Mike Hughes Dynasty

Mike Hughes Dynasty

Postby CoachAndy » Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:27 pm

Alright, my last dynasty was rough, after a few years I managed to lose the save and I decided to take some time to read more of other dynastys and learn the game. I'm back to try again, this time as Mike Hughes, the recently named head coach at The University of the Pacific.
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The Hiring

Postby CoachAndy » Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:11 pm

Tuesday, April 15, 2014 Fayetteville, Arkansas
I was sitting in my spacious office in Bud Walton Arena one Tuesday just after the end of the season when my phone rang. I had been locked into the recruiting trail for the past couple of weeks and was hopeful that the caller was 5 star PG John Russell, a kid I was working night and day to get to come to Arkansas. "Coach Mike Hughes, what can I do for ya?" I asked, assuming it was one of the half a dozen recruits I was expecting a call from that day. "Hi Coach, this is Wes Parker, I'm the AD at The University of the Pacific, how are you?" Odd, I thought, most second assistants don't get phone calls from ADs at schools halfway around the country. "I'm doing well Mr. Parker, thank you. What can I do for you?" "Well Coach, we have an opening for a head coach here at Pacific and we'd like to interview you for the job. We think that your connections to California as well as your experience at a power conference school are exactly what we need to take our program to the next level." I was stunned. "Of course I'd be interested in an interview, what did you have in mind?" "We'd like to fly you out here on Thursday and conduct the interview Friday. We'll pay expenses for you to enjoy the weekend in the city and you can fly back Sunday if that works with you?" "Let me go talk to the rest of the staff and I'll give you a call back Mr. Parker, thank you."

I practically sprinted down the hall to head coach Joe Soloman's office. Joe and I go way back, we played together at Cal Poly and I later served as an assistant and associate head coach with him at CP before we moved to Arkansas together. Total we had worked together 14 years, 11 as coaches. We were close on and off the court, and I knew he'd be happy for me. "Hey Joe you got a minute?" I poked my head into his beautiful mahogany office. "Yeah, always. What's up Mike?" "Joe, I just got a call from the AD at Pacific. He wants to fly me out for an interview on Thursday." Joe stared at me for about 10 seconds silently before jumping up and hugging me. "Congratulations! I'm not going to stop you, I'll take care of the recruiting while you're gone, enjoy this." I was ecstatic and immediately called Mr. Parker back and confirmed my travel arrangements.

Thursday, April 17 Stockton, California
My plane landed just after 4:00 pm at Stockton Metropolitan Airport. The flight had been pretty comfortable, even for a small private plane. We taxied into a private hangar used by Pacific Athletics and I stepped out into the California sun I had missed in Arkansas. A sleek black Mercedes S Series was parked by the hangar door and a man in his early 40's was standing next to it wearing a Pacific polo shirt. "Hey Mike, I'm Wes Parker. How was your flight?" he shook my hand and helped me put my luggage in the trunk. "It was really good, thanks. I'm glad to be here." He nodded and we thanked the pilots before getting into his car. "What kind of food do you like?" he asked as we drove out the airport's back entrance. "I'm not too picky, I usually frequent sports bars honestly." He looked at me like he was offended by this and then burst out laughing. "Of course you do, my favorite place is Benny's downtown. You have time for dinner?" I nodded and we headed into the afternoon traffic.

Dinner went great, Wes and I really connected over a Giants game while we ate wings and burgers. It turned out we were both from suburban San Francisco. He had attended college at San Jose State and worked there for 10 years as a compliance director after graduation. He left California briefly to serve as an Assistant AD at Southern Utah for 3 years before returning to take the AD job at D2 UC San Diego. After 8 years at UCSD, he had accepted the job at Pacific and was concluding his third year. The interview was at 10 am with Wes and his two assistant ADs as well as the University President, Dan Miller and a faculty representative. The 5 of them were the hiring committee so I knew I'd need to put on a good show. I barely slept that night and finally got up at 7 am to get ready for the biggest day of my life.

I drove across town in my rental car to the campus, and arrived just after 8:30. With nothing to do for over an hour I decided to walk around. The students were out and about so I spoke to a few and was pleased with their school pride. Orange and black sweatshirts and tees were everywhere. I asked one student if the basketball team got much support and he told me that the student section was full every game. That made me optimistic. Finally, at about 9:45, I entered the Spanos Center, home to the basketball arena and most athletic offices. A secretary directed me to the primary conference room and, after taking a deep breath, I opened the door.

The interview was a blur, Wes directed it but I took questions for all 5 of the team. I was asked about my stance on academics and community involvement as well as my preferred system. After a few minutes of these trivial questions, Wes pointedly asked me to describe my vision for the program. "My priority is to make these young men ambassadors of the university. I want us to win but I want us to do the right things on and off the court. Discipline and academics are as important to me as winning is. As far as on the court, I am a disciplined coach and I plan to use a lot of zones and traps on defense and to run well executed offensive sets. We probably won't be scoring 80 points a game and it might not be the prettiest but it's a system that I believe in and one that teaches the maximum amount of patience and discipline." We bounced around a few more questions and then he took me on a tour of the facilities. Compared to Arkansas they weren't spectacular but I thought there was a lot of potential for a mid major program. The arena was dated but in good shape and the locker rooms were almost brand new. I met a few of the players in the locker room and we talked for a few minutes. On my way out, Wes told me to enjoy my weekend and that he would let me know when the decision was made, hopefully no later than Monday.

Later that day I was sitting in my hotel room. I had just gotten off the phone with an Arkansas recruit who was very close to committing when the phone rang. "Mike Hughes, how can I help you?" "Hey Mike this is Wes over at Pacific. We've reached a decision and we want you to be our next coach." I was silent. I had left the Spanos center just after 12:30 and it was only 7:00. "Wow. I don't know what to say, I accept." "Awesome. Any chance you can come in and talk contract tomorrow before you head back?" "Absolutely. I'll be there."

