Blind Coaching Resume
Looking at some of the names thrown out by message board posters got me thinking that a blind resume would be an interesting experiment for the board. To further blind things, I am looking at the past 4 years ONLY.
Coach A: 4 seasons at mid-major conference AND Two NCAA Tournament appearance with 0 wins. 66% overall winning percentage
Coach B: 4 seasons at mid-major conference, three NCAA tournament appearances, 0 NCAA victories, 78% overall winning percentage
Coach C: 4 Seasons at Major Conference, 1 Sweet 16 Appearance (2-1 overall NCAA record) 55% overall winning percentage.
Coach D: 4 seasons at mid-major, 1 NCAA tournament appearance and one final four appearance, 4-1 overall NCAA record, 74% winning percentage.
Some of you may have already guessed who these coaches are, but I tried to be sneaky and throw in a curveball.
Coach A: Medved from Colorado State
Coach B: Devries from Drake
Coach C: Tommy Amaker from Seton Hall Days
Coach D: Dusty Maye from FAU.
Conclusion: In my effort to not make things blatantly obvious, I put the last 4 years of data which probably skewed things. All we can say confidently is every name on this list (and most lists) are better than Tommy Amaker. What was Bill Martin thinking?
March 19th, 2024 at 12:37 PM ^
Just hire Ferris state coach and be done with it
March 19th, 2024 at 12:53 PM ^
He does have a national championship…
March 19th, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
Is there a serious push to do this? I don’t believe a power-5 basketball program should ever consider hiring a guy straight out of D-2.
Your comment reminded me of Gerry Faust. That was perhaps the dumbest coaching hire in the history of coaching hires. Except for maybe Charlie Weis.
I'd argue Faust was worse. Weis could at least win when he had somebody else's players. In his first two seasons Notre Dame went 9-3 and 10-3, improving over Tyrone Willingham's last two seasons (5-7 and 6-6). It wasn't until the players he'd recruited started taking over that the bottom fell out.
Gerry Faust never finished better than 7-5 after inheriting a 9-2-1 team from Dan Devine. To be fair to Faust, he never did worse than 5-6, either, and Weiss went 3-9 in 2007.
Former MSU coach Muddy Waters was worse than both of them. He had coached for a long time at Hillsdale and then at Saginaw Valley before taking over after Daryl Rogers left for Arizona State. His lack of big time experience showed--he went 10-23 at Michigan State and (more importantly for Spartan fans) never beat Michigan.
Just to be clear, I’m not hating on D-2 guys. Just the opposite: Minnesota-Duluth is D-2 in non-hockey sports and I watch them quite a bit, including on occasion getting season tickets to basketball. I like UMD’s b-ball coach a lot and I think he *could* coach D-1 someday, *if* he decides he wants to. But having seen the program up close, I don’t think he could just jump into a seat at, say, Iowa (where he played in college) without some higher-level experience first. His schematic and player-coaching skills certainly seem to me to be good enough for it, but learning the other stuff, the unique challenges of players at that level and donors and fan pressure and now NIL, takes time.
The Charlie Weiss hire was ok, maybe even more than OK at the time. What was CRAZY was the contract extension based the early impression. Granted if Notre Dame had waited or offered less in pay and guarantees then the price would only have gone up if Charlie improved in year three. Shades of Mel Tucker.
Muddy Waters to MSU from SVSC may be an example about what not to hire from D2 (or D3?)
March 19th, 2024 at 12:43 PM ^
B and D I think a stellar career % is a huge factor. Have you won at a high clip before? There is always a Rich Rod potential but if you want them to win at a 75% clip here you cant expect it from a 55% career guy.
March 19th, 2024 at 12:49 PM ^
Couldn't agree more.
Agree, with the caveat that you have to also consider the historical performance of their past stops when taking into account winning rate. The example I think of is in football that Sean Lewis only won 44% of his games at yet he's also won their only bowl game in history and made them consistently competitive ever.
So if there's a coach with solid performance compared to expectations I'd give him a look versus, say, a guy at a Dayton or Liberty who has structural advantages that don't necessarily translate in more competitive environments.
March 19th, 2024 at 12:55 PM ^
Get to Final Four is very hard.
D
March 19th, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
Amaker is a Dookie…
I am firmly on the Niko Medved bandwagon. I would feel good if we landed him as the next coach. I look for his squad to take out UVA tonight in the play in game.
