Many sports fans crave immediate, hyperactive reaction to many aspects of the news cycle. Patience hardly exists in this motley environment that we, unfortunately, have built for ourselves.
But some things take time.
Here’s an idea: What if you let nature play its course and then step back to make a balanced assessment about training assignments? Silly concept, isn’t it? I’ve been doing this for seven years now. It’s time again. Yes, four years after the tumultuous carousel of 2019, it’s time to turn in the scores.
Now that we’ve had four seasons (and over 100 games) to see how these guys recruit, coach, handle pressure, work the gate, and navigate their way around the big programs, it’s only fair we break the red. pencil. (If you’d like to see past report cards, here are my reviews for four years of hiring in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.)
This year’s crop is over, and by this year, I mean, of course, 2019. And if you’d like the full recall everyone Guys who were hired four years ago, look at that list here. At the end of this story, I have a short list of great medium shouts as well; It turns out that 2019 was a very important year. It was certainly a big deal for the turnover of the power conferences. Here are the 13 biggest changes from that year and how they’ve fared in the 48 months since.
Ranking of notable coaching appointments for 2019
Nate Oates, Alabama
Alabama has the potential for the most success in program history under the Oats program. The Crimson Tide has been 92-41 (. 692) over the past four years, with a 49-23 SEC mark, and first place finalist in league play. Oates has coached Alabama to two games in the Sweet 16s, but pitched one game and a one-off in 2022. His senior year has been trial and error, but the past three have been good on the floor.
Outside of Earth, there is one major tick against his reputation. The Oats mishandled the Brandon Miller/Jaden Bradley situation — and, of course, former Alabama player Darius Miles has been charged in a capital murder case. Oatmeal’s fumbling with the issue was a PR wreck, and he’s aptly exposed here. Being a head coach is about more than wins and losses, and I can tell you some coaches in the industry don’t respect Oats as much as they once did because of the way he handled things last season. Grade: B+
Eric Musselman, Arkansas
Arkansas basketball is experiencing something of a renaissance at the moment. Under Musselman, the program is 95-42 (. 683) and is recruiting prospects at the NBA level. His first year the Razorbacks were a bubble team, but he’s been doing really well since then. Musselman has not won an SEC title but has finished second and fourth in his two middle seasons. More importantly, he ended No. 16 Arkansas’ baffling drought in 2021. That March, the Hogs won two NCAA Tournament games in the same year for the first time since 1996. Arkansas has two Elite Eights and a Sweet 16 under Muss’ name, who was also a gate expert. After a run down to the ninth seed in the SEC Tournament, Arkansas upset top seed Kansas to advance to the 16th seed in March. It took a long time, but Arkansas is finally back where it needs to be on the national scene. Grade: A-
Mark Pope, BYU
It started out well, but it’s cooled off lately for Bob, who I could see him coaching for the next 10 years at Brigham Young University or hitting it big and ending up in a Top 25 job in the next few years. we will see. BYU is making the transition from the WCC to the Big 12 in a couple of months, and it’ll be interesting to watch Pope try to pivot in the up major move. He’s 85-40 (. 680) and has two teams at the NCAA Tournament level (he could easily have qualified in 2020). The Cougars have been 39-21 (. 650) in the WCC the past four seasons, with the latter being the low point so far. Grade B-
Mark Fox, Cal
Cal is a pretty tough job, but Fox has barely done much, going 38-87 (. 304) and keeping the Bears in an irrelevant spot all four years. The last season’s nadir of 3-29 was vomiting shoes, the worst in school history. There isn’t much to say here, really. Fox replaced Woking Jones, who was awarded half term and failed on the same scale. The job is no better now than it was five years ago. It is definitely worse than it was 10 years ago. Grade: D-
John Brannen, Cincinnati
Every now and then, this exercise shows how the wrong people can easily show up in the hiring process. Brannen has been gone from Cincinnati for two years. Score/earnings percentage, he’s done better those two years than a lot of players have done this tournament. UC was 32-20 (. 604) overall and finished tied for first in America in Brannen’s first season. But there was dysfunction behind the scenes, and with less than a month left before the end of the 2020-21 season, Brannen’s sacking felt inevitable.
