Cool interview: Juwan Howard and John Beilein talk Michigan hoops
I could be wrong but I don’t think I’ve seen Howard and Beilein talk in this capacity yet. I haven’t gotten through it all just yet, but some nice fluffery so far. It’s really nice to see the former coach and the new coach converse in this way.
anyway. I thought I’d share. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/xsnrzze4EX4
January 12th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Hmmm maybe you want to look up the definition of fluffer before using it too often.
I'm well versed in this. See: my username.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
NTTAWWT
January 12th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
Are you a fluffernutter?
January 12th, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
Without intending to cast aspersions on whatever fluffer expertise you may have, the word comes from the earlier show-biz term, to praise / overpraise a performance.
Because that in turn comes from the meaning to fluff a pillow, perhaps it's come, so to speak, full circle in your experience.
January 12th, 2021 at 3:54 PM ^
If you wanna know about show-biz, just ask Albert Fish
January 12th, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^
Get your mind out of the gutter, you.
'Fluffery' means: (countable and uncountable, plural flufferies) Anything lightweight and overly ornamental or superfluous; fluff; froth.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
I hope that John stays involved and active with the program in some capacity for a while... call it an "ambassador" or "mentor" or even with a more formal role. Too much knowledge, experience and goodwill to lose as long as the arrangement doesn't conflict with Juwan at all.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
I love John Beilein, but it's not his program anymore. I think we should have faith that Juwan can run the show.
Besides, we already have a veteran ex-HC on staff in Martelli.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:58 AM ^
Can't overstate how valuable Martelli has been. Then again, how many coaches with multiple Final Fours on their resume are walking around on college campuses?
I think everybody involved has the personality to not take offense to a popular former coach being around the program from a distance.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:03 PM ^
If you bring in the ex-coach, no matter how well intentioned, it will have the effect of undermining the current coach's authority. The expression "too many cooks in the kitchen" comes to mind.
I think Beilein understands this, anyway.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
Yeah. Beilein can be a friend to those guys (he still teaches a leadership class that they take, I guess?) but he's not the coach and it would be bad for everyone if he tried to be some kind of coach emeritus. Interactions should be limited to basic compliments or sympathy on game results, and off-court stuff. I'm sure that's what it is.
In my work I have some significant experience with this, in a good way, and I can verify that Beilein staying hands-off is the right way to go.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
Two reasons for me to not be concerned - 1) Beilein has too much class to get in the way; 2) Howard is confident enough in himself to allow Beilein to be involved a little, every now and then.
With those two, I think having Beilein opine occasionally is good for the program, and having him accessible at Howard's pleasure is even better. Who better to talk to about what to expect when taking a team into the Final Four?
January 12th, 2021 at 2:26 PM ^
Well, he could call his own college coach, Steve Fisher.
This reminds me of the thread about Martelli a few days ago, where there seemed to be an assumption that Juwan needed help to do his job. Do we make this assumption of other coaches here? Why do we need to hire a "coach mentor" when our coach has a 10-0 team?
January 12th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
Yeah completely agree. Beilein knows what to do perfectly well. Beilein made some comments of staying out of the way a few times if I can recollect. He's a classy and considerate fella.
Now Howard's team has a year under its belt and usurping any kind of power seems unlikely. Beilein and Howard are the best possible scenarios for personalities and they can co-exist kindly.
A positive force in Beilein, exercised at occasional times with support of Howard (talks are good once a year), can only help recruiting as players recollect that Beilein was the guy that got the team to the finals twice.
While history does not mean a greater chance to occur in the future, it still affects biases of players that still remember Trey Burke, for example.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
Sometimes past coaches can be helpful - Urban was certainly helpful to Day. Bo's continued to play a role when he left the sidelines - though in an official capacity. Is John interested in being an AD???? There are some who may be highly interested in that (though he would cringe at NIL strategies).
January 12th, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
With the constant rumors of Martelli looking for a HC job, I wonder if Beilein would ever take that Martelli role if he decided to leave
January 12th, 2021 at 2:45 PM ^
I didn't neg you, but that would be straight up weird.
I don't know if you know, but JB has never been an assistant coach (I'm joking here of course). To be an assistant coach for the first time in your career...at the tail end of your career...at the team you most recently were a head coach of...would just be so weird.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
Yes, just look at how awful things have been at OSU with Urban Meyer still hanging around the program.
Clearly Urban's continued presence has been holding them back and they will be in much better shape has soon as he's gone.
January 12th, 2021 at 2:17 PM ^
Does Meyer have an official role in the OSU program? What does he actually do there?
January 12th, 2021 at 3:51 PM ^
This story was back when they first announced his retirement, so I don't know if it has changed since he started working for Fox. But he took a job as an assistant AD and helped teach a course at OSU. No word on what he was actually going to do
January 12th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
Sam interviewed JB a couple months ago and asked about coaching again. He didn’t rule it out and, if memory serves, he sounded like he was seriously considering it
January 12th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
I disagree. This is Juwan's program, and no matter how good the intentions are, involvement by Beilein wouldn't be a good thing. Let's keep rolling the way we are. Juwan and the other coaches are crushing it.