And that was how I landed my first head coaching job in just a few short days. The pay was 127,000 a year with a 1,000 a month auto stipend and a 10,000 bonus for winning the conference regular or postseason title. In addition, a post season win in the CBI or NIT tournament was worth 5,000 while an NCAA win was worth 10,000. A pretty good raise coming from a 70,000 second assistant job.
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Re: Mike Hughes Dynasty

Postby PointGuard » Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:07 pm

Hey CoachAndy...welcome "back" to DDSCB. Good start on your dynasty. Looking forward to how things go for Mike Hughes and the Tigers. Enjoy the heat of summer in Stockton. :D
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Building Blocks

Postby CoachAndy » Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:42 am

Sunday, May 1, 2014 Stockton, California
After signing my contract, I returned to Arkansas to pack up. Everyone was sad to see me go but they were all happy for me. I listed my modest 2 bed, 2 bath home for sale and headed west. My first job was to hire my staff. I had already decided that I would have three assistants and no associate head coach for at least the first two seasons. My first phone call in my new office was to Jimmy Marshall who had spent two years as an assistant with me at Cal Poly. Before Cal Poly he had coached at D2 Chico State and he had most recently spent 7 years at rival San Francisco as the third assistant. "Hey Jimmy it's Mike how are you?" "Mike! Haven't heard from you in a while. Heard about Pacific, congrats man." "Thanks Jimmy, listen, I know our programs are rivals but I have an opening on my staff as a second assistant. Are you interested?" There was a moment of silence and I feared he would say no. "I've been here 7 years. I'm in line to be associate head coach someday. I don't think I can give that up." "Alright well I'm offering you 47,000 a year if you want it. I know it's not a lot but there are good bonuses here. And you'll be first in line to run the camp and make some extra cash there." Another pause. "I'll call you back tomorrow."

I spent the next few hours pondering choices. I had agreed not to approach any of the Arkansas coach out of respect. I made a few phone calls to regional coaches and one name that kept coming up was Brad Woodard. Brad had played at Stanford and 6 years professionally. He had been in coaching 23 years, including a 4 year stint as the head coach at Northern Arizona. In his first job (7 years at Stanford) he earned a reputation as a recruiting master, bringing in 5 top 25 classes and 1 top 10 class. He left Stanford for the top assistant job at Illinois State where he recruited the first top 50 class in school history in his 10 years there. This was followed by his stint at NAU which saw him post 2 20 win seasons and make a pair of NCAA tournament appearances. He left NAU for an assistant position back at Stanford but the entire staff had been axed and this would be a great chance for me to land an elite coach. "Hey Brad this is Mike Hughes, I'm the new head coach at Pacific." "Hey Mike, I've heard about you, congrats on the job." "Thanks, I've been talking to some people and I'd like to ask if you'd have interest in being my top assistant and recruiting coordinator." There was a long pause. "Wow. That was abrupt. Don't even want to meet me?" "I don't think I need to. Your track record and references speak for themselves. You're a high level coach and I want you on my staff. I can offer you 50,000 a year plus performance incentives. What do you say?" "I'm in."

The last assistant spot was going to be my scout, something I took serious. I called an ex player, Eddie McIntosh who was at UC Irvine but he declined my offer, saying he was happy there. I had a pretty thin network and nothing really panned out so I began looking outside again. That's where I found Desmon Buchanan. Des was the head coach at Sacramento City College and had just finished his 15th season there. In those years he had amassed 15 20 win seasons, 6 30 win seasons, 9 conference titles and 4 national titles. He was considered the best JuCo coach in the country but wanted a shot at D1. It took almost nothing for me to convince him to leave his 20,000 a year job for a 16,000+ job at a higher level. Now I just had to wait to hear back from Jimmy.

Monday, May 2, 2014 Stockton, California
I arrived at my office at 7 am on my first official day of work. Desmond and Brad would be in at 9 to meet with Wes and I to finalize contracts. Before they came in, I reviewed my team. 3 seniors, 5 juniors, 5 sophomores and 2 freshmen. Senior forward Craig Campbell was our top returner, averaging 10 ppg as a sophomore and just under 12 as a junior. He was joined in the frontcourt by senior Chris Jones, a double double machine who was all conference second team the year before. Two dominant bigs would be good for our slow down, slug-it-out style of play. I began to establish what would be my first recruiting class, deciding to focus on post players.

Desmon arrived first, he was a bigger black guy who was cracking jokes before he sat down. I immediately took a liking to him and knew the guys would too. We met in my office with Wes and finalized his contract before taking him to his office, one that he shared with our Director of Basketball Operations, Dave Wilson. I told him to spend the day getting to know the facility and campus and that we had a staff-team meeting scheduled for 2. Brad arrived just after and we quickly worked through the same process. As top assistant he would get the spacious office adjacent to mine. Both of ours were behind the secretary's office and waiting area while the other coaches were on the sides of the waiting area with less privacy. With time to kill until the meeting I called up a scouting service and got a regional report which I was skimming when the phone rang. It was Jimmy and he had good news. "Hey Mike, I've decided to take you up on that offer. I can come in today if you want." I agreed and called Wes to get the contract ready. Jimmy arrived about 3 hours later and we had time to sign it and rush downstairs to the meeting.

Our guys were sitting in the team lounge when we arrived, all 15 of them. I had met all but a couple and so we went around introducing ourselves. Every guy was from California which I was determined to change. After we'd introduced ourselves I stood up to speak. "Alright guys, here's the deal. This team is like a family. You don't get to choose the guy sitting next to you. That doesn't mean you don't have to fight for him and take care of him. You're all brothers and you need to look out for each other on and off the court. I'm here for you guys. You guys worked hard to get here, I'm here to help you succeed both on and off the court. My office is always open for anything. Seriously, I'm not just a basketball coach, I'm a mentor and a parent. As far as basketball goes, we will work hard and play hard. We will control the controllables. Everyone starts on a clean slate and will earn their playing time. I want guys who want to win not only for themselves but for the guy sitting next to them. We will win games and we will win them together. Got it?" Everyone nodded. "All right, I'll see the guards tomorrow for some workouts. Posts are on Wednesday."
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The Buildup

Postby CoachAndy » Wed Feb 10, 2016 1:24 am

The summer flew by, I was amazed how much stuff was involved in establishing a program. I took a lot from individual workouts, we have a few great posts and a couple of good shooters. I think this squad will really fit my style. I bought a new house, a 3 bed 2 bath just 2 miles from the school and started running to and from work to stay in shape. My assistants all settled in well with their families and I couldn't help but wish I had gotten married. I started frequenting the sports bars but didn't have much luck with single women in their late 30s. Wes and I quickly became close, going to Giants games and just out and about around Stockton. He seemed optimistic that we could really win some games, even when I asked him to get us as many road games as possible in our non-conference schedule.

