Fordham University Fires Head Men's Basketball Coach Tom Pecora

Fordham has fired head men's basketball coach Tom Pecora, the school announced in a press release today. It also made its decision public via Twitter:

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Fordham Announces Change in Leadership of Men's Basketball Program http://t.co/XIhKheEI6h

— Fordham Athletics (@FordhamRams) March 18, 2015"

When contacted by Bleacher Report, Fordham athletic director David Roach declined to comment further.

Pecora had been at Fordham for five years and had a record of 44-106 during his tenure. He had two years remaining on his contract.

In its press release, Fordham explained a bit behind the decision:

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The decision was based on the fact that the University’s men’s basketball program has regrettably not achieved the desired results or made the sustained progress hoped for under Mr. Pecora’s leadership, as measured by the won/loss record over five years, which was 44–106 (29.3 percent), and the recruited student-athlete retention rate over the past four years, which was 50 percent." (Fordham later added that the retention rate "does not include the six freshmen on the 2014-2015 roster.")

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It's true that the Rams didn't have much success under Pecora. It's also true that no coach has had much success, certainly nothing sustained, since the school joined the Atlantic 10 prior to the 1995 season.

Though he didn't get it going in the Bronx, Pecora has a track record going back to his days at Hofstra when he won 155 games in nine seasons. There's reason to believe that, given more time, he could have gotten it done at Rose Hill.

Even as the losses piled up, Pecora showed an ability to recruit talent. He brought in Eric Paschall, the New England Prep Player of the Year in 2013, who led the Rams in scoring this season and was named A-10 Rookie of the Year; Jon Severe, Mr. New York Basketball in 2013, who as a freshman set a school record by scoring 536 points; and Christian Sengfelder, who was named A-10 Rookie of the Week five times in 2014-15 and made the conference All-Rookie team.

Fordham won 10 games this year with seven freshmen and only three upperclassmen on its roster. It beat George Mason in the first round of the conference tournament, despite the fact that Paschall was hobbled by a high ankle sprain and played just 11 minutes and scored only one point. The next day, with Paschall out, Fordham came within minutes of upsetting VCU, the eventual A-10 champion.

With another year of development under their belt, one would think the Rams would have been a much better team under Pecora next season. For that reason and more, you could make a strong argument that firing him was a bad decision.

Now, the Rams will have to start over again, a familiar position for a university that will employ its fifth coach in the last 16 years. That's not the type of stability you need to be successful in college basketball.

Fordham says it "will launch a national search for a new head men’s basketball coach immediately, and will use the services of a search firm in the process."

Here we go again. It didn't have to be this way.

Charles Costello is a Fordham Rams Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Follow him on Twitter: @CFCostello