Michael Spath: "Momentum building for Juwan Howard"
I personally don't get this. Being apart of the Fab 5 is not a reason to hire someone. I understand why former players are throwing their support behind him but former players also wanted Brady Hoke hired. You can't weigh that into your decision making process. Hiring a guy who has zero head coaching experience is already a huge risk but we'd also be hiring a guy who has never worked in college basketball. Can he recruit? How are is x and o's? Can he run a program? Does he know anything about putting together a staff? This seems like an unnecessary risk to take for a top 10 program. Fortune favors the bold so maybe this will work out but I have my doubts. At least with guys like Shaka we know he can get to the final 4 and recruit well. This is not a Penny Hardaway situation.
“As long as he expresses that Michigan is where he wants to be, and it’s not a fallback if an NBA job doesn’t become available I expect it to be Juwan. Lots of momentum moving in that direction both inside and outside the athletic department.” - my source
— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) May 18, 2019
Advice to Warde Manuel
— Coaching Changes (@CoachingChanges) May 18, 2019
When Juwan Howard hits you with something like “you know I’ll kill it in recruiting, look at Penny” make sure you ask him to name the sneaker sponsored grassroots programs in Michigan and surrounding states and ask him who those program directors are too
You make the case against Smart in this comment.
He had a fluke year getting to the Final Four (54th in Kenpom that year, cmon). He never made it out of the first weekend after. His tourney record is .500. He never won his conference.
He only had success at a small school. Once he moved to a school comparable to Michigan in a major conference he’s been pretty bad, despite recruiting well.
Before coming to Michigan, Beilein had an Elite Eight and a Sweet Sixteen while playing in a major conference. There was a much clearer picture that Beilein could win a big school before he came than there is with Smart right now. Much different.
Shaka’s resume is actually not better than JB’s when he took over. Only thing he had over JB was a FF. But JB had an Elite 8 and a Sweet 16. Shaka just continued the same level of success that VCU had enjoyed before he was HC.
JB has rebuilt every program he was at. He also had 5 years experience at a Power 5 conference. Shaka had only been at one school and it was a mid major
Shaka Smart has now lost five consecutive NCAA tournament games, starting with that memorable game in 2013 when we destroyed his team. Two of those losses are at Texas.
He also didn't build up that VCU program - Jeff Capel and Anthony Grant were there before him. He's known for that one Final Four run, which was cool and all, but it sure looks like a fluke now. Otherwise he looks like a typical mid-major guy who was promoted to a higher level and hasn't cut it.
The fact a bunch of NBA teams have expressed interest in him as a coach ought to be evidence that he has the ability to do the job. Can he recruit? We’ll find out, but as a former player with college and pro success, it seems that should be a plus.
Maybe volunteer for big brothers big sisters? I don't know, something to get you out of the house and impact another life in a positive way.
not sure about that suggestion. imagine the damage that could be done to a young mind.
"Alright listen, Joey, we're not going to the arcade or batting cages today. We're going to stay in, scour out of state message boards and Twitter and then post annoying conjecture on mgoblog.
But I promise to order a pizza. You like anchovies?"
Hey kid, you ever been to a Turkish prison...?
You know as well as I do that the answer to that is yes.
I look forward to you whining endlessly the next few years no matter who we hire in the end
Please make it stop!
We don’t need a new thread every time someone makes a statement on the coaching change.
Your post adds nothing of value. And you come off as a broken record.
Why do you feel the need to keep repeating yourself under the guise of a “new” post?
How many posts have you created since JB left?
Not worried about player development. I'm worried about getting the player.
Again, limited HS coaching titles...no AAU ties.
Feels like Patrick Ewing 2.0.
I have confidence players will develop, Teske could be a 1st round NBA player when Howard is done with him. Livers as well. But once those guys are gone...then what?
What grad transfer are you going to get without having coached a game at the college level? Are we just throwing this upcoming season away?
Not a fan of the move. The floor is crazy low and there are plenty of other coaches with a high ceiling.
The only cool thing about this is that The Fab 5 will certainly reunite at Crisler this fall.
Patrick Ewing actually is doing quite well in Georgetown ... FWIW
If Ewing is the floor, i will take it with zero hesitation
This exactly. Ewing has improved G-town’s record every year after he walked into a shit show of a program.
He has also recruited well without a whiff of impropriety.
Also, Ewing is in YEAR 2. Compare his first 2 years to Beilein’s first two.
Yup, I would sign up for Ewing 2.0 immediately.
Patrick Ewing opted for college because he wasn’t getting serious sniffs at NBA jobs even after being an assistant for over a decade.
Howard just finished his fifth year as an assistant and has multiple interviews for an NBA job. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a HC somewhere. I have more qualms about his lack of college experience than no HC experience. Needs to hire some experienced college assistants.
