Speculation on Beilein's motivation for leaving
About 4 different people already asked me for my reaction at work this morning because they know I'm a M fan. Here's all I can think of.
1) Wanted to have an actual off-season to spend time with children and grandchildren (reference his recent comments about getting more sleep in season then out of season due to recruiting)
2) Got sick of the NCAA hypocrisy. The college basketball federal investigation just ended last week and not a single cheating program was really harmed. Sick of recruiting with one hand (two hands?) tied behind is back.
3) Really enjoys building or re-building broken programs from ground level. I believe he has mentioned this several times over the years
4) Just wanted to experience being a head coach in the NBA, as a personal goal. Although he could have had this last year and declined. So maybe this is only a half reason?
I think it's basically 2 and 4. Sick of the state of college basketball (both the hypocrisy/dirtiness and the early departures) and he's incredibly competitive so he wanted to try the NBA.
Yeah, that's my read as well. He wants to give it a shot in the NBA and has been vocal about how annoying it is to recruit in college against shitty dudes who throw bags of money around.
#4 is the answer. He wants to coach at the highest level, end of speculation.
Who in the world says "no" to a job offer with twice the salary, twice the prestige, and most of your daily job would doing the thing you love most, while simultaneously NOT having to do the things you like the least?
Very few people.
If we can’t blame players for answering when opportunity knocks, we can’t blame coaches either
twice the prestige? ummm... ok
I think it was the final checkbox on his coaching bucket list. He is close to retirement and this was his final shot to coach at the highest level.
No idea how he will do in the NBA, seems he was more of a coaching fundamentals guy, the NBA is about managing personalities as much as it is Xs and Os.
Because winning a national championship wasn't?? Maybe he recognizes how hard (and a bit random) winning the whole thing is and wanted to experience something new. Sort of like Harbaugh in a way. Stepped away from the highest level of his league to try something he hadn't but meant a lot to him (coaching his alma mater).
History teaches us that events can have multiple causes, some of which are connected to each other. Any of your four are possible, but also all four of your ideas are plausible.
Agree. There's no way this decision was due to just one factor. It was certainly a number of different ones. Which one(s) were the most significant, we can only speculate. But certainly at age 66 and after so many years of coaching in college, the grind of recruiting was finally not worth it to him. Having to constantly replace players after every season due to transfers and the NBA is a big headache. He's missed too much time from his family and he wants to start transitioning into retirement. The NBA job is a final challenge to him and he wanted to try it before retiring fully. I don't think the money was high on the list of reasons either. He was already set financially. Again, at his age, having a break in the offseason became very important. I can't blame him a bit.
The NBA is the pinnacle of the sport he has spent an entire career coaching. I wouldn’t necessarily say “sick” of the NCAA, but does the frustration of building a roster the right way play in? Sure, a bit. Hard for it to be a “dream job” when there are so many obstacles to building and maintaining a good roster.
But the NBA is the top of the sport, period. This isn’t that complicated.
Not that anybody asked (or even cares) but my emotions on this news are two-fold:
1. Happy as a Cavs fan & attender of games that we got a great head coach who will do a fantastic job with a very young team. Excited to see Coach B work (hopefully) with either Zion, Ja or Barrett in the coming years as the Cavs begin the process of returning to relevance.
2. Sick to my stomach as a Michigan alum he is leaving. I sadly think we're going to either sink back to B1G mediocrity like Illlinois & Indiana or get a HC who doesnt mind bending the rules to get top-notch players. Coach Beilein was unique, IMO, in his ability to get fantastic results from less than fantastic players.
I'll gladly take the second of the two scenarioes for UM you mentioned. If everyone is doing it, at some point it ceases to be "cheating". Obviously the NCAA doesn't give a flying fuck anymore so why the hell should we?
At this point, I agree with this. The key is to find someone who has experience in this so that you do it well enough to not get caught. No point in going down that route if you're not going to do it right.
Since I hate all teams in the state of ohio, I hope he fails miserably.
Playing out the "NBA is top of the sport, period" to its furthest extreme, why the Cavs instead of the Pistons?
1. Probably got a much stronger financial offer
2. Gilbert doesnt respect his GMs much so perhaps JB was given the chance to have input on who they'll select
I'd say the opportunity to coach Zion but hell, we could be picking as low as #5 so no way to assure that's going to happen.
Beats the hell out me my man. I grew up in West Bloomfield, went to Michigan and have lived in the Cleveland area since about 1987 and can tell you for a FACT that AA is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>than CLE.
And I like CLE
But i like AA way, way better.
