The search for the next Wake Forest head coach
by RAJohnston on Apr 8, 2010 3:40 PM EDT
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The past 24 hours have been crazy for Wake Forest fans. Every head coach in the country has seemingly been thrown around, feasible or not.
Here is a look at the most realistic candidates for the Wake Forest coaching job, as well as a couple of reaches.
Click through for a look at candidates for the Wake Forest head coaching job.
Brad Stevens- The majority of Wake Forest fans (as well as many other schools) would like for Ron Wellman to hire Brad Stevens. He led the #5 Butler Bulldogs to the National Championship game this year, and came within 3 inches of being crowned the champs. Stevens is 89-15 (49-5 in the Horizon League) in 3 years at Butler and has made the Big Dance in each of those years. It may be tough to lure Stevens away from Butler because the Bulldogs are a preseason Top 5 team if Hayward, Mack and Howard all stay. Wake Forest and Butler are similar schools in terms of academics and size, which would appeal to Stevens to go along with the lure of the ACC and bigger money.
Travis Ford- Although a relative unknown around ACC country, Wake Forest fans may remember him as the point guard for Kentucky in the early 90's. He currently coaches at Oklahoma State and was at UMass for three years before that. His career coaching record is 168-138 (Cambellsville, Eastern Kentucky, UMass and OSU). What many Demon Deacon fans will not like is his unproven success in the postseason. He has made the NCAA tournament only three times, and advanced to the second round only once. If Ron Wellman fired Dino for lack of success in the postseason, Ford does not seem like a legitimate move for Wake Forest.
Scott Drew- The current head coach at Baylor University rejuvenated a program that was set back years from a murder scandal involving players on the team. Drew has been able to successfully recruit to Waco, Texas to compete in the Big 12 against Texas and Kansas. After taking over in the 2003-2004 season, Drew suffered through 3 years of mediocrity (to put it kindly) before the NCAA punishments took full effect. In the past three years Drew has made two NCAA appearances, and made the NIT title game in the year that he did not make the tournament. Drew is only 109-103 at Baylor, but given the circumstances Drew has done a phenomenal job. Some people have questioned Drew's recruiting tactics, which may turn Ron Wellman off of him given the "fit" that Wellman is looking for.
Gregg Marshall- Marshall is the head coach at Wichita State University currently. He has his ties to the Carolinas from 9 years coaching at Winthrop University. In those 9 years Marshall made the NCAA Tournament 7 times, but only once advanced past the first round. Marshall has spent the past three years at Wichita State, compiling a workmanlike 53-47 record that includes 25-10 this past season. The knocks on Marshall are that he does not have big time head coaching experience, he has not proven he can win in the postseason, and his personality may not fit in well at Wake Forest. Although he has experienced success at lower level schools, I do not know if Marshall is the guy for the job.
Brad Brownell- Only the diehard college basketball fans have heard this name before. Brownell is the current head coach at Wright State University. This past season he led the Raiders to a 20-12 record and no postseason. Brownell coached at UNC-Wilmington for four years and led the Seahawks to two NCAA appearances in four years. His overall record at Wright State, and UNC-W is 167-85 with three NCAA Tournament appearances. He has yet to win a game in the tournament, and probably lacks the pedigree that Wellman is looking for in his next hire.
Tubby Smith- Perhaps the best known coach of all those on the list so far to the average fan. Smith was the head coach at Kentucky for 10 years, leading the Wildcats to an NCAA championship in his first year. He reached four Elite Eights, two Sweet Sixteens, and never failed to advance past the first round, while making the tournament every year. Smith has been to the NCAA Tournament 16 out of the last 17 years at four different schools. He is currently coaching at Minnesota University, where he has been for three years. His overall record is 450-184, and has proven he can win at any coaching job at any level. I think Smith would be a great hire to elevate Wake Forest to challenge Duke and UNC every year for the top two spots.
Brian Gregory- Gregory is currently the head coach at Dayton University. In seven years at Dayton, Gregory has compiled a 150-80 record with four postseason appearances (two NCAA appearances). Dayton captured the NIT Championship this year, and in the process defeated North Carolina, which is always something we should look for in a coach. Gregory was an assistant coach at Michigan State before Dayton, and stems from the Izzo coaching tree, which is also a positive. I am not sure that Gregory has proven he can win on the big stage, and only has one NCAA tournament win to his resume.
The coaches above are the ones (in my opinion) that have the best shot of being hired by Wake Forest. I am sure that Wellman is shooting for some high names as well, and a name that has come up is Jay Wright (head coach at Villanova). I believe that Wright is happy at Villanova and wants to stay there, but he would be a great hire. Dana Altman has been talked about on a lot of websites, and some even had him headed to Wake Forest for a tour (although these rumors have been refuted by reputable inside sources). He has been at Creighton for 16 years, and is likely not what Wellman is looking for.
Coaching searches are always a time of uneasiness because a team has given up the sure thing and decided to take a high risk, high reward approach to moving the program to a higher level. For Wake Forest, I am sure that Ron Wellman knows exactly what he is doing and hopefully our hire will bring us to the next level that we have not been able to reach under previous coaches.
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I voted for Tubby Smith. It just makes sense to me. He played at High Point and has had tremendous success in the postseason. He has had experience in the biggest pressure cooker there is in Kentucky. Currently he’s at Minnesota, which isn’t exactly a basketball powerhouse, although he has turned them into an NCAA Tournament team. I think this would be a great opportunity for him, and he would take the job. He’s a great man, and I’d love him here. I’d welcome him with open arms to Wake Forest. On this list the three I would want the most in no particular order are Tubby Smith, Brad Stevens, and Jay Wright.
