Is success a must for Herd Basketball head coach Tom Herrion this season?

As basketball season falls upon us with the first (and only) fall exhibition match against Concord, it seems the fans have one question on their mind, “Is success a must for Herd Basketball head coach Tom Herrion this season?”

You’d think so….but no.   

Last season was hard for the Herd after the 13-19 end to the season. The Herd just could not seem to win on the road. In fact, its first true road win didn’t come until the Herd faced UCF in Orlando, a game which they won 82-70. By the end of the season, (bandwagon) fans were calling for Herrion’s head on a platter and a change in the basketball program.

Last year was less than appealing season was hard for the fans to grasp, as the year before  the Herd had the best season in years with a 21-14 overall record, a NIT invitation, and attendance in the Conference USA finals in Memphis after a 105-100 three-over-time win over Tulsa. The 2011-12 season is what helped save Herrion.

In 2010, Marshall hired coach Herrion under a five-year, $394,000 contract. The contract included weekly television and radio shows, appearances, a country club membership, a paid cell phone bill and other things as well. After his NIT berth season in 2011, he was given a one year contract extension so Marshall could see what else he could do with the program.

The extension details were not released. The dailymail.com cited Athletic Director Mike Hamrick as stating, "I do not discuss personnel issues other than Coach Holliday's contract was extended after the bowl game and Coach Herrion was extended after the first NIT after 24 years," Hamrick said. "I feel it's inappropriate to discuss employees' personnel issues."  I am not sure how this is a personal issue.

I could probably just submit a Freedom of Information Act request and get the information, but there are bigger fish to fry and bigger questions to ask.

He has 3 seasons left on his contract, so he is not going anywhere. Even if Marshall , dare I say it, have a repeat of last year, I highly doubt that the Herd could afford to pay a buy-out AND pay $400K for a new coach as well. That is not the direction the Herd seems to be going

 After last season, the Herd lost all but one of its starters, Elijah Pittman. But Tom Herrion just took that as a challenge and was able to bring nine, yes nine, new members to the team. While their first exhibition game is not until Monday, we did get to see the team in action against our neighbors up north over the summer.

08/16/13	Algoma University #	Windsor, Ontario	W, 99-54
08/17/13	University of Windsor #	Windsor, Ontario	W, 84-80
08/18/13	Western University #	London, Ontario	W, 81-68
08/19/13	McMaster University #	Hamilton, Ontario	W, 81-56
08/20/13	A Game Hoops #	Hamilton, Ontario	W, 83-71

If their 5-0 record, says anything about how the team will play this season, then I will take it. Even with a new and young team, we are looking good and better than last year. In fact, I am positive we will be able to do better at free throws this year.

Here’s to the start of a clean slate for the basketball program.