Georgetown Hoyas Head Coaching Search: The Latest and Greatest

The search for the next head coach of the Hoyas has occupied our lives now for one week, and while the quest is likely (read: hopefully) nearing its end, we are left with few morsels of information with which to digest.

So, where are we?

Yesterday we got the news in the form of a Woj Bomb that Georgetown has employed the search firm Korn Ferry in order to assist in the search.

Other than it being pretty cool that Woj is dropping bombs with Georgetown information, the hiring of a search firm was met with skepticism by the fanbase, that collectively wondered why the school needs to use an independent party to find a coach when sites like this one have already figured out who the best candidates are for the job.

However, the below comment yesterday sums up exactly why:

It's been my impression

that they allow for communication between schools and coaches, while allowing deniability:

Example #1: "I have had no discussion with Georgetown or any other school about their open coaching position."

Example #2: "We have not contacted any currently employed coach about the position."

Example #3: "The only AD and President I have spoken to are my own."

Posted by CO_Hoya on Mar 29, 2017 | 9:57 AM up reply unrec (24)

To see this in action, look no further than Rhode Island coach Danny Hurley’s quote yesterday:

Though I have no information to back it up, it’s also possible that using an search firm was a demand from Nike, which could have requested this independent party get involved in order to assuage its own Board (on which John Thompson, Jr. sits and is the longest tenured Director) if and when it discusses its contract with Georgetown moving forward.

There is a question as to when this search firm was hired by the school, and we really don’t know the answer to that. While the news dropped yesterday, it’s certainly possible the Athletic Director Lee Reed and Paul Tagliabue have been working in concert with Korn Ferry from the beginning. The only information we have had as to who was leading the search came from a release from the school and named only Reed and Tagliabue, but as we know any releases from Georgetown are akin to releases from the Kremlin.

Also worth noting that one of the individuals at Korn Ferry who may be assisting Georgetown is Liz Boardman. Boardman is a Senior Client Partner in the Global Sports Center of Expertise for Korn Ferry, where she leads executive searches, talent consulting, and organizational assessments for national and global sports leagues, teams, and brands. Ms. Boardman received her B.A. from Georgetown University, where she was a member of the Varsity Women’s Field Hockey Team. Coincidence? Probably not.

As to the candidates:

I think we’re at the point now where we really don’t know what is going down. If it’s true that Shaka Smart and Mike Brey said thanks but no thanks, the logical next call would be to Danny Hurley. The only words from Hurley have been that quote above, so we don’t know whether he has been contacted or not.

The goal of Reed and Tagliabue was to have a coach in place ahead of the Final Four, but with the news of the search firm now in place perhaps the school is going to take its time.

The again, maybe we’ll get an announcement today.

As usual, feel free to drop any rumors and speculation you may hear in the comments below.

Stay woke.