Who should Mark Coyle interview and hire? Here’s the list
Yesterday we published a story about what really matters (and what doesn’t) when hiring the next head coach to lead the men’s basketball program. The obvious follow-up to that is, who are the people that Mark Coyle should be considering.
This is not a list of names coming from a source. This is not a list of just my favorites (though, maybe a little). This is an exhaustive list of quality names who I think could win at Minnesota. And that is the one thing that should matter above all…can this person win at Minnesota.
All of this comes down to the interview. Does this person have a plan to win at Minnesota? Does this person have a demonstrated history of winning in a way that translates to Minnesota? PJ Fleck impressed Coyle with his detailed plan of precisely how he would win at Minnesota and what he would do with the program. Give me someone who has that plan, that enthusiasm to win here and then we need the resources to surround that.
With all of that in mind and the base of knowing what is important in the next coach…here is the list of names to be considered.
MAKE THE CALL
Are these names likely to be interested in the Minnesota job? No, this first grouping is a list of unlikely names, but even if there’s a sliver of hope, make the phone call. Frankly, I’m holding out hope that the next hire is an unexpected name who would be very exciting for the fan base.
- Shaka Smart – Marquette – Is Smart interested in leaving Marquette for Minnesota? I doubt it, but maybe the lure of the Big Ten is enough to at least have the conversation.
- TJ Otzelberger – Iowa State – Former South Dakota State coach who is now at Iowa State and has things rolling. He fits the mold of a coach with a system that he teaches well and recruits to. And most importantly, he re-negotiated his contract last year to lower his buyout from $15M, down to $4M. Is that the move of a coach who is looking to set roots in Ames? Is Minnesota a big enough draw (or even a step up?)?
- Darian Devries – West Virginia – Formerly at Drake and is in just his first season at West Virginia. Devries took Drake to the NCAA Tournament three of his last four seasons there and is about to take the Mountaineers to the tournament as a mid-seed. His teams play great defense and are elite at rebounding. He is an Iowa native who spent his career coaching in the state of Iowa before heading to West Virginia last year.
BOUNCE BACK CANDIDATES
These guys have coached at the highest levels, for various reasons ended up back in the mid-major (or low-major) level and are proving why they had a big-time shot in the first place. Think about Bruce Pearl and Rick Barnes being fired at their previous institutions and how they are doing for Auburn and Tennessee now.
- Chris Mack – Charleston – Mack was fantastic at Xavier with top 50 offenses in 7 seasons at Xavier, including his final 5 season. Elite defensive rebounding but typically had poor 3-pt shooting teams. Things went sideways at Louisville, he took 2 years off and just finished his first year at Charleston, replacing Pat Kelsey who ironically left the Cougars for Louisville.
- Will Wade – McNesse – An unlikely candidate, considering the conservative nature of Minnesota’s compliance department, but Wade wins. In his first year at McNeese he took a team that had gone 11-23 the previous year and made the NCAA Tournament as a 12-seed with a 30-4 record. In year two he has the Cowboys in the tournament again after going 19-1 in the Southland conference. Wade was previously as VCU and LSU where he was a part of NCAA investigations for paying players…which is now permissible.
- Anthony Grant – Dayton – At one point, Grant would have been much higher on my list. He has high-major experience and falls into that bucket of candidates who have maybe learned from their initial mistakes and would benefit from another shot. HIs Flyers team just finished the season on a 4-game win streak including a road win over top-seeded VCU and they finished 3rd in the tough A10. Recruiting and retaining top talent in the portal-era has been a strength of Grant’s, we could do much worse.
- Bryce Drew – Grand Canyon – After a successful run at Valpo, Drew had a quick stint at Vanderbilt that did not go very well. But Drew is riding high at Grand Canyon in his 5th season. Last year the Antelops made the tournament as a 12-seed and upset Saint Mary’s before falling to Bama in the 2nd round. This year they are the 2-seed in the WAC Tournament.
ATLANTIC 10 NAMES
Speaking of the A10, there are a number of intriguing names in this conference. I would be thrilled with any of these three names.
- Ryan Odom – VCU – son of Dave Odom, former D3 point guard who has been coaching at all levels. Odom has VCU rolling in the A10 after 2 seasons at Utah State and before that he was at UMBC for five. Hmmmm, I wonder why that school sounds familiar? Odom might be the emerging candidate to take the Virginia job.
- Tony Skinn – George Mason – predicted 6th in the tough A10, finished 15-3, tied for first place and his teams play ELITE defense. Just 2nd year as head coach after being an ast at OSU, Seton Hall, and Maryland. Has been successful at bringing in top-tier portal talent. The mid-major to high-major jump isn’t always smooth, but having demonstrated ability to recruit and navigate the portal is key.
