EDIT: Commentor BK asked a legit question, which was didn’t I just say yesterday that Bruiser Flint did more with less? Yes, but I used poor words in describing the difference. I addressed it in the comments with: I feel like Bruiser gets short-shafted by everyone for not being a good coach. Flint has won three COY awards and consistently wins games with what everyone perceives as less talent. The “less” was referring to less credit for being good at his job than anyone else. Coen is on a different level in terms of support, which is the gist of this entry.

So I’m poking around at some four-year records yesterday, and the deeper I got the more it became clear: pound for pound, Bill Coen is the best coach in the conference.

(Side note: in your spare time you do things like paint the bathroom or surf the webisphere for travel deals. I peruse CAA men’s basketball four-year records.)

Here’s what I mean: determining “the best floor coach” is a little like determining the best beer. You know the bad ones, and there are a lot of good ones. It is indisputable that Coen is among those thought to be a top flight basketball tactician. So there’s that.

No, why I believe Coen deserves a raise is this–nobody has done more, with less, than Coen.

The basis is that only four teams have managed a .500 or better conference record each season over the past four years. VCU (56-16); ODU (51-21); Mason (49-23); and Northeastern (42-30). Second side note–Hofstra has gone 47-25 in the past four years but finished 8-10 in 2007-08.

That success is laudable, but layer onto that Coen’s underappreciated status on his own campus–Huskies hoops lags behind hockey in support, dollars, and interest. Even with this year’s renovations, Mathews Arena is still a hockey venue.

And remember Coen lost a scholarship thanks to the shenanigans of the departed Ron Everhart, who also took the team’s best returning player (Shawn James) and all the basketballs. That’s right, everything from players to practice gear to basketballs. Bill Coen didn’t start his tenure at Northeastern with an empty cupboard–his first job was to build the darn cupboard.

It bears repeating, and in its own paragraph: Coen has accomplished all of this while never losing more than he won. In conference, of course, because the Northeastern coffers were so depleted he’s been forced to play multiple buy games in November and December.

In building this program, Coen also has not taken one shortcut. He had three All Academic Team members in 2007-08 (only William & Mary had that many) and two more last year.

Finally, let me lay the hammer stat on you.

Look, we all know this whole deal, at its core, is about money. Yes, the Nolte (oops, and thanks Paul) presser at the end of Blue Chips money. We get to cheer and laugh and cry and write long blog posts about belief, but athletics directors and presidents have big heaping Excel spreadsheets to which they are beholden.

It’s significant and very important that every year some teams will outspend others by a wide margin. Imagine what you could do to your competition with an extra $500,000–every year.

Now, let’s not deal with the revenue side. Any corporation can “find” incremental dollars in any budget, and you can always play a buy game or two to add $100K to that line. You know, like NU has done.

But the expense side–the amount you are willing to invest in your basketball program–is the key part of this equation. Yes, these numbers are calculated differently from school to school and therefore not precise, but you can absolutely draw a relative inference of the money funneled to the basketball program from these numbers. It’s obvious who spends and who does not.

Note the teams “usually” at the top of the standings are the ones that spend the most on their basketball programs. The teams that are “usually” scuffling to avoid playing on Friday at the CAA tournament (or worse) are at the bottom of that chart.

Except Northeastern. Ninth in spending and fourth in success, with a predicted bright future. A higher salary would only scratch the surface.

It’s your job to boo Janning, Allen, and Adako off the court. Have at it, and have fun. When they come to your building give ‘em the hell every visitor deserves. (I’m trying to give you some extra juice by talking Janning into growing out a mullet.)

But in the few weeks we have left before we get caught up in every missed free throw and charge/block call, it is important to me to allow for some appreciation of “the right way.”