Recruiting was going well, I spent a ton of time watching film with Brad and making phone calls. On the weekends I traveled the state to visit recruits and watch tournaments. Jimmy was our practice coach and spent most of his time working on plays and drills. Our scout Desmon watched films of conference rivals and also helped judge recruits on tape. He and Jimmy also worked hard to coordinate our summer camp and fundraisers. All in all I was pleased with our staff.

Sunday, July 31, 2014 El Dorado Hills, California

"Man this kid is good" I looked over at Brad who nodded in agreement. It was easily 100 degrees in that gym and we were watching our 5th game of the day in an AAU tournament. We were watching Patrick Green, a rising senior who could light up the scoreboard. "What do you think?" "He's got the frame. 6'3" can play 1-4. Really athletic and has a smooth jump shot." I nodded and wrote down "versatile" in my notebook. I watched him pour in 13 in the first half and 10 in the second to go with 6 assists. He had scored 25 and 19 in his games the day before and it was obvious he was an adept scorer. After the game we stopped to talk to his coach. "How's Pat in practice. Is he a leader?" the coach looked surprised. "I'll be honest with you. I've done this for 12 years and coached at least 30 D1 players. He's as good as they get when it comes to coaching from the floor. He just sees things that the others don't." On the car ride back Brad and I agreed that we really wanted him.

Sunday, August 7, 2014 Mission Viejo, California
Juan Coffey had just exploded for 35 points in a summer game with his high school team. He was 6'8" but could play anywhere out to about 15 feet. He had shut down his man, a 6'10" commit to Nevada, holding him to 6 points and 3 rebounds while grabbing 8 boards himself. Brad and I had been equally impressed with his knowledge on the court. He was always seeing plays that others didn't. It was evident he was another high IQ player and one we really wanted.

Sunday, August 14, 2014 Encinitas, California
Another day, another gym from hell. This time it was Bart Odle, a 6'9" post who was dominant on defense. He hadn't lit it up but he had 15 points, 11 rebounds and added 5 blocks and 3 steals while holding his man to just 2/9 shooting for 4 points and committing just 2 fouls. "I see him being a good role player. A 7-8 man to really anchor our 2-3 and 1-3-1." Brad said. "I agree. He'll probably never be a star but he'll be a good leader and a good teammate. I think we should go for him."

Monday, September 12, 2014 Stockton, California
I arrived early to the office. We had 4 players coming in to spend 3 days on official visits with our team and I had a pair of lengthy compliance meetings to get through. I downed my coffee and took the elevator up to the fourth floor, home of the compliance and eligibility offices. 433. Here goes nothing I thought as I pushed open the door. "Hi, I'm Amanda Pratt. I'm the assistant director for compliance. You must be Mike?" I nodded, too stunned by the beautiful blonde woman standing in front of me to respond. "Well, let's get started. We have a lot of compliance regulations to go over before your recruits arrive." I sat down and began skimming through papers I had red 1,000 times before. It wasn't too long before I had zoned out entirely, lost in her deep blue eyes. Before I knew it the meeting was over and I was back in my office, passing on the info to my assistants. The rest of the day was a blur, the recruits arrived and were shown around and assigned to their player hosts. I left the office just after 5 and as I was walking to my car I spotted Amanda leaving the building. "Hey, how were the recruits?" she asked with a smile. "Good, I think they'd all be great fits for our program." "That's good to hear. If you ever need any help with compliance issues take my cell number. Feel free to call anytime." she scrawled her number on a slip of paper and handed it to me before getting into her car. As I climbed into my SUV I couldn't help but smile. This was going to be a fun season.
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The Start

Postby CoachAndy » Wed Feb 10, 2016 2:22 am

Everything was going great for us early on. We managed to land our top 3 recruiting targets with ease and I was proud of my staff and our effort. Our guys were really buying into the system and running our plays well. Out non-conference schedule included some easy wins and road games at Texas and Arizona State. I thought it would be great prep for the WCC slate and that if we could win 5-6 out of our 9 non-conference games we'd be in great shape. When the conference poll came out we were picked second behind perennial powerhouse Gonzaga and I was surprised. I called a staff meeting when it came out. "Wow. Big expectations early on. What do we tell the guys?" Jimmy: "Tell them the truth. That ranking is proof that if they play hard and buy into the system they're as good as anybody in the conference. But they have a big target now and slacking won't cut it." The others agreed and we turned to the discussion of team goals. "I think 15 wins is attainable." Brad: "We should be able to get 20 but baby steps is probably a good idea." Jimmy: "I think a successful season is top half of the conference, postseason play and 15+ wins." We all nodded and agreed that those were our overall team goals.

Monday, November 14, 2014 Stockton, California
To say I was nervous would be an understatement. We had prepared hard for our opener against Sacramento State. We knew they could shoot the ball well and we'd have to do well to close out their shooters if we wanted to win. I couldn't shake a bad feeling though and it was evident from the start that it was going to be a long night. They scored the first 8 points of the game and led 35-23 at halftime. They were drilling shots and killing us on the glass. They had hit 5/9 threes and were looking untouchable. The second half was better, we outscored them 31-30 but it just wasn't enough. Thomas Harris stuck 4 threes and had 23 points to lead them to a 65-54 victory. They shot 50% from three and I knew we had our work cut out for us on defense.

Thursday, November 17, 2014 San Jose, California
The Spartans were going to be disciplined and good. I expected a slow game with defense dictating the tempo. They were undersized and I emphasized pushing inside. "If we win the boards and get 20 points in the paint we should win this game." I told them in the locker room. "Knock down some shots early and we'll be able to open up the inside and pound them." We had no luck with that tactic, shooting a dismal 7/26 from deep. They outscored us 18-14 in the paint and we committed 16 turnovers for the second game in a row in a 54-44 loss. I didn't sleep that night.

Monday, November 21, 2014 Stockton California
We had had some good practices and I thought we were ready to go. Seattle was 2-2 but had played a weak schedule and looked less than convincing in any of their games. Their defense was solid, allowing just 58 points per game and I knew we'd have to work for every bucket but I never expected what would happen. They raced out to a 30-24 lead at halftime on the back of 12 bench points. We were fine. Until the second half. We turned the ball over 11 times in that half and scored just 11. That's right 11 points. It was ugly. It was disgusting. We lost 51-35. 3 of our starters didn't even score and no one hit double digits. We needed help.

Tuesday November 22, 2014 Stockton, California
We met in my office at 8 am and began bouncing around ideas. Jimmy:"The Princeton offense isn't working" Brad: "We just don't have guys who can score, plain and simple." "Guys, I really believe in the system. We're really close, something just isn't quite clicking." Desmon: "Maybe we need to shake up the starting lineup. Matt's been playing good." I agreed to start Matt Tubbs at PF for the next game, at NAU and we agreed to work the Princeton offense for a few more games.

