2019 coaching search
juwan howard
ok we only have a couple Juwan photos [Bryan Fuller]

Hello: Juwan Howard, Head Basketball Coach Comment Count

Brian May 22nd, 2019 at 2:27 PM

Michigan has replaced John Beilein.

I'm neither over the moon or ready to visit Ann Arbor Torch and Pitchfork. My initial list of coaching candidates had three guys above the Yak line. Billy Donovan apparently wasn't interested; Steve Prohm inexplicably never came up; Juwan Howard is the guy.

I preferred Howard to the motley crew of available names below the line because they were either barely more proven than Howard (LaVall Jordan), had long track records that looked like middling coaches at middling schools (Porter Moser, Ed Cooley), or were completely ridiculous for any number of reasons (Ed McKillop! Chris Collins!). Yeah, Juwan Howard's a risk. Anyone Michigan hired was a risk. Three and a half years into John Beilein's tenure he was 1-6 in conference and everyone wanted to fire him. A piano is going to hit someone today. Life is chaos.

And while Juwan Howard is a risk, he also comes with upside that the other candidates palpably lack. Think this moves the needle with recruits?

Survey says: yes. If you thought Beilein was a popular choice for kids of NBA players you haven't seen anything yet.

Howard isn't just a Michigan alum from the most famous recruiting class ever. He's not just a guy who spent 19 years in the NBA and then immediately moved to the lead assistant position on one of the best organizations in the league. He's also the guy who got his Michigan degree by doing the work in hotel rooms during his rookie year. He's also the guy who Lebron James and Dwyane Wade stan for on twitter.

He's not a slam dunk. He's also not a shot in the dark.

Xs and Os Proficiency

Image from iOS (1)

[Bryan Fuller]

If Howard was a football coach he'd be the defensive coordinator of a team led by Nick Saban, Charlie Strong, or Will Muschamp. He is a defensive lead assistant under a defensive head coach (who is under Pat friggin' Riley). The defense is good, but how much of that is the assistant's doing and how much is the head coach? For the record, Heat defensive efficiency marks over the past six years: 15, 20, 7, 5, 8, 7. The NBA is a lot flatter than college basketball so maintaining a spot in the top quarter of the league four years running is impressive.

Howard had at least something to do with that:

“He’s probably our biggest defensive coach.” Josh Richardson told Five Reasons Sports recently. “Any defensive adjustments that need to be made, he’ll normally pick those out and tell us about it. He’s our emotional coach. The coach that will get us going, get us back in the ball game, get us excited.” …

“Coach Juwan helped me out a lot personally, because coming here I had never played the four,” Jones Jr. told Five Reasons Sports. “Switching to the four, and having to learn the pick and roll coverages with my man as the screener, he helped me fast track that a whole lot. Sitting down watching film with him, Bam, Hassan and KO. That helped me out a lot.” …

“He’s obviously a really important voice for us.” Kelly Olynyk told Five Reasons Sports. “…Just trying to be there offensively and a lot of times defensively. Especially for the bigs, how to guard certain actions, pick and rolls. A constant reminder of what you’re doing and how to do it better.”

Howard is old-ass Jon Teske. This is a good thing. Jon Teske would be an amazing coach. That surge is correlated with Howard getting Hassan Whiteside and then Bam Adebayo up to speed.

Howard has had a clear positive impact on offense with his individual player development of Miami's bigs. Other than that, dunno. His approach is a mystery. Given the way the NBA has gone literally any guy up for head jobs is going to be pretty close to John Beilein, at least as far as emphasizing threes and shots at the rim. I have one dollar that says that Michigan feeds the post more, but I would have said that no matter who Michigan hired.

One encouraging thing here is that Howard zipped past a longer-tenured assistant…

The fact Howard rose to the rank of top assistant so quickly on a staff that also includes longtime member Dan Craig speaks volumes about his Xs and Os.

…and won the confidence of Spoelstra even before he put on a suit:

"His last two years of playing," Spoelstra said, "I really thought that Juwan had a lot of qualities that showed he could be a very successful coach. He was a leader in the locker room. He understood the game on a deeper level. He had a great work ethic. Those things translate very well to this profession."

The Heat organization is no joke, and Howard jumped the line. He has the profile of a rapid riser.

[After THE JUMP: recruiting, development, and potential catches]

Recruiting

N/A. Howard obviously hasn't been a recruiter. He should have some major AAU connections since has two sons coming up through the ranks. Jace, the older, is a class of 2020 wing with a San Diego State offer. Jett, the younger, is tracking towards being a major prospect in the 2022 class.

