Few losing seasons. Increased local, regional, and state attention on a regular basis. National recognition and a place in college basketball lore. Young team that lost more close games than not-close games.

There is, of course, speculation on the reasons Mercer fired Bob Hoffman on Monday.

"He's not recruiting Georgia enough. The top teams in the conference have more Georgia players than him."

First, no they don’t. Of the 10 players making the all-conference teams, one - uno - is an in-stater, VMI's Bubba Parham is from Virginia.

VMI finished 11-21, so ...

Second, that’s as irrelevant as, well, you know, use your favorite analogy. Horrifically irrelevant, especially around national signing day, or any day with football.

As per the conference preseason media guide, there are 13 Georgians on SoCon rosters, and eight on the top four teams. One at Wofford (which, doggone it, has survived with only two in-state players, and four Midwesterners)

Twitter watchers don't get the firing

And the list to replace Hoffman ...

Column: Nobody knew Hoffman's leash was so tight

Sooo ...

The Duke-beaters of five years ago? Starting five of Georgia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Indiana, and Georgia, with top backups from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Fans and administrators can never figure out what they want - among so very many things - in the process: either a fence around the state or recruit nationally. Asprin was invented because of fans and people in charge.

And exactly who, when you put all factors together, the athletic directors think Mercer is supposed to be, destined to be, is tough to figure out.

An academically elite college in a region where education is overly prioritized simply won’t have quite as many backyard prospects as others. Go figure why Kennesaw State is Kennesaw State and not more like Georgia State, which battled severe mediocrity for a good while. Gee, it’s so easy.

And for the love of John Wooden, who cares where the hell somebody is from if they play and practice hard, get better, and are good teammates and good citizens?

"The President hates losing."

Well, duh, who likes it? Think he hates it more than the head coach? Really?

No. He doesn't. No non-coach hates losing more than most coaches or most players.

Think Hoffman got more sleep after that UNCG game than an executive athletics director or athletics director or booster/investor? If so, on what planet might that be?

I’ve long had a motto and belief – among many – in sports, usually when a coach doesn’t give a player a chance or a second chance, but increasingly when it comes to upper mismanagement: You give somebody the opportunity to fall into a hole, you have to give them a chance to get out. When a player or team is down, they need the chance to get back up.

Hoffman, stunningly, didn’t get that chance, and considering his teams have never been down for long …

“The talent level is really down.”

Perhaps the talent level is debatable, veterans and youngsters. Then again, compared to what? Mercer’s past? The rest of the SoCon? You saw those up-and-down records in the first sermon on this topic, right? The conference has no out-and-out standard-bearer the last decade. Four different teams have won the last four conference tournaments and have had the best overall record: Wofford, UNCG, ETSU, and Chattanooga. Three of the four have had a losing season in the last five, ETSU’s 16-14 year in 2014-15 keeping the Bucs off that list. UNCG in 2014-15? 11-22, and 16-18 a year later.

Maybe the Spartans were young.

There is the transition to college basketball, and there is an additional transition to playing for Hoffman, who runs more stuff than the vast majority of coaches out there. You have to be smart to get into Mercer, and you have to be smart to play for Hoffman.

With so many young 'ns, sure, a rough season will appear. But when the light goes on (like it pretty much always does for most of/enough of Hoffman’s players)? You have a couple 20-win seasons to get ready for. Unless …

Too, maybe Hoffman’s batting average in hiring assistants wasn’t what it needed to be, and assistants do more recruiting than head coaches.

Perhaps a gamble didn’t work out, a player’s development stopped. It happens. Ask McKillop, whose Davidson team went from three NCAA Tournament wins to 16-15 in a year, a drop of 11 Ws.

A young team in general can look a little inferior, and a young team grasping the complexities of Hoffball will look even worse, until it looks better.

Mercer, which still can be a verb, is in better shape than it was when Hoffman took over. Obviously. Duh.

But here’s one for you. Mark Slonaker was fired after going 128-187 in 11 years, with two winning seasons and no national postseason. Bob Hoffman was fired after going 209-165 in 11 years and winning a game in every national postseason tournament available, and having four losing seasons.

Granted, under different people in charge – another discussion for another few days - Slonaker wouldn’t have gotten 11 years, no question. A change in administration, overall and in athletics, led to a change in expectations and a very, very, very, very belated increase in spending and staffing. Extraordinarily belated.

And goodness, it paid off. But there’s still something of a “wow” in those facts.

No, Hoffman wasn’t a victim of his success – that’s silly – but he was a victim of decision-makers who somehow think Mercer is any different than many other very similar programs, very similar schools, and that simply throwing money is all it takes. Where those folks think Mercer should be – in real reality, not what passes for reality for most anymore – is quite the question.

Is the program in a downward spiral? No. Dropping from 19 wins to 11 is a negative, but not a spiral. Winning 27 doesn't assure you forever greatness, losing 20 doesn't assure you forever failure.

Take a look at the accompanying chart of the other coaches fired (through Friday). The average yearly record of the dismissed is 13-18. Average. Hoffman: 19-15.

And then there’s off the court, where Hoffman had become one of two faces for Mercer, the other being co-Oklahoma Baptist grad president Bill Underwood.

Hoffman worked ferociously in the world to get the Mercer name out as he did on the court to get wins. He spoke to groups, he returned calls, sent signed items, remembered all sorts of things, engaged the players in the community and on campus, and was about as well-liked among the media as you can get. He answered and returned calls, texts, and email from, well, everybody. He helped.

He marketed, and more than just Mercer hoops.

Yes, there were some in the building – and in other buildings near and not-so-near - to whom he may have been a little too gruff.

Personally: very, very few saw as much Mercer hoops for several years as me, including 2013-14, the last year I covered Mercer sports in general as things at The Old Job changed.

That season was probably the most enjoyable – even before The Win in Raleigh – six months in a career that’s included the requisite high spots – big bowl games, World Series, Super Bowls, state and conference championships, and all that.

It was because of Hoffman, the players he brought in, and the basketball they played. Good God, it was a joyous time, and that group represented so very, very well a university that was lukewarm in general toward athletics and a community for which Mercer sports had been an afterthought. Mercer and Macon didn’t necessarily deserve what that team gave them, and still does.

Their collective personality, intelligence, and energy? Wow. Thankfully, I’ll have a connection of sorts with many players on that team forever, for which I’m grateful.

It was that good.

Sorry for this reality check, but Mercer will for our lifetimes be “Bob Hoffman” and “Duke” more likely than it will ever be “Mercer football” or most anything else. That’s just the way it is. Frankly, barring a real collapse – like losing to Kennesaw and VMI three or four straight times - he should’ve/could’ve been here long enough for “Hoffman Court at Hawkins Arena” to be up for debate.

And now, for reasons only a few can really gather, Mercer’s dude of dudes is done.

I’ve never been a believer in the blank-check thing where, no, you can’t fire this or that coach, he/she should be able to leave when the want. Bull. No team or coach is bigger than the school – note that Florida State and Penn State didn’t close, nor did Alabama or Kentucky or UCLA, etc. - and that’s still the case.

But really, Hoffman earned the right to stay until there was a legit spiral, 11 wins followed by 11 – or fewer - wins, and blowouts rather than close games, losing with seniors and juniors as the top seven or eight, evidence of a trend of iffy recruiting.

That wasn’t the case.

Athletics director Jim Cole asked in the short statement on the firing for “the support of the entire Mercer family as we take our men’s basketball program in a new direction.”

They’ll need prayers, too, that the new direction the administration takes the program isn’t backwards.