A coaching change is tough for any program. Players are no doubt, torn between loyalty for the school and loyalty to coach Sutton. You can’t help but be loyal to the man who recruited you. In spite of this, I hear the BB players are very excited about the prospects of playing for Ford. (In defense of the Sutton legacy, I do believe that the Holder/Sutton relationship was stressful to both Suttons.) There was evidently some problem with Sutton and with the program, because OSU had become perennial losers in the first round of the NIT. The NIT may be good enough for some, but not for Oklahoma State Basketball. Ford came into a delicate situation, and I am sure it will still be some time before everybody seems to come together as a unit. Go Coach Ford. GO POKES!

Ford seems to be a great hire. Ford is probably one of the very best of the up and coming generation of coaches. He turned around some programs that were in trouble. He has been successful from the NAIA to U. Mass. Those who claim that Ford is not proven need to check his prior success. I believe he can take OSU to the place we alum expect. We all fantasized about Bill Self coming home. Bill Self chose not to come home. Holder was able to get another great "young" coach. He will do well. GO POKES!!!

I like his fire!

I do feel good about this choice.

Someone needs to get Travis Ford an orange tie.....the red one won't do. (it looked red to me..anyway.)

not sure...seems like along shot

pokes

I'm sure this will be a good hire. However, I do not see him being at any better place in his career than Sean Sutton. Sort of looks like a lateral move to me rather than an improvement.

If he loses then they'll eventually fire him, if he wins then Kentucky will hire him away. Either way the Aggies lose.

He is very like-able....and seems to bring a breath of fresh air to the basketball program. Having said that takes nothing away from Sean Sutton. I don't blame Sean for the gray clouds which hovered over his program. It seems obvious that he was shortchanged. The pressure was there and was exerted on Sean during the entire season. It had to be a huge distraction for the coach and the team. _______Travis Ford begins a new page. I wish him well. I also wish Sean Sutton the best of everything. I hope that Ford gets the rebound and scores well with the opportunity he's been given. I hope that Sean can do the same on whatever path he now will travel. God Bless!

I was trying to listen to your poscast about the hiring of Ford and cannot hear most of it. Lean into the micrphone, speack up or turn up the volume, please. The volume on my computer is maxed and I could not hear half of it. Also, can you find an eaer way to make sure we give you feed back concerning the web site beside a list of phone numbers.

I wanted a Cadillac and got a Ford! What a let down. I guess we will know in 2 years if we got the Edsel.

Welcome to Oklahoma State University Coach Ford! I wish you all the best. - - - - - - - - - - - Coach Sean Sutton: May your future be as bright as you deserve.

I think that the suspected targets like Dixon and Miller were too well entrenched in their programs to just up and leave, despite the potential financial windfall. Both men have excellent recruiting classes coming in and Pitt is supposed to be in the top 5 preseason rankings. I think it was bad timing, although I emailed Rhode about the "Dixon interference" in his article and he said he hopes this is explained a little in the press conference. That'd be great, eh? "Welcome to OSU Travis Ford-Mr Holder, why couldn't you land Jaime Dixon?"

However, in saying all of that, Travis Ford's name has been kicked around as an up-and-comer in the coaching ranks, and with Ford at OSU, Capel at OU, and even Scott Sutton at ORU; the state of Oklahoma has some of the youngest and most energetic coaches in the country (although it does appear that one needs to check Scott's pulse at times). If these guys stay a while, this could be a very interesting time for college basketball in the state. I applaud the hiring of Travis Ford, I think he will refocus and reenergize a program that was becoming stale and losing its way.

The Kentucky faithful love him and see him as Billy G's replacement down the road. Hopefully, both schools will be in a bidding war for him when that time comes. I think he'll do a great job.

We got a Ford. I just hope he's not an Edsel. (Does anyone know where that joke came from????)

I think that only time will tell, but he has the experience that OSU neeeded in a coach. He learned from an all time great, and has excellent media skills. He will energize the fan base in Stillwater and may start something special again there. The guy has potential or he wouldn't have been offered the other jobs that he has been offered this year! Overall I believe it was a really good hire for Oklahoma State.

I love the hire. Travis was coached by one of the best (Pitino). He has turned every school around he was at. Give hIm a chance. I know Holder will. It's his guy. He picked him. He wasn't handed to him like Sean. I think the program is headed in the right direction.

The decision has been made. Now, everyone, give him a chance. If it doesn't work, well you can say, "I told you so". If it does, try and be satisfied.