I think MGrow has some good points, but I think it has more to do with the potential of the rosters. Detroit is pretty well maxed out without much flexibility. Cleveland is more of a blank slate, with the potential to add an exciting and top young talent in this year's draft. I also think the makeup of Cleveland's roster (ie, full of young, developing players) is a better fit for Beilein's strengths as a good talent developer.
Beilein flat out said the Pistons didn't offer. He said it would have been a tough decision if they had. Personally, I don't think he would have interviewed if he wasn't planning to accept the job.
Once Dwayne Casey became available he had to be the Pistons' top target.
Maybe he wasn't going to get the Pistons job last year anyway. It's not clear that it was his job to lose, maybe he thought he wasn't going to get it so he pulled out of consideration. This Pistons are also in NBA purgatory and it looks like it'll be difficult to get out of it without high draft picks, Cleveland at least offers a chance at Zion.
Also from the Cleveland perspective, it's closer to Western NY, where Beilein started and I think still has family. Who knows if that made much of a difference, since I assume he's flying everywhere and the difference in flight time is minimal. If he could have coached the Lakers I'm sure he would have.
My personal opinion is it’s #2 mixed with the fact he’s dealt with college aged kids for how many years now, 40? It’s entirely possible he didn’t think his message was resonating with young men anymore coupled with the recruiting nonsense out there these days.
I’m not going to sit here and criticize him. He took this program from one of the worst in major conferences to one of the best. If this is how he wants to go out, God bless him.
Option 5: I have done something terrible and deserve to suffer for it
That's what I'm going with anyway
We just can’t have nice things.
One interesting side note, the guy that runs Stock Risers (High School Recruiting service) says that "In more significant news: the players from Michigan found out the news when everyone else did, not a good situation. Everyone just beyond shocked by this news".
DDJ Retweeted it. Love Coach B, he's a legend and not sure if that was up to him but if so, that's not a great look.
The ink isn't dry, he told the team this morning. I'm not sure what else he is supposed to do.
That's fair. I probably would have preferred he'd been able to give the team at least a little bit of forewarning but that's just not the way anymore with social media and the 24/7 news cycle.
Have a team meeting at 8 am?
2 and 4.
The NCAA is a fucking joke anymore. The FBI gets involved and STILL nothing happens. NCAA is worse than FIFA was.
At least in the NBA, everyone is held to the same standard.
Fuck Dan Gilbert.
Making a LOT more money, guaranteed through age 71. If he succeeds, great, he can coach longer if he wants. If he fails, he still gets paid and retires at age 69 or so.
Nice
Imagine you are at the highest level of coaching. You are a extremely competitive person.
You know that the teams you play have a distinct advantage due to the known bag men.
Wouldn't that be insanely frustrating? NBA is a even playing field.
Even though football team is less than squeeky clean, it could one of the reasons Harbaugh goes back to the NFL. Can we get a death grip on him
Uhhhh hasn't everyone been whining their asses off that the NBA is horrendous to watch because it ISN'T an even playing field?? That stars all sign together now because they want to win a championship and that no amount or quality of coaching will overcome five all stars on a team? Am I missing something?
I think #4 applies and he did not turn down the Pistons. They interviewed him, but decided not to offer.
I also think Beilein primarily enjoys teaching. High level college ball might just be the worst fit for him today. So much focus is on recruiting and players come and go before he can teach them all he wants to.
How many people actually get the chance to work at highest level of their profession? Beilein's at an age where it's getting close to his last chance to see if he can operate at the highest level of basketball. I'm proud to have had him as our coach and leader of young men - doing things The Right Way. He was offered a chance to work at the highest level and he took it. That doesn't necessarily mean there was anything wrong with where he was or that he was unhappy at UM.
I'm happy for him.
2 and 4 all the way. I think the system broke him. And he got cornered into recruiting players who are good in college but will never be NBA stars, which makes them leave early without great prospects. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must have been for him to lose 3 of his best players when none of them are likely to have any modicum of success in the NBA.
And as for 4, I bet that planned heart surgery really pushed up the importance of his bucket list. Hard to blame a guy for wanting to coach in the NBA.
Well said and i 100% agree.
Losing both Iggy and Poole probably effected Beilein a lot. He has worked his ass off to find the right, high quality player, who he can spend time teaching and developing. Every single time he develops a player, they leave. Which is what we all want for the player. However, it is a process at Michigan, and we can't always replace the one's we lose early. In this case, this particular year, he lost two players who by most accounts won't see the NBA floor much, if not, at all next season.
The system is rigged if you want to do it the right way, and you have to think that takes a toll after a while.
