A lot has been said over Final Four weekend about the accomplished coaches for each team.

Now, with the hiring of the new Eastern men’s basketball coach approaching, it’s a good time to look back at the situation leaving the Panthers coach-less. It’s also a good time to look toward the direction of the program moving forward.

Looking at Rick Samuels’ years at Eastern, it’s difficult to find a time when he hasn’t been a great promoter for the basketball program and athletic department. I haven’t heard anyone minimize his value from that standpoint.

Then why not ask Rick Samuels back to coach the 2005-06 men’s basketball team?

Well, for one, it would be impossible to move forward as a program with a coach entering his 26th season on the sidelines.

Fans of the Samuels era may not have much of a problem with things staying where they are, but the fact remains, Samuels was a career .500 coach. He led Eastern to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths, but since taking the Panthers to the 2001 Tournament, Eastern has gone 47-68 without breaking above the .500 mark.

None of this at all takes away from his character, but none of this encourages me to have him coach a 26th season.

His supporters may say, “Well, what do you expect? Eastern is a small school.”

I think the Eastern athletic department has every right to expect more than trading one win for one loss.

While judging a coach solely on wins and losses is foolish, it’s not as foolish as judging that coach without considering his record. That doesn’t make the athletic department slimy; it makes the athletic department practical.

With that said, it’s imperative Eastern brings in a coach capable of getting results in the win-loss column, all while continuing the tradition of having a clean, respected program.

The new coach, though, has to want more than being respected: He should want the Panthers to be feared.

While Eastern isn’t currently a mid-major college, who’s to say that can’t be changed. Gonzaga wasn’t a force 10 years ago.

However, by hiring a coach with such high ambitions, Panther nation has to realize that personal ambition may shorten his stay.

If a new coach were to come and drastically improve the program, Eastern may not be able to keep him in town when other schools come calling.

But, that’s part of the environment a school like Eastern has to deal with.

The new coach’s intentions should not be to spend to 25 years on Eastern’s sidelines. He should want to be successful here, but he should also want to continue climbing the coaching ranks.

Eastern Kentucky University had a coach like that, Travis Ford, and, after completing EKU’s best season in history including a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Ford accepted the head coaching position at the University of Massachusetts.

Ford wanted to continue climbing the college basketball ladder, and the next Eastern coach should have similar aspirations.

Hopefully, high ambitions from a coach can translate to high ambitions from the athletic department.

Dan Woike, a senior journalism major, can be reached at [email protected]