re: Good news: Tony Benford will not be the head coach at LSU

Meanwhile radio silence from the spineless LSU admin

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Bad news: Tony Benford will not be the assistant coach at LSU

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Benford did a fine job stepping into a tough spot with the unexpected suspension of Wade. He helped guide the team to the Sweet 16 (which many felt was maybe LSU's "ceiling" even with Wade on the sideline) and never made the tournament success about himself. He made sure all knew that the success was due to the other assistants as well as the players.

But, even midseason you had to wonder if this was going to be his last at LSU. There were at least two occasions where he and Wade got into it on the sideline during a game. One vs. South Carolina where everyone in the arena could hear Wade yell at him "Let me coach the fricking team!". Another was during the Auburn game when the ref said something to Wade and Wade immediately went ballistic on Benford. Now, of course, those kinds of things happen in the heat of the moment for all coaching staffs. But I don't recall any of those blowups with Heir or Armstrong.

Aside from that, it was clear Heir and Armstrong were the "scout assistants". They were the ones actively coaching along with Wade during the games. Benford was brought on the staff primarily to recruit Texas. And as we can see, LSU hasn't exactly cleaned up in Texas recruiting over the last 2-3 years. Marlon Taylor might be the only guy of any note LSU pulled from Tx. (JC in TX by way of NY).

It's plausible that Wade may have gone in a different direction even if he wasn't suspended.

Benford leaving doesn't really send up any red flags one way or the other. However, if Heir leaves for another assistant coach job then I'd be worried. He's the recruiting pipeline for LSU to Florida (where they've had great success) and also, IMO, the best x's & o's assistant on the team.

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I hope you are correct...but if Benford thinks Wade will be back, why the hell would he rather be an assistant in College Station for that midget Buzz Williams vs LSU with Will Wade?

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Higher pay and, well, knows he has a job

Could not agree more. Great explanation.

If Benford leaves in the next few days, is Heir named interim HC for the time being.

As an aside, I'm not real excited about A&M hiring Buzz Williams. He's a damn good coach.

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If Benford takes job that means Wade is guilty and that means you are looking at major sanctions.

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......or it could be the fact that Benford was an assistant under Buzz Williams at Marquette for 5 years before he took the North Texas job.

Good post.

“Isn’t sure” doesn’t equal “knows something that indicates Wade won’t be back “

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I really hope Will Wade is still our coach, I am afraid that many players would transfer with him to A&M.

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I don't see that happening. E. Williams and Days are Florida kids brought in (primarily) through Heir's deep Florida connections. Smart is a BR kid and he'd have PLENTY of options outside of A&M.

Benford was named the interim HC simply because he had been an HC before and was best suited to handle all of the other stuff a HC has to handle (media, radio shows, etc) outside of simply coaching the team. However, if you were to rank the assistants in terms of importance Benford would probably be 3rd behind Heir and Armstrong.

Heir is a BIG piece of the puzzle both in terms of recruiting and coaching. LSU doesn't sign E. Williams, Days, Edwards, Manning, without him. He has DEEP connections in Florida HS and JC basketball. There is a reason Wichita St. wasn't happy to see him go when he came to LSU.

Certainly you can expect rival coaches to try to poach LSU's talent the longer the state of the program remains in limbo (even though that would be, cough, cough, tampering). But I don't see the connection with Benford being strong enough to pull anyone to A&M.

Guys, this isn't THAT big of a loss.

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How pissed is bayou joe?

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Jame Williams is more pissed.