Originally, I thought of Tubby too, but the more I think about it… the less likely. I mean Tubby has experience and has been deep in the tournament, however, and it’s a pretty big one given Dino’s record. Tubby hasn’t gotten out of the 1st round in 3 years (NIT, NCAAx2) at Minnesota and prior to that lost in the 2nd round his last 2 seasons at UK.
Is that really an upgrade if post season expectations are to compete?
I have to respectfully disagree with your notion. I know you are taking the angle of ‘what have you done for me lately?’ with Tubby. I believe that’s unfair. With Tubby, we need to look at total body of work. He took Tulsa to consecutive Sweet 16’s. After Tulsa, he took Georgia to a Sweet 16 and then an NCAA birth. Following Georgia, he won this national championship in his first year at Kentucky. While Tubby Smith was at Kentucky, he never failed to reach the second round. He won the national championship once, made it to an additional 3 Elite 8’s, and 2 additional Sweet 16’s. He has also turned Minnesota into an NCAA Tournament team. I would certainly say that’s an upgrade.
by Robert Reinhard on Apr 8, 2010 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions
that offer was 10 days ago
and he turned it down. Oregon didn’t make much sense for a number of reasons.
Here is my problem, as a Minnesota fan. People don’t realize Tubby likes it here. Every BCS caliber job that opens up the national media and fan base of that particular program immediately think Tubby would be a logical fit. First of all, Minnesota is a quality job and secondly Tubby likes it here.
Wake is a very good program and this is one of the few programs in the country that I think Tubby would even consider. Tubby going to Wake wouldn’t sting nearly as much as many of the other jobs he was supposedly going to leave Minnesota for. But I think he realizes he is at a place he can win and a place he can leave a legacy without incredible pressure. There is very little pressure here and despite what many think there is a talent base here. Minnesota has the largest AAU program in the country, now that a guy like Tubby is here those kids are more likely to stay home and he can win here (Cole Aldridge is a great example).
This opening concerns me more than any of the other jobs he was offered (Alabama, Virginia, Oregon, Auburn) but the assumption by everyone that Minnesota isn’t a good enough job is really starting to annoy me.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
Well, if he is looking to do that then his best hire would probably be Stevens. The expectations for Stevens would be very high, but I believe he could live up to the expectations. I have some questions about recruiting, but I’m sure with all of his recent hype that wouldn’t be too much of a problem. This would be a huge splash for Wake, and it would get us a lot of national attention.
He’s not bounded to it though. Sean Miller had just signed a 10 year contract extension the year before he left to go to Arizona. Calipari signed a 5 year extension also a year before he left to go to Kentucky. Same deal with Tom Crean a couple of years ago. The extension doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not leaving for 12 years Butler is just giving Stevens a bigger incentive to stay. Their’s still hope!!!
by AM on Apr 8, 2010 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m suprised no one has mentioned Chris Mack the coach of Xavier. He was an assistant at Wake Forest, has already recruited 2 4-star recruits for the class of 2011 and he lead Xavier to the Sweet 16 this year almost beating Kansas St. I know he has only coached one season but Scott Drew had only coached at Valpo for a season before he was hired at Baylor and look how well he turned out. I’d put him third priority behind Stevens and Smith.
What about?
Ben Jacobson from Northern Iowa? He’s only 40, has a winning record at 89-42, been 1st in the MVC 2 years out of his 3 and got to the sweet 16 this season. I’m with olddeac that Wellman has a younger target in mind.
Bruce Pearl!
But seriously, unless the University is serious about consistently being in the top-25, they aren’t going to spend a ton of money on a new coach. Stevens was unrealistic before he signed, and WF isn’t the type of school to so blatantly raid another school’s cabinet.
Mack is a good candidate, and he’s shown a willingness to go where the better opportunity presents itself. The only thing that makes it questionable is his rather deep ties to Xavier.
Jacobson is probably out for the same reason as Stevens: 10 year contract signed last month. Like Stevens, if it was a year or two old and the glory had faded a bit then it would seem possible.
Just please don’t let it be Al Skinner or Norm Roberts, or anyone who’s already failed at an ACC school.
it would be funny if they could get bobby cremins back in the acc—or there’s always the coach of davidson (he was supposed to be a hot commodity a few years ago too)…the xavier coach would be a logical choice—it would be harder to lure somebody from a power conference school (i mean, if tubby wouldn’t bite for the oregon offer, why would he jump to wake forest?).
but another point to consider is this—how would you like to be a coach that wins roughly 70% of your games in three years, but face the possibility of being fired because those wins came at the wrong point in the season? now, why would big name coaches with comfortable/established positions even consider such a proposition? in reality, wf’s ad has probably done more harm than good for the program, especially if he had particular high profile coaches in mind…and if gaudio’s top 10 recruiting class for 2010/2011 disbands due to the ad’s choice for coach, i would suspect that the ad should begin looking for another job.
ya know, it would be really funny if gaudio got hired at clemson, took his wf recruits with him, and pounded them every time they played for the next couple of years… :)
Its not all stats
I liked Dino, but to be honest I don’t think anyone thought of him as a long termm replacement. He wouldn’t have gotten the job if he had been somewhere else other than where he was. I’m sure Wellmen is aware of his reasoning and the situation more than the rest of us. Perhaps he was tired of the players not respecting him enough to listen (like Teague late last year) or his lack of instruction (UNC game at home this year was a perfect example of that). The guys doing his job, the AD has reason to let him go. They may or may not have all been discussed at the press confrence.
You are right though…the possibility of losing that class is a big gamble.
As a Minnesota fan, the fact that any of you guys would expect to get Tubby, or Stevens, or Drew, or even Frank Martin is a little over the top on hoping. None of them are leaving anytime soon. Wake Forest isn’t the type of school to steal a Coach of the Year the next season like some schools might be able to. Some guy with a name like Bzdelik however, can be all yours, good luck
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