This is my take as well, Q. I saw a clip from the Big Ten Network after our loss to TT. Beilein expected Matthews to move on and also said they shouldn't have anyone else leave and that they'd be really good next season. Well, Poole and Iggy leave to be 2nd round draft picks if they're lucky and Beilein's national title hopes walked right out the door with them so leaving for the NBA became that much easier.
5) Money
Plus maybe a bit of reason 2 and reason 4
In retrospect, looking back at his career, this move isn't all that surprising. He's always been moving up the coaching ladder. The NBA was in a sense inevitable. I don't think he goes to another college team after Michigan, but another move up the coaching ranks fits with his past. Sucks for us, but good for him. Can't really fault the guy.
I think it's 100% #4. He didn't go last year for whatever reasons (wasn't offered, wanted 1 more shot at a college title, he likes the blank canvas of the Cavs more than the guaranteed mediocrity of the Pistons, etc.), but now was the right time for him
I believe #2 I think he is just not willing to sell his soul at the alter of CBB to win. And that has to wear on a guy who is doing things the right way but see the thieves and liars rewarded
Sunset into retirement.
A college head coach is responsible for every single aspect of the program. You're basically a full-time baby sitter for a bunch of college kids - if a single one of them does something even remotely questionable, it comes down on your head. You spend countless hours building your teams through recruiting, which isn't even close to a fair game. If you don't have a good roster, your name's next on the hot seat. You have to deal with eligibility and keeping your kids on track academically. You're the face of the program in the media, meaning anything and everything you do will be strictly scrutinized.
In the NBA you're responsible for one thing: game strategy. The players are adults and have on their personal payroll agents and lawyers and public relations experts - you're not responsible for anything they do. You don't spend every waking minute of your life during the off-season building the team through recruiting - there are people who get paid a lot of money to handle that aspect of the organization. If you don't have a good roster, blame it on the owners, the GM, the players, whoever, but it's not the coach's fault. You're not the face of the program in the media - the NBA is a player-centric league and the articles and radio hosts and talking heads focus their criticism primarily on players.
This move is simple to me. The Cavs job is dramatically less demanding, Cleveland is close enough that he doesn't have to uproot his family's lives, and the contract pays well enough to send him off into an amazing retirement on an apple orchard somewhere in the Midwest by the time he's 70.
I think it's all four. The NBA is a much easier gig than big time college basketball. It's all ball, and no recruiting. Plus, your players are under contract so you know who is on your team next year. The Iggy/Poole situation this off-season had to be super frustrating for Beilein. That would be reason #5: the player retention system is a mess, especially if you aren't cheating.
Could be plenty of reasons..all in all its probably not as shocking as it feels to us.
Its not like he had a job guarantee or was universally beloved at Michigan. Quite a bit of negativity after this past season in spite of the overall great results. So your best players keep leaving early for the draft, you cant or wont just go out and buy the replacements, and yet if you had a down year half the fan base would call for your head..
Looked at from that perspective maybe it makes a good amount of sense to go for a more high profile and straight forward gig in a league where success isn’t usually dependent on your general willingness to engage in illegal activity.
After reading an MLive article on JB's departure, I was struck that Mike Gansey (JB's former WVU player) holds a Cavs management position. I'm not saying that's the reason JB agreed to the Cavs proposition, but that extremely personal connection was probably a factor.
I agree with 2 and then also other. I think there is a frustration when you aren’t paying players and have to start over every year. You find the diamonds in the rough that should be a couple years and then they leave anyway. It’s tough. I think this year took him hard with no one ready to go to the NBA and yet 3 left anyway.
Well, if there's any basis to this section of an ESPN article, it would seem #2 is pretty close:
Beilein has run model programs in college, free of scandal and impropriety. In recent years, he has become increasingly frustrated with the nature of college basketball recruiting and the retention of top players. The impending loss of Michigan freshman Ignas Brazdeikis along with senior Charles Matthews and sophomore Jordan Poole to the NBA draft dented what might have been a national championship contender.
From an outsider's perspective, #4 also seems realistic.
I think the OP is in the ball park here...on all offered accounts. I believe this last year, this team, has been particularly grinding...and the chances are very good that next year was/is going to be much worse. This will give a new coach the opportunity to flip some personnel scenarios that would have been hell for John to make. The new coach will likely take some lumps here but can also come out the other side and move the program on forward. And this may bring Poole and Iggy back.
Sometimes a change of scenery is best for all parties.
How the heck will this bring Poole and Iggy back? You think they are going to come back for some random new coach? To believe this you have to assume they were only leaving because they didn't like Beilein. I find that very hard to believe.