You all make good points. The MAC needs to be strong and hire excellent coaches. Trust me, I know
However, my point wasn't about retaining Fleming as an assistant, it was that the guy has proven himself in kind of an amazing way as a head coach, on his own standing.
As far as anyone on the staff being at a disadvantage and Kent (I didn't say Can't hah!) needing the momentum or philosophy shift, well, remember when Mike Thomas elevated Keith Dambrot after firing Dan Hipsher the day before? We were at the bottom of the MAC in basketball, and look what Dambrot's done for us there. If you looked at Dambrot's past head coaching experience at smaller schools, he was a turnaround artist just like Fleming. And he was elevated from Hipsher's outgoing staff.
Guys on the staff who've sat in the Head Coach chair before, especially when they've been wildly successful like Fleming, should get a look. I mean, just check out Sacred Heart's record for the years leading up to and the years after Fleming's tenure.
And some guys are better as head coaches than they are as assistants, imho. Obviously I think you're sitting on a gold mine and trust me, I kind of am kicking myself for promoting the guy. But hey, we're wallowing over here anyway, so might as well speak the truth.