Things can always get worse.
No one said it would be easy. I'm sure Coach Lick doesn't think like this, but as I watched him on the bench in the final seconds of Iowa's loss in OT last night to Louisiana-Monroe I couldn't help but wonder if he was asking himself what he was doing here. This was Iowa's second loss in 51 games as host of the Carver Hawkeye Amana Post Gazette Maytag Tournament Challenge. He left a job where he'd been named college basketball's D-I Coach of the Year. He had his players. He'd been to the Sweet 16 for the 2nd time in 4 years. He won 29 games. Things were rolling... and he took the Iowa job. He came to a new town, in a new conference, with old players and new fans. Coaching is no place for second guessing but he's still just a man and you know there's a part of him that regrets his decision. Take it from me, Coach, there's no going back. You're here now. You've got a brutal job ahead of you but that's what coaching is all about. If you wanted an easy gig, you would have been a nightwatchman. But you picked coaching, you're good at it, so don't let the doubts creep in. I know, I know, sometimes you want to put your face through a plate glass window when Seth runs the wrong way or when Cyrus the Virus bounces the ball of his foot. But these guys are dying to learn. They want to be taught. Just imagine what it's like for them? They had [name redacted] before you and his idea of teaching was bragging about how much better he was than them and talking about them behind their backs to other players. They need you, man. We need you. We're in this for the long haul, brother. Do you thing, your way, we know it'll work. We believe.
In the meantime, Keep Ya Head Up.