Should Beilein be a coach of the year candidate?
I was just reading an article by Jason King over at the WWL about the strength of the Big Ten this year. Toward the end of the article, King discussed some random things about the season so far, and this was one of them:
4. Random thought here, but the race for National Coach of the Year is going to be an interesting one. Lots of good candidates but no hands-down favorites. At least not yet. Here are some guys who may be considered: Dana Altman (Oregon), Brad Stevens (Butler), Bruce Weber (Kansas State), Tubby Smith (Minnesota), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Larry Shyatt (Wyoming) and Larry Eustachy (Colorado State).
And for the record, I tend to favor coaches who have surpassed expectations set forth during the preseason, which tends to put guys like Mike Krzyzewski and Bill Self at a disadvantage. But I would have no problem if the coach of a top-five-caliber team ended up winning the award. Staying at the top is often as difficult as getting there.
To be honest, I was surprised that he didn't mention Beilein with those other coaches. Granted, I'm sure he wasn't trying to provide an exhaustive list, but I still feel like Beilein has to be on a short list of coaches in the running.
Your thoughts? I'll hang up and listen.
January 28th, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
means it's a slow sports day. Of course JB is on track right now, BUT so much will happen in two months. Heck 4 weeks ago Tubby Smith was talked about as a COY candidate. How'd that work out?
January 28th, 2013 at 4:33 PM ^
Belein is the only coach of a big time college team (to my knowledge) that looks calm throughout the game for the most part. He seems to have a built in humility to his personality and he doesn't have a "look at me" ego. I think coach Belein would rather have hardware that represents team success than an award that is really a popularity/flavor of the moment award. Frankly, I don't know how high school players can look at other coaches who are constantly losing their cool and then watch coach Belein, how he reacts to everything and how he gives his players more freedom offensively, and not want to play at Michigan first. And yes, I know that is starting to happen, but I wouldn't want anyone else coaching M right now and I could care less about a meaningless award.
January 28th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^
I was shocked that Belien fit all of these new pieces in so quickly. I expected this team to struggle in the beginning as new players found their roles, but they had already found them before they even played one game.
If this team makes it to the final four, Beilein deserves to be coach of the year.