MBB: 2022 Coaching Carousel

[luvdahops]

Why does Louisville keep doing this to themselves? I mean, after Pitino and Mack, you're going after another known sleazeball? Lots of good, young coaches out there without any blemishes on their records.

Why, Louisville, why?

Well, they did bring back Bobby Petrino, so there's an established pattern.

FWIW, I don't think Mack was considered a sleazeball per-Louisville, so who knows how much influence the setting may have had on him.

[mkirsh]

Yeah, I mean I guess it COULD free the team to play more inspired knowing that the pressure of the situation is gone. Or, it could just go into full on collapse mode.

Also the new coach may prefer a different style of play or different line ups, which could make scouting and prep difficult.

[JasonEvans]

Also the new coach may prefer a different style of play or different line ups, which could make scouting and prep difficult.

The new coach has been at Chris Mack's side for a decade as an assistant. I doubt Duke is going to see Louisville making a major changes.

[mkirsh]

The new coach has been at Chris Mack's side for a decade as an assistant. I doubt Duke is going to see Louisville making a major changes.

Didn’t Capel first play a zone and play Vrank during a game coach K was out? I might be misremembering but thought that was the case (maybe at Ga Tech)?

Generally I agree with you but you never know.

[rocketeli]

logically, the only reason that Louisville let Mack go is that they think Rick Pitino is available.

[Jim3k]

Why on God's green earth would Enfield leave So Cal for Louisville? If he's succeeding, SC will pay him to stay. And LA can, and will, continue to provide a great location for his family and model wife. Take him off the list of movable coaches. A free SC degree for his kids? No info on the point, but would they walk away from that?

[tommy]

Why on God's green earth would Enfield leave So Cal for Louisville? If he's succeeding, SC will pay him to stay. And LA can, and will, continue to provide a great location for his family and model wife. Take him off the list of movable coaches. A free SC degree for his kids? No info on the point, but would they walk away from that?

I'm not saying he would (if Louisville is even interested, which I'm not sure he'd be atop their list) but if they are interested, I can think of some quick reasons why he'd consider making that move.

1. Football is, and always will be, king at USC. His program will always be a second class citizen on that campus and in the community.
2. Related to that, USC basketball is always going to be way down the list of sports teams getting attention in LA. You've got two professional basketball teams, two baseball teams, two professional football teams, and two hockey teams. Plus UCLA basketball and USC football.
3. ACC>Pac 12 basketball. I know they did very well in the NCAAT last year and we're down this year, but big picture the prestige level, national attention, etc. there is no comparison.
4. At Louisville, you are the clear #1. Way above football. Very long tradition of outstanding basketball with a passionate fan base and a fantastic arena. The state of Kentucky has no professional sports, other than UK basketball, so you're front and center in that state along with UK.
5. While the LA area is rich in quality recruits, you're always going to have an uphill battle against UCLA and now Arizona is back with Tommy Lloyd. The best recruit Enfield has gotten in his USC tenure, who was Evan Mobley, was successfully recruited by first hiring the young man's father. That also netted him Evan's brother Isaiah who is also a good player. Enfield has gotten some other talent, including a real good big man out of the westside of LA for next year, but it's tough. While the city of Louisville itself may not produce that many recruits, you're proximate to tons of high quality recruits to your north, south, and east. With the historic nature of the Louisville brand, he might have an easier time recruiting there than in LA going forward. Maybe.

As far as the free degree for his kids, with the millions of dollars per year he'll be making, paying full boat for his kids' college is not likely to be a problem . . .

[Jim3k]

Thanks for the reply, Tommy. As you know, both of us have an LA history. Yours being far longer than mine. But I only left (for Nor Cal) because I actually did get a better job. And you could have, but didn't.

All of the things you mention are at least somewhat true. But, IMO, even in the aggregate, they are not particularly persuasive.

Football being king is accurate. But it is not binary in the sense that if football is king, nothing stops basketball from being the on-campus (at least nearby) night-time entertainment. As for UCLA, in the past UCLA had high quality in both sports simultaneously (despite having to chase out to the Rose Bowl for football games). No reason SC cannot duplicate that. As for the ACC being a greater venue than the Pac-12, that seems to be a "meh" argument. Similarly, the claim that Louisville basketball is the only game in town is a) not entirely true since pro football in Cincinnati is close by (90 minute drive) and b) UK dominates the state's college basketball in a way Louisville does not.

