Beilein has "coached his last game" with the Cavs; both sides are "working on a settlement"
Elsewhere, it's being reported that Beilein's departure will be official by tomorrow and that J.B. Bickerstaff will be promoted as his permanent replacement.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28731670/sources-john-beilein-cavaliers-working-settlement
https://fox8.com/sports/j-b-bickerstaff-to-take-over-for-john-beilein-as-cavs-head-coach-reports/
February 18th, 2020 at 6:24 PM ^
It will forever go down as the strangest decision ever for him to leave last May.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:32 PM ^
He didn't like where the college game is heading. The NBA is obviously not an upgrade in that regard, but why not take a shot? Why not see if you can get one group of guys to buy-in and outplay their talent level--maybe have a special season or a special run? Even if it fails, you make enough to live comfortably the rest of your life.
Does. Not. Seem. Strange. To. Me.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:35 PM ^
He's 67 and has already made enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life. I understand wanting to give the NBA a shot, but literally any other job with any other team, even if it was a another perennial lottery team, would have been a better opportunity than that one.
Not all NBA jobs are created equal.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:38 PM ^
It was his final frontier...he wanted to take a swing at it! Didn’t go well, but maybe he is a guy that didn’t want to live with any regrets.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:47 PM ^
How soon into the Cleveland thing was Beilein before he realized he made a mistake? Months? Weeks? Days?????
February 18th, 2020 at 9:12 PM ^
Months and weeks consist of days so I'd go with days.
February 18th, 2020 at 8:46 PM ^
"Didn't go well" is a massive, massive understatement
February 18th, 2020 at 8:08 PM ^
But not all NBA jobs were available (probably none), mostly because not many GMs/owners would have been dumb enough to take such a huge gamble on a guy that almost certainly wasn't going to work in the NBA and even if he did, wasn't going to be able to coach for long.
February 18th, 2020 at 9:28 PM ^
The thing is, did Beilein actually fail at Cleveland - in the sense that he did worse than another coach would have? Their team is awful. With that kind of a roster the coach is basically a placeholder.
February 18th, 2020 at 11:14 PM ^
Minor point: The knicks job is consistently available. And they'd probably try anything at this point.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:39 PM ^
You. Are. About. The. Only. One.
He was a legend at Michigan, had a good returning roster, a good class coming in, very fair pay, and all the goodwill in the world. It was very strange for him to take the Cleveland job and both on Michigan. Even stranger now that it ended about exactly how it was guaranteed to the minute he made the decision. We definitely don’t know the whole story, not a chance.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:06 PM ^
Isn't it the most Michigan thing ever to lose a coach to the pros because he's *too* clean for the college game? I swear we are cursed.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:34 PM ^
Cursed? We got Juwan when the dust settled. Now, if it had been Ed Cooley...
February 18th, 2020 at 10:37 PM ^
He's still a legend at Michigan.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
He took a job coaching a horrible team in a shitty ass city as a 67 year old man coming off heart issues.
How.Does.This.NOT.seem.strange.to.you???
February 18th, 2020 at 9:25 PM ^
I really think he was fed up with the college game and didn't like where it was headed. Thad Matta - another very honest college along with coach B - kind of said the same thing. Look at all of the slime balls running the show now and I can see his point. Plus he is 67 and probably wanted to give the NBA a shot before retiring. I will always respect and admire him.
February 18th, 2020 at 9:27 PM ^
To be fair, he was a 66-year-old man at the time.
February 18th, 2020 at 9:49 PM ^
IT’S. THE. FREAKING NBA!!!! How are people still confused by this?!?!? I don't care if it was to the worst city and the worst team. My goodness people. THE LEAGUE!!!!! Good for him. Glad he did it. Even more glad we're still in excellent hands. No way of knowing if we'd be better off this year with him. In the long run, as many have said, we won't be worse off without him. Hope he enjoys his retirement.
February 18th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
The NBA is for players. NBA coaches just rotate around the league until they retire. Legends coach college basketball. Ill make it easy, how many coaches are considered legends at their current school. Dont use your own prejudice but how many fans would say they have a legend as a coach right now?
and NBA fans?
Yeah the NBA is for the players. Im not sure who coached any all star game ever. Also ive seen coach of the years lose jobs within 24 months in the NBA. Its long term only in the fact that they shuffle coaches. Too each their own though.
February 18th, 2020 at 11:23 PM ^
Why not go skydiving without a chute. You might bounce and fall harmlessly to the ground, maybe land on a huge bird? Who knows.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:03 AM ^
Doing. This. Does. Not. Make. Your. Point. More. Dramatic.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:07 PM ^
Don’t underestimate what a life altering event like cardiac bypass will do. Clearly he took a shot at the pinnacle of his profession. I don’t begrudge him for that. Maybe he didn’t want to move far away so it took other cities out of the running for his services.
Maybe he needed to stay close to family and or physicians? I feel badly for him that it didn’t go well. He’s a stand up guy that deserves the best.
February 18th, 2020 at 8:58 PM ^
Cardiac bypass AND surviving a plane crash.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:26 PM ^
Makes perfect sense to me. He'd succeeded in college ball, but it was changing in a way ill-suited to his strengths and there was one thing he hadn't yet done. Why not go for it? He'll always be beloved at Michigan.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:45 PM ^
He went to the National title game the year before he left. We was very well suited to the college game.
