Should Mark Adams be on the hot seat?

Jan 23, 2023 - 12:45 AM

Outlook to this point

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that this season has been disappointing. The fans know that. That players and staff know that. And Mark Adams definitely knows that. Coach Adams finds himself in a peculiar position, being at the helm of a program who had exceeded expectations for all (mostly) of the last five plus seasons.

That is, until this year. The Red Raiders are now dead last in the Big 12, sitting at a lowly 10-9 (0-7) season record thus far. While you can see some improvements game by game, they just can’t seem to get over that last hump for whatever reason. The team is about to enter a critical two-game stretch, in matchups where Tech has a good chance to be favored in both. If this squad has any aspirations to salvage a push to make the postseason, these two games must both be won. Because on the back end of these, its back to the normal brutal life in the Big 12 conference.

My current stance on Mark Adams

Mark Adams is a good basketball coach. I like Mark Adams being the head of our program. He was the right hire, at the right time. We know what he is capable of, simply because we’ve seen him do it in the past. He was the defensive catalyst for a squad that reached the national title game on Chris Beard’s Tech staff and he lead the program to a Sweet Sixteen appearance just last season.

While last year’s team had it’s share of flaws, you could still sense there was a good team chemistry, which had clear cut leaders on and off the floor. This season, I am not sure I can say the same.

My short response to the question at hand is; not right now. This is year two in his campaign, in a season where we lost a TON of production from the previous one. While we do have talent on this roster, I feel that we truly lack a leader on the floor. There was a good opportunity for experienced guys such as Kevin Obanor and De’Vion Harmon to take that role, but I don’t feel like either of have them have truly fit that yet.

I do like what I have seen from our young nucleus of guys, but we can only ride them so much with as little experience that they have at this level. I know they are all frustrated with how the season has gone, but part of me hopes they’re able to find some success just so we have something to carry into next year.

What Adams/the staff should do moving forward

The main criticism I’ve had this year in regards to coaching has just been the minimal amount of in game adjustments we’ve produced. It’s evident that we cannot figure it out down the stretch in most contests, and that’s a direct reflection of our personnel. I want to see Mark Adams and this staff go all out.

Find different rotations of players to use, play with different play calling on both sides of the ball and try to find something to build upon for the future. Find something else other than what we’re doing now, because it’s obviously not producing the results we want.

If we’re unable to do that and we end up in this same boat next year, then I might be answering this overlying question differently. I truly hope we’re able to keep all/most of the retainable guys for next season, simply so we can try to rebuild the pieces and get back on track for the future. The future for this program can still be bright, but only if Mark Adams adjusts and finds a way to get us there.