He already has Florida and Vanderbilt offers.

Random internet comment here but seemingly one from someone in the AAU scene:

Over the last few years he’s really turned into our main development guy of our bigs, and is a very likable guy that will definitely do well in recruiting.

I know for a fact being around youth basketball circles that he is very plugged in with high school guys down here due to his sons being solid players so I could see him being connected ala Penny Hardaway at Memphis.

Great hire, IMO. Will be a shame to not see him on the bench anymore

Howard might also be able to make some inroads with Chicago's Mac Irvin Fire AAU program, where he played yea so many years ago. Chicago recruiting is a veritable bag minefield. If anyone can navigate it, Juwan Howard can. Also, he has the endorsement of Dwyane Wade and Lebron James.

Unfortunately, Howard's nephew Jaden McDaniels just went off the board to Washington.

Development

Howard has been widely credited with the development of Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo. Whiteside was a second round pick in 2010 who spent most of his time in the G-League before a strange world tour that took him to Lebanon, China, Lebanon again, and China again. He played for this team at his final stop:

Nanjing_Monkey_Kings

Hopefully someone is currently looking at a weird spike in Monkeykings merch.

Anyway, Whiteside returned to the G-League in 2014 and then caught on with the Heat. A couple years later he'd developed into a max contract player, leading the league in blocks, despite some clear red flags:

Two years ago, the Miami Heat had a massive decision to make. Hassan Whiteside had emerged out of nowhere to become an impactful center, a 7-footer with the ability to both score and be a rim protector. He had also spent two years out of the NBA for a variety of reasons, and there were real questions about whether he had the maturity necessary to play on a big-money contract for a team hoping to contend.

But when Whiteside hit the open market in the summer of 2016 — when virtually the entire league had money to burn — multiple teams were willing to offer him a max contract. The Heat had to give him a four-year, $98 million deal or let him leave for nothing. Understandably, they chose to pay up.

And Howard was the guy working with him every day to get there:

On Christmas Eve, after most teammates had moved on to holiday pursuits, that sphere of influence had a singular focus on the Heat's practice court at American Airlines Arena. For assistant coach Juwan Howard, it was defending a repetitive series of post moves, offering guidance at each turn. …

As a player, Howard's game was more on the perimeter, more face-up jumpers. But his wealth of experience against nearly two decades of post-up competition is what is conveyed in sessions such as these.

"Right now, it's building a trust," Spoelstra said of the Howard-Whiteside dynamic. "The most important thing is building a trust with a player. And in this business, it's not so much what you know; it's the level of trust that a player has, that this coach is going to make me better. And Hassan trusts that Juwan's intentions are pure, that he has a great knowledge base, that he has a great work ethic.

"The things that they cover, he sees improvement. Like, two weeks later, 'Oh, man, we've been working on that.' And it translates. I think that's invaluable. I think that's more important than any other quality."

That big contract is one Miami might regret now as Whiteside's mercurial temper has made him a malcontent. His playing time has been sapped the last couple years by Bam Adebayo. Adebayo was a Kentucky one-and-done who got drafted 14th, so he was outside the range where he's a lock to succeed and had a ton to learn as a one-and-done big. In year two he started blowing up:

Adebayo repeatedly mentioned Howard as a major influence on him, affectionately calling him "Coach 17" because he was 17 years deep into his NBA career before arriving in Miami.

Shandel Richardson, who covers the heat for The Athletic, on Howard when he was a candidate for the Lakers job:

Howard’s primary responsibility has been helping develop the Heat’s big men, particularly Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo. He was instrumental in Whiteside going from G League project to becoming one of the league’s top rebounders and defenders. Last summer the two spent a lot of time working together. Although Whiteside hasn’t become the offensive player the Heat expected, much of his improvement can be attributed to Howard. The outcome has been a little better for Adebayo. Under Howard, he is starting to show signs of becoming an effective player on the offensive end. It has really shown the past month, with Adebayo being a threat as a scorer and rebounder. He has often credited Howard for his growth.

There's a distinct Harbaugh vibe. Howard can give it to anyone he's going up against if they relax a hair. Also he's got his own camp now:

As a student at Camp Howard, the nickname coach Erik Spoelstra has tabbed Howard’s big man school (Howard was wearing a Camp Howard t-shirt Thursday after practice), Adebayo gets to go toe-to-toe with Howard every now and then in the paint.

It gets physical.

“Sometimes he’ll catch you off guard,” Adebayo said. “You’ll be posting up and he’ll really shove you and it will catch you off guard. He’s got this thing where he’s like, ‘Never relax your shoulders.’ So I’ll always be prepared.

