Lights out hire by DG. Coach Kerns is exactly what we needed to get the program back on track.

In such an insane year with COVID, to achieve this is really special. And it shows. Pay this man.

Totally agree. He knows what he’s doing and doing it well. Was completely impressed with him when I met him at a football tailgate in 2019. Hopefully we can hang onto him for a bit longer as his future is bright. We are very fortunate to have Coach. Congrats to him and his program. Keep climbing!

See freaking awesome to see.

We need to extend Coach Kerns' contract tomorrow when he gets back to Boone !! .. We are so lucky to have him and he loves being our coach !!! .. Go Apps !! .. Take The Stairs !!

We need to extend Coach Kerns' contract tomorrow when he gets back to Boone !! .. We are so lucky to have him and he loves being our coach !!! .. Go Apps !! .. Take The Stairs !!

Expectations raised, regardless of how the rest of the season plays out: Final Four or bustbecome conference champion and seed 15 next year.


Glad we have him! I didn't get to cheer a whole lot under Capel when I was at App, so it's nice to watch some decent basketball under Kerns.

He is the epitome of Being a Mountaineer

I recall seeing football coaches contracts spelled out before, specifically as they related to bonuses paid for milestones achieved. What is the deal with Kerns? I’m sure he earned something for winning the Belt tournament and reaching the dance. What is a tournament win get him? Don’t we also earn a nice payday (so to speak) for App and the Belt for making the tournament? I know that each win brings in more cash as well.

bigdaddyg wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 09, 2021 9:27 am

I recall seeing football coaches contracts spelled out before, specifically as they related to bonuses paid for milestones achieved. What is the deal with Kerns? I’m sure he earned something for winning the Belt tournament and reaching the dance. What is a tournament win get him? Don’t we also earn a nice payday (so to speak) for App and the Belt for making the tournament? I know that each win brings in more cash as well.

I saw someone, I think a reporter for The Appalachian, say he got a 20,000 bonus for winning the sunbelt tournament and getting a bid to the NCAA tournament.

I met Coach Kerns soon after his hire when he came to the Yosef Club Spring tour event in Greensboro, Spring of 2019. Drinkwitz was there and of course, everyone was talking expectations with him as he had a loaded roster and a great football tradition that he inherited.
I had a conversation with Kerns and welcomed him to App and I was talking about the difference between the expectations between the football and basketball programs. I said something, apparently idiotic now, that'd he'd have to build something from the ground up and it would probably take several years but not to worry because our basketball expectations were pretty low. He just kind of looked at me and said; "here's the thing, I'm too impatient not to win right away. So that's my plan."

I honestly thought he was a tad bit crazy but loved his enthusiasm.

He could be another Cremins and I hope we hold on to him for a while...I'm impressed as hell with what's he's done in such a short amount of time.

Cremins was exactly who I was recalling last night. Very similar situation from the mid 70s.

Looks like he earned $20k (as mentioned above) for the win last night. Seems odd that it’s broken down to $10k for winning the Belt tournament championship and $10k for an at large selection. The first automatically triggers the second. Another $10k to advance to the second round. I guess technically he doesn’t really have a bonus for winning the playin game if that’s our deal?

I have faith DG will seize on the opportunity to extend his contract with a coach and school friendly buyout just incase some other school want him.

I just dug up my post from Jan 28, 2019, when we were all speculating about getting rid of Fox...glad I could influence the hire. Seriously though, I agree with Rick83, I too spoke with Kerns, at Mountaineer fan fest in August ‘19 and was super impressed. He felt like he could win fairly quickly with what he inherited and the potential around the program. He seems super down to earth and easy going. The body language of the entire staff has been impressive to me from day one. It’s obvious that they are cohesive, work together well, and are good at building comaradarie, which carries over to the players.

“After perusing ncaa stats, 2 coaches I would consider are Kelsey at Winthrop (already mentioned) and Dustin Kerns at Presbyterian. The Blue Hose are top 20-30 range on most of the stat pages and already have 13 wins in Kerns’ second year on the job. He was on Mike Young’s staff at wofford for 7 years, is a Clemson alum and is from Kingsport, TN. He was also on Buzz’s staff at UT briefly. I mention this because I felt that a Big South coach might consider App a step up (at least in pay and exposure), although these guys, as well as the radford coach, might be in line for an even better job with continued success.”

ah man, right in the feels. So happy for Coach and the team.

I'm fond of him.

Gotta love this guy. Winning the tournament and advancing to the NCAAs was no fluke. The coaches believed and so the players believed. Like his demeanor on the sidelines. No panic. Has a plan. Coaches to his players strengths. VALUES DEFENSE. Hope we can keep him around for a while. Seems to be a definite program (re)builder.

Incentive Pay...go here...

https://appstatesports.com/documents/20 ... f?id=11889

Go to contract doc page 14 page (Labeled as Addendum Page 1). See paragraph 2..."Competitive Team Success"...

Incentive Pay...go here...

https://appstatesports.com/documents/20 ... f?id=11889

Go to contract doc page 14 page (Labeled as Addendum Page 1). See paragraph 2..."Competitive Team Success"...

I hope DG and Kerns agreed on the contract extension on the way back from Pensacola.

Would love ot see multi year, as much pay raise as we can afford, and a H/H clause if he is hired away.