Finally, your last argument tends to undercut your comparison to the ACC argument.

So I'm not convinced. Besides, the LA climate is superior to Louisville's in most respects. At the very least, LA doesn't have the harsh Midwestern winters or the fierce summer humidity. So I think Enfield stays so long as he's reasonably successful. I have every reason to think he will be, Arizona and UCLA notwithstanding (and I am an alum of the UofA law school, so a bit of a fan, there). Not to mention that I like most of the Pac-12 schools for a variety of reasons. Of course there is one ACC school neither you nor I can stomach! GTHC.

[AtlBluRew]

Have college basketball teams ever hired their women’s coach to coach their men’s team? Louisville women’s basketball head coach Jeff Walz may be a good candidate for Mack’s replacement. He has won a national title at Louisville as well as taken their women’s team to 3 final fours since 2007-2008. He knows the campus, school, recruiting territory, and athletic department. He wouldn’t even have to move if he didn’t want to. He’s only 50.

Mick Cronin? He’s at the most historic college basketball blue blood in the country and having success there. He makes $4 million/year there too. Although his cost of living and taxes are high.

Travis Ford? (Yeah I know he played at Kentucky - that alone may disqualify him in Louisville’s eyes. But they did hire Pitino).

Wojo?

In 1986, La Salle asked their Women’s basketball coach, Speedy Morris, to coach the men’s team and he was very successful, going to the NCAA and coaching 2 or 3 future NBA players, including Lionel Simmons. Before taking over the La Salle women’s team, Speedy had been a legendary boys’ coach at Roman Catholic in Philadelphia.

[DevilYouKnow]

They have to be true to themselves.

Somehow, they out-sleaze the school 80 miles to the east of them.

That;s a tough assignment!

[DevilYouKnow]

The important thing is that the new Coach is a good fit with the University President and Athletic Director.

[mkirsh]

I heard Feinstein on the radio this morning talking about UMd's head coach opening. He seemed to think Enfield would be in play for the Terps, given his "local ties" (he went to Hopkins and has an MBA from UMd). Not sure I buy it, but it did bring up an interesting question to me - what is the better job, Louisville or Maryland? Both are traditional basketball schools with rich histories, Louisville having better recent success; both in power conferences, with ACC historically being better for hoops, but not sure that is true anymore; both are situated in rich recruiting areas although neither really recruits well locally. Probably a toss up to me, and it will be really interesting to see who each school ends up with.

[UrinalCake]

Didn’t Capel first play a zone and play Vrank during a game coach K was out? I might be misremembering but thought that was the case (maybe at Ga Tech)?

I do remember Capel burning Vrank's redshirt in a game against GT. He seemed to use the bench more than K did, though not drastically so.

The zone you're thinking about likely occurred in 2015 after losing back to back games against NC State and Miami. Our next game was coincidentally against Louisville on the road, and needing a major shakeup we broke out the zone, which was a major departure for K at the time. But Capel wasn't the one who coached that game. I do recall stories of Capel being the one to suggest it to K, during a meeting where the head coaches stayed up all night following the Miami loss trying to figure out what to do to save the season. That was a BAD loss. And the rest, as they say, is history.

[Bluegrassdevil1]

One important distinction between the Maryland and Louisville job is regional talent. The coach at Maryland has ready access to strong talent in-state, DC, and Virginia. Rarely, if ever, does Louisville, the state of KY, or southern Indiana, have strong talent. Within exceptions, Louisville is rarely, if ever, under strong consideration. Recently, Romeo Langford played 25 minutes away from UofL's campus, but IU was always going to get him. The best in-state KY talent, will almost never, ever, for any reason, pick UofL over UK.

UK has always had an infinitely stronger tradition, more resources, stable finances, branding, et al., than UofL. Denny Crum won two national championships at UofL, but there was never a point where the team's popularity within the city itself (outside of Louisville metro, UK is 99.9% the preferred team) rivaled UK's. Rick Pitino was the savior of the UK program, came to UofL, and even then, UK never truly feared their "little brother."

The shoe contracts alone, make the Terps the better option.

