Former Gopher assistant Saul Smith lands on Texas Tech's staff as Video Coordinator

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KyGopherfan said:
Well Pitino did land a job at a BCS school fairly quickly. I don't think it's any secret that black assistants have to toil away on the benches for much longer to get a head coaching gig than most white coaches. Of course, there are exceptions you can point too, but in general this is true. You're just not gonna find too many young black guys getting a BCS job so young. Vince Taylor has been an assistant under the greatest minds in basketball and still can't catch a break. It's all about networking, who you know, etc. that makes a big difference. And most AD's are white guys and they will likely take a chance on a young white coach than a black one if they choose between the two. I'm not knocking Pitino at all...God bless him, he may be a world beater.
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Well, the simple fact of the matter is that for all the success Tubby has had, he has a VERY, VERY small coaching tree. Not a lot of Tubby assistants (black or white) have gone on to become head coaches. And, the ones who have become head coaches, really haven't had a lot of success. I'm not exactly sure why that is. Does Tubby not help these guys get jobs? Is he not well connected? I don't know. But, it is a fact, his coaching tree is small, considering the amount of years and the success he's had. Saul might fall victim to something there, and I frankly don't think race has much of anything to do with it.

Contrast that to Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan, who have had a lot of assistants (black and white) become head coaches and many have had great success. Richard Pitino gets helped by having these two has his mentors, and I don't think race has much to do with that, either. Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan have each placed these black assistants in the coaching ranks:

Winston Bennett at age 36
Delray Brooks at 32
Shaka Smart at 32
Stu Jackson at 33
Sean Woods at 38
Tubby Smith at 40
Anthony Grant at 40
Lewis Preston at 41
Reggie Theus at 45
Marvin Menzies at 46
 

tjgopher said:
Well, the simple fact of the matter is that for all the success Tubby has had, he has a VERY, VERY small coaching tree. Not a lot of Tubby assistants (black or white) have gone on to become head coaches. And, the ones who have become head coaches, really haven't had a lot of success. I'm not exactly sure why that is. Does Tubby not help these guys get jobs? Is he not well connected? I don't know. But, it is a fact, his coaching tree is small, considering the amount of years and the success he's had. Saul might fall victim to something there, and I frankly don't think race has much of anything to do with it.
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I've long been curious why this has been talked about so little.
 

jovs said:
Race is probably involved, but Saul will never get a head coaching job anywhere at any level unless he sever's ties with Tubby and goes out on his own. No one is going to hire someone that doesn't have an identity of his own, he could have strong influences but he has to create his own set of beliefs. My guess is that is something he doesn't desire.
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And becomes a competent coach/human being... All who I know that have encountered Saul have not given raving reviews of his personality/ability/desire to become what it takes to be a coach.

Small sample size, but not anything anyone here hasn't heard before.
 


station19 said:
I've long been curious why this has been talked about so little.
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The reason is that Tubby's assistances have been former head coaches in other schools before they got to work with him. He has changed that style now. I have said this many times before. Tubby is doing something new at TT. He has a great group of people helping him. Saul was too late to find a job this year. While he was at Tennessee Tech, he did really well. He is Tubby's son. Tubby is respected among old coaches and old media pesonalities. However, if you have noticed, the young writers are not too kind to him these days. Everybody on TT bench is out there to prove others how wrong they have been. We'll see how they'll do soon. KyGopher, time will tell these people what you and a few others have been saying here. Lets see how well Richard will do with his press and new rules.
Go Gophers
 



I hope Tubby has success at TT. I hope he wins except when playing the big ten....esp. MN.
 

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