debateable that we aren't going to see that increase under coach Orr in a lame duck season. At teh risk of ounding like Ricky Bobby...If you ain't going forward, you're going backwards.
Posted by: Phil | 03/18/2013 at 11:32 PM
This is Division I college basketball. As Phil said, making this decision based on his personality or whether some professors on campus are making a stink is unacceptable.
If we're not out to win, and if other factors are indeed more important, we should not be in the same league as schools who are heavily invested (Ohio, Akron) and willing to take the steps necessary (UB, Ball St.) to achieve success. This attitude of complacency is far more destrucitve in the long run than the actual decision to retain a failed coach.
Posted by: Mike | 03/19/2013 at 12:50 PM
Don't forget Christopher gave an extension to Orr when clearly nobody was after him. If money is so tight, why hand out extensions to coaches who clearly nobody is after? If a bigger school wants BG's coach, they will get that person.
Posted by: Ryan | 03/19/2013 at 05:28 PM