Bill Carmody will not return to NW next year

Submitted by Paps on

Per Northwestern's twitter "Bill Carmody will not return as the head coach of @NUMensBball"

He went 170-178 (.489) as the Northwestern Wildcats head coach. He has coached at Northwestern for 13 years.

Yeoman

March 16th, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^

Evan Eschmeyer, Geno Carlisle.

That's two more than they had under the three prior coaches. Rich Falk had Billy Mckinney, Tex Winter had Don Adams, for a total of four in the last 40 years. Not sure success as an NBA factory is how Northwestern coaches should be judged, but if that's what you want, Carmody did pretty well.

Paps

March 16th, 2013 at 12:20 PM ^

Not only does NW desperatly need new improvements in their facilities, but they can improve coaches.  They are done with the Princeton offence, and I have heared that Duke assistant coach Jeff Capel is in the running for the Northwestern spot.  I think he'd be a great improvement.  

Yeoman

March 17th, 2013 at 11:31 AM ^

I don't think it's that, so much. The interest always seems to come from a particular type of school: Dawkins -> Stanford, Amaker -> Michigan and Harvard.

To Northwestern, Duke is the proof that a private school with Northwestern-level academics can become a basketball power, and they assume that K's assistants will know how it's done.

They've decided being Princeton isn't good enough; they think they can become Duke.

I think they'll probably go back to being Northwestern.

Maize is not Yellow

March 16th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^

Minnesoata Football thought that they were better than Mason's three straight bowl games...and some respectable performances in the Big 10.  Turns out they were not better, and Mason was a good coach.  Of course the counter point to this is that Mason hasn't exactly been rumored for any good jobs.

jmblue

March 16th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^

This one was a tough call.  I can understand their frustration over never making the tournament, but Carmody was nevertheless much better than the coaches that preceded him.   Prior to this year they'd gone to the NIT four years in a row, which was outstanding by their standards.  They've got to make the right hire here or this could be reminiscent of Minnesota firing Glen Mason.

 

 

True Blue 9

March 16th, 2013 at 1:16 PM ^

And dare I say the resemblance to the Tommy Amaker situation is kind of similar (granted we have much more basketball history, recruiting advantages, etc. than Northwestern). I'd love nothing more than to see Carmody go to a mid-major and tear that s#?@ up! He deserves it after this run in Evanston! Hail

Yeoman

March 16th, 2013 at 8:51 PM ^

...probably wouldn't work at Northwestern.

At Harvard he's pushing the recruiting/admission-standards envelope, something they'd never done before, and he can get better talent than the other Ivy schools that aren't willing to go quite as far.

At Northwestern it's already pushed about as hard as they're probably willing to go, and even if they tried to push harder they still wouldn't be able to compete for talent with the teams in their own conference. There are teams in the conference with as much NBA talent on their rosters right now as Northwestern's been able to recruit in 40 years.

PeteM

March 16th, 2013 at 9:58 PM ^

He seems to have a good thing going at Harvard.  This will be his 2nd straight tournament there, and he seems to be recruiting above the Ivy league average (2 four stars in the last 3 years).  He could be at Harvard for 10-20 years, or if he continues to succeed there he could end up at a better program with more chances for future success.

Maize is not Yellow

March 16th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^

That's not really fair.  NW was competitive in most games, although there certainly are exceptions.  They lost most of their players to injury for long stretches of the season (Hearn and Swoopshire are the most notable examples).  I guess what they fielded at the end of the year was DIII like, but they still played well. 

bacon1431

March 16th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^

Did a pretty damn good job there. But things were not going to get better for him. Deserves major props for what he did. Took them to four postseasons - which is more than what all other coaches have done there combined IIRC

Yeoman

March 16th, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^

  • (1950-1952) Harold Olson 11-17
  • (1952-1957) Waldo Fisher 21-53
  • (1957-1963) William Rohr 39-45
  • (1963-1969) Larry Glass 37-47 (I think a few of these games belong in the next entry, because Glass resigned midyear if memory serves)
  • (1969-1973) Brad Snyder 12-44
  • (1973-1978) Tex Winter 25-61
  • (1978-1986) Rich Falk 34-110
  • (1986-1993) Bill Foster 13-113
  • (1993-1997) Ricky Byrdsong 10-62
  • (1997-2000) Kevin O'Neill 9-39
  • (2000-2013) Bill Carmody 58-126

To find another coach before Carmody able to win 30% of his B1G games you have to go back to the 60s. To find a coach with a winning conference record over his career you have to go back to Dennis Grady (1912-1914).

No doubt every single time they made a coaching change they were sure they were making a big improvement.

I'm going to go out on a limb--whoever they hire, they're more likely to return to the historical norm than to improve.

J.Madrox

March 16th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^

He always seemed like a good guy and an ok coach. But 13 years and not a single NCAA tournament appearance is not good. I think if he showed any kind of upward trend recently they may have kept him, but I don't see a whole lot on that roster to get excited about. At some point I just think you need to get some fresh blood to try and jump start the program.

Princetonwolverine

March 16th, 2013 at 4:08 PM ^

Prior to going to NW he was head coach at Princeton and had a total record of 92-25 (the highest winning percentage in Ivy League history). He took them to the NCAA tournament twice in his 5 years (only the ivy league champ goes). His record in the Ivy League was 50-6

He was followed at Princeton by John Thompson III (now at Georgetown).

His Princeton teams were great fun to watch.

Yeoman

March 16th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^

Carmody will have more trips to the NCAA in the next three years than Northwestern has had in program history.

I'm guessing he'll land an Ivy job immediately; it won't' take him long to win a championship there.

LSAClassOf2000

March 16th, 2013 at 5:11 PM ^

...has some additional commentary / information (LINK).

It mentions that some of the names that might be considered as a replacement include Duke assistant Chirs Collins, Dave Paulsen over at Bucknell and Bryce Drew from Valpo. 

The author here also discusses their perception of Carmody's flaws, most notably that he was "indifferent" as a recruiter and was awkward at alum gatherings. 

It's an interesting read really. It adds perhaps a little insight onto what, aside from the record, might have led Northwestern to dismiss him. 

cheesheadwolverine

March 16th, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^

Can't say I am surprised.  The AD is at some point going to make a judgement by whether you can make the tournament.  NW football since (megadouche) Gary Barnett has proven that there is no reason NW can't be at least a midlevel program in the B1G despite the academic and facilities and fan support issues.

UMgradMSUdad

March 16th, 2013 at 6:18 PM ^

If NW were in a lesser league, Carmody more than likely would have had them in the tournament by now.  

As far as Jeff Capel as a possible replacement, he seemed quite capable when he was coaching Oklahoma while Blake Griffin was on the team.  Without the number one NBA draft pick, he was mediocre.

I do really think NW has a better chance of getting a coach who performs worse than Carmody than better.