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Coaching Changes

Wow.......I don’t think he continues elese
where, just my opinion. It was time, like I said he’s a good man, all the best for him. Bring in the new guy, I have no doubt he’ll vet that boys program back on track.
 
Travis Taylor would be a great pick. In terms of coaches who are active both tiedeman and Erickson are as good as they get.
1st name I thought of after hearing(apparently one of the last to) about Coach B stepping down. I could certainly understand the move. Now...come to think of it...the move would be going away from a coaching style that was highly criticized by a select few on here...
 
Travis Taylor would be a great pick. In terms of coaches who are active both tiedeman and Erickson are as good as they get.
Also, Travis can flat out coach. I'm pretty sure his Windsor team was the NCS D2 top seed a couple years back! Makes a ton of sense!
 
Any chance this is just a rumor? Just think we should maybe pump the brakes a scootch. I haven't seen anything resembling an official story anywhere on the interweb. Maybe we won't see anything because it's a private school, but it, for good reason gets a lot of coverage by the local media outlets.
 
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Any chance this is just a rumor? Just think we should maybe pump the brakes a scootch..

Larry said it, so it is a stone cold lock. I think he has the same Newman insider info
I do, because he made a great prediction, at a time when he is not making very many other good predictions.

-Rocklin would give Salesian a game
-Grant would keep things close with Salesian
-Whitney could make a deep run after knocking off Granada
-watch out for this Clear Lake team with Lincoln
 
Unfortunately its the truth. The search is on. It was a great run.

Blah, blah,blah.... BBF loves to play Monday morning QB. Trust me we don't have the same sources. Also said Whitney would win at Granada as a 16 seed.. Grant got down 24-3 and and lost by 17. So they outscored them the last 3.... Doesn't matter. You can't dig yourself that sort of a hole. Salesian is a heck of a team. So is Grant. I will stand by that.

Go troll somebody else.
 
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The Bomber had a great run at CN. And (in my opinion) it was never going to be easy when the time came to move on because I dont think he would have ever left on his own terms. I think Bomber would coach at CN until hes 100 if he could have. Over the last 5 or 6yrs there have been some issues with parents/kids and it hastened his departure. I have no doubt he will continue coaching somewhere else in the county and those future games vs CN will be cant miss drama.

I guess it's official now. Apparently some inner circles close to CN knew this was coming down the stream for quite awhile. Coach B earned the right to go out on his own terms. I have got to believe that the list of former players coming forward to file their complaint with the "Powers that be" is going to be substantial. I read the article in the PD and the quotes(And lack of by administration) leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This has become (In My Opinion) an extremely unfortunate end to an otherwise fantastic tenure at CN. There is a lot more to coaching than wins (A lot) and losses! I hope Coach B lands on his feet and keeps making positive impacts on his players if he chooses to coach/teach elsewhere. Sad day for boys hoops in the North Bay.
 
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I hope Coach B lands on his feet and keeps making positive impacts on his players if he chooses to coach/teach elsewhere.

From what me (and Larry!) have heard, this story has a happy ending, just not at Newman, and not the kind that Donnie will now make a joke about.
 
I guess it's official now. Apparently some inner circles close to CN knew this was coming down the stream for quite awhile. Coach B earned the right to go out on his own terms. I have got to believe that the list of former players coming forward to file their complaint with the "Powers that be" is going to be substantial. I read the article in the PD and the quotes(And lack of by administration) leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This has become (In My Opinion) an extremely unfortunate end to an otherwise fantastic tenure at CN. There is a lot more to coaching than wins (A lot) and losses! I hope Coach B lands on his feet and keeps making positive impacts on his players if he chooses to coach/teach elsewhere. Sad day for boys hoops in the North Bay.

@UncleYacht- always appreciate your candor , insights, great humor on the site. Your post is spot on. He was much more than a a coach. He left a huge impact on many of us. Also a very tough economics teacher! Its unfortunate. Fitchie went out on his terms which was such a happier ending for that fine school tucked near BV. (Btw Go vikes on the Soccer Field today as they Battle Jesuit for state top dogs) I gotta think he ends up coaching and teaching somewhere else. He’s a Santa Clara grad and very religious so it would almost have to be at a small private. (Who knows though)

In hindsight like you said just wish there was some sort of transition plan. But life has to go on. What mertle has built on the girls side over at Newman is most likely the gold “model” going forward. You have to invest in Feeder programs and get to know talent in 5-7th grade and build that pipeline.

One thing I do know is the talent may not be the best in north bay but there are some amazing coaches in that area in every sport. Look around and appreciate what you have (parents).
 