Thursday, November 24, 2014 Flagstaff, Arizona
"I've got a good feeling" I said to Desmon. "If we execute we've got this." We started off hot, staking out a 10-2 lead early. They stormed back to take a 32-24 halftime lead and I could tell when I walked into the locker room that our guys had quit. "Guys, it's 8 points. That's nothing, we're in this. Just hit some shots and keep doing your thing on D." We did just that but it wasn't enough. Our guards Al Kirklin and Peter Polite combined for 32 points on 7/10 shooting but the rest of our team disappointed and we lost 63-59. After the game I was optimistic "Guys we were right there. We battled, we hit shots. We keep doing that and we can win some games."

We met again and I decided to give our offensive system one more game before we evaluated it. "Guys, it will work. It just needs more time." Brad: "Mike, we're 0-4. We turn the ball over 16 times a game and shoot 32%. We can't do this forever."

Monday, November 28, 2014 San Luis Obispo, California
It was good to be back at Cal Poly. I saw some old friends the night before our game. This was my first time walking in from the guest locker room and it didn't feel right. The Mustangs were 1-3 but boasted a stellar offense and I knew it could be a long night if we didn't make some shots. And a long night it was. We lost 65-50 and I wanted to kill someone. We committed 18 turnovers against soft pressure. They scored 26 in the paint and shot 53%. It was just ugly, they got whatever they wanted. They had 49 field goal attempts, we had 30. You just can't win with that.

I decided to change things up and go for a high post offense. We needed something to get us going against Texas, I knew our trip to Austin would be a long one.

We scored 27 points against Texas. School record low. I was pissed. I almost quit. "These guys suck" I said to Brad. "We can't even make a layup." We were averaging 44.8 points per game, dead last in the country. The games began to blend together. Nothing we tried worked. We just couldn't score the damn ball. We won our next game, at home against lowly Southern Utah, by the whopping score of 40-31. The arena was practically empty. Even when we won we sucked. A 47-36 loss at Arizona State followed up. We closed the non-conference with a much needed road win at UTSA, 52-41. The game was 11-8 at halftime and we left the court to boos. So we decided to blitz them in the second half and it worked. We scored a season high 44 points in that half and held on to win despite 21 turnovers.

I met with Wes at the end of non-conference play. We were 2-7 and struggling. I figured he'd have me on the hot seat, instead he smiled at me. "Mike, last year's team won 8 games. It's a rebuilding process. I know the hopes were high but you're where you need to be." I was stunned. "The only suggestion I have is that you speed things up a bit. Maybe increasing the team's offensive output. Other than that it's coming together. You're building a solid program, you really are." Reinforced by my AD and coming off a big win, I was ready for the conference slate.
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Re: Mike Hughes Dynasty

Postby CoachAndy » Fri Feb 12, 2016 5:29 pm

We held a staff meeting prior to our conference opener. Desmon: "We need to do something, man. We gotta be the worst offensive team in the game." Brad: "I don't know if there's really a magical fix. Our guys just aren't that good." I nodded. "And we're losing our three top guys to graduation. It's gonna be a long few years." Brad: "At this point we might as well keep doing what the guys are doing. If we speed it up they're just gonna turn it over more."

Decmber 26, 2014 Malibu, California
The short plane ride from Stockton to Malibu had gone smoothly and we looked good in our shootaround so I was optimistic. Pepperdine was 1-8, we were 2-7 and I thought we had a really good chance to win. The Waves didn't shoot well but they played a high tempo that I worried would really disrupt us. They jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and never looked back, leading 28-20 at halftime. They had 15 steals and we committed 20 total turnovers. We also sent them to the line for 20 FTs and they made 14. That was one of the biggest differences in a game that ended 60-49. After the game I took a long look at my guys "We've got Loyola at home next. They're good, they can really score the ball. Let's forget this one and start our turnaround with them. They're coming to our gym, let's kick their ass and send a message."

December 29, 2014 Stockton, California
The boosters meeting prior to the game was a stressful one. Wes and I met with a few local businessmen including the arena's namesake, Alex Spanos. They were all friendly enough but there was a serious undertone for the meeting. "Look, it's my first year. I'm trying to rebuild a pretty broken program and that's not an easy task. If I lose your support it becomes an impossible one." Wes: "This guy is a good coach. Give it a year or two, I promise that you won't be disappointed." By the end of the meeting I felt good about my support from Wes and the boosters. We played Loyola that night in front of a decent crowd that included some very important fans. They were an up tempo team that looked to pound it inside and hardly played defense. I was cautiously hopeful that our zone could slow them down enough for us to steal a win. We got off to a great start, running out an 8-2 lead thanks to 6 quick points from Derricus Davis on a pair of threes. They called time and my guys were pumped. "Ok it's still early. This is a good start but we have to keep up this intensity." Chris Jones got into quick foul trouble, picking up his second with 13 minutes to play and I brought in sixth man Matt Tubbs. It was an instant success as he scored 8 first half points and we were rolling. We were up 29-17 at the half and their bigs had made just 2 field goals, giving them 4 post points. The second half was much more intense, they abandoned the post approach and began launching shots. Star guard Courtney Smith had gone 1-2 from deep in the first half and he drilled 6-7 in the second half. He finished with 29 points as they outscored us 33-31 but we hung on for a 60-50 win, our biggest of the season. Craig Campbell led us with 15 and 5 boards while Matt Tubbs had 11 and 7 and Derricus Davis added 11 and 3 assists.

January 2, 2015 Santa Clara, California
We had practiced well and I was hopeful that we could really turn our season around after the big win against Loyola. Craig was slowly embracing a leadership role and I thought he could step up to be a big player for us. Unfortunately, Santa Clara had other ideas. They couldn't miss, hitting 14 of 21 threes and shooting 48% from the floor. Craig was held to 6 points on 2-10 shooting and they beat us 63-49. Little did I know, this loss would send us on a massive downward spiral.

The Santa Clara loss started a 7 game losing streak that was awful. We finished under 40 points twice and only scored 50 once. On the bright side, we held the WCC's feared offenses down, allowing 60 points once, to #23 Gonzaga. It was still stressful. We were 1-7 in conference play at the halfway mark and 3-14 overall. Our best player was Chris Jones, averaging 9 points and 5 boards a game. I had another meeting with Wes and this time it was a little less pleasant. "Listen, I know it's tough but you gotta do something. Nobody's happy about this."