Also, people are acting like Ewing and Mullin hires were disasters. It’s simply not the case. Mullin had literally 0 coaching experience. He got them to the tournament after a bad first three years. Ewing took over Georgetown coming off two sub .500 seasons. They were back above .500 this year. And he’s recruiting ok at a much tougher place to recruit than Michigan. The situations aren’t similar. Howard would be taking over a team with three major contributors returning and two senior leaders. The sophomore class is talented, but inexperienced. Obviously Michigan has more to lose than St Johns or GTown did as we’ve been really good the last few years.
Who are the “plenty of other coaches with a high ceiling” that are legit candidates?
Acting like Juwan Howard has done nothing to make him an attractive coaching candidate since he played at Michigan is insanely dishonest, man. He's getting NBA HC interviews.
Man, I was just thinking how chill and reasonable you had been lately too. Troll can't change its stripes I guess.
I get it with the reputation of said poster but I think it is fair to ask the question, would he be getting other college interviews. I can honestly say I'm not sure. Yes, he's getting NBA interviews but the job is just so different. We don't know how he would be as a Recruiter, as a Developer, as an X's and O's guy in charge. Lots and lots of questions. I think it's fair to ask if he'd get interviews outside of Michigan at the college level.
Either way, I'm ready to move forward with him because he's really one of the only halfway decent options left. It just is what it is....
Was Harbaugh getting other college interviews when he was once the NFL? No. Therefore the college game has passed him by, and he’s probably not qualified to be Michigan’s coach.
Xs and Os is absolutely a fair question. Not doubting, I just don’t know.
Recruiting on the other hand, seems silly to question. He’s a legend returning to his Alma Mater. He’s going to recruit better than Beilein did.
There’s risk here, for sure. The slam dunk candidates aren’t coming/available. But you don’t have the proven mediocrity of other coaches either (the Hoke comp, Smart post- his single and completely fluke Final Four year). I’d rather risk it with the guy who is coveted in the NBA and will recruit well than a guy who is pretty well vetted to be a mediocre coach.
Fair points. I think we disagree a bit on the recruiting but I guess we'll just see how it goes. And I'll certainly reiterate, I want nothing but success for whoever takes the job. Some of this probably boils down to our level of comfortability in regards to risk aversion. I need to just get over that and accept where we are and what our options are.
Time to move on from it. Thanks for your thoughts.
Yeah, I’m definitely a bit more risk seeking here. I’d rather roll the dice than take the known commodity because I don’t think the known commodity’s resume lines up with program expectations. The risk is Howard is worse. We will see.
Exactly. Almost every coach and parent will know exactly who Juwan is and be impressed as hell by his playing career, credentials and personality.
Recruiting is the LEAST of my concerns about Juwan.
did you watch Duncan Robinson’s recent video clips, yes they develop players in NBA.
he was a great tactician as a player, a super polished college freshman, a super polished NBA rookie. He rose in ranks under the best X and O coach and has coaches summer leagues FWIW. I am sure that he will surround him with a competent staff and his work ethic will be second to none.
There is unknown about his in game adjustment but it is not like a lot of college coaches are good at it. I think that it is what separates a good coach from a elite one. We will have to find it out.
recruiting is also unknown but i have full confidence that Juwan will excel in that department. It was on record that he helped recruiting the other 4. He is not unfamiliar with AAU as he has two sons in high school and at least one of them has already got D1 offers. He will connect with the coaches and the parents instantly because of who he is. He has a nephew who is an uncommitted 2019 5star. Media will hype him too, if they have not done already.
If Juwan let it be known he wanted to coach CBB, he'd absolutely be getting interviews. You don't think a school like DePaul would love to have him?
He's only going to leave the NBA to coach at Michigan. Michigan is certainly the best program that would offer him their job now. It's also the high profile place where he's most likely to be successful. That might just work out for both sides. He rates to do a better job at Michigan than at UCLA, for example.
Do we think other top 10/15/20 programs (take your pick) would be clamoring for Smart, Cooley or Jordan today? No D1 school pursued Yak, even though he was available. Unless we could get Donovan or one of the extreme long shots, we were always going to get a new coach that's a good fit, but not a likely candidate for the next high profile job opening.
If Warde Manuel was set to hire a NBA assistant coach with no head coaching or college basketball experience whose name wasn't Juwan Howard what do you think the reaction would be around here would be.
I don't think anyone is even pretending that he played here isn't a big part. But it's not the most important. Also it's mid to late May. Most vacancies were filled in early April, with the ink not even dry on most of the hottest coaching candidates' new contract. Billy Donovan and Chris Beard ain't walking through the door. If not Howard, who is the uber-qualified coach we're missing?
