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TCU Basketball: How getting fired at Texas-Arlington was the best thing for coach Scott Cross

By Tristan Freeman

AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 2: Head coach Scott Cross of the Texas-Arlington Mavericks yells instructions to his players as they play the Texas Longhorns at the Frank Erwin Center on December 2, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 2: Head coach Scott Cross of the Texas-Arlington Mavericks yells instructions to his players as they play the Texas Longhorns at the Frank Erwin Center on December 2, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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Scott Cross was recently fired at Texas-Arlington after over a decade with the school. Now an assistant at TCU, he might be in the best position of his coaching career.

When it comes to mid-major basketball, schools know that with the exception of a few, the likelihood of a head coach staying long isn’t very high. A number of them end up getting fired, with the successful ones leaving for a job among the power conferences.

Mid-major programs try very hard to keep a quality coach, while makes what Texas-Arlington did this past season all the more baffling. After 12 seasons, they decided to fire head coach Scott Cross, who amassed 225 wins and took the Mavericks to their first and only NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008.

The person who made that decision was Athletic Director Jim Baker, who wants the program to become the next Gonzaga. This was a surprise move that created a backlash in the NCAA Basketball community. At just 44 years old, Cross was considered an up-and-coming coach who made his alum Mavericks a perennial contender in the Sun Belt Conference.

Since getting canned, he has been able to get another job in the state. This time, as an assistant for TCU Basketball. The Horned Frogs made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 20 years and with Jamie Dixon in charge, they’re trending up as a program.

https://twitter.com/TCUBasketball/status/984563383637889024

This is one of a few times in coaching history that a firing may have been a “good” thing for someone. The 2017-18 UT Arlington team had eight seniors (including 2018 NBA Draft pick Kevin Hervey) and were likely heading into a rebuilding mode for the next couple of seasons. This would’ve had an effect on his coaching stock if things really went south in 2019 and 2020, so Cross ultimately was spared from those issues. Instead, his firing was viewed as unjust, making him a viable candidate for another coaching gig.

The former Mavericks Head Coach will now be one of the top assistants for the next couple of years. TCU will be competing for NCAA Tournament trips and Cross, along with Dixon will recieve credit. Due to the high number of recent power conference coaching changes, there might not be many big options for the next couple of years. In the meanwhile, he can wait and grow as a coach with one of the best in the business in Dixon.

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Getting fired is never a fun thing and having it happen as an alma mater of the school is an even bigger blow. But instead of his coaching stock going down, Cross is in the best coaching position of his career now at TCU. It’s as good of a rebound situation as any fired mid-major coach could ask for.

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