Lutz shouldn't be fired

College football is the great hope of Charlotte athletics. Yet there is a movement at the school, quiet and ill-informed, that wants a new basketball coach. The movement will become louder if the 49ers lose their first-round Atlantic 10 tournament game today.

This is a tough time to be basketball coach Bobby Lutz. This season is his ninth with the 49ers, and he has advanced to the NCAA tournament in five of them and the National Invitational Tournament in two.

Here’s what his detractors choose not to understand. Not many coaches are capable of winning at Charlotte. It’s one of the toughest jobs in the Carolinas and one of the tougher jobs nationally. You can’t win 21 or more games four times if you are not a superior coach.

A tough job became tougher because the Atlantic 10 is a poor fit. I respect the conference, especially its Temple, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, Philadelphia tradition. But the core of the A-10 is so far away, it might as well be in Prague.

No Carolina kid has ever grown up wanting to play against St. Bonaventure, and Lutz has six Carolinas kids on his roster.

Recruiting has never been tougher. Lutz lost several key assistants, and one of them went to Kansas State and took next season’s prize recruit, Michael Beasley, with him. So if Lutz is not losing a coveted recruit to the land of wheat and tractors, he’s losing him to the ACC and the SEC.

Lutz has two seasons remaining after this one, and athletics director Judy Rose saidys Tuesday that they are discussing an extension.

Even if the 49ers lose today, Lutz is not going anywhere. I still believe his team will.

Comments

[Stan]

Contract extension, interesting. Lutz sounds optimistic about next year's class and the future so I think he's here for 5 more.

[Ene Gizer]

Where is this movement for firing Bobby Lutz? I am probably the most hardcore Niner fan, and am pretty engrained in the Niners AD. I know whats going on, and out side of a few (maybe 5?) obnoxious fans, there is no 'movement'. Get your facts straight, and stop making us look like ECU

[Sideshow]

Ene,

Most of the "hardcore" niner fans post at ninernation.net. There's plenty of discussionns there about booting Lutz. Sorensen has his facts straight.

[Nine Alumni 05]

This topic should have been discussed 3 years ago. Bobby Lutz is simply NOT the guy. I understand that it's tough to get the top recruits being in college hoops mecca, but that is NOT an excuse. The good ones get it done!! Wake, State, Duke & Carolina all compete against each other and they still land big named players. Lutz is the cancer. No kid wants to play for some NO name coach it's simnply. If you look at the Charlotte TEAM you see a bunch of Jr College players over the years. You cannot build a PROGRAM with a bunch of JuCo's and expect to win. These guys come into Charlotte with their own attituted and desires to go pro...They don't give to $hits about the TEAM. If Lutz CANNOT recruit a kid when he's 18 years old and develop them CHARLOTTE will always be this way. His inability to develop players and make them NBA ready is not their either. Until charlotte fires Lutz and gets a BIG NAME and or Changes conferences you will continue to see the program fail. ALL IN ALL it starts from the TOP with Judy Rose and a serious LACK of LEADERSHIP!!! How can you have extension discussions with someone who is NOT a preformer. This is out of control and there needs to be movement ASAP.

[Scotty]

OK, first of all, yeah there IS a small movement to have Lutz fired, but it is a weak one, and won't get anything done.

Alright "Nine" Alum, it's taking every ounce of strength in me to not throw my head against my computer screen in frustration after reading your reply. Nothing but JUCOS? You are apparently either blind, or simply uninformed. This year: Ian Andersen FRESHMAN, David Booker FRESHMAN, Charles Dewhurst FRESHMAN, Next year: Phil Jones FRESHMAN, Anjuan Wilderness FRESHMAN, Gaby Ngounjo FRESHMAN, Javarris Barnett FRESHMAN.
Oh and I just love this comment: "Wake, State, Duke & Carolina all compete against each other and they still land big named players." Umm let's see... THEY ARE ALL IN THE ACC!! Their kids get to play on national TV 10+ times a year. You dont recruit when you are a big name in the ACC, you CHOOSE. Bobby has to tell kids who have grown up brainwashed by the ACC why they want to play in the A-10, it't not easy. Bobby is here to stay, as he should be.

As I type this, I am watching online the Niners play Dayton in the A-10 tourney. We are making good passes, taking good shots, and playing some nice defense.

GO NINERS!

