Obligatory List Of Potential Beilein Replacements
I need time to emotionally encompass the thing that just happened so here's some rote "what's next" stuff.
WHAT'S NEXT
Beilein's sudden departure is horribly timed as Michigan attempts to fill the roster holes left by Jordan Poole and (almost certainly) Ignas Brazdeikis. They were on the verge of a commitment from grad transfer Jaevin Cumberland and trying to get Franz Wagner to follow his brother from Alba Berlin to Ann Arbor; the latter is probably dead and Cumberland may go off the board to Oregon before Michigan can get it together.
But Michigan has clout, especially now that Beilein's put them in a spot where they've got as many NCAA tournament wins as anyone over the last six years. They can swing at some names. The problem is that the coaching carousel has already stopped and the obviously attractive candidates have already been poached. A list of oh-well-too-lates:
- Buffalo's Nate Oats got hired by Alabama
- Nevada's Eric Musselman went to Arkansas
- Cincinnati's Mick Cronin went to UCLA
- VT's Buzz Williams went to Texas A&M
- Wofford's Mike Young went to VT
Meanwhile Chris Beard signed a giant contract. It's not unprecedented for coaches to say "whoops" and bolt before they even play a game—Beard was UNLV's coach for exactly 19 days before Tech came calling—but it is rare and probably expensive. With football driving giant revenues at SEC schools it's unlikely Michigan could meaningfully outbid the opposition. Oats, the only guy on the list with any ties to the area, already shot it down publicly. I'm not going to the mat for any of the other guys except maybe Buzz Williams, and god knows A&M will throw gobs of cash at him.
What's left is a combination of extreme long shots that don't require much discussion and… almost nothing else. Sure, if one of Brad Stevens, Chris Beard, Jay Wright, or Mark Few wants the job, Michigan should give it to him. On this we are agreed. Make all the longshot phone calls.
In the highly likely case none of these land, here's what you're looking at. I mean, I guess? I don't know. I'm assuming that Michigan is willing to hire a guy who will look the other way at bag, but not one with extant NCAA or ethical baggage. That rules out Bruce Pearl, Dana Altman, and Kelvin Sampson.
Michigan's assistants are also not listed below. Sam suggested that an internal hire is not on the cards "before an exhaustive search followed by an interim season," which sounds like the end of the world. I do have a line beyond which we might as well hire Yaklich. It is stunningly high up the list. There is no-damn-body available right now.
BILLY DONOVAN, OKC
Donovan is much less of a long shot than Brad Stevens because of a precarious employment situation. The Thunder have been bounced from the first round of the playoffs for three straight years and while OKC picked up the option on his contract that only extends through next year. The Athletic recently speculated on some problems between Donovan and Russell Westbrook…
I keep hearing rumblings that Westbrook’s faith has waned in Donovan, and close observers this season have caught several curious in-game moments between coach and star that make you wonder. If the relationship is fractured, Donovan’s done. It’s hard for any coach to survive three straight first-round exits, and if there’s trouble brewing between that coach and his biggest star then that coach has no chance of survival.
…shortly after the Thunder's GM said he "anticipates" Donovan will return next year, which is ominous language if you're the head coach headed into a lame-duck year. If Donovan thinks he's done in OKC sooner or later, a top 15 college job which won't catch any FBI fallout may be enough to make the move.
Donovan hasn't dominated the NBA but after a 19-year run at a football school with two national titles, three final fours, six elite eights, and 14 bids there is no question he would be a slam-dunk hire. Despite his gigantic track record he's just 53.
[After THE JUMP: two more guys, Yak, and then garbage trash I wouldn't even throw out]
STEVE PROHM, IOWA STATE
Prohm is the only probably acquirable college coach with three top 20 Kenpom teams the last four years. In his tenure the Cyclones have been 20th, 17th, 103rd, and 15th. They've had three bids, a four, a five, and a six-seed. Prohm inherited a good situation from Fred Hoiberg and Iowa State has a fair bit of tradition, but for the Cyclones to tread water in a brutal Big 12 is impressive. This year was all his own roster.