I assume the opposite of you, since your opinions are always whatever gives you the most attention.
UM may be able to save 2019 recruiting with a Howard hire. Wilson may come back, maybe he can get his nephew Jaden McDaniels to come to UM or maybe Franz thinks about coming to the States.
I don't think any of the other realistic candidates would be able to get all three recruits to think about UM.
UM doesn't have many options at this time. JB kind of left them in a lurch.
To me this feels like a gamble we shouldn't have to take but we're past that now. The pipedreams are gone and we're left with options C, D, etc. Honestly, my feeling is, just get it done. There are uncertainties, questions marks, etc. with all of the options left. Howard wouldn't be my first choice (or frankly even in my top 10 choices) but just offer him the job and rip off the bandaid.
Time to move on and see what he can do.
Exactly. If we gave Hoke 4 years we can give Howard the same
You typed so many words, and still said nothing. It's like my wife typed this post.
1201, who do you want? All you do is bitch about the names being associated with the position. Name someone. Your like a crazy ex girlfriend no one wants around.
He wants attention. That's it. And where intelligent conversation is one option, his approach is to complain about coaches and star rankings.
WAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
1. Make Juwan the coach
2. Sign Jaden McDaniels and Franz
3. Get the MHSAA to get rid of the restrictions for playing out of state.
4. Dominate the midwest and Michigan recruiting(michigan produces top talent, most of which leaves for prep schools). AAU, sneaker shit, get in thick!
5. Win the whole thing in 3 years and watch Juwan leave for an NBA job
6. Live off the afterglow like 98 and hire Patrick Beilein.
I mean, if anything, this is what we're due after what this program has survived the last 2 months! As it is written, so it shall be.
This is different from Brady Hoke in one major way. Juwan Howard has been interviewed by multiple NBA teams for a head coaching position and there is clearly a demand for him.
Brady Hoke was never once offered any head coaching job at another Power 5 team, let alone an NFL team. Hoke was going to be a head coach at a mid-major unless Michigan made him the offer. This is not the case with Juwan Howard
People see what they want to. Sometimes you can’t change the narrative.
I think you have it backwards. Our interest in him is not because he was a member of the Fab 5, rather his potential interest in us is likely driven by the fact that he played in Ann Arbor. No other NBA coaches with good options to stay in the NBA would be as interested in our job as him. And it’s not because we are so great, it’s because he probably loves Michigan basketball.
I assume our AD wants him due to his NBA coaching experience and his ability to recruit very well. You think a guy who has been around the NBA for almost 30 years couldn’t recruit guys to play at his alma mater. Obviously his recruiting chops won’t be any good, I wouldn’t bet on that.
Maybe he’ll be a horrible coach. Predicting the future is hard. If he does come here, his staff will be very important.
I have to disagree with you that no other NBA assistant coaches would want this job if Michigan called. I think that's fairly ridiculous. Furthermore we have no idea if Juwan Howard is a godd recruiter or not. People assume he will be, but we also assumed Dave Brandon could run an athletic department because he was a fortune 500 CEO.
They are not banging the door down.
Actually, don't know what exactly he would do to be a "bad" recruiter but the fact that he played in the NBA plus was part of a bright spotlight in college, means the recruits will already relate to him more than some other coaches.
It may not yield better recruiting results than Beilein right away but probably gets us back to better prospects quicker than a lateral college move.
We'll, Jim Hackett had been a CEO and did fine replacing Brandon, and Warde is a career AD and you are want to shoot him into the son. Sometimes people are just bad at their jobs regardless of previous titles.
Howard may not work out. But you just want to complain so keep finding some other reason to dislike a person.
Didn't really care before but all of a sudden I'm feeling very Team Juwan(*)!
FAB-u-los!
You act like higher options are banging the door down - they are not. Realists are non-existent on this board.
Please stop. He's not anything like Brady Hoke. One minute with Brady Hoke should tell you he isn't the brightest bulb in the lot. That should have been disqualifying. Juwan Howard, on the other hand, appears to be an extremely intelligent man by all accounts. He graduated from Michigan on time with his class while juggling classes and an NBA career.
As for the other issues, yes there are unknowns. But his only qualification isn't being a former college player at Michigan. He had a long and successful NBA career. He has been an NBA assistant coach for many years. He is a candidate for NBA head coaching jobs. He comes highly recommended. An NBA Hall of Famer, Steve Nash stated "the things that impressed me most about him were his character, his intelligence and his insight. He's a leader type." He is likely to be very successful as a recruiter given his ties and higher profile.
He's an unknown as a head coach but with a high ceiling.
I agree with everything you said. I just have a small quibble. As far as I know, Steve Nash is still a Hall of Famer. :)
Lol, I'll correct that.