Mueh to evaluate Reynolds and men's basketball program rest of the season
LAS VEGAS – Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh received an e-mail late Wednesday night, telling him Air Force men’s basketball had lost to Division III Colorado College.
“And I didn’t sleep last night,” Mueh said in the press box at Sam Boyd Stadium before Air Force’s football game against UNLV on Thursday. “I just feel for the kids. I love our team. I can’t explain it. I honestly can’t explain it. It’s only the second game, but we should not have lost to a Division III team, with all due respect to CC. They obviously played a great game. But we should not have lost to them.”
Mueh, an unwavering supporter of coach Jeff Reynolds through the past two seasons, even as the Falcons went 1-31 in Mountain West play, said he will be closely watching the Falcons’ basketball team the rest of the season and evaluating the future of Reynolds, who is in his fourth season.
“I don’t like changing coaching staffs once a season has started, midway through or whatever,” Mueh said. “I just don’t believe in that. I don’t think that’s good for the players, I don’t think that’s good for the coaching staff, etc.
“Having said that, we’re just going to have to watch this. And watch it from the standpoint of, I want these players to go out and have fun playing the game. If it starts to get to a point where this is affecting morale and their heads are hanging, then we’re going to have to do something. Because that’s not fair to them.”
Mueh made it clear he has not given up on the season. The Falcons are only two games in. And he liked what he saw in the first half of the opener against Colorado-Colorado Springs. Mueh said the Falcons can turn it around Saturday by beating a Tennessee State team that has played tough so far this season.
But he also echoed the words of a column that was posted on the Gazette website on Thursday and termed the loss “a catastrophe.”
“I love these players,” Mueh said. “I love this coaching staff for the people they are, but something has to happen.
“It’s going to be about the kids. That’s what will determine what kind of decision I have to make. I don’t like changing coaches. I don’t like that in any sport. I just think that’s so disruptive. But at the same time, my priority, my first priority, is the kids.”
Mueh has been deliberate in making coaching changes. In the past year, the women’s volleyball and women’s basketball coaches were removed. Those moves were made for the sake of the cadets, Mueh said.
“If you’re not having fun playing Division I sports, there’s something wrong and changes have to be made,” Mueh said. “That was true in volleyball – the kids weren’t having fun. That was true in women’s basketball – the kids weren’t having fun. I talked to the basketball team last year, and this year. And they’re excited. They’re still excited. I haven’t talked to them since this game. This is such a shock this happened, because I know these kids are better than that.”
After the loss, Falcons forward Tom Fow said it was the players’ fault and didn’t reflect the coaches.
“The coaches are doing everything they possibly can,” Fow said. “They’ve given us everything. It’s on us as players, including myself mostly, to get everybody to get on the same page.”
Although Mueh will be watching the program closely and a change could be made if things don’t improve, he reiterated there are a lot of games remaining.
“I’m always positive when it comes to this and a devastating loss like that sometimes triggers something in them, the coaching staff and the players that might propel us to get a whole lot better this season,” Mueh said.
He added one more observation, "We're not going to schedule any more D-IIIs. That's an absolute not win."
