Well, well ServiceJack. If indeed you had watched and listened to the coaches show tonight then you must have missed when it was mentioned that Keller was not there because he was watching his son playing 8th grade BB.

How cowardly and disgraceful one must be to go and support his kid over a 15 minute spot at the Wild Wings place.

Stay classy 88

AxeEm99 said:

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Hey ServiceJack88,
I personally do not agree with your assessment on Keller. I think he has done a great job with our basketball program and needs to stay! (I am not calling you out, just expressing my opinion.)
While I have been critical regarding Carthel on this forum in the past (which is somewhat warranted), what I have learned in posting comments is that only a SELECT few elite members are permitted to be critical of athletics on this forum. If you or I have opinions we will likely be called out even though the opinions may be warranted. So just be aware going forward....

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I think it's important to back up opinions with data. I've been critical of Carthel, also. Keller on the other hand has done a spectacular job. He's having a down year. Jo doubt. One thing you can count on with Keller, his guys play hard for 40 minutes. Other than Utah St we've been in almost every game. Kept GCU in check. That isn't chopped liver.

Well as it's a fan forum, everyone is free to post their opinions, but it's true some opinions are going to be shot down quicker than others. This is especially true if you're a poster that only shows up to comment how the current coaching staff needs to lose their jobs. Coming in to kick someone when they're down without saying hi first is just rude…on a forum or real life. But that's the state of politics these days.

Keller and Carthel are different coaches, different sports, different budgets, but they have a lot of the same expectations.

Carthel has delivered a lot of stability, respect, and visibility for his teams - which is something that was desperately needed for SFA football. He has also invested in the community which has won local respect. He has not particularly delivered in wins, and at some point that does define a coach's career. I personally don't see football as a huge marketing device for the college nationally as FCS doesn't draw. So, I'm content with a good man leading a program that is respected by its players, coaches, and community. Others feel free to disagree - especially if winning is what you desperately want out of football. I get it, and I hear you.

Keller's importance to SFA's basketball program is much more nuanced I think. Someone had to follow the meteoric success of Underwood. Whether it was the plan from the beginning, Keller has stabilized a program with pie-in-the-sky hopes. While without the same overall success as Underwood, Keller has brought showcase games to SFA's schedule (Kentucky/Kansas/Duke/more). He has navigated the transition from Southland to WAC which I would argue has been as hard as most teams switch from D2 to D1. While he has not been able to unlock postseason success, his teams have been winners and are consistently within the top half of D1 teams - the definition of a good midmajor.

He faces real criticisms though. He has never faced any media scrutiny and tends to avoid it. In his 8 seasons, Nana is set to be the second player (after Kevon) to stay through his four years of eligibility. Why can he not keep and develop players even accounting for transfer portal issues? Injuries have been a consistent issue year in and year out among his top players. Locker room morale also seems to be lurking and led to the crash of the 18-19 season.

But, Keller has been able to bring in talent, deliver some big wins, and every two years build winning teams. NCAA's in 2018, Duke win and almost assuredly another tournament appearance in 20, WAC Champs in 22, 24… This year would break the cycle if he can't finish it off, but this year did feel special to start. Also, it's no small thing to say that SFA basketball has been a national story over the last decade. Something that really can't be said about football.

Sorry for the long philosophic post, but I find the best things about this forum is that usually we can find a consensus toward what is best for the university and its programs. I never ask for agreement with my thoughts but do hope that we each can respectfully add our two cents. Carry on…

SFAJack_76 said:

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For those that have stated that Keller has done a great or spectacular job, I'm curious what your criteria is.

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This might be the most impossible question to answer...for all coaches.

I don't know that I would classify his tenure as "spectacular," that's the Brad Underwood-era adjective.

Has he done "great?" Depends on what you think our program is.

If you believe we should be going to the NCAA tournament every year and competing for the WAC title every year...then Keller has not been great. Because neither of those metrics has been met.

If you believe we should have a competitive team every year...then, yes, he has accomplished that.

I don't know that I would classify his era as anything but...uneven.

A spectacular start. NCAA tournament in year 2...immediately followed by missing the SLC tournament the next year.