“[He’s] not bad for an older guy."

For the full Harbaugh effect he'll have to participate in shootaround. Here's hoping.

CEO Stuff

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assembling a staff is job 1 [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

N/A. Our first indications will be what he does with his assistants. It would be crazy not to keep a least one, and even though Howard is something of a defensive coordinator himself if I was a first-time head coach moving from the NBA to college and I knew I could put half of the strategic burden on autopilot I would do that in a hot second. That means Yaklich, who would also give Michigan its best shot at retaining Jalen Wilson.

I am completely down with retaining Washington and Hayes—nothing about this program needs a reboot. It seems unrealistic to hire a head coach who doesn't bring even one of his own guys, though. Washington may be redundant since he worked with the bigs and Michigan just hired Juwan Howard. On the other hand, Washington's recent track record with bigs is Moe Wagner and Jon Teske. Not bad.

There are some encouraging quotes about Howard's demeanor. Relating to players and pushing them without alienating them is the heart of NBA coaching, and that's another reason Howard was a riser:

Howard’s passion is contagious. His ability to relate to players, get them to buy in to the culture and want to be coached, is exemplified in his relationship with Heat point guard Justise Winslow.

“He’s been great. Just with me, we have of connection through Coach (John) Lucas down in Houston.” Winslow told Five Reasons Sports. “He knows the basketball environment that I grew up in and where I come from.”

Howard has the unique ability to tangibly challenge players in a genuine, healthy way. There’s an evolutionary balance that exists in how much you effectively push today’s NBA athlete.

For me, I played with him, so I still have that relationship with him as a player,” Udonis Haslem told Five Reasons Sports. “I respect him so much, not only as a coach, but a guy who has been in the trenches with me. So, it’s like double respect. It’s the respect as a coach and it’s respect as you’ve been in the trenches with me. I know if my back is against the wall you are one of the guys I can depend on it. I still call him (Howard) Big Homie. Even though we’ve played together and had so many opportunities together I still look up to Juwan and value his opinion and everything he can bring.”

Howard isn't going to be a screamer on the sideline. He may even clash less with his players. Beilein did have a tendency to frustrate some of his more exuberant players. Amongst his many endorsements is one from Duncan Robinson…

…he's likely to be a cultural fit with the guys already on the roster.

Potential Catches

He ain't done it before. A real and major concern. The NBA is not college. College is not the NBA. And while Howard does not have the profile of a lot of NBA-to-college flameouts, many of whom never coached at all or were clearly bad-idea retreads, neither does he have any track record.

I don't think he's going to flame out. Everything about Howard's trajectory since his birth suggests he's a serious worker, a good dude, and a basketball mind. But maybe he secretly thinks Ed Cooley's offense is rad.

A return to the association. Michigan should be a terminal college job. The NBA has its lure, as we just learned to our shock and horror, and Howard is a guy who will get plenty of NBA buzz if he's a hit in Ann Arbor. If he does get poached it won't be the end of the world. By that point at least one of LaVall Jordan, Patrick Beilein, Luke Yaklich, Saddi Washington, or Nate Oats should be pleasantly hireable, and it's unlikely the landscape is nearly as barren as it was this time around.

But if Howard is a hit keeping him around would be real nice. For what it's worth, Chris Webber swore up and down on Rich Eisen's show that Howard would grow old and die on State Street if he got the job:

I am racking my brain for a place on State Street that a wealthy adult would live… and… uh… upzone State Street?

I'll never believe anyone is going to stay forever after our dear sweet John left. If Webber's on point maybe Howard would wait for either 1) a slam-dunk opportunity or 2) a Beilein-rivaling tenure before departing. That would be just fine.

The looming specter of dear sweet John. A couple of CBB pundits have asserted this job is a death trap for the same reason any job is a death trap immediately after the best coach in school history departs. They are not wrong. I have engaged in a holistic cleansing procedure to purify my mind and body, and I know that this will be completely useless when Michigan is 38th in turnover rate one year in.

38th! Damn! More like Juwan Amaker amirite! Fire everyone.

I don't think we know how much John Beilein has warped our perceptions of what basketball is. I spent a few hours this week hunting for programs that might have assistants to poach, and no one on Earth comes anywhere near John Beilein when it comes to metronomic offensive efficiency. Sometimes the shots don't go in, but by God a Beilein team is going to turn the ball over less often than Kim Kardashian frees the wrongfully convicted. Every turnover after #3 is going to feel like a return to the Amaker era. People will lose their shit about the stuff they forgot Beilein did too, like lose to NJIT eight years deep.

