LAWL:
By Gabe DeArmond:
The
Frank Haith era at Missouri ended Thursday in a startlingly similar fashion to which it began: With Tiger fans asking a baffling question. Three years ago, that question was "They hired WHO?" Today, it was, "He's going WHERE?"
Reports surfaced early Thursday afternoon that the University of Tulsa was targeting Haith, who had gone 76-28 in three seasons at Mizzou. Two hours later, he was on a plane out of Columbia to meet with Golden Hurricane officials. By the end of the day Friday, he will be the former coach at Mizzou and Danny Manning's successor in Tulsa.
Three years ago,
Mike Anderson bolted Columbia, headed for home at Arkansas. Missouri fans were mad, but most understood. Anderson had spent 17 years in Fayetteville and even through black-and-gold goggles, the program at Arkansas is at least the equal of Missouri's.
After a very public flirtation with--and dismissal by--Purdue's
Matt Painter, Missouri settled on Haith. He had coached seven seasons at Miami, winning 129 games and losing 101. He made the NCAA Tournament once. The hire was met with disbelief both inside and outside Missouri's fanbase. Many Tiger fans told me they had to use a search engine to find out who the new coach was.
In year one, Haith took the leftover pieces that had quit on Anderson a season before and led them to 30 wins. Though the season ended with a thud at the hands of Norfolk State in the NCAA Tournament, Haith was the national coach of the year. Suddenly the answer to the question, "They hired WHO?" became "Frank Bleepin' Haith. That's who!"
Haith won 23 games with a rebuilt roster in his second season, falling again in the NCAA Tournament opener. He won 23 more (though five don't go on his ledger thanks to an NCAA-mandated suspension) in year three, though his most recent team ended its season in the NIT against Southern Miss.
Though Missouri was in the running for a tournament bid until the final buzzer against Florida in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, the seats were never full and fans hesitated to buy into Haith's team this season.
Jordan Clarkson and
Jabari Brown headed off to the NBA. There was skepticism about Haith's ability to lead Mizzou back to where it had been in his first season. Apparently, that skepticism wasn't limited to the fans. In the wake of Thursday's events, it's obvious Haith shared it.
Frank Haith Leaving from
PowerMizzou on
Vimeo.
Really, there is no other conclusion to be drawn from a coach leaving Missouri for Tulsa. I truly don't mean this as the shot I'm sure it will come off as being. Sure, they're joining the American Conference. Sure, they've had a lot of very good coaches. But ask 100 people who didn't go to school at Tulsa which of the two jobs is better and all 100 of them will tell you the one in Columbia is.
And yet Frank Haith left. Why?
I have no indication that Haith was given a
Johnny Dawkins-like ultimatum: Make the tournament or you're gone after next year. Make no mistake, that doesn't mean the pressure wasn't there. Haith needed to have a solid team next year. He needed to have a team that improved. He needed to show his bosses and his fans that he was a coach capable of getting Missouri going again, of playing in--and winning in--March. Apparently, he didn't think he was.
What other conclusion is there to be drawn? At Tulsa, Haith knows this: Nobody's going to call for his job next season. Or the one after that. Or probably the one after that. He's got a minimum of three years of a seven-figure salary. That wasn't a sure thing if he stayed in Columbia.
Haith had (not sure if this is still true at this time) two top 100 players coming in. He had last year's freshman class with a year of experience. Next year was going to be a big year. Most coaches would tell you they welcomed the challenge. Haith, with his actions, told us all he'd rather make sure he was still getting a paycheck next April.
And with that, Missouri moves on to the next question: Who's next?