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When firing a coach isn’t so bad

Some food for thought on Sunday morning while you’re waiting to see if Purdue can make the Big Ten race even closer comes from stat guru Ken Pomeroy. Only it’s not stat based.

The public outcry over Wyoming firing Heath Schroyer – spearheaded by SDSU coach Steve Fisher – may be a little misplaced, Pomeroy writes. Besides being the humane thing to do (who wants to work at a place when they know they’re getting canned?) it may benefit Schroyer and the school. The school aspect has sound reasoning, too.

If Wyoming had waited until March 10th to fire Schroyer, the news would have been buried under an avalanche of Championship Week items. Now (with some help from Fisher) everybody knows Wyoming has an opening. Sure the job may not be desired, but that doesn’t stop semi-credible news outlets from posting a list of possible candidates that makes it seem like an ACC job. If somebody thinks Cuonzo Martin would interview for it, then maybe someone like Matt Brady will seriously consider it.

Then, there’s the Steve McClain aspect.

McClain was a lame-duck coach in 2006 (Pomeroy, as a former Wyoming resident, knows this) when the Cowboys snapped a six-game win streak by reaching the MNWC tournament final. This was somehow enough to stave off a firing for another year. Big mistake.

I’m not sure this strategy would work for a place like N.C. State, which is presumably firing Sidney Lowe after the season. That’s a far, far more attractive job that will be a destination for coaches, not the last gasp or the start point for an up-and-comer.

But perhaps Stetson was taking notes. Other schools might as well.

Want more? I’m also on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.