Sean Miller’s departure for Texas from Xavier can be easily dismissed.
Oh, that’s just today’s college athletics. There’s no loyalty from coaches and players. He’s getting more money, has more NIL resources and is going to one of the giants in college sports. He’s no different than anyone else.
You know what? Screw that.
This deserves some good, ol’ fashioned old-school treatment. Miller leaving Xavier is a bunch of crap, and Musketeers fans should be pissed off. People can say money talks and Xavier is a stepping-stone job and the school should hire someone who isn’t going to bolt on the first flight out of town.
Well, Xavier thought it had a guy who was going to stick around for a long time in Miller.
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Xavier University put its upstanding reputation on the line when it gave Miller a lifeline three years ago. He was out of the sport for a year after being fired by Arizona amid a cloud of a federal investigations into corruption and NCAA rules violations.
Miller was on college basketball’s do-not-hire list, and he hadn’t even been cleared of any wrongdoing when Xavier went above and beyond to give him a second chance (he would later be cleared by the NCAA). Miller may still be unemployed if not for Xavier.
What’s more, Xavier not only gave Miller a second chance, the Big East school also gave him his first chance. Miller got his first head-coaching job at Xavier in 2004. In his first season back in Evanston, Miller took Xavier to the 2023 Sweet Sixteen. Xavier rewarded him with a two-year contract extension.
So yeah, Miller owed Xavier more than to walk out on it again – especially after three years.
This is gross. It makes you want to hate college sports even more at a time when NIL, the transfer portal and conference realignment have ruined a lot of traditions and turned many fans’ passion into indifference.
Cry more, some are saying. Boo friggin’ hoo. Get over it. Miller actually didn’t owe Xavier anything other than the buyout money in his contract, which the deep pockets at Texas are handling. Xavier president Colleen Hanycz and athletic director Greg Christopher knew they were taking a big risk when they hired Miller, who’s going to a place that has the resources to win a national championship but faces an uphill climb to achieve that. (News flash: Football is king in Austin. This isn’t Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, UConn or North Carolina.)
Those are all legitimate things to say. But if ever there was a case where you thought it just might be different, it was with Miller.
Miller was 53 years old when Xavier hired him the second time. He’d been through a lot in his career and had the opportunity to come back, settle in and turn Xavier into Gonzaga of the East. In his introductory press conference 2.0 three years ago this week, Miller talked about “lessons learned,” which many translated as he’d gained wisdom and perspective from all the nonsense that happened at Arizona.
Miller said he wanted to “take the program new heights.” Xavier fans interpreted that as Miller would be here a long time, maybe even the rest of this career (although Miller never promised that). “New heights” for Xavier would be the Final Four, where the storied program has never been.
Miller didn’t do that in three years back. So by the standard of “new heights,” Miller failed in his second go-round at Xavier. He took Xavier to the NCAA Tournament twice during his latest stint, including a First Four win last week against the same Texas Longhorns program he’s now taking over. The Musketeers lost in the first round to Illinois on Friday night. Texas hired Miller as its new coach on Sunday, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Let Sean Miller be a cautionary tale, not just to Xavier supporters but any college sports fans. Giving a guy a second chance could mean giving him his latest stepping-stone. He’s only loyal until the next athletic director calls. Forget the Pollyanna thoughts of loyalty coming in the second-chance package.
Xavier fans are pining for Chris Mack to come home for his second go-round as Musketeers coach. Like Miller, Mack also left Xavier for a big-time job. He also had internal issues that cost him that dream job at Louisville. Mack sat out two seasons and got his second chance with the College of Charleston, which he led to a 24-9 record in his first season back.
He’s different from Miller in that Mack is from Cincinnati and played at Xavier. Musketeers fans should want Mack back. He’s a dang good coach.
If Mack does return, though, it’s probably best for Musketeers fans not to get too caught up in his ties to his hometown and alma mater. It could lead to more disappointment for XU fans if the Musketeers have success in the next few seasons.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com