UCLA claimed that it “paid, attempted, arranged, or otherwise paid to obtain private benefits for a student-athlete other than through approved channels; intimidated and/or attempted to intimidate students from raising appropriate compliance concerns.” The school severed ties and hired Wes Miller in 2021 to succeed him. Winning 60% of his games in two years means that this wasn’t a total failure, but it clearly can’t be considered a success either. Grade: C-
Joanne Howard, Michigan
Some good and some bad software legend. Howard holds a record of 79-48 (. 622) and has seen more than two qualified teams in the NCAA Tournament in his four years. In 2021, Michigan was the tournament’s top seed and made the Elite Eight. In addition, the program is recruited fairly well, although it can be argued that there is no completely On the level some might have thought when Howard came aboard. Michigan has finished anywhere between first and ninth in the Big Ten over the past four years and has been 46-31 overall. Hunter Dickinson, the best recruit of the Howard era, has just left for greener pastures. Jett Howard also passed away just a year later, thanks to his lure NBA Upside down. There were also those embarrassing scuffles that Wisconsin was involved in in 2022, something that unfortunately has sticking power. It was good, but it can still be improved. b grade
Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska
When Hoiberg went to Iowa, he had a group of skeptics. He proved those people wrong by winning 67% of his games and making four NCAA Tournaments in five seasons. It was Nebraska’s idea to get a lot of that success, even realizing that getting this program to ISU-type levels was probably too much. Four years later, it’s lousy, even by NU standards: 40-83 (. 325) and Hoiberg has yet to finish as high as 11th or better in the Big Ten. League record: 18-61. Last season was his best yet (16-16, 9-11), but he’ll need to – at least – equal that in his fifth year to fend off firing. Grade: D+
Mike Anderson, St. John’s
Anderson has not yet enjoyed his post-St. John’s life. Instead, he is currently facing a lawsuit over money owed to him after the school tried to fire him for cause. Millions and millions of dollars hang in the balance. The reason he’s in this place – aside from SJU’s great thirst for Rick Pitino – has never made the NCAAs in his four seasons with the Red Storm. Anderson’s record was okay (68-46) and the team has finished above . 500 each season. In the Big East, it’s a different story: 30-46 against league foes. It was a strange occasion that seemed doomed to a short marriage. Grade: c
Buzz Williams, Texas A&M
Williams probably registers among the 30 biggest names in college basketball coaching, yet he’s running into some obscurity at College Station. His record over the past four seasons is above average: 76-47 (.618). In that span, Texas A&M has one NCAA Tournament, and has finished 6th or better in three of its four seasons of SEC play. The league’s overall record isn’t great, though (36-38). After barely missing the 2022 NCAAs, Williams coached the Aggies to a #2 finish in the NIT. I could see this union last anywhere from 1-7 more years. I’m sure the school – which doesn’t do big dances regularly – feels lucky to have him. b grade
Mick Cronin, University of California
UCLA is in the midst of its best three-to-four-year stretch since Ben Holland took the Bruins to the Final four years in a row in the mid-to-late periods. Cronin was outstanding, earning a 99-36 record (. 733) and earning a team-wide NCAA Tournament all four seasons. He’s also kept UCLA near or at the top of the Pac-12, as it should be every season. The Bruins are 57-19 in the league and just won their first regular season title under Cronin. They made the 2021 Final Four after squeaking on the field as the 11th seed. In the past two seasons, Cronin has coached UCLA to second- and fourth-place finishes, all while recruiting at a high level and losing a few players to transfer. To think: He wasn’t even one of the top five names on the school’s roster in over four years. Now this is easily a top 10 program, back where it should be. Grade: A-
Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt
It is not easy to place grades here. When he got the job, Stackhouse was the rare guy who inherited a strong conference team that had lost out on league play the previous year. He’s done a solid job getting Vandy back into SEC competitiveness lately. Overall, the school is 61-69 (. 469) the past four years. In the SEC, Stackhouse is 24-46 in one of the toughest three innings in the conference, having finished 11th, 13th, and 14th in his first three years, but finished fourth last season. Even though it’s close to March, he hasn’t made it to the NCAA Tournament. Vandy is 4-2 in the last two NITs. He needs a star to restore the team to its importance. He’s also been linked with the Raptors opening game, but I think he’ll be back in Nashville for a fifth year. Grade: c
Mike Young, Virginia Tech
It was Wofford’s 30-5 season (which led to a second round NCAA appearance) in 2019 that gave Young that opportunity. He did well, posting a 73-51 (. 589) record, though his ACC performance wasn’t as rosy (35-38). If you make the NCAA Tournament two out of every four years at Virginia Tech, you’re well on your way to becoming the best coach in program history. Young is two for four so far, both emerging as double-digit seeds. It was a good hire, and I think the 60-year-old will spend the next 5-8 years at Blacksburg. He will retire after making this job better. Grade B-
Kyle Smith, Washington State
When the realignment officially takes its next shape on July 1 (the Big 12 will be expanded this year before the SEC and the Big Ten in 2024), there will be 80 clean schools in the Big Six conferences. Of those 80, Wish Washington State would rank in the bottom five, so keep that in mind when I say Kyle Smith’s 69-61 record (. 531 winning percentage) is impressive. Smith came by way of San Francisco, and although he has yet to make the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars have posted back-to-back seasons of fifth-place finishes in the Pac-12. (Overall league record: 35-42.) Smith lost some good players to the transition, but despite that, Wazzu finished . 500 or better in all four of his seasons. Grade: C+
Medium notables from 2019
There was a good run in mid/low key designations four years ago. All of the coaches listed below have exceeded expectations in the years since. All-star coaches have since moved on to bigger jobs:
• Dustin Kearns, Appalachian State
• Casey Alexander, Belmont
• Dennis Gates, Cleveland State *
• Rob Lanier, Georgia State *
• Amir Abdul Rahim, Kennesaw State *
• Danny Sprinkle, Montana State *
• Darren Horn, Northern Kentucky
• Jeff Bowles, Ohio
Todd Golden, San Francisco *
• Eric Henderson, South Dakota State *
Mark Madsen, Utah Valley *