You called @DonniePeckerwood? Not sure why but I'm game.
If you are asking about Coach Bonfigli then you won't hear a bad word coming from me. I don't know if there is a coach that is more prepared than Coach Bonfigli and his players have a consistent history of being extremely fundamentally sound. When I was early on at Ukiah I was regularly told that Cardinal Newman cheats and was only good because they had good athletes. As I got older I noticed that they simply seemed to play basketball better. When I was the JV coach at Ukiah I asked Coach Bonfigli if I could watch a practice and not only did he invite me to the practice, he took time to explain the purpose and details of the drills. They are great because deliberate practice is constant at Cardinal Newman. Nothing is wasted, nothing is taken for granted, everything is focused. And Coach Bonfigli could have easily told me "no". When I was the varsity coach we had occasional conversations over the phone that sometimes lasted for nearly two hours. Listening to how he researched other teams and the questions he asked me about teams I faced were a lesson in how to prepare for competition. I tried to soak everything in and I'm grateful that he understood that I was a constant student of the game.
As to his replacement, who knows. Mike Erickson is the best coach in the area right now. Zac Tiedeman, Madison Lott, and Travis Taylor (if he comes back) are in the next tier but to say that anyone is better than the other is difficult to ascertain. Tiedeman and Taylor both benefited from far superior talent than Lott, and Tiedeman has a built -in pipeline right to the school. Madison has reconstructed two programs that were struggling. For the record, I was Madison's high school teammate at Paradise (he was a far better player) and it doesn't surprise me that he gets his kids to play intense. He as a very strong defender in high school and it is evident that he has put that passion and focus into implementing that as a priority in the program.
Still, if I was advising Madison I would say that he should stay at Santa Rosa and wait out the transition. The next coach is going to have a really tough time with expectations and what seems to be a very parent oriented administration in regards to support. There is a good chance that the transitional coach doesn't survive past Year 2 while Madison will very likely make Santa Rosa more and more competitive as North Bay basketball remains in flux. After a few years, and with expectations down, he can revisit the job when it opens again.
Hows that?
 
You called @DonniePeckerwood? Not sure why but I'm game.
If you are asking about Coach Bonfigli then you won't hear a bad word coming from me. I don't know if there is a coach that is more prepared than Coach Bonfigli and his players have a consistent history of being extremely fundamentally sound. When I was early on at Ukiah I was regularly told that Cardinal Newman cheats and was only good because they had good athletes. As I got older I noticed that they simply seemed to play basketball better. When I was the JV coach at Ukiah I asked Coach Bonfigli if I could watch a practice and not only did he invite me to the practice, he took time to explain the purpose and details of the drills. They are great because deliberate practice is constant at Cardinal Newman. Nothing is wasted, nothing is taken for granted, everything is focused. And Coach Bonfigli could have easily told me "no". When I was the varsity coach we had occasional conversations over the phone that sometimes lasted for nearly two hours. Listening to how he researched other teams and the questions he asked me about teams I faced were a lesson in how to prepare for competition. I tried to soak everything in and I'm grateful that he understood that I was a constant student of the game.
As to his replacement, who knows. Mike Erickson is the best coach in the area right now. Zac Tiedeman, Madison Lott, and Travis Taylor (if he comes back) are in the next tier but to say that anyone is better than the other is difficult to ascertain. Tiedeman and Taylor both benefited from far superior talent than Lott, and Tiedeman has a built -in pipeline right to the school. Madison has reconstructed two programs that were struggling. For the record, I was Madison's high school teammate at Paradise (he was a far better player) and it doesn't surprise me that he gets his kids to play intense. He as a very strong defender in high school and it is evident that he has put that passion and focus into implementing that as a priority in the program.
Still, if I was advising Madison I would say that he should stay at Santa Rosa and wait out the transition. The next coach is going to have a really tough time with expectations and what seems to be a very parent oriented administration in regards to support. There is a good chance that the transitional coach doesn't survive past Year 2 while Madison will very likely make Santa Rosa more and more competitive as North Bay basketball remains in flux. After a few years, and with expectations down, he can revisit the job when it opens again.
Hows that?


Absolutely spot on take! Lott has "Lotts" of coaching ability and I truly believe he gets the most out of his guys. We all know Travis has the ability to get his team an NCS top seed(Which very rarely goes to a North Bay team). That doesn't just happen by mistake. Love the story about Coach B inviting you to his practice and the long phone calls. Different scenario but similar to the scene in We Are Marshall when their head coach approached West Virginia head coach Bobby Bowden about possibly watching some of their tapes to learn the "Veer" offense. Coach Bowden gladly invited McConaughey and his staff to Morgantown and made sure to make them feel welcome. Especially when Bowden tells the Marshall staff to make sure they check out Lunch Spread next door if they get hungry. What a great film. Like I said earlier, the application pool has got to be huge. I'm sure the powers that be at CN whoever they are will use an ample amount of due diligence in selecting the next coach, as it is an extremely coveted position.
 
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