As a program legend with the backing of most of the NBA and various extremely rich people, Howard is far more insulated from the backlash than most would be. He is not immune. If things start going sideways the tendency of Michigan to descend into poisonous factionalism is going to be a problem.

WELL?

This looked like a foregone conclusion as soon as it became clear that a thunderbolt wasn't going to shake any of the slam-dunk candidates loose, and it didn't get screwed up. I would have preferred the foregone conclusion to conclude more quickly—Ohio State hired Chris Holtmann in four days—instead of interviewing candidates who shouldn't get the job over the obvious pick. With three open spots every day matters.

But it didn't get screwed up. The fact that Yaklich has not yet taken the Texas job is a good sign for Michigan's ability to retain some program continuity here. If Michigan does in fact retain a couple of assistants Manuel will have done about as well as could be expected in some trying circumstances.

Comments

StateStreetApostle

May 22nd, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^

on a personal note one of my career highlights was playing the funeral Mass for Dr. Jack Ramsay. Spoelstra was there with the entire Heat staff, so of course, Juwan.

There were six NBA head coaches there (Pat Riley, naturally; Jim Lynam, Hubie Brown, Jack McKinney, and Ramsay's own son-in-law was Jim O'Brien--quite the Thanksgivings they must have had) not counting the decedent.

...I'm really hoping that I get to tell my grandchildren that there were just six NBA coaches there.

Joined: 01/18/2012

MGoPoints: 36404

Mongo

May 22nd, 2019 at 3:22 PM ^

How true ... it was always Howard first + the Fab 4.  And given Juwan's image as the father figure, he came thru his tenor at UM cleanly.  Going to kill it on the recruiting trail. 

But I hope he and Warde put those Fab Five banners back up - I will always blame Mary Sue Coleman for totally coping-out on that team.  We are now learning most everyone else's banners are ill-gotten glory (yes, even Duke's legacy will always have a dirty asterisk), yet they will never take down the banners and shame those that played hard for the result.

Good luck Juwan, we got your back 100%.   Go Blue !!!

Joined: 06/25/2016

MGoPoints: 9585

Def go blue

May 22nd, 2019 at 5:26 PM ^

That's right. Forgot about that. He was the one who brought the others in.  It was obvious also that he was the mature one of the group, not only as to personal matters but his game as well.  The others were relying on their physical gifts while Howard was working on the tactics of the game.   Remembering that, I'm not surprised at all about his success in the NBA, nor worried about his success at Michigan.  Go Blue! 

Joined: 09/26/2015

MGoPoints: 39

Rufus X

May 22nd, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^

Not the #1 choice in my book, but a very good one for several reasons, all of which are covered here.  The one thing that concerns me is that he was a major part of a great recruiting class that also brought shame on the university, and that shame directly led to Brian Ellerbe and Tommy Amaker.  As long as he keeps it clean I think he can be a great one.  I am not just sure if he will keep it clean.

Joined: 10/29/2010

MGoPoints: 3997

1201 S. Main St.

May 22nd, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^

Howard wasn't one of the guys who had to be disassociated with Michigan for a decade.  Given the other 4 players in the Fab 5, Juwan is/has been the cleanest and the one with the least amount of controversy (I don't think he has had any issues on or off the floor).  I personally think it'll be a nice bridge between the Fab 5 and Michigan right now.  Brandon has been gone for years and Harbaugh inviting Webber to be a captain for a game just shows how much those guys mean to the university and to people in general.  

Joined: 10/09/2015

MGoPoints: 844

Rufus X

May 23rd, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^

I was actually at Michigan during the entire Fan 5 era, so...

I know that Howard was not implicated, but if you think he wasn’t aware of what was going on, then I don’t know what to tell you.  Again, I am not assuming he will run a dirty program by any stretch, but to be so sure he is clean is just as naive, given what was going on in our program while he was here. 

Joined: 10/29/2010

MGoPoints: 3997

El Jeffe

May 22nd, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^

The one thing that concerns me is that he was a major part of a great recruiting class that also brought shame on the university, and that shame directly led to Brian Ellerbe and Tommy Amaker.  As long as he keeps it clean I think he can be a great one.  I am not just sure if he will keep it clean.

This is reckless concern trolling. There is literally no evidence that Howard ever did anything untoward at UM. Let's remember where Taylor, Traylor, and Webber (and Jalen) grew up--Detroit, under the shady eye of Ed Martin. 

Howard is a Chicago kid. Obviously Chicago crootin' is dirty now, but that had nothing to do with Ed Martin or Juwan. GTFO.