January 30, 2015 Stockton, California
Pepperdine at home was a must win for us. The Waves had just 2 conference wins and we needed to beat them. That was easier said than done though as they led us for most of the game until we tied it about halfway through the second half. It was back and forth for a while before they pulled away. We were down 2 with about 15 seconds left when Derricus Davis, who had been 0-4 from deep, stuck a contested three to give us the lead. At the other end they ran the clock down but Chris got a massive block with 3 seconds left and we won 77-76. It was our highest scoring game of the season and I was thrilled.

We lost 3 straight before stunning San Diego at home by a point, 48-47. We rallied to score the last 7 points of the game and won in dramatic fashion against a team that would finish the season tied for third in the conference. We followed that with a tough road loss to San Francisco before we pulled off another stunner, beating third place Portland on the road 53-38. We lost to St. Mary's and took BYU to the wire, losing 68-65 on the road. I was really hopeful that we could win a conference tournament game.

March 6, 2015 Las Vegas, Nevada
The arena was empty for our prelim game against San Francisco. We were 6-21 and they were 12-16. Although they were favored I knew that something had clicked in the recent games and we were capable of beating them. In front of about 400 fans at 10 am we tipped off. We rolled from the tip, our seniors were playing their hearts out. Matt Tubbs provided his usual spark off the bench and we led 36-23 at halftime. Our guys were amped in the locker room and could taste the upset. Backup guard Nick Bennett took over, scoring 12 of his team high 14 in the second half and contributing 4 assists and 5 rebounds. Although they edged us in the second half, we rode our hot start to a 64-54 win.

March 7, 2015 Las Vegas, Nevada
Our luck ran out in the quarterfinals where we met a BYU team that we had pushed to the limit in our regular season finale. Unfortunately, our shots simply didn't fall, we went 2-14 from deep and got knocked out plain and simple. There wasn't much of a story, we were down 20 at halftime and that was it. Our season ended with a record of 7-22 and was hugely disappointing. We flew back that night and I told my staff to take a few days off and meet back up on Monday to begin planning for our next season.
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Offseason 2

Postby CoachAndy » Fri Feb 12, 2016 8:56 pm

Monday, March 13, 2015 Stockton, California
I hadn't really enjoyed my few days off. I had gotten very little sleep and spent most of my time thinking. When Monday rolled around I was at the office at 6 am, watching recruit tapes and waiting for my staff. I had told them 9 but they were all there by 8. We headed to the basketball conference room and locked ourselves in. "Alright let's get it all on the table. I don't know if this system will ever work honestly. At least not in this conference. But we also spent a whole season working on perfecting it and I don't want to throw that away. Thoughts?" Jimmy: "I think we can maintain our system and if we speed it up and let the players do their own thing a little more we can find a good balance." Brad: "I think we have some strong recruits coming in. The Green kid will really help us on the perimeter and Coffey is a natural replacement for our post losses. I think we should look at some 4 out 1 in stuff. We'll have the shooters but we might not have the frountcourt depth." Me: "What about defense? We were 8th in points allowed in the nation and 11th in defensive efficiency. But teams shot the lights out on us. Should we ditch the zone?" Brad: "Tough call. We gotta protect our bigs from foul trouble. Maybe we should try a 3-2 or a 1-2-2? I don't think we need to abandon the zone approach." Alright, well for the next few weeks let's come in 3 days a week. Brad and I will work on recruiting, I want you guys to work on coming up with some new plays, something to really get us going on offense."

Tuesday, April 4, 2015 Las Vegas, California
I had flown in on Friday to spend the weekend in Vegas. I had somehow convinced our compliance girl Amanda to join me on my trip to the conference awards banquet. We weren't really a thing but we had been getting coffee together before work most mornings and had even been out to dinner a few times. I asked her to come with me in the elevator to an athletics department meeting and had honestly been shocked when she said yes. Now, here we were, heading to the banquet to hear about all sorts of awards my team hadn't won. "God, I hate these events. We all have to pretend to get along." I grumbled to her as Gonzaga's coach Lionel Williams walked by with his 4 conference champion rings prominently displayed. Amanda smacked me on the arm. "Be good, please. We're trying to represent our program." I laughed "Who would want to represent this team?" She rolled her eyes at me and we made our way to a table with BYU coach Ken Bell and his wife Jennifer. Ken was a nice guy and we made decent small talk. He had 4 recruits coming in and was most excited about a German big who he thought could be a major contributor. He was also very kind about the progress my team had made and how he felt I was doing well in my rebuilding process. Fortunately, the banquet started before I ran out of things to say. Gonzaga's star freshman Tony Roe won Player of The Year for averaging 12.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. He also took home Freshman of The Year and Defensive Player of The Year. "I voted for your guy Davis." Ken muttered to me. "He shut this kid down twice this season." Lionel Williams was named the Coach of The Year for the third straight year and we were on to the All-Conference Teams. Gonzaga and Loyola had 2 first teamers and Saint Mary's had one. Second team included two from Portland and one each from BYU, San Diego and San Francisco. No awards for anyone at Pacific. I wasn't surprised.

Now that things had really wrapped up it was time to start looking ahead. Staffs were being rebuilt and players were transferring. I got a few calls from old friends with job offers. Joe Soloman called me to let me know he had an opening at Arkansas as the third assistant if I wanted to come back but he encouraged me to stick it out. I was also formerly offered the job of first assistant at Idaho, a phone call that came out of nowhere. I politely declined. I was determined to fix the basketball situation at Pacific, one way or another. I was surprised when Brad called me one night to tell me he had been offered the top assistant job at New Mexico State. "Wow, that's a great offer. What are you thinking?" He paused "I'll be honest. Stanford, Illinois State, even my head coaching stint at NAU, I always won. This past season was new to me and I don't want to leave with that being my mark on Pacific basketball. I want to stay and fix this program." I was stunned. "Brad, how would you like to be named my associate head coach?" Brad: "For real? I'd be honored. But don't think you have to do that just because I got another offer." "No, I've been thinking about it and you've got the credentials. You're honestly more qualified to be my boss than to be working for me. I can't give you a raise because of budget issues but it's still a promotion. What do you say?" "Absolutely. Thank you Mike, let's fix this team."