Before Iowa State, Prohm was on the Murray-State-to-major-job conveyor belt, compiling a 54-10 conference record and grabbing a six-seed with the #35 team in the country in his first year; the Racers went 29-6 and were 57th in Knepom during his final year. While there he recruited Cameron Payne, a who-dat recruit who became a first-round pick.
Prohm doesn't come with the sexy tournament run that guys like Shaka Smart do, but I'd rather have the guy who pounds out non-bubble bids in a brutal conference with regularity. His recruiting has been good given his location: Talen Horton-Tucker was barely outside the top 50 and the year before Lindell Wigginton was 35th, and both guys were coming out of high school—Hoiberg's teams were full of transfers. Prohm's not above digging into the transfer market himself, since nobody can avoid it these days. He seems to be a good recruiter.
Prohm's 44, FWIW. His teams have really good offenses, so if he could hold onto Yaklich that could be a thing.
JUWAN HOWARD, HEAT ASSISTANT
No, seriously. Howard's been a lead NBA assistant for six years and has interviewed for a couple of head jobs. No recruiting experience, but… I'm gonna say he'd be pretty good at it. Doesn't have the "turned Beilein defense into ball of knives" card. Could keep Yak. Well-respected around the league:
Honestly, if Juwan would be interested in moving down to college, I think this is the best idea I’ve heard yet about Michigan. Howard is extremely well respected around the NBA. https://t.co/J42uQe98Av
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) May 13, 2019
Downside is that if he ends up succeeding he too could bolt for the pros, but if that gives Michigan enough time to see if Lavall Jordan or Patrick Beilein is ready another departure wouldn't be the end of the world.
Howard's a massive swing for the fences, which is preferable to hiring a middling coach at a Big East school, which is most of the rest of this list. Pretty much all of the rest of this list? Once you slice out the old, the baggage-encumbered, and the recent switches things are incredibly thin.
------------------------THE YAK LINE--------------------------
[Marc-Gregor Campredon]
I'd rather just hire Yaklich than anyone below this line. Yaklich has the edge on the other two assistants because he was Michigan's defensive coordinator and the two-year turnaround under him was stunning. It's likely he's a legit difference maker in that department. Personnel can only explain so much when you have the #3 D in the country while playing Moe Wagner and Duncan Robinson starters' minutes. The other two assistants can't say that.
Some people will argue this line is way too high but the names down here are just as much a shot in the dark as he is. I believe the way he got hired and the results since his hire indicate a guy worth taking a shot on.
LAVALL JORDAN, BUTLER
[Bryan Fuller]
Former Michigan assistant had one bad year at Wisconsin-Milwaukee when another late coaching shift took Chris Holtmann to OSU and opened up the Butler job. Jordan had a solid first year, going 9-9 in a tough Big East and reaching the round of 32 as a 10 seed. This year Butler slipped to 16-17 because their defense imploded. Jordan managed to ship the worst defensive center in the country…
…to Indiana, though, so maybe he'll bounce back. Jordan has more head coaching experience under his belt but honestly seems less proven to me than Yaklich, who is clearly an elite defensive coach. He's a couple years away from having a hireable resume.
CHRIS COLLINS, WHAT THE FU-
I… help
MY PICK
Chris Collins – I think Manuel could get him, and he makes sense. The 45-year-old did take Northwestern to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2017. He has strong midwestern ties and has shown the ability to recruit at a high level — both at Duke and Northwestern.
There ain't a building in the world tall enough to jump off of if this guy is Michigan's next coach.
One bubble bid in 2017, 6-12 and 4-16 in conference since. What on earth.
You know what, no one down here is even worth evaluating. Bundle time:
VARIOUS INSANITIES
For the record, these people have been mentioned in articles by apparently un-institutionalized people:
- Bobby Hurley. .500 in the Pac-12.
- Rick Pitino. Hard pass on the criminal sex vampire.
- Porter Moser. One bid in 15 seasons.
- John Thompson III. Out of basketball!
- Bob McKillop. Is 68.
- Steve Pikiell. Cumong man.