At present, no notable coach should remotely consider UofL (fan fractures, department/university upheaval, the NCAA, etc), but that is the problem. UofL will not be patient about basketball success, and I suspect, that will doom any chance of long-term stability.

UofL views itself as a Ferrari, which may be true. But, it is a 348, not an F40. The potential is there. The engine is there. The prestige is there. But's it is going to take some time to re-work the fuel injectors. The handing need refinement. The wheels need to be widened. Time and effort is needed. Patience is imperative. But, that is not UofL. UofL is Don Quixote. But it will always see itself as Odysseus. They perceive themselves as the unstoppable hero, traveling for years without end. Confident that they will, some day, return home, the conquering hero. But, in truth, UofL keeps cycling through the same windmills, year after year. Occasionally, one of the mills falls. Sometimes, their donkey finds a second wind. But, that is generally rare. More times than not, Quixote's theme that individuals can be right while society is wrong, is meaningless, because basketball society will simply continue to ignore the joy of idealistic goals. For impracticality is always the sweeter. More of the splendor. And UofL will remain lost, transfixed by the whirling blades of self-indulgent futility.

[tommy]

One important distinction between the Maryland and Louisville job is regional talent. The coach at Maryland has ready access to strong talent in-state, DC, and Virginia. Rarely, if ever, does Louisville, the state of KY, or southern Indiana, have strong talent. Within exceptions, Louisville is rarely, if ever, under strong consideration. Recently, Romeo Langford played 25 minutes away from UofL's campus, but IU was always going to get him. The best in-state KY talent, will almost never, ever, for any reason, pick UofL over UK.

UK has always had an infinitely stronger tradition, more resources, stable finances, branding, et al., than UofL. Denny Crum won two national championships at UofL, but there was never a point where the team's popularity within the city itself (outside of Louisville metro, UK is 99.9% the preferred team) rivaled UK's. Rick Pitino was the savior of the UK program, came to UofL, and even then, UK never truly feared their "little brother."

The shoe contracts alone, make the Terps the better option.

At present, no notable coach should remotely consider UofL (fan fractures, department/university upheaval, the NCAA, etc), but that is the problem. UofL will not be patient about basketball success, and I suspect, that will doom any chance of long-term stability.

UofL views itself as a Ferrari, which may be true. But, it is a 348, not an F40. The potential is there. The engine is there. The prestige is there. But's it is going to take some time to re-work the fuel injectors. The handing need refinement. The wheels need to be widened. Time and effort is needed. Patience is imperative. But, that is not UofL. UofL is Don Quixote. But it will always see itself as Odysseus. They perceive themselves as the unstoppable hero, traveling for years without end. Confident that they will, some day, return home, the conquering hero. But, in truth, UofL keeps cycling through the same windmills, year after year. Occasionally, one of the mills falls. Sometimes, their donkey finds a second wind. But, that is generally rare. More times than not, Quixote's theme that individuals can be right while society is wrong, is meaningless, because basketball society will simply continue to ignore the joy of idealistic goals. For impracticality is always the sweeter. More of the splendor. And UofL will remain lost, transfixed by the whirling blades of self-indulgent futility.

I cannot believe that there is another basketball board out there that contains this sort of intelligence and literacy, and the ability to relate basketball to these themes. Simply awesome.

[tommy]

Thanks for the reply, Tommy. As you know, both of us have an LA history. Yours being far longer than mine. But I only left (for Nor Cal) because I actually did get a better job. And you could have, but didn't.

All of the things you mention are at least somewhat true. But, IMO, even in the aggregate, they are not particularly persuasive.

Football being king is accurate. But it is not binary in the sense that if football is king, nothing stops basketball from being the on-campus (at least nearby) night-time entertainment. As for UCLA, in the past UCLA had high quality in both sports simultaneously (despite having to chase out to the Rose Bowl for football games). No reason SC cannot duplicate that. As for the ACC being a greater venue than the Pac-12, that seems to be a "meh" argument. Similarly, the claim that Louisville basketball is the only game in town is a) not entirely true since pro football in Cincinnati is close by (90 minute drive) and b) UK dominates the state's college basketball in a way Louisville does not.

Finally, your last argument tends to undercut your comparison to the ACC argument.