Amanda and I agreed to start formally dating shortly after that weekend in Vegas. She was my first real girlfriend in almost 5 years and I really liked her. She loved sports but I really knew I'd found a winner when she started travelling to packed high school gyms on recruiting trips. We even took two weeks off in July to travel to Italy (even though I scouted a pair of recruits while I was there). I realized that if I wanted us to last I needed to keep my job and stay in Stockton or I'd have to move away and she probably wouldn't follow me. She was born and raised in Stockton and had played Field Hockey at Pacific. She had never lived anywhere else and probably never planned to. With that in mind, I was determined to win back the trust of the board.

My second season roster featured 5 seniors, 5 juniors, 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen. Brad and I would have our work cut out for us on the recruiting trail. I met with him at the start of our summer recruiting "Brad what do you think about really looking abroad? I think European bigs could help with out high post and princeton offenses." Brad: "That's actually a good idea. And I'd love a free trip to Germany." We both laughed and agreed that we needed to expand our recruiting territory. We really struggled with that though, most players didn't want to travel halfway around the world to play at a sub 300 RPI program. Before to long we were back to recruiting in our backyard, trying to find those gems that had slid through the cracks.
CoachAndy
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Year 2

Postby CoachAndy » Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:47 pm

We had 5 seniors, 4 on scholarships and virtually no interest in our program. Fortunately, Brad is a great recruiter and was able to drum up a few local kids he thought would be worth a look. That's how I ended up spending a lot of my summer driving around from gym to gym with him.

Sunday, July 31 2015 West Covina, CA
"Man, I swear this kid is GOOD. Like really good. You'll see." Brad was still trying to sell me on BJ Sanders, a kid from suburban LA who most considered to be a high D2 recruit. We had driven down to spend the weekend in LA looking at talent but he was the only one we were specifically targeting. He wanted me to bring BJ up for a visit but I refused until I got to see him play. I wasn't blown away but he was a solid defensive player and an animal on the glass despite standing just 6'6". He wasn't really athletic but he was strong and he set good screens. In short, he was a dirty worker and I thought he might bring some life to our team so I invited him to come visit.

Sunday, August 7 2015 Sacramento, CA
Matt Cook was going to be a tough recruit. A 6'8" center who had averaged 15.5 ppg 9 rpg and 3 bpg, he was being targeted by some pretty high level programs including San Diego State and USC. We watched him play in the AAU state tournament in his home city and he impressed. He could step out and shoot decent and he was a real rim protector. Brad: "I think he's gonna grow another inch or 2. And he's crazy athletic for his size. I wonder how interested he'd be in playing for us." "Work your magic and find out." So Brad went and talked to him after the game and came back grinning. "He said he'd definitely come visit our campus and consider us."

We also got to see Sam Neely, a 5'11" PG who was a stat stuffer for his high school team. "What do you know about him?" Brad: "He's a flashy passer. Little undisciplined but man can he run the floor. You'll see." And see I did. Sam had 5 assists and 8 points in the first half and made his team's offense look effortless. He had clanked a few long jump shots but he made up for it with his ability to get to the rim and find teammates when the defense collapsed. "He's the type of PG you can shape a team around." Brad nodded "I just worry about him staying disciplined and focused. But he's a player." We'd have to shake stiff competition from Sacramento State, the school both of his parents went to, just down the road from his home town.

There were a ton of other visits, all within California. I went with both Brad and Amanda and they both provided valuable insight on the recruiting trail. Amanda had played 4 years of varsity basketball and knew the sport pretty well. I actually grew to enjoy driving around the state with her to watch high school hoops in stuffy gyms. At least she wasn't taking me to the spa or something. On September 8 we celebrated our 5 month anniversary. In a dumpy San Francisco rec center watching pickup basketball and eating takeout pizza. I had known her about a year now and to be honest the idea of taking the next step was frequently in my mind. I owned a nice 3 bed 2 bath ranch just a couple of miles from school. Amanda had lived for several years above her parents' garage to save money but had been living in her own apartment for close to 4 years. She didn't make a ton in compliance, about 40,000 a year, but she loved her job. That night I asked her if she wanted to move in with me. "I have a house, it's close to the school, we can commute together or walk to save money. I think it's a logical step for our relationship." She agreed and for the first time in my adult life I wasn't living alone.

Season prep was going good, we had a pretty solid recruit list going and had established our new gameplan for the season. We were going to run a princeton offense but with much less structure and focus on plays. Our schedule looked good and had several winnable non-conference games. It also included our first big road trip, a 3 game swing that started with Holy Cross and Iona and included a stop at TCU on our way west. I thought that would be a good exposure trip for our program since the rest of our games would be played within the state of California. We narrowly lost Kenny Miller, a top 150 recruit to BYU which hurt but we landed a few others including Cook and Sanders and I was pleased with our class. We were picked a surprising 5th in the conference and were expected to be led by SR SG Peter Polite (7.2 ppg) and JR SF Derricus Davis (6.9 ppg). Hopes were high that we could rebound and reach our goals this season.
CoachAndy
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Year 2

Postby CoachAndy » Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:00 pm

Wednesday, November 16, 2015 Northridge, California
Opening day had me nervous. Our guys had looked good in preseason but I knew that could be deceiving. "Alright guys, it's the start of a new season. Let's go get this W." Des stood up with his scouting report. "These guys will be good. It's always tough to play on the road so we gotta be prepared. They play all man, never press. On offense they run a lot of 5 out stuff. Our success starts with stopping their guards, Blake Williams and Karim Cook. They both averaged double figures last year. Offensively, we have a good advantage down low. Work to get it inside and get high percentage looks." We started 3 returning starters, our backcourt duo of Ali Kirklin and Peter Polite as well as SF Derricus Davis. Our frontcourt was Mark Doctor and Marvin Joseph, a pair of big bodies who could really control the glass. The game started ugly, they scored the first 5 points but we turned it on, scoring 12 straight to pull ahead. I was surprised at the offensive ability of my guys when I let them make their own plays. We shot 54% from the floor and 4-6 from deep and led 34-28 at the half. Peter had 8 and we had 11 bench points. It was a great start. Unfortunately, it didn't last. They drilled 8 second half threes and cleaned up the glass finishing +10 with 12 offensive boards as they outscored us 41-25 in the second half to win 65-53. I was frustrated but happy. We could score the ball. Peter had 13, Marvin Joseph had 14 and freshman Bart Odle had 7 in limited minutes.