Three straight very good years (including an elite 2019-2020 campaign) and a WAC regular season title...followed by two 1st round thuds and (cringe) maybe a third straight this year.

If you are a strictly "WINS AND LOSSES" kinda guy...then winning 67% is a hell of a deal.

If you are a "THE POST SEASON IS ALL THAT MATTERS" then you're likely in the category of believing we can do better.

The metrics will tell you he is much closer to Danny Kaspar than Brad Underwood, so take that however you see fit.

Ultimately, it feels like we are in a quasi-program purgatory.

Are we bad? No
Are we great? No

We're somewhere in the middle...with a current slight regression.

The old, stupid MasterAxe would have been screaming for a firing probably three weeks ago.

The old, wiser MasterAxe knows that (1) that probably is a financially un-feasible scenario and (2) there has been a recent run of bad luck with injuries that we do have to take into account.

So, let's see how the season finishes up and maybe there is a miracle in there.

That said, I don't think it is too out of left field to think that next year he needs to have a big year or the talk of replacing him could be more legitimate.

Two weeks ago when we lost to GCU and Cal Baptist, those were the first back to back home losses in over a decade. That is the level of expectation we're at. For UTRGV that's a normal week.

I don't post here often, but ServiceJack has caught my attention.

What tough questions would you like me to ask Coach Keller? I would be more than happy to oblige if they're appropriate. I interview him weekly and normally attend every press conference he does. So please send those questions over. And what "tough" questions do you think he was avoiding on Monday night? Did you think Rob would spend 15 minutes grilling him on the coaches show? Get real.

Coach Keller isn't perfect. Heck, there are things about his style that I'm not crazy about sometimes, too. But I have pretty much unlimited access to him and his program, and I can tell you that from what I see, everyone is rowing as hard as they can in the same direction. College athletics are hard, and NIL and the transfer portal (although I favor both) have made it even harder.

Call me crazy, but in a world where coaches constantly think about the next move and how to climb the ladder, we have coaches here who love this place, genuinely want to be here, and want to give fans a product they can be proud of. Carthel and Keller are prime examples. I'll take both guys every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Sorry to disappoint, pal. I'm always going to side with the student athletes.

Realistically, let's put the debate to rest as to whether Keller would leave. He would. However, it's not a binary choice as to whether he would leave for 3 million or if he loves it in Nac and cares about SFA. He does. And I don't think he is thinking of his next move, mostly because the team is uneven and, at times, struggling.

I think COVID had an especially big impact. There was talk that a 30-4 Jacks team that had lost the Southland final had a decent shot at an at-large bid. A 31-3 Southland Champion would have made a ton of noise and the publicity and attention the University would have experienced would have been a huge recruiting boost. As it is, the level of talent Keller is able to bring in has been remarkable given the University's location not near any major transportation hubs.

The only thing I would add to the excellent observations above on what constitutes "success for Keller" is "exactly what are your expectations for a team from the 13th rated conference in NCAA basketball?" From our position, we can hope to be the next St. Peter's or Loyola. Even in the Southland, we couldn't sustain success, but at least the move to the WAC gives us better competition and opportunities at better talent. Keller has proven he can bring in talent.

Now, you want to talk about his coaching ability? Keller should certainly face scrutiny there. Does it make sense to play aggressive, overplaying defense against a three point shooting team like Cal Baptist? Thats just one example. Or, why not pay attention more to taking care of the ball and limiting turnovers? That's another one. There's more, of course, but you get my point.

Bottom line, Keller has to be taken on the aggregate. And the question that needs to be asked is, if you want to move on, then who comes in and improves SFA? We are already at a competitive level and taking a chance on an unknown quantity with potential can set back that competitive level. The next coach would, in my mind, would have to have a track record of success and maybe one of the "lesser" conferences has that candidate. But for me, as of now, Keller has been beset by bad luck with injuries. He's proven he has the ability to take a team to a higher level with an NCAA team and the COVID team. If he can make noise and get us to a 20 win season, that will quell any talk of getting rid of him.

My two cents (which turned into a quarter). Axe 'em!