That said, I would be okay with Beilein joining the AD in some capacity.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:31 PM ^
Well, like Beilein mentioned in the interview, he has the leadership course that a couple of the guys take/took. That's pretty cool and still allows him to interact with the players in a different capacity.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Man I hope we can keep Howard for a few more years. Gotta think the NBA calls have already started and will continue.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
its a pipe dream but I really hope against hope that he wants to have a legacy here and not just a stop before going pro.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
Hopefully stays as long as his son stays, and I don't see him leaving early
January 12th, 2021 at 3:24 PM ^
We also have a little extra insurance because his other son, Jett, will be coming here in the class of ‘22.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
I'm sure we'll hear more about this at the end of the season.
And then it's up to Howard. I hope he at least stays for a four-year cycle, gets a couple of these recruiting classes through.
But in some scenarios, his best option could be to leave. Suppose he takes us to the Final Four this year and then, say, the Lakers get beaten in the conference finals and fire Vogel and Lebron gives him a call and says "let's win some NBA titles."
I would love Howard to decide that Michigan is his life. But I wouldn't be surprised or upset if he did not.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
I can't see him leaving before he's through at least 4-5 years. He has an opportunity in front of him to make Michigan THE dominant program in the conference. Izzo only has so many years left. If we finish this season strong, we will be national title contenders if at least one of Wagner or Dickinson come back for next year. Assuming we get some good players in the 2022 class, could be setting us up for long term success. Meanwhile, the rest of the conference is good but not elite and MSU could be trending down as the pressure will really be on them next year to have a good season.
I think he will always have the NBA in the back of his mind, but we've seen how much he cares about Michigan. He's not going to leave before he really puts his stamp on the program as a coach.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
Beilein is a good guy. Coach Howard is going to have a dynasty on his hands. Can’t wait!
January 12th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
Was on an LAX to DTW Delta flight with coach Beilein a couple of years back. He accepted the Cavs job maybe a month prior and there he was flying commercial sitting in Delta Comfort, not 1st class.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:15 PM ^
Ha! I met him on an airplane too - Dallas to Chicago. It was after the NC loss to Villanova in 2018. I was on leg 3 returning with my family from spring break. He was seated in front of me (also in coach). He deplaned in Chicago, and while I was trying to get my daughters into the aisle, he comes running back on the plane. "Excuse me girls!" He forgot his luggage in the overhead bin and was apparently connecting to Detroit.
January 12th, 2021 at 7:21 PM ^
I met him on a Delta flight as well, DTW to SLC soon after he accepted the Cavs job. Super friendly and gave me a hard time for my green pants.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
Pretty good.
I'd really love to hear Beilein and Howard talk about their differing approaches to big man play. That video Brian posted of Beilein breaking down Hunter's big play was eye-opening--wow, he really knows what he's talking about--but apparently he either chooses not to or does not quite know enough to produce play on that level as a coach. (That's no knock against him--coaches are really smart, and they know a lot more about their sport than we do, and one of the advantages there is that they know enough to know what they don't know).
I'd love to hear a real, open, philosophical back-and-forth.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
I tend to think the reason is that Beilein developed a well-deserved reputation for a certain kind of offense and tendencies, which made recruiting post-up players of Dickinson's caliber enormously challenging. McGary might have helped to change that perception had things turned out differently, but alas.
And if you can attract only marginal post players, there's not enough benefit to changing your offensive scheme to highlight them. You leverage your expertise and keep your system. It was still a very good offense, as long as there were shooters.
Juwan came in with instant credibility for utilizing a true center, and here we are.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
Good points. I think it's also probable that the reality for Beilein as he rose through the ranks is that he wasn't going to attract top post players, and rather than try to beat more talented teams at their own game, he found areas of inefficiency that he could exploit. He was, after all, ahead of the curve on using the outside shot.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
I think the reason Beilein developed his offensive tendencies/systems is because he didn't have access to big men of certain caliber for the vast majority of his career (really until part-way through his Michigan tenure). Those big men are few and far between, so he developed a system that didn't require elite talent and physical attributes. I think your second paragraph hit on this - he couldn't attract high-level post players, so he developed a system that didn't feature them and after coaching it for decades and mastering how to teach his system there was no reason to change.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
Digging this conversation. Thanks for sharing the vid.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
Thanks for sharing, two great coaches and better human beings.
What a treat!
January 12th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Great interview. Thanks for sharing. Beilein looks really relaxed. Good for him.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
I haven't watched it yet. Hope it's more comfortable than this:
January 12th, 2021 at 1:41 PM ^
It was such typical TV bullshit to put them in that position. Drama for the sake of drama. I hate that crap.
January 12th, 2021 at 2:48 PM ^
I remember this. So cringe
January 12th, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
BTN has set up a studio in Beilein’s Ann Arbor home so he can start remotely doing color analysis on B1G games. Expect to see him in that role very soon. He has too much energy left to retire, so let’s see if this is how he finishes his career. I expect he’ll be great in this new role.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:52 PM ^
I needed this today. Thanks. Go Blue!
January 12th, 2021 at 2:00 PM ^
Thanks for sharing. I loved the interchange between the two coaches.
Did anyone pick up at the end about only two people in the elevater at a time and how it slowed down loading the bus because of Covid protocol? We don't often hear little things like this and how teams are working to stay safe from Covid.
January 12th, 2021 at 5:06 PM ^
A peaceful transition to power. You love to see it.