I truly hope Mr. Ford is the right hire. Only time will tell, but there were more proven coaches than he. This is the Big 12, a far cry from Ford's experience level. I also think his style of play is not the best for the Big 12 teams he will be facing. I do have an observation that is: I believe sean Sutton will be hired by a good college and will have a better record than Ford.

I'm not going to comment on Mr. Ford, other than the fact that I wish him the best of luck, and I'm excited to see if the program can succeed under his direction. What bothers me the most is the number of OSU "Fans" that I see bashing and speaking negatively about Sean Sutton and especially Eddie Sutton. Let's keep in mind who we are, where we come from, and how true fans are supposed to act. We're COWBOYS, and that means something me as an alumni of this great school. Eddie and Sean both played at OSU and coached at OSU, and dedicated their lives to OSU. Eddie restored the program to the national spotlight, and while doing that reached a level of wins that ranks him in the top winningest coaches in the Nation. Sean was dealt a tough hand...his dad's early departure, and an embarrasing situation for the program and the family, and trying to live up to a reputation of a GREAT (not just good) coach. Give Sean the respect he deserves and wish him well. As for Eddie, he will always be remembered in the hearts of true Cowboy fans as "Coach", our coach, alongside with his mentor and coach Mr. Iba. If you're too yough to know this, or didn't actually graduated from OSU then I suggest you get a history book and read about the legacy of these two men and what they have accomplished. Go Pokes!!

Only time will tell.... but will they give him enough of it- that is the question.

Welcome to OSU!

We will see in two years! I am excited! Welcome Mr. Ford.

Did OSU make the right choice? NO WAY! Bill Self would recommend this guy. I know Bill Self! Bill Self and i went to Edmond High School in 1976-1980, As for picking this coach, I think Holder got this guy out of cracker jack box, the prize in the box is a coach that will be a reject!

Anything is better than an aging Eddie Sutton or his son Sean.....This guy is young and looks very self assured. Two things in his favor.

Well how do we know that this guy didn't come highly reccomended by Bill Self...the guy said he was willing to help in any way possible. Lets give the guy a chance and not throw him to the dogs before he even gets out of the gate...he's got some talent to work with in stillville so lets see what he puts together next winter...

Well, he gets two years and nothing more according to Holder's methods unless he is successful. Good luck.

Travis Ford is extremely connected in recruiting circles. His father has operated a major camp for many years that attracts the best talent. Travis has rubbed shoulders with the coaches of the nation's top athletes at the high school and AAU levels since he was just a kid himself. He now has the leverage of coaching in the Big XII to land these guys for himself. I think he is an excellent hire and most likely the best hire for OSU. It was great to go after Self and we would have loved to have him, but Travis Ford is definitely not an afterthought.

Right choice? That implies that there was more than "one" interview. Were there any others even considered? Is this fella like a nephew of Boone or Hargis?

NO! OSU absolutely did not make the right choice and I'm not refering to the Ford hire. That hire certainly isn't very inspiring. It might work out and it might not. OSU made it's big mistake in letting Pickens push Holder into the AD spot and an absolutely huge, devastation mistake in letting Holder fire Sean Sutton after only 2 seasons, a winning record and a team showing dramatic improvement. There is absolutely nothing that indicates Ford will be more successful than Sean and we threw away the great tradition with the Sutton family for this??? It makes me sick!

I mean he's young and has proven himself at the mid-major level. But can he do it in the Big 12? I think he can and he has the offensive mindset that I believe will fit the current players we have. He better get here and start recruiting though.

I don't necessarily think that Travis Ford is a better basketball coach in many respects than Sean Sutton. But his father didn't succumb to the pull of alcoholism in an inopportune way, his players have probably not gotten in trouble with alcohol in the same way and he hasn't had good players want to leave. He seems able to get teams to play with successful effort and to value what you can accomplish versus what you wished you could. OSU could use that right now. He's improved programs everywhere he's gone and he's been a couple of places. A few years ago that was Bill Self, wasn't it? Sean needs to go some places too and do what this guy has done and what has come Travis Ford's way will come Sean Sutton's way the same way. This is a good hire. It's a shame OSU couldn't have gotten Dixon or Lowery, but as people have pointed out, there are issues. I'm very glad somebody the caliber of Travis Ford wanted to take the challenge of coming to OSU. This looks like a good hire to me. I wish Sean the best and he obviously has some capability or his team wouldn't have gone on the nice run it did after an awful losing streak. So, I hope to see him in coaching again and will follow his teams when he is. But right now, everything considered, maybe Travis Ford is the best thing that could happen for OSU.