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 27329

bronxblue

May 22nd, 2019 at 2:39 PM ^

This is a risk, obviously, but getting a guy like Howard in the middle of May in under 10 days is amazing, and I'm excited to see how the team looks next year.

Also, can people give a little credit to Warde here?  Howard may not work out for any number of reasons, but this was a solid search that ended in a good candidate with enough time to possibly salvage a piece of recruiting.  That's a win.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171747

bronxblue

May 22nd, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^

Yeah, like even Brian mentioned "they hired Chris Holtman in 4 days", which ignores the fact OSU fired Matta.  Like, you usually don't fire a guy without a replacement in mind.  It's way different even if you know your coach might be talking to other clubs; you can't just start a full interview process while you have a guy at the top.

9-ish days is pretty damn impressive.  UCLA fired Alford in December, I think, and it still took about 2 weeks after Cincy got knocked out of the tourney to hire that coach.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171747

wolverine1987

May 22nd, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^

Hey concern troller here. Well, not intentionally I assure you. But can you guys give a quick explanation to a guy that hasn't followed every twist of this situation why this is impressive? It seems weird to me that no established HC with a good record like Prohm or others was in the mix for HC of Michigan basketball, with 2 final game appearances in the recent past. I mean it came down to Juwan and Cooley (who is terrible IMO). Was that the best case scenario? Was it that no one prominent was interested?

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 18065

stephenrjking

May 22nd, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^

Not really.

The problem is that there were a lot of top coaching candidates after the season... and they all got hired or signed expensive new deals. Guys in that situation are almost never going to jump ship unless Michigan pays top 3 money. Billy Donovan, literally the only guy with a top-flight college resume that looks to be in any sort of shape to move, was contacted and the rumor is (as floated by someone who has called the events of the Howard hiring pretty accurately) that he generally wants to stay in the NBA even if it's with another team next year but would have considered an offer of $8 million, waaay more than any other coach in the sport. 

The top, top guys (Coach K, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Tony Bennett) have no reason to leave. The top prospects left and went somewhere. Michigan was left picking through what's left, and so a bit of a risk was necessary. Howard is a great choice in these circumstances.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143889

darkstar

May 22nd, 2019 at 4:08 PM ^

May not fully explain it but the market was pretty well set. Anyone earning a promotion from mid-level to upper was already taken. Anyone available was still available for a reason, i.e. they suck, were dirty, etc. Anyone at risk of getting snatched up after solid performance had been extended or given raise and/or increased buyout.

Joined: 11/08/2016

MGoPoints: 11344

bronxblue

May 22nd, 2019 at 4:11 PM ^

I don't know all the particulars, but trying to find a head basketball coach in the middle of May is typically sub-optimal for a number of reasons, and so there were a limited number of options.  I know Brian and others mentioned Prohm but it didn't sound like there was much interest beyond the exploratory kind on either end; I'll admit to not knowing the inner workings of that.  

But otherwise, Michigan apparently reached out to your Wrights, your Beards, your Donovans are were told, rather logically, that they weren't going to leave.  Maybe if this search is done in March that's a different conversation.

So the only guys on the board are going to be assistants,  HCs at smaller places, and some shots in the dark.  Howard is a little from column A and a little from column C.  But what seems to be a shock to certain people here (not you), Michigan trying to throw around it's weight around and people unrelated to the University just laying down prostate before them isn't a reality.  I would have been fine with Yak or Howard, and a piece of me had hoped they would have gone after Becky Hammon or someone like that, but there was a limited group of viable candidates and UM did a good job to get (IMO) one of the top ones.

Joined: 11/22/2008

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Mr Miggle

May 22nd, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^

Following Beilein does not make the job more attractive.

He had a high level of success while being ultra squeaky clean. Michigan is thought to have the same expectations for his successor.

Michigan has never been considered an elite basketball job. It's not today. We may never know who was contacted and just said no thanks. There were some talk that Billy Donovan was interested but with an $8 million/year price tag. Might be true, might not be. It hurts a search to have the contacts that don't go anywhere made public.

Joined: 10/07/2010

MGoPoints: 47648

NotADuck

May 22nd, 2019 at 5:30 PM ^

It's impressive because he was given no warning by Beilein and all the best options had already found new schools to coach at.  It was basically the worst thing to happen at the worst possible time (also we are nearing the end of the 2019 recruiting cycle, Beilein had just come back from recruiting Wagner in Germany).  Warde could have panicked and hired any old jibroni but he got Juwan freaking Howard in only 9 days!

The only issue with this hire is that Prohm was (seemingly) never an option.  I'm not even sure if they called.  Other than that this ended about is well as it could have.

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