So I'm not convinced. Besides, the LA climate is superior to Louisville's in most respects. At the very least, LA doesn't have the harsh Midwestern winters or the fierce summer humidity. So I think Enfield stays so long as he's reasonably successful. I have every reason to think he will be, Arizona and UCLA notwithstanding (and I am an alum of the UofA law school, so a bit of a fan, there). Not to mention that I like most of the Pac-12 schools for a variety of reasons. Of course there is one ACC school neither you nor I can stomach! GTHC.

Great to hear from you Jim. Wish you posted more!

All I can say to your points, which are not unreasonable at all, is this: While nothing stops basketball from being the on-campus, night time entertainment at USC, it just never is. There's no reason SC can't duplicate what UCLA does in terms of excitement about basketball (which is very much tied to the team being successful - Pauley is lame when the team isn't great) but while there's no reason they can't duplicate it, they never have done so. SC has had short periods with exciting teams -- the Harold Miner years, the Nick Young/Taj Gibson teams, the Scalabrine/Trepagnier/Clancy teams to name a few, but not only doesn't it get sustained, but even when it's going on, it's rarely if ever the "it" place to be. I love basketball, obviously, but I can count on one hand the number of USC basketball games I've been to in living in LA for 35 years. And most people I know, even sports fans, have never been at all.

But yes the climate is certainly superior to Louisville's! Of that there can be no doubt!

I'd like to see Enfield stay. He's good for USC and good for basketball out here. And I think he will.

[mkirsh]

One important distinction between the Maryland and Louisville job is regional talent. The coach at Maryland has ready access to strong talent in-state, DC, and Virginia. Rarely, if ever, does Louisville, the state of KY, or southern Indiana, have strong talent. Within exceptions, Louisville is rarely, if ever, under strong consideration. Recently, Romeo Langford played 25 minutes away from UofL's campus, but IU was always going to get him. The best in-state KY talent, will almost never, ever, for any reason, pick UofL over UK.

UK has always had an infinitely stronger tradition, more resources, stable finances, branding, et al., than UofL. Denny Crum won two national championships at UofL, but there was never a point where the team's popularity within the city itself (outside of Louisville metro, UK is 99.9% the preferred team) rivaled UK's. Rick Pitino was the savior of the UK program, came to UofL, and even then, UK never truly feared their "little brother."

The shoe contracts alone, make the Terps the better option.

At present, no notable coach should remotely consider UofL (fan fractures, department/university upheaval, the NCAA, etc), but that is the problem. UofL will not be patient about basketball success, and I suspect, that will doom any chance of long-term stability.

UofL views itself as a Ferrari, which may be true. But, it is a 348, not an F40. The potential is there. The engine is there. The prestige is there. But's it is going to take some time to re-work the fuel injectors. The handing need refinement. The wheels need to be widened. Time and effort is needed. Patience is imperative. But, that is not UofL. UofL is Don Quixote. But it will always see itself as Odysseus. They perceive themselves as the unstoppable hero, traveling for years without end. Confident that they will, some day, return home, the conquering hero. But, in truth, UofL keeps cycling through the same windmills, year after year. Occasionally, one of the mills falls. Sometimes, their donkey finds a second wind. But, that is generally rare. More times than not, Quixote's theme that individuals can be right while society is wrong, is meaningless, because basketball society will simply continue to ignore the joy of idealistic goals. For impracticality is always the sweeter. More of the splendor. And UofL will remain lost, transfixed by the whirling blades of self-indulgent futility.

Can’t spork - can someone cover me?

Not just an auto metaphor, but one deep within one brand, plus not one but two literary references. All while making an excellent point. Fantastic!

[sagegrouse]

Can’t spork - can someone cover me?

Not just an auto metaphor, but one deep within one brand, plus not one but two literary references. All while making an excellent point. Fantastic!

Agreed... In fact, "the whirling blades of self-indulgent futility" sound like some golfers I know.

[tommy]

Agreed... In fact, "the whirling blades of self-indulgent futility" sound like some golfers I know.

Leader in the clubhouse for Post of the Year.

[Phredd3]

Agreed... In fact, "the whirling blades of self-indulgent futility" sound like some golfers I know.

Can't spork, but that completely changes my view of the rhapsodic post you quoted.