Had we offered Izzo to coach here...
Was wondering....Had we offered MSU coach Tom Izzo to be our basketball coach when he was an assistant early on for Jud Heathcote, whether he'd have even accepted to coach M or stayed at MSU to succeed Heathcote? And i wonder the backlash or angst that would have been present in the M faithful, of having hired an unknown Sparty no less. This especially would be interesting to me, what many folks think how the hire would have been digested and viewed. And I would figure the only opportunity to get him would have been in his first few years when Heathcote had no immediate retirement plans, though I do not know who our coach was in those years or if we were even looking for a new coach. Hopefully someone here can contribute to these thoughts better than I can. Thanks in advance.
I would like to know if those photograph actually took place, and what the end result was. That does not look like a positive situation.
check the shadow on the wheel
Alternatively, check the highlight.
I generously give negs to stupid posts.
Izzo was a shot in the dark as the hire to replace Jud. He had no previous head coaching experience, he was an assistant who put his time in at MSU, was not coveted anywhere else to become a head coach. MSU hoops at that time was fairly irrelevant, they were just hoping for somebody in Izzo to not fall flat on his face as the replacement for Jud. They were just hoping to keep the staus quo, they got lucky and Izzo turned out to be a lighnting bolt for MSU hoops.
The Bo hire was also considered by many a shot in the dark, by Don Canham.
Bo was a head coach at Miami (the other one) prior to becoming HC at Michigan. And a pretty successful one, as well. Further, he had the endorsement of Joe Paterno (yes, that one). He was no "shot in the dark." In fact, if anything, he was a "safe bet."
I did not say that I considered Bo a shot in the dark hire, but at the time many people considered it to be so.
Yes, those who didn't know college football, or who had assumed it had to be a hire from the Fritz Crisler lineage. Canham was no gambler, nor one who tended to shoot from the hip.
Of course, I have seen the headlines that read, "Bo, who?" But those were in the Detroit papers whose editors probably didn't know there were college football teams outside East Lansing or Ann Arbor.
Njia, I fully agree... and aside, I think Don Canham is underappreciated to some extent, by the collective M faithful.
really? he was groomed to be the coach for some time. and he was also a great recruiter. i predicted at the time that msu could be even better under izzo. jud hated recruiting. if izzo learned just a little bit of coaching from jud, he would have success.
also, it's silly to call a program irrelevant when they made the ncaa tourney 5 out of 6 of jud's final years; including 22-6 (14-4 big ten) his final year. get a clue buddy.
Those 4 first and second round exits, and 1 NIT birth were amazing!!
i just can't see any universe where something like this happens
All he had to say to instate recruits for whom he competed with Michgan his first ten years was "Ed Martin scandal." This tipped the balance grossly in his favor. Then, luckily for him, he was able to "learn on the job" and become a great good college coach.
I have been using the phrase "great college coach" during the discussions of the last ten days, but I might have to revisit my use of the word. I guess it depends on one's criteria. If you count what he has done with the program overall, "great" would apply. I have one question, though:
Can someone who has the same number of National Championships as Steve Fisher be called a "great coach?"
I am leaning toward giving him the benefit of the doubt for all of those Final Fours and last year's smoke-and-mirrors run to the title game, but I don't know if I should. Winning another NCAA Championship would cement him as "great," but I am hoping that he doesn't get that far before he finally says yes to the NBA.
If you actually "think like this", then I ask you, can someone with the same number of National Championships as John Cooper be considered a great football coach? That's what I thought. Put some thought into what you say before saying it, it will serve you well.
I think it would be funny to offer him $10 million a year and watch him switch schools and cause mass choas in East Lansing. Again, given his feelings for MSU he'd probably reject the offer and then we'd look quite foolish, but if we KNEW he'd take it, that would be awesome (if we were in the market for a coach that is).
Since we so many of those money trees in the arboretum.
Literally every decision in the history of human-kind has lead to me sitting at a desk on the third floor of an office building north of Grand Rapids staring at a computer screen right now shaking my head at how human-kind could have lead me to such an unsatisfying last thirty seconds of my life. Thanks, Gino. May your future posts be half as amazing as your pizza.
Led. Not lead. Led is past tense of lead.
http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/lead-vs-led/
EDIT: I do realize this is pedantic and petty, but there is a plague of misuse of this homonym pair - not just on MGoBoard, but everywhere - and my mother is an English teacher, so every time I see it I cringe.
last night to watch the NBA finals game 6 (which was terrible btw) on DVR along with the pregame show (I like hearing the coaches wired), when it was fully interrupted by an Izzo announcement. I listened for about 5 minutes (which I thought was plenty), but after I realized it wasn't ending anytime soon, I fast forwarded through his speech (which took up the whole pregrame!). Even w/ FF-ing, that was a pretty lengthy speech to simply notify the state of Michigan that he was declining Cleveland's offer -- essentially he let us all know that . . . "nothing has changed and everything is the same." As great a coach as Izzo is, I think he shows more than once a year (the logo change he tried to sell his fanbase on for Nike's benefit wasn't that long ago) how much attention and publicity his ego requires. This most recent transgression would've been fine so long as Izzo didn't infringe on my NBA pregame show. Priorities, Izzo, priorities.