Richard-Do you really think that, after Self turned us down, Boone Pickens himself sifted through all the possible candidates out there, picked Ford, and ordered Holder to hire him? Get real.

I've already gone on record on here as saying based on his background and past record, this may turn out to be a solid hire. But, one thing that is hard to gauge is how well he can recruit at the Big 12 level. The smaller schools in Kentucky aren't comparable at all and UMass is an A10 school with very high academic standards. One thing that may help is that he likes to play the Pitino-style up-tempo game and recruits love that. Keiton Page is probably really happy he stuck with us. If Ford works out, let's hope Billy Gillispie has a long, successful career at Kentucky.

no.... OSU did not make the right choice. I am very very disappointed!!!! Bummer

OSU didn't have a choice... only Boone.

From Bill Self to Travis Ford? I don't understand their motives at OSU anymore. Pressure out, notice I didn't say FIRE, Sean Sutton, to bring in someone with the same history and record? Isn't that like shopping for a BMW and "settling" for a "Ford"?
I'm a diehard Cowboys fan, but this hire doesn't inspire me. I'll give him a shot though and see where the program is 2 years from now.
I think Holder hired him because they share the same taste in golf clothing.

Ford has shown some success, but not in a setting like the rugged Big 12. I'm cautiously optimistic that he'll be able to bring his turnaround success to Cowboy Country. This isn't the headline hire we expected TBoone's money to buy, but I think it's a smart hire. The only money candidate out there that I think would've been a good hire - any of the Calipari's or Gillespie's would've been following dollar signs. This gives Ford a chance to make his mark, and if/when the time comes, Barry's right - then it'll be Boone's turn to poney up to keep him. I was mad as hell to see Sean get kicked to the curb, but we have to move on. Let's support this guy and see where he takes us.

Ford took left-overs from the ACC and Big East and won his conference. A-10 is a 1-2 tourney team conference so you can not compare the two. Instead of looking at where he took them by itself, look at what he started with...nothing. Now he has a decent core coming back, great facilities, fans (despite all of you "everyone hates this choice" maroons) and should UK come calling in a couple of years, THAT is where TBP money when come into play. The amazing thing is that Patrick, Bob and I all appear to agree. If the three of us can become polarized on an opinion, just think what the Cowboy faithful will be like once he starts to work.

Charles: Get lost!

Tim - I know where Duke is getting their next coach (if Capel is ever successful).

Nice Bob. Good to know the future of our fanbase is in the hand of classy people like you.

Hmmm, a guy with ties to Kentucky. If he's successful at OSU, I know where Kentucky's getting their next coach!

Originally I was skeptical, but after looking into it, Ford seems to be a great hire. The guy knows how to turn basketball teams around and that's exactly what OSU needs. Fresh blood will invigorate the program.

Interesting that Ford's smiling picture on newsok has the NIT emblem in the background because that is what OSU will be able to achieve in the future. Loyalty should mean something...obviously the money that Boone made for Holder get more loyalty than what the Sutton's did for the University. Our basketball's teams success will no longer be an embarrassment for Boone's boy Gundy. Bring on the SuperSonics...I'm done.

What happened to T Boone pickens money enticing a well known coach. I thought money was the problem. Sean Sutton has a similar record as Ford so this doesn't seem like a great hire. Very disappointing. Let's give Ford two years, the same as we gave Sean.

I am going to withhold reservation for three years, which is a time period I think ALL coaches should be given, absent some nefarious behavior. I think Sean Sutton should have been given a third year, but what is done is done. I guess it's time to rally behind Coach Ford and see where he takes us...

I think it's a pretty uninspired hire. I'd be angry if I were an OSU fan.

Right choice is subjective depending on what you believe was within the realm of possibilities. OSU haters were saying all along we were going to do nothing but throw money at someone, hire a mercenary for instant gratification. Holder proved everyone wrong and hired a good coach with a track record of turning around programs.

Well Tim, Overland Park...I guess you speak for Bill Self? You and the other naysayer's posting here seem to forget the real reason Sean was dismissed... LEADERSHIP ABILITY! He had none...nada...zero! What part of that can't you crybabies get hold of? What Travis has shown, IS that quality. Can he coach in the Big 12? Sure, Sean did...problem was he couldn't LEAD. Give the guy an even break and support him the way you would have Bill Self. Both Self and Ford were pretty good players and both played for good coaches. Fan support still means something...even at OSU. I find it interesting that we have two young coaches for the Bedlam series that played at Duke and Kentucky...let the good times roll, we're both in good hands...just my opinion...