I am not on the Dusty May train. I think he caught lightning in a bottle last year.
I don't know much about DeVries, but I think he would be a solid choice if others say no.
DeVries needs to be looked at with * perhaps. His son is really good, he will be a senior next year. He likely only went to Drake because of his dad. Does that sku some of his success last couple of years? I personally think so.
*skew
March 21st, 2024 at 12:10 AM ^
He thinks the players are just products or commodities.
scuttle at the moment is around Dusty May. for better or not. not really inspiring list of slam dunk options... especially thanks to your blind taste test.
The SEC is loading up long term with coaches. of course, most of those wont work out.. but... Pearl, Oats, etc...
I still wish we'd throw 100M at Pearl and have him say no. The guy exudes joy/enthusiasm and random stupid recruiting violations, which now probably are nothing burgers... (wink wink)... don't diminish his passion and basketball knowhow. Also, the only thing I'd hold against him, is being fired for illegal recruitment of... Aaron Craft.. captain airball.
Every time there is a coaching vacancy everyone on the internet throws out names that have no cultural fit at Michigan. These names include but are not limited to: Urban Meyer, Hugh Freeze, Lane Kiffin, Will Wade and Bruce Pearl.
I don't think any coach with an NCAA violation in the past will get serious consideration from the school.
you do know that our bball program has a terrible history on this front, obviously. And, on the football side, regardless of the validity, our coach barely was present last year due to a myriad of violations.
Ivory tower much?
Culture of winning is better.
Yes, and the basketball issues from 1992 are the exact reason why they won't Wade into Will Wade territory.
I don't think this makes me in an ivory tower. I'm not the administration. I'm not saying I agree, or disagree. I am saying that you can talk about Bruce Pearl all day long - its not likely going to happen.
No f-in way
Bill Martin also hired Beilein. Bill Martin was a money guy. Bill Martin saved the athletic department. RichRod was a way bigger disaster than Amaker and the RichRod hire was celebrated (and also reviled).
My point is, when I rank the Michigan ADs of my liftetime...Bill Martin is not at the bottom. Bill is fine.
Valid point for sure. I guess if money is the main indicator, Michigan should keep Warde Manuel forever. Revenue has never been higher with TV deals and National Championship bump should only increase that.
I'm not sure if I'm being sarcastic or not.
Sorry. Didn't mean to jump down your throat. I'm not his son or anything, but Martin took an athletic department that was in the red and made it self-sufficient. And that's exactly what they hired him for. He was a sports fan, but not a sports guru. He relied on others for help with hiring coaches.
Obviously he doesn't have a perfect record and the Les Miles/RichRod situation was a fiasco (even though some people thought it was a home run) and it was his most important hire. So I get that he has to take shots for that.
Amaker was not a terrible hire at the time. And also he was the backup to Pitino falling through--make your own evaluation of that alternate universe, I suppose.
So what Martin did with money as a money guy is way more than what Manuel is doing with money. Manuel is just simply not bankrupting the athletic department. And there is something to be said for that, but presumably others can manage that as well.
Nice postings overall but it should be easy to discount Warde's credit on the money flowing in as every Big 10 school is getting the same benefit. That benefit isn't due to Warde Manual.
The issue is that it never would have gotten to Rich Rod if Bill had just called Les Miles.
Has there ever been a blind coach?
Officials maybe.
I don't like C. I would prefer a high winning percentage (regardless of mid-major or not). My preference is Maye. I would be happy with any of the 3 though.
It is my preference the new coach not be blind.
Seeing this list, I’d lean towards DeVries. Drake has a history of being competitive so he walked into a situation with some expectations and he has delivered. Normally I would want some proof that the coach can win in the tournament because no one really wants a Matt Painter, other than Purdue, but without looking, I’m guessing his Drake teams were severely overmatched in those three matchups.
Add this with Devries, his kid is a stud and is only a junior
This might actually be a detriment in some ways. If he has one year left, has to make it count and not rebuild.
On the other hand, Michigan gets him playing against higher-caliber talent each night and can help him with more connections in the NBA.
Really depends on how the coach views the situation.
Hire Becky Hammon put an end to the madness.
we could do a lot worse than May or Devries
Coach C is the only coach that fits Warde's hiring criteria.