[Jim D.]

I was doing some research yesterday looking at Bobby's recruiting classes and there is a very disturbing trend. He is suffering from trying to go for the quite fix with juco players to sustain success, rather than building the program through 4 year players he and the staff could develop. It is remarkable the number of players who never showed up or the juco players who never really contributed much. To me you bring in a Juco if he can help you with a short term need and if that Juco is ready to come in immediately and have an impact. As you will see from the list below, our latest Jucos don't fit that bill.

2002
DeAngelo Alexander SG-6-5 210-Midwest City, OK - 2yr player,solidcontributer
Tyler Best PF-6-9 220 - Lafeyette, IN- Transferred never contributed
Curtis Withers PF-6-7 230 - Charlotte, NC- 4 yr Star for us.

2003
Martin Iti C 6-11 230 -Australia, OU- Transferred, small contributor
C.J. Pigford PF 6-6 230 -East Arcadia, NC- Kicked off team, no contribution
Dedric Spooner PF 6-8 235 -Milwaukee, WI- Never Shown up
Marcus Bennett PG 6-2 185 - Detroit, MI- Screwed by NCAA, minimal contrib

2004
E.J. Drayton PF 6-8 215-Charlotte, NC- 2yr player, solid contributor
Leemire Goldwire PG 6-0 170-Palm Beach, FL- 4 year player, major contributor
Chris Nance PF 6-7 252 -Ft. Lauderdale, FL- 2yr player, fair contributor
Jerrel Lewis- PG 6-0 192 - 4yr player, no contributions, needs to transfer

2005
Antwon Coleman C 6-7 285 - Great Falls, SC- 2yr player, minimal contributor
Jerell Jamison SG 6-6 215 - Cayce, SC- 2yr player, minimal contributor
Mitch Mullis PF 6-7 230 - Laurinburg, NC- Never showed up
Courtney Williams PF 6-9 235 - Detroit, MI- 2yr player, minimal contributor

2006
Ian Andersen SG 6-4 180-Portland, OR- 4 yr player
David Booker SF 6-7 200 - Moss Point, MS- 4yr player
Charles Dewhurst SF 6-5 175 - Charlotte, NC- 4yr player
Phil Jones C 6-10 260 - Brooklyn, NY- 4yr player
Sean Phaler PF 6-9 195 - Anaheim Hills, CA- 2yr player, minimal contributor
An'Juan Wilderness SF 6-6 210 -Dunwoody, GA- 4yr player
Carlos Williams PG 6-1 185 -Louisville, KY- 2yr player, fair contributor

2007
Gaby Ngoundgo PF 6-7 235 - Little Rock, AR- 4yr player
Javarris Barnett SG 6-6 180 - Charlotte, NC- 4yr player

So from 2002 to 2005 we had a grand total of TWO 4yr players, that have contributed to the program. That is a recipe for the disaster we are now experiencing. The staff obviously recognizes the problem and have made efforts with the last 2 classes to correct it. Unfortunately, we will not see those results until at least the 2008 season.

[don]

This column was the biggest piece of contrived crap I've ever read. Where in the world is there a groundswell--large or small--to fire Lutz? They blurb in big letters on the front page LUTZ SHOULD BE FIRED. Then, to my amazement, Sorensen writes an entire column on why he SHOULDN'T be fired. Talk about much ado about nothing. The Observer sports section is crap. Check out their listing of today's game in the Sports on TV section. It says: "Charlotte vs. Daytona" WFNA 1660 AM
My God!!

[Brian Tatum]

The Niners need a new coach and a new AD. Lutz has not performed well given the talent he's had for the last 4 years. If you look a Melvin Watkins record and Lutz's record their is no comparison. Melvin Watkins had less talent on some of his teams. One year, Tramine Gardner (remember) him was the only ligitament score on the team. What did Melvin Watkins do but have one of the toughtest and best teams in the league. Lutz's coaching is horrible. The Niners game plan every week seems to center around shooting as many 3 pointers as possible. They don't get many fastbreaks and they play horrible defense. Defense, ball movement and smart shooting help a team that is talent-deficent. Lately, the Niners are getting blown out of games. That's just bad coaching. Good coaching makes a bad team look good. Think of Gonzaga their not the most talented team in the nation. But, becuase of good coaching they beat superior teams. Maybe, the Niner's can get Melvin Watkins back.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Alum

[wewantmw]

I seriously don't see why Melvin's name has not been brought up. He recruited well. His teams played hard. And heaven forbid, they made their free throws. I remember in '96-'97 I believe we were 4th in the country in free throw shooting. Bobby's players do not want to play for him, they miss their free throws, and the talent level itself seems to be deteriorating. And I think a lot of this falls on the AD. I don't know the politics behind it all, but we had the 2nd best record in the history of C-USA and could not move to a better (or similar) conference. I don't want to hear it about football either. Marquette and DePaul don't have football teams either.

