Seems with every wretched season end the inter webs begin beating the 'hire Jonas Hayes' drum beat.

He's never been a HC. To my knowledge never been considered for a HC position, and not sure I've seen him pursue a HC position.

Is all this accurate or telling?

Jonas was toiling away at Belmont Abbey for 5 years as an assistant coach when Fox hired him in 12/13 as operations coordinator. He was elevated to an assistants job the next season and by all accounts did a great job recruiting as well as developing our bigs through the 17/18 season when he left for Xavier as an assistant w/ Travis Steele. Xavier has gone 9-9, 8-10 & 6-7 with one NIT Bid.

5 years at Belmont Abbey, 6 years w/ Fox @ UGA and 3 underachieving years w/ Steele at Xavier hardly gets schools knocking on your door for head coaching jobs.

The sentimental hire of a popular past player as head coach rarely ends well. Now ask me if I'd trade him for HTC??

Jonas is a finalist for a head coaching job right now. And he's been in the final two or three for a head coaching job at several schools last year. He would have an incredible coaching staff. Jonas and that staff would be great recruiters. He played for one of the best coaches the game has ever had.
What school was President Moorehead the President of before he took the Georgia job?
What school was Kirby the head coach of before he took the head job at Georgia?
What major school was Josh Brooks the AD of before becoming the AD at Georgia?
Jonas Hayes would be my first choice if we ever make another change in our head coaching position.
I would give Crean at least two more years.

Being President or Athletic Director doesn't really pertain much in the discussion. The Kirby Smart comparison is very, very, very, very different.

The way power 5 college football and major college basketball make hires are polar opposites. In football it's likely to be an assistant of a top program given the job (Saban Asst). In basketball that assistant is gonna have to prove himself at a mid-major before getting a "big job".

Jonas says when Fox hired him he had never made more than $25k plus benefits... and he was 31 at the time. He's making around 300k now so he's doing pretty well. I don't believe 6 years with Fox at UGA and 3 with Steele at Xavier make him ready for an SEC Head Coaching position. But if it's him or TC, I'd take Jonas in a heartbeat and believe he could be successful.

I'd like to see Jonas get some HC experience - somewhere. Who knows -maybe he'd be the lightening in the bottle for UGA. Can't do much worse than the last three coaches.

That fact Oates has turned Bama around in year 2 with a roster DNA very similar to UGA to me is a problem for Crean. He needs to get above .500!in conf play next year minimum.

One of these 3 is not like the others...
Crean 14-40 .259
Felton 26-59 .306
Fox 77-79 .494

And as Dawg44 references.... one of the best coaches the game has ever had comes in at 148-150 .497 while here.

Felton, because he won an SEC tournament?

Otherwise, they all got the same amount of NCAA tourney wins.

If Fox wasn't so pig headed he'd probably still be here.

I'll agree with that... hell, having inbound plays woulda prolly gotten us an xtra victory or two a year. He had four or five teams that should have danced... several years we were one win short and that lies on Fox but those were some quality players/teams we had for a nice stretch with Fox (and Jonas).

Mark Fox's record at California.
14 - 18
9 - 20

He is clearly the best coach Georgia has ever had. :-)

In Fox's defense, Georgia is more of a basketball school than Cal.

Try the veal. I'll be here all week.

Nostradawgus said:

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In Fox's defense, Georgia is more of a basketball school than Cal.

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UGA's had more recent success compared to Cal-Berkeley, but not all-time.

All-time win-loss record (%) through the 2020-'21 season (adjusted with vacated and forfeited games):

Cal-Berkeley: 1,597-1,228 (56.5%) - started Men's Basketball program in 1908
- NCAA Tournament Champions in 1959
- NCAA Tournament Runner-Up in 1960
- NCAA Tournament Final Four in 1946, 1959, 1960
- NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 1946, 1959, 1960
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in 1959, 1960, 1963, 1997
- NCAA Tournament Appearances (x19) - one of them (1996) vacated by the NCAA
- Conference Regular Season Champions (x15)

UGA: 1,406-1,321 (51.6%) - started Men's Basketball program in 1906
- NCAA Tournament Champions: N/A
- NCAA Tournament Runner-Up: N/A
- NCAA Tournament Final Four in 1983
- NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 1983
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteens in 1983 and 1996
- NCAA Tournament Appearances (x12)
- Conference Regular Season Champions (x2)

Dawg44 said:

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Mark Fox's record at California.
14 - 18
9 - 20

He is clearly the best coach Georgia has ever had. :-)

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Hugh went 28-53 his next 3 years coaching at Jacksonville after departing Athens.....

I recall Durhams last season at UGA - I seem to remember Dooley more or less gave a NCAA or bust ultimatum. Durham loaded up on non-con cream puffs then I think hit .500 in conf pay. Was hovering around the 20 win Mendoza line and just missed the tourney on..... strength of schedule.

Enter Tubby Smith.

Correction - went 9-7 in conf finishing second in east but missed NCAA and then went out and lost round 1 NIT.

You forget that Jonas also played for Jim Harrick, the best X&O coach UGA has probably ever had. He has plenty of experience and connections to be a successful recruiter and head coach at UGA.

Jonas was actually offered a HC job but turned it down when he saw a lack of commitment to basketball.