Future Coaches

[Daniel tosh]

What former Duke player do you guys think could be on the side lines in a few years?I personally think scheyer would be a good coach,I know thats probably more than a few years,but i think he would be a good X&O's coach.

[Jarhead]

What former Duke player do you guys think could be on the side lines in a few years?I personally think scheyer would be a good coach,I know thats probably more than a few years,but i think he would be a good X&O's coach.

Do you mean on Duke's sideline, or in coaching in general? If you are thinking the latter the logical answer is everybody with the exception of the NBA guys, maybe (think Hill or Battier:)), or the ones who go into broadcasting. On the Duke sideline, we have probably seen him there already, but we don't know who he is just yet. I think it is much too early to speculate, though.

[Daniel tosh]

I meant coach anywhere or at Duke

[ChicagoCrazy84]

What former Duke player do you guys think could be on the side lines in a few years?I personally think scheyer would be a good coach,I know thats probably more than a few years,but i think he would be a good X&O's coach.

Yeah, I am thinking Scheyer will be in the NBA for a little while. I would say Paulus because of his heart and competitiveness, but I don't know what his future holds for football. David McClure I think would be a great coach.

[MCFinARL]

What former Duke player do you guys think could be on the side lines in a few years?I personally think scheyer would be a good coach,I know thats probably more than a few years,but i think he would be a good X&O's coach.

There is some logic in this also because it would be another step in which Scheyer would follow Chris Collins' path. :)

[Surfsideron]

Once Paulus finds he has no future in pro football (and I don't wish for that to happen but I think it is inevitable) and once either Wojo or Collins leaves, I believe Paulus will be joining the Duke staff.

I think that Coach K believes he owes Greg something in repayment for his senior year. I don't mean that K did him wrong - the circumstances dictated what was needed but I think it hurt K to have to do that to a player who totally idolized him.

I think Greg will be an excellent college coach someday.

[DukieBoy]

Paulus and Jay Williams.

Both are analysts (or Paulus was for a short time) on ESPN and know what they're talking about. They seem to have a good idea about the ins and outs of the game.

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Once Paulus finds he has no future in pro football (and I don't wish for that to happen but I think it is inevitable) and once either Wojo or Collins leaves, I believe Paulus will be joining the Duke staff.


Over J-Will?

[Orange&BlackSheep]

JayWill has never struck me as a head coach by temperament myself. Great instinctual player but I don't know if that translates to training those that are not.

[roywhite]

I can see Nolan Smith as a coach (though I think he can play pro ball for a number of years). He's got a lot of charisma and seems to know everybody; might be dynamite as a recruiter.

Just a hunch, but I think Carrick Felix may turn out to be a Nate James type person...which means he could be a good coach also.

[Daniel tosh]

Yeah J-Will IMO would be a great recruiter.Nolan would be too.Lance is a guy I really expect to be on the sidelines somewhere also

[sagegrouse]

Uh, this is an issue of supply and demand. Those best suited to coaching (demand) may have little interest (supply).

Those with ability (all dimensions -- leadership, pedigree, knowledge, organizational skills, a bit of charisma, and huge energy) will be in demand.

The rub is in the supply. Quite frankly, even though there are thousands of enthusiasts who would do anything to get an assistant coaching job at a Div I program, it won't appeal to those with more clearcut opportunities. It's a slow path of advancement, from director of operations or conditioning coach to bench coach, to lead assistant, etc. And most folks don't get to start at Duke. Even if lightning strikes and a head coaching job materializes, the chance of success is at best 50-50.

At top programs, assistant positions are good jobs. Wojo and Chris, because of the U.S. National team assignments, are probably the best-paid assistants in country and better paid than many Div I head coaches.

This career path, which I call "work-ups" on the college bench, won't appeal to many of the Duke basketball players. (In the South the old baseball game was called "motion," not "work-ups," but it must have been the classical education available to us. :rolleyes:) The only Duke player I know that skipped these steps was #44, who went from 12 years in the NBA to business for a few years then directly to the HC job at Charlotte. But then, Jeff Mullins was a very special guy.

Duke basketball players that have had a good run in the NBA and make mulltiple tens of millions don't need it, don't want it, and won't do it. Scratch Ferry, Laettner, G. Hill, Battier, Brand, Maggette, Boozer, Dunleavy, Duhon, Luol and probably JJ. And, of course, Maggette, Boozer and Deng have some academic work to do.

A lot of the Duke players really have better career options than coaching. Look at Ferry and Billy King; Alarie and Dennard have had excellent business careers. Jason Williams, I predict, will never coach because he will do better in broadcasting and other ventures. Anyone here think that Reggie Love will ever be a college bench coach? And I won't even bring up Battier, whose campaign for President in 2028 is in the formative stage.

Of the current players, I really think Scheyer will have better options than coaching, given who he is and his, er, capitalist connections. I suspect that Singler and Nolan will play a long time in the NBA. LT may choose to coach and also McClure. Zoubek? I don't know him that well but I doubt it.

Anyway, just saying....

sagegrouse

[ElSid]

Over J-Will?

No offense to Paulus, but I really don't want to see him on Duke's bench.

The guy has heart, but I'm happy that Duke is getting away from the scrappy-doo, little brother-style players for the foreseeable future. Nate James makes the program look cool. Paulus would make it look nerdy.

Personally don't think either Paulus or McRoberts was very good for the program image, overall. McRoberts had body language issues. Paulus tried his heart out but...was just not very good at basketball. And the two dunks where he was completely jumped over will forever define the program for some people. Oh, and that time (against VCU?) when he flopped well before a guy even came close to making contact with him. Charge!

Wojo should be there for a while longer, anyway. He can fill the scrappy-doo role just fine. He was also a better player.

I agree that Lance Thomas would make a good coach. He's really bright and articulate and was lauded by players and coaches for being a "spark" guy. That's what you want in a coach. Energy, enthusiasm, communication (which Lance also got a lot of props for) and, of course, Adobe Photoshop skills for recruiting / marketing material.

[CEF1959]

Paulus was just not very good at basketball.


That seems a bit overstated. He had some noteable successes. Like 15 assists in a game as a freshman, and 18 points to lead Duke in a win over UNC as a junior (the same year he led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio and shot 42 percent in threes). I think he threw up 25 in one game as a sophomore. Not a superstar, as it turned out, but hard to conclude he was not very good at basketball. He was, after all, a starter for three years.

[4decadedukie]

Scheyer: his demonstrated abilities, intelligence, leadership, character, and virtually innate understanding of basketball mark Jon as a potentially premier college coaching superstar.