I'm seeing everyone raging pissed that we didn't go and hire someone with more skins on the wall - and I think people largely underestimate what the resume of a head coach headed into a top tier program looks like. Most coaches lack the type of "slam dunk" resume that makes you feel confident they're gonna make it at a big time program until they literally make it at the big time program.
There are exceptions and sometimes you get lucky and get to hire a dude with skins on the wall, but that is largely the exception - both in football and basketball. Like, Chris Beard, Nick Saban at Bama, Urban Meyer at Ohio State. Those are the only names I can think of right now that were slam dunk, no qualms, no ifs and butts hires. I'm sure there are more, but for every one of those guys there are like 10 hires made among blue blood programs that have nowhere near the same track record.
I just went and looked at who are considered the basketball blue bloods.
UConn.
Last hire, Dan Hurley.
Before UConn spent 6 years at Rhode Island, culminating in back to back conference championships and 2nd round exits in the NCAA tournament. Very impressive for Rhode Island, but that's it. That's the guy that UConn went and got. Let's take a beat here - based on that resume, a bunch of people would have considered this an underwhelming hire. Shaka had a more exciting resume. Sean Miller definitely has a more exciting resume.
Hurley then missed the tournament in back to back years at UConn, then got bounced in the first round in back to back years. Let's take another beat - at this point most of you would want him fired. That is a worse 4 years than what we just had with RT. So most of this board would want him gone.
Then he won back to back titles.
Duke:
Last hire, John Schayer. No head coaching experience although he was groomed by Coach K for the role, so hard to gauge. But again - I think that's a hire that a lot of people would consider risky.
Indiana:
Last hire, Mike Woodson. NBA guy, no college head coaching record. I'm not as knowledgeable about him as a college coaching prospect but this seems, on paper, like a risky hire - a 67 year old guy who has never coached in college and has never recruited. Shrug. It also hasn't worked out.
Kansas:
Last hire, Bill Self. This one felt very much like a slam dunk hire - Self took Tulsa to an elite 8, then went to Illinois and did an elite 8, sweet 16, and round of 32 in his 3 years there. It doesn't get a whole lot more accomplished before jumping to a blue blood. Having said that - this is Kansas.
Kentucky:
Last hire: Mark Pope. A massive, massive "eh". In 5 years at BYU, he made the tournament twice and got bounced in the first round both times.
UNC:
Last hire: Hubert Davis. Like Schayer, a guy who took over. Hard to gauge. Has definitely worked out thus far
Michigan State:
Last hire: Tom Izzo. Again, an internal promotion with no prior HC record. Worked out well.
UCLA:
Last hire: Mick Cronin. Prior to UCLA, he was at Cincy for over a decade. Peaked at a sweet 16 halfway through his tenure and then he went 7 years straight not getting out of the first weekend in the tournament. A big resounding "meh".,
Villanova:
Last hire: Kyle Neptune. Was groomed under Jay Wright at Nova, left and coach at Fordham for one year, then came back to replace Wright. Did not work out.
We're not a basketball blue blood and we're not a program that is outspending everyone in our peer set . We should not expect ourselves to be a in a superior hiring position than these programs. Simple as that. Sean Miller is a perfectly fine hire.
I will also add - and I said the same when we hired Sark: looking at past head coaching record as if its predictive of the future ignores the fact that there's always a context. And that especially in college, sometimes you need a move, a bit of luck, land a couple of guys and avoid a couple of busts to change your trajectory.
There's no better example of that than Rick Barnes.
There are exceptions and sometimes you get lucky and get to hire a dude with skins on the wall, but that is largely the exception - both in football and basketball. Like, Chris Beard, Nick Saban at Bama, Urban Meyer at Ohio State. Those are the only names I can think of right now that were slam dunk, no qualms, no ifs and butts hires. I'm sure there are more, but for every one of those guys there are like 10 hires made among blue blood programs that have nowhere near the same track record.
I just went and looked at who are considered the basketball blue bloods.
UConn.
Last hire, Dan Hurley.
Before UConn spent 6 years at Rhode Island, culminating in back to back conference championships and 2nd round exits in the NCAA tournament. Very impressive for Rhode Island, but that's it. That's the guy that UConn went and got. Let's take a beat here - based on that resume, a bunch of people would have considered this an underwhelming hire. Shaka had a more exciting resume. Sean Miller definitely has a more exciting resume.
Hurley then missed the tournament in back to back years at UConn, then got bounced in the first round in back to back years. Let's take another beat - at this point most of you would want him fired. That is a worse 4 years than what we just had with RT. So most of this board would want him gone.
Then he won back to back titles.
Duke:
Last hire, John Schayer. No head coaching experience although he was groomed by Coach K for the role, so hard to gauge. But again - I think that's a hire that a lot of people would consider risky.
Indiana:
Last hire, Mike Woodson. NBA guy, no college head coaching record. I'm not as knowledgeable about him as a college coaching prospect but this seems, on paper, like a risky hire - a 67 year old guy who has never coached in college and has never recruited. Shrug. It also hasn't worked out.
Kansas:
Last hire, Bill Self. This one felt very much like a slam dunk hire - Self took Tulsa to an elite 8, then went to Illinois and did an elite 8, sweet 16, and round of 32 in his 3 years there. It doesn't get a whole lot more accomplished before jumping to a blue blood. Having said that - this is Kansas.
Kentucky:
Last hire: Mark Pope. A massive, massive "eh". In 5 years at BYU, he made the tournament twice and got bounced in the first round both times.
UNC:
Last hire: Hubert Davis. Like Schayer, a guy who took over. Hard to gauge. Has definitely worked out thus far
Michigan State:
Last hire: Tom Izzo. Again, an internal promotion with no prior HC record. Worked out well.
UCLA:
Last hire: Mick Cronin. Prior to UCLA, he was at Cincy for over a decade. Peaked at a sweet 16 halfway through his tenure and then he went 7 years straight not getting out of the first weekend in the tournament. A big resounding "meh".,
Villanova:
Last hire: Kyle Neptune. Was groomed under Jay Wright at Nova, left and coach at Fordham for one year, then came back to replace Wright. Did not work out.
We're not a basketball blue blood and we're not a program that is outspending everyone in our peer set . We should not expect ourselves to be a in a superior hiring position than these programs. Simple as that. Sean Miller is a perfectly fine hire.
I will also add - and I said the same when we hired Sark: looking at past head coaching record as if its predictive of the future ignores the fact that there's always a context. And that especially in college, sometimes you need a move, a bit of luck, land a couple of guys and avoid a couple of busts to change your trajectory.
There's no better example of that than Rick Barnes.