Saturday, November 19, 2015 Stockton, California
Utah Valley came to town for our home opener with a 1-1 record. They were a decent team, winners of 14 games the year before. We rolled offensively but unfortunately, so did they. We had 4 players in double figures, led by Peter with 16. We came back to win on a last second bucket by Felipe Marshall, 77-76 and I thought we'd really turned a corner offensively. After the game I spoke to my staff "Guys, I think we've figured it out. I know it's early but Peter is hitting big shots and our bigs are really spreading the scoring load. Ali had 5 assists for the second straight game, that's big." Brad: "It is early but we're actually seeing signs of life. Peter already looks like a first team all conference caliber player." Desmon: "We got bigger tests but still, we're looking good and it's early. I like where we're at."

Wednesday, November 23, 2015 Los Angeles, California
This was my first ever trip to the historic Pauley Pavilion and we were expected to get wiped up. UCLA paid us $100,000 to play them and we knew what was expected. Derricus had tweaked his knee and wouldn't be able to play. Felipe Marshall, a senior and key reserve got the nod instead. In the locker room before the game I told the guys to execute and have fun. I have to give the guys credit, they really dug in on defense. UCLA had scored 88 points in a 92-88 loss to Duke, their only other game this season. We held them to 54 and only lost by 6. Felipe played all 40 minutes, scoring 20 points and snagging 8 rebounds in an impressive outing. Peter contributed 15 points and 5 rebounds in what was, for all intents and purposes, a win for us.


Despite our performance against UCLA, we started to skid. We lost at home to Sacramento State by 9 then got routed in all three games on our road trip, culminating in a 69-45 loss at TCU. What had started as a promising season was quickly going down the drain and we were sitting at 1-6. I called my guys in for a meeting "Guys, I know it's been tough but we're right there. We just have to lock up our defense, we gave up 77, 76 and 69 in those 3 games. That's not us, we gotta fix that." One of my captains, 6'3" senior Peter Polite stood up. "Hey guys, this losing thing sucks. We all hate it, you, me, coach. But it's not gonna change if we sit around. I don't know about you guys but I want to win some games." The guys responded well to that and the energy in the next few practices was impressive.

December 14, 2015 Stockton, California
The first thing I noticed when I walked onto the court at the Spanos Center was the crowd. We were 1-6 and struggling but the place was packed. Easily 5,000 people for our game with Southern Utah. The only other time we drew those crowds were when BYU and Gonzaga stomped us on national TV. We decided to go with a little bit bigger of a lineup, they were a small team that liked to shoot and we knew we'd have to bother them with length. Our starting lineup featured 2 juniors and 3 seniors. Our front 3 were all 6'9 and dwarfed their big guys. We did a great job all night of disrupting their shooters and used an explosive second half to pull away. We held them to 10/31 shooting from deep and murdered them on the glass, 34-14. Their 3 post players combined for just 7 points. Marvin Joseph was outstanding, giving us 11 points and 7 boards while Peter matched him with 11 and added 5 rebounds and 3 assists. We could have played better offensively but I couldn't complain about a win.

December 21, 2015 Bakersfield, California
Man, this court is ugly. The electric blue court was hurting my eyes as the guys warmed up for a big matchup with a 6-1 Cal State Bakersfield squad. Bakersfield was deep and they liked to try and exhaust teams by working long possessions and going 10-12 deep to stay fresh. Fortunately, our guys were trained in the grind it out style. We got the game going with back-to-back threes by Peter and Derricus and they called time. The rest of the first half was a battle and they eventually pulled away to lead 24-20 at the break. "Ok guys this is good. Our defense is working, our focus is there. Keep this up and we can get a huge road win." We had shot poorly in the first half, hitting just 3 of 15 from deep. I told the guys to pound it inside more. "Attack off the dribble. Work to get better shots and we'll be able to put some points up." The guys executed perfectly in the second half, Derricus scored 8 of his game high 12 and we did much better from behind the arc, drilling 3-6. We won the rebound battle again, led by Peter with 7 big boards and came out on top, 48-46. It wasn't pretty but it was a road win against a team that would end up top 150 in the RPI.

I met with Wes between non-conference and conference play to discuss our season. "I think it's going good. We won a pair of big games and we've got some momentum going into conference play." Wes agreed. "I knew you could do it, hopefully you guys can keep this up. I'd love to see us qualify for some level of postseason play. As long as you get out of the basement and win 10+ this season will be a tremendous success." We met with a few local boosters later in the day and they also offered their support. I finally felt in control of my program.

December 28, 2015 San Diego, California
I had really enjoyed my week off. Amanda and I had spent Christmas Eve with her family in Stockton before driving up to San Francisco on Christmas day to visit my family. My sister Kelly had flown in from Chicago where she taught in the med school at UIC and it was nice to see her. But now it was back to business. San Diego was 3-6 like us but were a traditional conference power and I knew we had our work cut out for us. Jerry Benton, their sophomore SF, was averaging close to 18 a game, second in the conference. Beyond him they lacked star power, they had guys who could score but not in bunches. We needed to make those guys beat us. We roared out to a 42-33 halftime lead and never looked back, winning 71-64. We did what we could against Benton but he still had his way, scoring 21 points on 7-14 shooting from deep. It was impressive to watch. Peter and Derricus each had 14 for us but more impressive was Bart Odle who had 11 and 8 boards in just 13 minutes off the bench. This kid was gonna be good.

We slugged out an ugly home win against 2-8 Loyola, 54-53. We made a massive comeback after being down 7 at halftime and 11 early in the second half. Once again, Derricus led the way with 15 and Peter, despite a poor shooting night that held him to 3 points, grabbed 7 boards. All of a sudden, we were 2-0 in conference play. We lost on the road against a very good Portland team who scored 32 points in the paint against us. Their two bigs combined for 24 points and 10 rebounds and we lost 62-47.

January 7, 2016 Stockton, California
Santa Clara was in town, one of the top teams in the conference with a record of 8-4. The Spanos Center was sold out and the crowd was as rowdy as I'd ever seen. I was excited for a good game and my guys were too. We came out throwing bricks but so did they. It was 26-18 at halftime and Brad spent several minutes firing them up in the locker room. That was one thing I liked about him, he could really amp the guys up. The second half was the opposite of the first, we scored 45 points and rolled over them. Bart had 10 off the bench, Mark Doctor had 14 and 5 boards. Peter had 10 and 4 and Derricus snagged 9 boards despite being held to 4 points, all at the foul line.