- Drew Valentine – Loyola-Chicago – Struggled in year 2, but in year 3 he took the Ramblers from last place to a first-place tie. He is the younger brother of Denzel Valentine and spent his graduate assistant years under Tom Izzo at Michigan State. Valentine was an assistant at Loyola during their run to the Final Four and took over for Porter Moser when he left for the Oklahoma job.
- Josh Schertz – Currently in his first year at St. Louis and after two successful seasons at Indiana State. But prior to that he coached at the D2 level where he made three D2 Final Fours and had one runner-up. His teams take very few 2-pt shots, it is all about threes and layups. He got his D1 shot at Indiana State where over three seasons he took the program from a 11-20 record to 32-7.
OUT OF THE BOX CANDIDATES
- Eric Henderson – SDSU – Henderson typically has great 3pt shooting teams with highly efficient offenses and they do not foul on defense with great rebounding. In his first five seasons at SDSU, he made the NCAA Tournament twice and finished 3rd this season with a very young team.
- Preston Murphy – Alabama assistant – the only assistant I have on this list, but Murphy is very highly thought of. He is an offensive-minded coach (for the nation’s best offense) who is an elite recruiter.
- Alan Huss – High Point – a long-time D1 assistant at New Mexico and then Creighton, Huss is just in his second season as a head coach and he’s been incredibly successful. He is 56-14 in his two seasons, currently has the nation’s longest winning streak and has the Panthers into the NCAA Tournament. Expect to see them as a popular 12/13-seed upset pick.
- Ben McCollum – Drake – many years at D2 NW Missouri State. Has won four national championships. He is only in his first year at Drake but this might be a great hire. Had to replace virtually the entire Drake roster from last year, he brought most of his D2 team with him to Des Moines and went on to go 30-3, winning the Missouri Valley and punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Again, that was with what was essentially a D2 roster. That’s coaching and having a system.
- Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern (D2) – He is still at D2 and is incredibly successful with a VERY specific and intentional system. This is a very interesting read on Crutchfield.
THE LOCAL ANGLES
- Niko Medved – Colorado St – Medved will almost certainly get a call and early indications are that he is a favorite to land the job.
His teams on offense do not focus on Off Reb, but have very few turnovers and always a very high 2pt FG%. Defensively they do not foul and do a decent job rebounding. My biggest hesitation is that he has never won a conference championship, but he has earned 2 NCAA bids as an at-large in the Mountain West with 1 NCAA Tournament upset win over Virginia.
He seems to be doing well at Colorado St, but nothing jumps out to say that he is an obvious candidate. If he were not from the state of Minnesota, I don’t believe that anybody would want to see his name on the list.
- Brian Dutcher – SDSU – The son of Jim Dutcher who was a long-time assistant coach under Steve Fisher. Dutcher has been very successful as the head coach of the Aztecs, likely to make what would be his 7th NCAA Tournament in eight seasons (presuming he would have made the 2020 tournament).
- Tim Miles – Last coached for Nebraska in 2019. Could be included in the top section of this post as a “bounce-back candidate.” But this has always been an uninspiring name for me to be the next Gophers coach. I do not expect he will be in the running.
- Ryan Saunders – Denver Nuggets Assistant – zero collegiate experience. Recruiting, and more importantly, being able to navigate NIL is critical.
GN’S TOP 5
This is just my personal preference. I am not going to include any of the names from the “make the call” tier, they would be my top choices, but are highly unlikely. After those elite names, here is who I would be interviewing (in order).
- Chris Mack – He has a history of success, both in the regular and post-season and is poised for a return to high-major program. He knows how to manage a program, manage recruiting, manage transfers and has a system that is a highly efficient offense.
- Ryan Odom – a lengthy coaching history and has been very successful at VCU in his short stint. He will be coaching at a high-major next season and I wouldn’t at all be sad if it was in Minnesota.
- Tony Skinn – Another long history of coaching. Skinn has been an assistant at multiple high-major stops and in two seasons is showing he can win as the head coach. Looks to be a defensive-minded coach who is a name on the rise.
- Ben McCollum – This would be a huge swing for Mark Coyle, but I think McCollum is the kind of coach who will win wherever he goes. Not a sexy hire, but might be the right hire if you want a program that consistently wins.
- Will Wade – I could easily put Wade higher on this list, he flat out wins. But two things cause me to pause. The first is that he is unlikely to get through the U’s stingy and conservative compliance. And secondly, if we do not have resources in place to support the program, I’m not sure Wade will be as successful. But I’d take that chance.
Bryce Drew, Eric Henderson and Drew Valentine would also be AOK with me.