Michael Spath: "Momentum building for Juwan Howard"

You wanted Beilein out and you got it. This is the ride we're on--rolling the dice on a good NBA assistant or getting a mid-range HC somewhere else. There simply aren't a lot of options. 

Perfectly fine with the Juwan Howard hire considering the options we seem to be down to. High ceiling type of hire but certainly quite a bit of risk. I just hope he doesn't view this as a stepping stone for an NBA gig and is gone in 3 years.

I like Juwan. He and Jalen were always 1A and 1B for me in the Fab Five. But I don't get this. I don't know how you replace the squeakiest of clean guys in the universe with an alum whose main draw is his connection with a teammate who was a critical figure in what was for a long time the largest financial scandal in NCAA history. 

I get it, the Fab Five were "cultural icons" and all that stuff. But they also represent something far different, and decidedly anti-Beilein. This program spent almost 15 years rebuilding itself in a totally new image. I don't understand why, all of the sudden in the last 2-3 years, people are so excited to go right back.

You can flip it around, the only reason howard is giving us the time of day is because he went to Michigan. Most respected assistant nba coaches that are being interviewed for nba jobs would never consider a college job 

I agree with your assessment. Just because a person played at a school does not mean that they will return to the school and there will be automatic success. Brady Hoke coached on a national championship team at Michigan but that DID NOT qualify him to be a head coach of such an enormous football school with tremendous pressure to win. Juwan Howard has been coaching for six years and as a NBA assistant. The college game is much different environment than when he was at Michigan. I would hate to see such a nice guy who clearly wants to coach, be put in such a pressure cooker as Michigan to see him become ostracized later by a fan base which is extremely unrealistic most of the time (Harbaugh knows this I’m sure). Beilein cleaned up Michigan when it was actually ruined during the Fab Five years and it took him over 10 years to do so. He left the program in excellent shape. I expect Manuel to do what is best for Michigan and NOT for former players and the fan base. 

Juwan is the ultimate risk reward candidate... he could be a grandslam or he could be turrible.

At this point however in the coaching carousel, all the coaches looking to move have found their chairs... i said it before and i am sure many else have as well: Beilein (despite how much i love the guy) put Michigan in a bad spot hiring wise.

If he knew he was going to the NBA, he should have been more direct with Warde after March... there were a lot of coaches Michigan could have easily had at that time, but now is very difficult.

I like Howard, and had him in the second tier if we missed out on the top guys (most were pipedreams).

Its not like he's coming by himself; he'll have a minimum of 3 assistant coaches and the rest of admin staff to help him with his transition to the college game.

If you manage to keep 2 of Saddi/Dre/Luke, i think you are in good shape. I think Dre would likely stay; Michigan has been his dream job for a long time. Then you just need Luke/Saddi. 

Luke is more desired because of his defense and presumably, Howard would work with the bigs, which is saddi's expertise...

Did Brady Hoke play in the NFL for 10 years and work on an NFL coaching staff for the subsequent years? Not an apples to apples comparison

There is no evidence he will be successful as a college head coach. There is also no evidence he will be unsuccessful. This is a massive gamble. 

Yeah he’s not being considered because “he was part of the Fab 5”

He’s a Michigan alum with an impeccable reputation in the basketball world who is seen as a future NBA head coach  

Name another candidate out there right now with better credentials for this job 

What about recruiting is that difficult as in not something one can learn to be good at with an ounce of empathy and a whole lot of desire to be good? Didnt Juwan begin his internship while in high school when he actively recruited the other members of the fab 5?

Considering the source it appears that the argument boils down to you staking your claim early to leading the Fire Howard, He Sucks! brigade.

On what planet does Shaka Smart = we know we can make a Final Four?  Trolling, trolling, trolling

You wanted Beilein fired, so it's difficult for me to put much stock into your opinion of Juwan Howard's coaching credentials.

I think the recruiting questions are fair, although some of that can be mitigated by who you put on staff. That being said, the juxtaposition against Penny feels like a red herring, because I'm not sure where all the people are who were making the comparison. 

You are absolutely insufferable. 

I mean, wasn't Beilein like a middle school coach or something when he started ...

You are really understating a lot of the reasons why juwan is a candidate in general, and not just for Michigan. Hoke wasn’t being looked at by professional teams as a hc, juwan is. They really are in completely different tiers. 

Just say no.  ...to Shaka

Yes. It’s ONLY because he was in the Fab 5. Rose, Jackson, and King will also interview. Webber is undecided. Assistant coach options are, of course, Eric Riley, Michael Talley, James Voskuil, and Jason Bossard. 

/s