Warde Manual will now be tested. In three years, "Uncle Phil" hasn't had to make too many major decisions outside hiring a hockey head coach. We know he completely screwed up the ND negotiation which will haunt this program through this season. Aren't we all looking forward to a week 3 bye?
We also know these decisions can ruin an athletic director, see "Sailboat Bill" if you question that last sentence. I can say I'm not 100% confident in Warde's ability to get a major coaching talent to Ann Arbor. For example, the coach can't have any black eye's in his past and needs head coaching experience.
That is a very shallow pool of candidates.
Reports are that Warde has been keeping a list of candidates after the Pistons flirted with Coach B last year. Which is exactly what he should be saying. They also hired a search firm, which is really the only way to reach out to head coaches without reaching out to head coaches.
If your wondering, an internal hire of Saddi Washington or Luke Yakich is not expected at this point. Though both could stay on with a new head coach. If worse comes to worse, I would expect Michigan to lean towards Luke due to his defensive skills over Saddi who led the team in Europe last summer and when Coach B got thrown out of a game.
This is going to be a difficult process for Warde. The college coaching carousal has stopped and maybe his best shot is getting an NBA guy that is tired of coaching in the league. Billy Donovan's name has come up and he would be a home run hire if he is tired of OKC and losing in the first round. A lot has to happen for that to become a reality.
Good coaches like Chris Mack just left their jobs (Xavier to Louisville last year) and most likely not available. Guys like Mark Few, Brad Stevens, and Jay Wright are not expected to leave their jobs for the Wolverines. I think Juwan Howard would be a great "family" hire, but he has never been a head coach, never recruited, and we don't know if he wants to coach in college. Jerry Stackhouse just got hired by Vandy and would have been another local former NBA prospect.
The timing of this hire is not good and Michigan needs some special things to happen and happen quickly to make this a home run. Warde has the deck stacked against him and we will see what he has up his sleeve. I wouldn't hold my breathe. I also hope Jimmy keeps quiet about his brother-in-law Tom Crean who is now coaching Georgia.
Couple of other things...………..
-I don't believe that Coach B couldn't live with Harbaugh coaching football. That is crazy talk and I don't believe has anything to do with him leaving.
-I think he was the most honest coach in college basketball and when he sees players getting paid $10K a month, he knows college basketball is a mess and not fair for a honest coach.
-I also believe his heart surgery scared him a bit and had one more mountain to climb at 66.
-Losing 3 starters to the NBA's second round also worried him and made his job that much tougher every year.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Michigan Tuesday: Ok Warde Your Up
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Bob, FWIW I completely agree with you on this. The way I see it, Coach B has come up the coaching ranks and now the pros are his last stop. At age 66, if he's going to ever coach the pro game this has to be it for him. Just as every player wants to play at the highest level, no doubt that every coach would have the same dream. Jay Wright of Villanova was never officially approached by the pro teams that we know of, however, he's been rumored to be on the top of the coaching list for the Sixers should coach Brett Brown leave or may be even one of the NY teams and he's never denied it. My point being that yes the best college coaches dream of being in the pros.
The timing for a new coach this season wasn't great, however, may be its providence in that the dust has settled and it gives Michigan a subtle opportunity with less coaching competition. We've seen coaches leave a place that they've signed onto when a better opportunity came up. We got Luke that way albeit as an assistant. I do believe that Warde Manual already has a very short list of preferences that the official search committee will explore in addition to other options. I don't expect this process to go too long, they need secure future prospects for the next class.
I don't know what the professional talking heads are saying, I will check this morning but FWIW, I wouldn't mind seeing Luke named as an interim to provide some program stability. He has a great basketball mind, and he's no doubt learned something from Coach B. We remember Coach Harbaugh started off well with a small program and turned Stanford around. I remember the Philadelphia Eagles hired an unproven coach in Andy Reid and the people thought it was crazy and he was the most successful coach the team has had. Then their next coach was an unproven coach in Doug Pederson and the people went nuts thinking it was crazy and he won them a Super bowl. My point being that if you know what you want in a coach and they have the coaching acumen
then be willing to be a trailblazer and not a follower. IMHO!!!
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