We won at Pepperdine, holding them to 36 points in a fairly dominant win. Peter got back on track offensively, scoring 11 and grabbing 4 boards. Then we hosted and beat St. Mary's. Peter had 17 and Mark had 10 in the huge win that saw us improve to 8-7 and 5-1 in conference play. We were into the top 75 of the RPI and above .500 for the first time. I loved it, the boosters loved it and, the sellout crowd loved it.

January 18, 2016 Spokane, Washington
Gonzaga was good. Really, really good. They had just 1 loss and were #2 in the country. Their band box of a gym was always hard to play at and I knew we could be in for a long night. I didn't expect what came next, their star guard Aaron White drilled 12 threes. 12. He had 38 points and their bench added 21. They shot 20-34 (59%) from deep and crushed us, 83-40. I didn't even have anything to say after that game.

We beat San Francisco then lost at #22 BYU to end the first half of conference play at 6-3. I was pleased with our results and hoped we could get to 10 conference wins. We rattled off 3 straight including a massive 57-47 home win over Portland before the losses hit. The road loss to Santa Clara was tough but they were good. We got murdered by Pepperdine and I was pissed. They shot 50% and we committed 22 turnovers. It was ugly and we went on to lose 3 more in a row, including a bracket breaker at #12 Valparaiso. Fortunately, we rebounded to win at San Francisco before taking BYU down to the wire in a heartbreaking 59-58 loss. We finished the season 13-15 and 10-8 in conference play. We were in a three way tie for third with Portland and St Mary's, both of whom we had split with. The tiebreaker was overall record and we ended up 4th and would play St. Mary's in the first round of the conference tournament.

March 7, 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada
I was oddly pumped for the game with St. Mary's. We had won the opener by 5 at home and lost by 11 at their place. Normally I didn't pay attention to lineups and pregame announcements but today it stuck with me. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Orleans Arena for tonight's West Coast Conference quarterfinal matchup between the home team and number 4 seed Pacific Tigers and the visiting team and number 5 seed St. Mary's Gaels. Here are tonight's starting lineups. For Pacific: At guard, a 6'1" junior from Los Angeles, California, number 24, Rod Gandy! At forward, a 6'7" junior captain from San Jose, California, number 23, Derricus Davis! At forward, a 6'9" junior from Piedmont, California, number 35 Mark Doctor! At center, a 6'9" senior captain, from Lake Isabella, California, number 42, Marvin Joseph. And, at guard, a 6'3" senior captain from Clovis, California, number 22, Peter Polite! Pacific is coached by Mike Hughes. Associate Head Coach is Brad Woodard and assistant coaches are Jimmy Marshall and Desmon Buchanan." Peter was leading us in scoring at 10.8 a game and assists at 1.8 Marvin led us on the boards with 4.6. Balance was key, we had 7 players averaging 5+ points a game and 5 averaging 3+ rebounds a game. They came out on fire and we couldn't buy a bucket. Kenny Collins caught fire from deep and finished with 24 as they routed us 70-48. I was frustrated but I thought that we might be able to sneak into the CBI. I told our guys to keep their heads up and that we might not be done yet.

We didn't end up getting a postseason bid and I felt bad for my guys as much as anything. They had worked hard and the progress was incredible. Maybe this year we'll win some awards I thought with a laugh.

Tuesday, April 4, 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada
I had never been this nervous in my life. I was going to propose to Amanda that night after the banquet. I only thought it would be right to do it in Vegas, where we had gone on our first adventure together. Vegas was one of her favorite cities and I wanted to make it a special night. But first we had to get through the banquet. We sat with Ken Bell and his wife again, he was probably my closest friend among the conference coaches, we had actually talked frequently throughout the season. "Mike I just wanted to let you know that I voted for you for coach of the year. I'm sure Lionel will win it but I think you had a hell of a season." "Thanks Ken, that really means a lot to me." The ceremony began with Gonzaga's All-American and National Player of the Year Aaron White sweeping the Player, Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year awards, Lionel Williams was named coach of the year for leading the Zags to a 37-2 record and the Final Four. Gonzaga had 3 first team all conference players, Portland and San Diego had one each. Portland, St. Mary's, BYU, San Francisco and Gonzaga all had second team players and I was a little disappointed. I really thought Peter was second team material and leaving with no program accolades hurt. That night we went out to dinner with Ken and his wife and I pulled Ken aside. "Look, I wanted to propose to Amanda in Vegas and this is our last night here. Is that ok with you? I don't want to make this awkward for you and Jen." He grinned "I could tell something was up. You go for it buddy." I'm a terrible romantic so I decided to plant the ring box under the table. Just as we were finishing our meals I dropped my fork and went to pick it up. Instead I came up with the ring and she burst into tears. The restaurant applauded me and the manager gave us free dessert. It was a great night and I couldn't wait for the rest of my life with her.

When I got back to Stockton I had a few busy days. Ken rather sheepishly offered me the associate head coach job at BYU, trying his best not to sound like he was insulting me. I really appreciated the offer but I had to turn it down. Then all hell broke loose. Wes was fired, axed rather suddenly due to the "overall poor performance of Pacific Athletics." I was mad, I tried not to but I ended up in a heated argument with several key university figures. I won't say they fired me but after that meeting I wanted out. Wes headed to the WCC offices in Vegas to serve as assistant director of the conference. I began job hunting and ultimately took the top assistant position at San Francisco. It wasn't ideal but it was the closest job to home. I didn't want to be at Pacific if they were going to treat people like that. USF coach Cory Jones was only 3 years older than me and we were on decent terms. He made me the highest paid assistant outside of Gonzaga and BYU at 85,000 and I was essentially a co coach with him. I appreciated his respect for me and he appreciated my respect for him. I made one phone call back to Pacific after leaving. "Hey Brian this is Mike Hughes, I just wanted to discuss the opening for a head coach at Pacific." Long pause "What about it Mike?" Brian Greene was the new AD, he had been associate AD under Wes and we never really saw eye to eye. "Brad Woodard is a tremendous coach. He was integral in helping me establish what I had going there. Offer him the job. He'll do it and do it well." "I'll think about it, thanks. Anything else?"

Brad ended up getting the Pacific job and retained Jimmy and Desmon while adding an old friend, to the staff. Amanda and I rented out our house in Stockton and moved to San Francisco. She took a job with USF in compliance and we rented a modest 2 bedroom apartment.

(So I accidentally hit apply for job thinking it was the "advance" button and took the USF job. Rather than go back to my mid season save, I've decided to roll with it)
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