... watching the media blow Izzo at that press conference, or watching the NBA.
I watched a meaningless regular season Tigers game last night rather than watch a NBA Finals deciding game. The NBA just feels rigged to me. The refs control the outcome far too often. Game 7?!!? I'm shocked!
There is no such thing as a meaningless regular season Tigers game when Cabrera is in the lineup.
... and I can't prove that the NBA is rigged. The FBI did that for me when they found Tim Donaghy selling the mafia inside information that allowed them to win better than 60% of the games they bet on.
But even if the most naive sports fan still wants to believe the NBA isn't corrupt, then they have to concede the league has done nothing to change popular perception, as your post proves.
For instance, Joey Crawford--a ref with a history of professional conduct issues that led to a $25K fine and indefinite suspension--is back on the court officiating these playoffs. David Stern either A) has only 3 employable officials or B) doesn't give a rip about perception.
I would never want that attention whore at the University of Michigan.
No coach should ever be bigger than the program. It's about the team as we know around here.
I don't think he is an attention whore. Any coach as successful as he is will be in the spotlight more than his players. He is actually a pretty humble guy, and known as one who is a pretty nice guy who is willing to give most all people the time of day if they approach him. I have come accross people who know him or interracted with him. Not an ego like a Caliparri or someone like that.
He sure didn't give that kid the time of day when he asked about the Cavs job. Who would say 'bad question' to a kid? Izzo to me exudes arrogance.
Lets be serious here, the only reason he is staying committed to MSU is because Lebron isn't committing to anything right now.
Oh yea, lets call a press conference immediately following the President's Oval Office address (this is not about politics), but he doesn't want the attention.
"Great question kid! Thanks for asking that in front of the press. Tell your dad this was a great idea."
You're telling me he would have jumped ship to win multiple championships on Lebron's back? Who wouldn't. You're fishing for apples here.
that has been removed from the internets. Here's a copy of it at least:
So LeBron James isn’t returning Tom Izzo’s calls? (Assuming the coach has been trying to get in touch with him.)
Comedy bit time on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning”!
Here’s part of the tape Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic played Monday of Izzo’s fake messages left on LeBron’s fake answering machine:
Machine: “Next message.”
Izzo: “Hey, LeBron, Tom Izzo calling. I was hoping to talk to you about staying in Cleveland. … Give me a call if you get chance.”
Machine: “Next message.”
Izzo: “Uh, just wanted to remind you that even though I really hope you come back to the Cavaliers, uh, if I take the job, I would be in charge. Just want to make that clear, OK? Uh, give me a call.”
Machine: “Next message.”
Izzo: “Hey, LeBron, when I said I’d be in charge, that’s just a figure of speech. Give me a call.”
Machine: “Next message.”
Izzo: “Hey, LeBron, I’ll give you my first two years’ salary if you come back to the Cavs. … But you gotta call me back, you’re starting to (expletive) me off!”
But not Mike & Mike and not on the Mike & Mike Show.
Who would he have named his son after? LaVell Blanchard?
... he made sure everyone knew about the Cavs interest, and then when it dragged on for 10 days, pissed and moaned about all the press interest.
He had to say he is "Coach for Life" because he said "Coach for One More Title" two weeks ago and then "Cavs Coach for $30 Million" for the last week.
"Coach for One More Title" was stupid, since if his 2010-11 team gets to the Final Four, what should they do, win to lose Izzo or lose to keep him?
Never satisfied, all show no dough, unless it is millions of other people's money.
I would NOT want Izzo or anyone like him at UM.
Not an attention whore? You've got be kidding.
raising money for cancer research? what an asshole!
It's for a good cause, of course, but you've got to say it's the kind of thing only Izzo would do. The man's got to be front and center at all times.
(@1:50 of video clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnKRbEPbItE)
Silvio: What kind of a man would wear fur?
Kramer: Oh, lots of em.
Silvio: Would you?
Kramer: No.
Silvio: Then who?
Kramer: What about [Izzo]?
Silvio: [Tom]?
Kramer: Yeah, sure! He's a celebrity. Oh yeah, they wear a lot of furs, they are desperate, insecure people.
Silvio: Yes, you are right. It's all about me, me, me. Please look at me! I am so pretty! LOVE ME! WANT ME!
Kramer: yeah, something like that.
It's a pointless hypothetical. Izzo wasn't ready for a major job in 1989. Besides, MSU had a losing season that year, so why would we have wanted to hire one of their assistants?
I don't think it's good practice for a Michigan fan to envy, or look like he envies, anything that Michigan State has.