February 18th, 2020 at 11:19 PM ^
Mcgary going into the draft due to being drug tested while sitting the bench? (More NCAA than anything)
DJ Wilson not making 3rd team all big ten then going first round? (Not considered top 15 in the conference but a top 30 player in the world?)
Drew Henson going to play pro baseball with a huge NFL paycheck waiting for him? (Steinbrenner bought him for reasons beyond baseball if you ask me)
Beilein going to a disastrous situation in Cleveland?
Right behind shit Big10 refs the pros have to be up there for ruining a good time.
February 19th, 2020 at 12:03 AM ^
"Steinbrenner bought him for reasons beyond baseball if you ask me"
No need to ask. He was an OSU booster (and identified as such on national TV, screening a pregame video of him addressing the OSU crowd at a rally the night before). Wanted to lure Drew away from playing against OSU, giving him a once-in-a-lifetime offer that he had to take before his senior year, and then sent him to his minor league team in Ohio where he could flourish with all the boos from the locals.
Ok. Got that off my chest. Back to basketball now.
February 19th, 2020 at 1:06 AM ^
It felt like one of those times when you see a kid get bad advice and it's obvious to everyone that it isn't going to work out like they think it is. But they are kids so they make the decision anyway and go pro way too early or choose the school that doesn't even have a position for them.
Except Beilien is an adult...
February 18th, 2020 at 6:27 PM ^
Self-confident is a good thing. Too much of it will lead you to jump off a cliff.
He will either retire and show up on TV, or will coach an Ivy league type school. No more high profile recruiting for him.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:45 PM ^
I say go somewhere warm and coach a high school team. The man is a teacher who is financially set. Go teach basketball to kids.
I am now done telling someone how to live their life.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:52 PM ^
Can you imagine what it’d be like to be a player in that scenario? Picture this... his team of ragtag gym rats is down by 10 in the state championship. Coach rallies the troops in a dimly lit, musty locker room. “Ok guys, so things aren’t looking good, but I’ve seen Spike Albrecht jump into the National Championship game and blackout bombing threes to the point he’s spitting game to Kate Upton. Who’s gonna step up and be our Spike!?!”.
February 18th, 2020 at 9:34 PM ^
You're saying we could end up watching Michigan's previous two coaches coaching against one another in the same league?
February 18th, 2020 at 6:27 PM ^
John, John, John...what a mess. If I see him in another B1G sideline I will be extremely pissed off and disappointed (is that bad of me to think?)
But I think he hangs up the tie and enjoys that retired life, seems like his larger family has some speed bumps they need to navigate.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:32 PM ^
Given how Beilein took over the program and single-handedly resurrected it at a time when people were saying Michigan Basketball would never be elite again, there's nothing he could do short of publicly defecating on a giant Block 'M' and posting it on YouTube (or maybe taking a job at MSU or OSU) that would make me think negatively of him. He will always be beloved around these parts, as far as I'm concerned.
But yeah, I will never understand his decision to leave for that job.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:33 PM ^
What a great, precise and accurate summary of exactly how (hopefully) most of us feel. Bravo.
Those two feelings (reverence yet confusion) are not mutual exclusive...
February 18th, 2020 at 7:28 PM ^
Agree if OSU or State, disagree if anywhere else. If he wants a college job, he deserves a shot. We all know his heart will always be at Michigan.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:30 PM ^
Come home. Make him the associate AD.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:35 PM ^
Maybe a good idea in a few years, once Howard is more established.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:39 PM ^
First order of business is pick the right date for the Spring Game
February 19th, 2020 at 12:16 AM ^
LOL no. That never works out. If he really wants another bite at the apple, quite sure that Wisconsin, Indiana or even OSU would love to have him.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:33 PM ^
Super Soaker CMO
February 18th, 2020 at 6:36 PM ^
I love JB. I will give him a standing O if they honor him some way. He gave us basketball in March and April!!, but this popped in my head.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:38 PM ^
P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Homer is the best.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:38 PM ^
I swear I just saw Beilein and his wife in the Ft Myers airport...
February 18th, 2020 at 6:43 PM ^
Time to have a little smoked fish dip and hit the beach!
February 18th, 2020 at 6:53 PM ^
Smoked fish subs*
February 18th, 2020 at 6:43 PM ^
See: Nick Saban - Miami
One wonders if he's had been talking to someone else already...
From New York...
Boeheim had previously stated that he would retire in April 2018.[14] However, in 2017 when his son committed to play at Syracuse starting in 2018 he extended his contract to beyond the 2017–18 season.[33]
February 18th, 2020 at 9:19 PM ^
This actually makes a lot of sense. Close to home, established program, premier conference. And compared to Coach K and Roy Williams, Beilein is a spring chicken.
February 18th, 2020 at 9:30 PM ^
This is nothing like Saban in Miami.
Saban was fairly successful in Miami, but quit after his first losing season. As a Miami fan, I hate him for quitting and especially for lying about it. If he had stayed in Miami, I think he would have been successful, and Miami fans did not want him to leave.
This seems like a situation where the move never worked out, the FO and Beilein were never on the same page, nor were the players and Beilein, and the team regrets hiring him (it seems like Beilein may regret taking the job, too. But that's mostly speculation on my part).
February 18th, 2020 at 10:03 PM ^
"Saban was fairly successful in Miami, but quit after his first losing season. "
Dude read what you type before you post.