[Cactus Jack]

I think any program that has common football sense would have to consider Justin Haddix as the next head coach and do anything possible to get him. Even if its a Corbin, Trinity, Male, Univerity of Kentucky or no doubt Boyle to keep him. I think plenty of examples has been put in front of all of us on what not to do. Hire Supers and Principles and Board Members who wants to put self politics in front of doing the right thing. But any program putting there best foot forward should hire the best available and if they can steal a coach like a Haddix, I absolutely think they should try. Programs can take a nose dive real quick when the wrong hires is made. I know one thing, he is liked in two towns. Im in both of them on Fridays and I hear the talk. He is a well liked coach. So in my opinion, a program has a option, hire the from the rest or go for the best. If you ask me, I would go for the best. What do you think Boyle County is going to do, go forward or backwards now that they are front and center in title town. They will go after the best available and if they can land what is considered the best coach available, then do so. Its just a smart move on any program to do so. Im sure if you could listen to all the top current head coaches, they no doubt all get offers to coach other programs on a yearly basis. The smartest thing to do as a program is when you have a coach that you like and he is winning championships, do everything in your power to keep him. Make him happy.

I hear you, but there's a difference in "would love to have him", "trying to get him", and actually getting it done.

This isn't on the level of Kentucky basketball fans thinking that UK could fire Calipari and get Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan (who are both apparently just sitting around in the NBA waiting for the call from Lexington), but could be a bit closer on the spectrum than some think. Maybe there are behind the scenes things that I'm not aware of either though.

If you are Corbin and shopping for a coach, but feel you have to make a run at Haddix to appease everyone, you'd probably want to target him and no one else early unless they are very sure that he's the guy they want and there's a great chance that they get him.

At least then, striking out early would let them save face and say "well, we tried" and it doesn't risk running off more eligible hires. At the same time, no one wants to walk into that job as the guy the program settled for when their top choice said no, so it is a conundrum.

In coaching, no one wants to follow a legend or stand in someone else's shadow. Haddix is unusual in that he has almost been vaunted into "legend" status in Corbin despite being involved with the program for less than a decade. His age relative to other "legends" or peers means Corbin fans probably have to compare "the one that got away" with what they ended up with for years to come because there just aren't tons of younger coaches with those type of accomplishments looking to make that type of move.

Corbin fans have almost worked themselves into a no-win situation where anything short of a title only leads to negativity and comparisons to what someone who isn't there could have done. If so, the only ways out of that would be to: 1.) get him back from a school that most everyone sees as higher on the food chain, or 2.) win so many with whoever you have that the perception changes.

This isn't an ideal situation for the guy who'll probably need to come in and play catch-up at building a legacy; and it definitely isn't ideal for the guy you have that has already lost to him a few times.