troy
Well-Known Member
Names are going to fly fast and furious at this point of the coaching search. That has been the tradition, anyway…you go for over a week with lists and names being thrown at you, analyzing how one possible fit might be better than another…hypothetical stuff.
However, it’s at this point in the search where you start hearing about Rick Majerus being in Iowa City…you start hearing about Rick Pitino’s wife and some crazy connection she has to the state of Iowa…you start hearing about how Bob Stoops would have taken the job but an AD wanted Terry Allen…wait, that one worked out OK.
You get the picture.
On Tuesday, the first real ‘volley’ along these lines was fired over at HaLo. Gregg Marshall’s name was brought up, and people began asking questions on every message board, and Scott Dochterman of the Cedar Rapids Gazette placed a few calls Marshall’s way.
“Did Iowa really offer him the job? Did he turn them down? Did they offer Brian Gregory the job and did he turn them down? Is Iowa going to be able to hire a name brand coach? Does Gary Barta know what he is doing? Maybe the perception of the Iowa job is worse than we thought?â€
That’s just for starters…
One thing that I think some Iowa fans should brace themselves for is the possibility that Gary Barta will announced someone as head coach that they either have barely heard of or feel is ‘beneath’ their lifelong perception of the Iowa basketball program.
The good news is, at least from what I have observed on the message boards the last week or so, is that a good portion of the fan base realizes the programdoes not have the same luster it had one year ago and certainly not 11 years ago and not even close to how it was viewed in 1986 when Iowa hire Tom Davis.
The next coach at Iowa, whether or not he has a ‘name’ is going to have a LOT of work to do.
Finding a coach that understands that should be the first box Gary Barta checks off in the interview process.
I believe Todd Lickliter knew there was a lot of work to be done, but I had members of the coaching staff tell me months after they arrived that they had no idea just how much work needed to be done or how bad things had gotten.
Iowa’s next coach had better know full well the rebuilding job that is ahead of him, and he had best have the appetite for possibly the hardest work he has ever put in. Anything les than that and the new coach will not succeed.
The new coach had better be a very good recruiter or surround himself with very good recruiters on the bench. You’ve seen that from me six or seven times the last week and I’ll keep writing it until the coach is hire and up until we know who his assistants are.
Given the importance of the two factors I just listed, you have already winnowed down the available pool of coaches that would be interested in the job. You can likely write off anyone over 50 that has been in coaching for a long time; you get to a point in your career and you don’t want to climb the hill, you’d just like to enjoy the view from how high you have climbed. That’s what I am getting at; this isn’t any commentary on age. 50 isn’t FIFTY for everyone, and that is not to say that folks over 50 don’t work hard. It’s that if you are at that age in this profession, you likely have climbed a few mountains and dug your way out of a few holes, and the likelihood that you can do it again decreases. You also get a bit set in your ways, as we saw with the last coach. What has worked elsewhere might not work at Iowa right now. If you aren’t at that position at that age, then that’s probably another reason to look in a different direction.
You are probably going to be hard pressed to lure any successful coach who is currently at a high major program. Why would they leave where they are? If they are successful, they have put in the hard work and they are now enjoying the fruits. I guess some people like the challenge of building things, but in a sport where major conference coaches are millionaires, you don’t see the builders as much as you used to.
I would say the chances are above fifty percent that Iowa’s next coach will come from outside the power six BCS conferences, and possibly someone that is a up and coming assistant at a power six conference.
That’s going to create a negative stir in the mind of some Iowa fans, but I would suggest those folks have not taken a real hard look at the state of the program.
Iowa needs someone that is going to come in, roll up their sleeves and flat out hump it for 18 to 24 months. They are going to need someone that is hungry to make their own name, someone for whom this job may be the first and/or only shot they might get to put their signature on something big.
The pool of candidates that fit this bill are not going to come with an NCAA tournament resume or a shiny coaching pedigree.
That doesn’t mean Gary Barta can’t pull something off along those lines, but I don’t think it will happen.
I’m OK with that, because Barta isn’t dealing from a position of strength right now, but he had to make the move he made last week. Just focus on the things that are going to matter for this hire; a recruiter, a tireless worker and someone that has thick skin…he’ll need it.
What about Chris Collins? He's never been a head coach, but he is young, has a great coaching background, excellent connections, and he is from Illinois.
