What coaches are "untouchable/untalkable"?

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coolhandgopher

coolhandgopher

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Obviously there's been a lot of rumors floating around regarding Tubby and the potential for his flight from the "U" to greener pastures. I recall one poster lamenting why this talk is never floated about other coaches, which got me thinking, which coaches can fan bases truly feel secure about? With that, I mean you never hear rumors about moving to different programs, not that they might not be fired/pushed out. Here's my best guess list:
ACC
Coach K-Duke
Roy Williams-UNC
Gary Williams-Maryland

Big East
Jim Boeheim-Cuse
Jim Calhoun-UConn
JT III-Georgetown
Bob Huggins-West Va.

Big 10
Bo Ryan-Wisconsin
Bruce Weber-Illinois
Matt Painter-Purdue

Big 12
Bill Self-Kansas

Pac 10
Ben Howland-UCLA

SEC
John Calipari-Kentucky

A grand total of 13 coaches, and I might be generous here (Painter, Huggins, and JT III are included because of connections to the school that go deeper than being head coach). Several on this list could certainly be wooed by the NBA and if there was a program that would pony up more money than Kentucky, Coach Cal would disappear from this list. When you think about it, it's amazing the names that constantly get floated when jobs come open. . .Izzo, Jay Wright, Jamie Dixon, Mark Few, Bruce Pearl, Billy Donovan, Mike Anderson, etc. etc. etc.

This isn't a commentary on Tubby Smith leaving or not; I really have no clue how this will all shake out. What it is a commentary on is that few programs are spared this yearly dance of will they stay or go. When you break it down to which coaches actually have a few years of success and carry a solid profile, the list gets even shorter for the national media to speculate about.
 

Well, part of it, IMO, is that they have jobs in top notch BB schools, which the U is not...

I'd add Izzo to that list - seems secure at MSU.
 

Izzo's name was bandied about as recently as a year ago regarding Kentucky and Arizona.

I'd say what these programs have in common more than anything else is this-very solid programs with very veteran coaches. The coaches who are not old soldiers (Painter, JT III, Self) either are at schools where they have deep roots or at a truly elite institution. A few of the programs on the list (Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgetown, West Virginia, Purdue, Maryland) are not that far removed from the U of M, IMO. It should also be noted that UConn's success only started with Calhoun; tough to say if that program will remain top notch when he leaves.
 


While I do NOT think a "blue-blood" or any college team for that matter would be able to pull Painter away from Purdue. I think if the RIGHT NBA team comes calling he could leave. And by right I mean pretty much the Pacers as long as they are in a position to win right now. I also think being a NBA coach takes a different set of skills than a college coach so that can be hard to translate.

The biggest think to keep Painter around is simply that Morgan Burke(Purdue AD) is going to have to pony up the money to do it. His base salary from the university is $220,500 and with incentives this year he is going to make plus any other disclosed income(see Nike deal, TV & Radio show, etc) he will make about 1.1 million by my estimates plus car, country club membership etc. While most people here think that isn't to bad of deal for what Painter has done the man needs to be paid.(Sorry for that little mini-rant there).
 



coolhandgopher said:
Obviously there's been a lot of rumors floating around regarding Tubby and the potential for his flight from the "U" to greener pastures. I recall one poster lamenting why this talk is never floated about other coaches, which got me thinking, which coaches can fan bases truly feel secure about? With that, I mean you never hear rumors about moving to different programs, not that they might not be fired/pushed out. Here's my best guess list:
ACC
Coach K-Duke
Roy Williams-UNC
Gary Williams-Maryland

Big East
Jim Boeheim-Cuse
Jim Calhoun-UConn
JT III-Georgetown
Bob Huggins-West Va.

Big 10
Bo Ryan-Wisconsin
Bruce Weber-Illinois
Matt Painter-Purdue

Big 12
Bill Self-Kansas

Pac 10
Ben Howland-UCLA

SEC
John Calipari-Kentucky

A grand total of 13 coaches, and I might be generous here (Painter, Huggins, and JT III are included because of connections to the school that go deeper than being head coach). Several on this list could certainly be wooed by the NBA and if there was a program that would pony up more money than Kentucky, Coach Cal would disappear from this list. When you think about it, it's amazing the names that constantly get floated when jobs come open. . .Izzo, Jay Wright, Jamie Dixon, Mark Few, Bruce Pearl, Billy Donovan, Mike Anderson, etc. etc. etc.

This isn't a commentary on Tubby Smith leaving or not; I really have no clue how this will all shake out. What it is a commentary on is that few programs are spared this yearly dance of will they stay or go. When you break it down to which coaches actually have a few years of success and carry a solid profile, the list gets even shorter for the national media to speculate about.
Click to expand...

how could you leave the only true untouchable off of the big ten list? Izzo is the only untouchable.
 

I don't think Izzo would ever leave, but there has always been a fair amount of talk about him. There has been Pistons talk several times, and Kentucky and Arizona talk recently, as was mentioned. But I seriously don't think he'll ever leave. That man loves his school and they love him back.
 

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