04-18-2017, 05:16 PM
(04-18-2017, 03:03 PM)fullmetal link Wrote:Might it be different in basketball? There's a much larger market for D1 basketball head coaches than football (where only a number of coaches have big-time program experience).Perhaps, but there are plenty of examples of current/recent D-I head coaches who have been extremely successful in their first crack as a head coach: Roy Williams (Kansas), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Kevin Ollie (UConn), Brad Stevens (Butler), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Shaka Smart (VCU). Historically you can add Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, John Thompson etc.
The reality is that sometime you take a chance on an assistant and he turns out to be Brad Stevens and other times he turns out to be Johnny Dawkins. Alternatively you hire someone who has been successful as the head coach at two previous stops and he continues his upward trajectory (John Calipari at Kentucky) or you hire someone who has been successful as the head coach at two previous stops and he fails in every possible way (Billy Gillispie at Kentucky).