BFS Current Story

Beavers Announce the Firing of Coach Jay John

1-21-2008 - On Sunday night Oregon State announced they had fired coach Jay John and that coach Kevin Mouton will be the interim coach until a coaching search can be completed. I am sure Jay John is a great guy, many people have said just that. But the bottom line is he has had 5+ years at Oregon State to get the job done and he has not accomplished that task. The university needed to move on in hopes of saving a once proud and historic program.

When I was attending Oregon State the basketball program was 6th in the nation in victories and held that position until 1990 when Jimmy Anderson made his run at head coach after Ralph Millers retirement. Anderson ran the program into the ground and every coach since that day has continued to heap dirt on top of the grave. Since 1990 the Beavers have had the following records.

• SLATS GILL - 599-393 ALL AT OREGON STATE (48TH ALL TIME NCAA)
• 1929-1964 - 5 CONFERENCE TITLES, 5 NORTHERN DIVISION TITLES, 2 FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES
• PAUL VALNTI - 85-74
• 1965-1970 - 1 CONFERENCE TITLE, 1 NCAA APPEARANCE
• RALPH MILLER - 359-186 (657-382 CAREER, 31ST ALL TIME NCAA)
• 1971 -1989 - PAC-10 CHAMPIONS 1980,1981,1982, 2 NCAA ELITE EIGHT APPEARANCES
• JIMMY ANDERSON - 79-90
• 1989-1990 - 22-7 Jimmy Anderson - PAC-10 CHAMPIONS!
• 1990-1991- 14-14 Jimmy Anderson
• 1991-1992- 15-16 Jimmy Anderson
• 1992-1993- 13-14 Jimmy Anderson
• 1993-1994- 6-21 Jimmy Anderson
• 1994-1995- 9-18 Jimmy Anderson
• EDDIE PAYNE - 52-88
• 1995-1996- 4-23 Eddie Payne
• 1996-1997- 7-20 Eddie Payne
• 1997-1998- 13-17 Eddie Payne
• 1998-1999- 13-14 Eddie Payne
• 1999-2000- 13-16 Eddie Payne
• RICHIE MCKAY - 22-37
• 2000-2001- 10-20 Richie McKay
• 2001-2002- 12-17 Richie McKay
• JAY JOHN - 72-97
• 2002-2003-13-15 Jay John
• 2003-2004- 12-16 Jay John
• 2004-2005- 17-15 Jay John
• 2005-2006- 13-18 Jay John
• 2006-2007- 11-21 Jay John
• 2007-2008 - 6-12 Jay John (Fired Mid-Season)
• KEVIN MOUTON
• 2007-2008 - ?-? Kevin Mouton (Interim Coach)

Through the 2004 season the Beavers had dropped to 13th winningest program in college history and continue to fall. I would expect them to be 14th or 15th by now.

So now that Jay John has been let go, who will be the new permanent head coach of the Beavers? I still stand by my argument that the Beavers need to hire the big gun. The Dennis Erickson equivilent of College Basketball. A Larry Brown type of coach. Someone who will bring instant excitement back to the program. Even if Bobby D. knows that he will only stay two or three years. If gives him the time to really find the next long term coach at Oregon State and brings excitement back to Gill and will put butts in the seats.

If Oregon State goes with another small college coach like they have in the past I fear it will only bring more of the same to the program. Kevin Mouton might be the guy. The players like him and he seems to have the right skill set for the job. However, our history of hiring assistent coaches as head coaches is poor at best. The Beavers need a big shot in the arm to get over the hump and a big name coach with a rich history is the way to get their in a hurry in my opinion.

Check the blog later for more on this topic.

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