- Johnny Dawkins. Was 66-78 in Pac-12 play. One bid with Tacko Fall doesn't overturn that.
- Kevin Willard, Seton Hall. NCAA issues too prominent. Six seasons as Pitino assistant, so… yeah. M probably not touching that.
- Almost anything else on Mike DeCourcy's list.
Every single attainable college head coach other than Prohm is dubious and you might as well roll with the program.
Wow, this list is almost as depressing as the news that Coach B is leaving. We have to take a run at Donovan. After that, I would look at Hurley or maybe even Wojo at Marquette even though he just signed an extension. To be honest, the choices don't seem all that great.
Please no one from Duke or with Duke ties. Or who played for Duke or ever even thought about Duke. Just please no Duke.
Truth. We already had one of those and it didn't turn out so great. And all of those Coach K proteges are overrated - almost as bad as the Bellichick coaching tree. I also don't want to tune in for every Michigan game and hear about Coach K the whole damn time. We're not one of Coach K's grandchildren.
(R)ape (C)ondoning (M)isogyny (B)rahs have some interesting takes right now:
he couldn't stand the "meeeechigan" bullshit any more than the rest of us.
What BS?
Yet another UM coach crumbled by Izzo and Dantonio. Harbaugh is next after we win in AA this year
Nice to see he's taking Izzo's sloppy seconds
... and that folks is why a comment from Mike Hart from 2007 is still alive and well today.
What cracks me up is that Izzo has been caught actively looking for NBA jobs before and they've all passed on him. And Dantonio has, AFAIK, never been seriously considered for a pro job. Like, I'm sorry the major leagues think so little of your coaches that you get to keep them, but then again MSU is full of townies who think the fact they can still hang out at HS parties is the pinnacle of existence. I guess I shouldn't be surprised they don't get that being desirable for prestigious positions is a thing.
Izzo has been offered NBA jobs before, but Dantonio has never been close
I don't think Izzo was ever formally offered a job; his name gets thrown around and teams express "interest", but I have my doubts about how serious some of these offers really are.
99.9% sure the Cavs offered him the job seven or eight years ago and he declined after much consideration. That's when he had his pressed about being a MSU "lifer".
I guess I took the whole "LeBron wouldn't talk to me" to mean it was sort of a non-starter. Like, Gilbert is the type of goof who would have tried to get a coach signed up before asking his superstar (who was up for FA) if he liked him. So yes, I guess Izzo was offered the job, but it didn't seem a particularly thoughtful situation.
Anyway, Izzo is a person I profoundly dislike and hope suffers through a humiliating season this year.
That definitely does happen a lot, but I know for certain Dan Gilbert offered Izzo the Cavs job in 2010
It is generally accepted that Izzo turned down Atlanta in 2000.
izzo is a turd, but if you believe (as i do) that beilein's conversations with the pistons last year constituted actual interest, you should believe that izzo's conversations with the cavs were "serious." the situations are practically identical.
MSU is full of townies who think the fact they can still hang out at HS parties is the pinnacle of existence
Exactly.
They pretty much write the Michigan is arrogant script all by themselves.
In fairness, I'm pretty sure Izzo could have had an NBA job by now if he wanted. Just because he withdrew before an offer came probably doesn't mean he couldn't have gotten one.
Matt. Damon.
Gregg Marshall. Why is he not on this list? This list actually kind of stinks. Mike White is another name to include in the above Yak line
Something we have to remember with Marshall is that he makes a lot more money ($3 million-something per year) at WSU than you would anticipate.
He also seems to be trending down a small bit (from #13 to #21 to #67 in KenPom the last 3 years), so you wonder if he's still the coach he was a decade ago. Plus, he does seem like a bit of an asshole, and going from Beilein to him would be a bit of a culture shock to some.
I don't know what this means to him, but he also must a very big fish in a very small pond in Wichita in a way that he never could be at Michigan. I doubt he's told no very often at WSU.
Yeah. And the level of competition in the Big 10 is a metric ton higher than in the MVC/AAC. It's probably telling that the years since they joined the AAC his teams have had a harder time staying near the top. Still a good coach, but he's not a slam dunk guy who can walk into a big-time program and handle that pressure on and off the court.