[Ene Gizer]

I did say there are people ticked off at Lutz, but there is no MOVEMENT. NO MOVEMENT. There is no Charlotte Fire Bobby Lutz Initiative. Get your facts straight. If you mean fans that are ticked off at Bobby, say that, not a movement. You make Charlotte look bad you fool.

[Sideshow]

Ene,

Grow up.

[Mike Schubert]

Tom...you have it wrong...not Bobby Lutz however Judy Rose should be dismissed. Lutz has done a decent job in his nine years at Charlotte. The problem was switching from C-USA to the A-10. With 30,000/35,000 students in the next 12-14 years and the strong possibilty of adding football...what better conference then C-USA with basketball and Div.1 football. Remember where we came from with some C-USA schools from the old "Sunbelt Conf." and southern. Not schools mainly in the northeast with no kind of rivalry like you would find w/ECU; UAB; Memphis...remember Memephis is #6 in the country. C-USA would have been a better fit...even today than the A-10. Judy...where's your vision for Charlotte.
Yes, I have season tickets at Halton...

Go Niners!!

[Charlotte Alum '97]

I don't mind him finishing his contract but he doesn't deserve an extension. He has never fielded a team that played defense. All we do is chuck 3 pointers on offense. We may not be in the acc but davidson and winthrop seem to be just fine and they have less talent then us. They do it with defense, team oriented offense, and a good coach. We don't have any of the 3.

[Gill]

Hey Tom. Im glad your sticking up for Lutz. I dont think he deserves to go either. But I can see where it would be fair to wait for a contract extension till maybe his last season on the contract or something? I love Lutz, and think he is a great coach, had good character. The guy loves his fans too, as is apparent when you see him off the court. But I can see where people would say they dont want Lutz. Those people could see this season as a first of many bad seasons?

I dont know, thats why I am not an AD. I do like your article. I was reading through your responses, and noticed that Mr Ene said something about a movement. I am confused, so is there really an official Anti-Lutz movement? I dont think I agree with something like that. I think the fans should stick with their team till the end. Well unless your like St. Bonaventure, then I can see why their fans want to get rid of their coach. 10-54? Thats rediculous. But I guess the ant-lutz movement has to see that Lutz is not even close to being 10-54 in the last 4 years

Thanks Tom
Gill

[Turtle]

Bobbys career has fallen in a huge hole after he was turned down for the Tennessee job. The A-10 has exposed everyone to his gimmick coaching style and he is to stubborn to change. The program will not get better anytime in the foreseeable future. And, Lutz will be here forever if Charlotte continues to except his mediocrity.

Fire Judy and make Lutz the Athletic Director. That will give him new incentive to work hard.

[Jon]

03 Niner, and Looooootz backer. When we were winning, the guy was a hero. You fairweather fans have to realize that being a second teir team is a heartbreaking place to be. We are good enough to not just be happy making the tourney (like Winthrop and Davidson, they have no intention to win) but we are maybe the 4th to 7th best team in our state every year. Don't forget this, we are a small fish in a big pond, just getting a shot at Wake was so cool to me. We aren't Dook, Crapel Hell, State, Wake, we are Charlotte, and be proud. Give Lutz a chance to bounce back. I like the 7 freshman to come in the next two years.... while Roy and Mike have to fight to keep kids in school for two years, we have a chance to beat those guys with experience.

[Mike]

"Where is this movement for firing Bobby Lutz? I am probably the most hardcore Niner fan, and am pretty engrained in the Niners AD. I know whats going on, and out side of a few (maybe 5?) obnoxious fans, there is no 'movement'. Get your facts straight, and stop making us look like ECU"

Five obnoxious fans? Wow thats alot if you considering there are probably only 30 people who care about the program.