+1
Didn't even read this comment, but I'm too dumb to figure out how to upvote your Diary.
13 to 21 isn't a huge drop. The drop this year was because they lost nearly every minute from the team before. Huge rebuilding year. And they started very bad as they had a ton of freshman. Then they started playing really well by year's end and went to the NIT semis. A very Beilein trajectory.
True. I just wonder if the step up in competition from MVC to the AAC might be exposing some issues. But yeah, 13 to 21 isn't a terrible drop.
Eh, that's one mediocre year. Not ready to call that a trend yet.
And to your point below, I would argue that coaching at Wichita State in the AAC is FAR more of a hindrance than it is helpful. I think his success there says a lot more good about him than it gives pause.
I would put him above the Yak line here.
Wichita's program is bankrolled by the Koch brothers. That's as big as a money cannon gets.
I really don't understand the Mike White love. He never went the NCAA tournament at Louisiana Tech and just finished 8th in the SEC this year. He be a giant blah hire.
I have this same feeling in regards to White
The issue with Mike White is that Florida likely matches any reasonable offer, so then you're left to explain why you're backing up a Brinks truck for a guy who finished 8th in the SEC.
Yeah, he's probably getting a raise because of all this but I'd be underwhelmed if Michigan went after him over guys already on the staff.
Gregg Marshall would be a pretty big culture shift from Beilein (not a bad thing, just pointing that out). He's always struck me as a kind of a dick and wouldn't be my top choice but someone I could live with.
Most people driven to spend 80+ hours a week to work and win are dicks. Who cares? He's one of the top 10 coaches in the country, hands down, and I don't think Michigan has a chance to pry him from Wichita State. Not saying they shouldn't try.
i care if he's a dick.
i've said it, and i'll keep saying it. i was always - without exception - proud to call beilein our coach. contrast that with izzo, who is an enrelenting turd of a twatwaffle? easy choice.
We're just spoiled by Beilein I think. Miss you already B
How no one is mentioning Craig Smith (Utah State) is beyond me. The guy took a team predicted to finish 9th in the MWC to winning it, winning the conference tournament, and into the NCAA tourney in his first year. Proven success years prior, was an assistant under Tim Miles (yeah, that's a question mark...), but at least has some familiarity with the program and the area.
Nice try Craig Smith, we don’t want you here!!
Lol close. Just my undergrad alma mater, hence the "aggie" in my username.
I noticed the Aggie part, that’s why I said it
Craig Smith's long con: coach some basketball, create a barely-noticeable history on a Michigan fan site, eventually land the Michigan gig... Almost sounds *too* perfect.
Yes on Marshall, I'm surprised he's not mentioned anywhere as at least a possibility. Winthrop collapsed after he left, WSU dominated the MVC before joining the AAC and they're a respectable 24-12 in-conference since arriving. Solid defensive coach, his teams rebound well and they play hard. And he's 56, which means you'd get at least a decade out of him.
Two caveats: he may not be a cultural fit in A2 and his annual salary is $3.5 million, but I'd think he's worth a call at least.
Brian Wardle.
it's not all that hard to have a losing record.
Brian Wardle? More like Brian Chortle.
You either promote Yaklich or hire Howard. I’d prefer the former option, personally.
Next year will be a challenge regardless, but we have a senior PG and C.
Hire Howard and KEEP Yaklich. Get the best of both worlds. Would love to keep Saddi as well but you have to let Juwan hire his guys. But keep Yaklich, word to Jason Kidd.
Completely agree with everything in this post.
FUCK!
Norman Dale. He took a small school all the way to the championship and won.
Also Pete Bell, but he has been known to use shady recruiting tactics.
wojo is on the list too.
if they promote yaklich, can saddi and hynes stay? hard to work for your former peer.
yea... any reason saddi isnt higher? he was the interim last summer in europe
The only reason Yaklich is on the list is because of the defense. Michigan should be hiring someone with a winning record in a good conference as head coach.
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