What do you value most in a head coach?

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UpAndUnder43

UpAndUnder43

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I’d really appreciate it if this didn’t devolve into a thread bashing Pitino. I’m legitimately curious. It isn’t a poll because my options may not be what you value most.

For me, above all else, recruiting matters. Give an average coach the best players and you can win conference and national titles. Or if they have the best players in their system (UVA, wisco) these heights are reachable.

After that I want a coach who can coach. Run a better offense than your opponent and play better defense than your opponent and you can win a lot of games. Ties into having players to fit your system. If you press and run for 40 minutes having a bunch of slow 7ft dudes, no matter how heralded out of high school, probably doesn’t work.
 

Simple answer:

Winning

Long Answer:

A coach who recruits good kids and teaches them to play the right way. Tough defense, movement on offense, passing and sacrifice for the good of the team. In short, a Herb Brooks who instills, "The name on the front of the jersey is a hell of a lot more important than the name on the back!"

Kids who stay graduate.

No cheating.

Oh, and winning.
 

Agree with both of the above posts. For me the answer is recruiting as well.
 

Recruiting
Player Development
In Game Basketball Understanding - I'll explain

If you can recruit good players, develop them so that they improve, and are able to see what is happening in a game and either exploit or change things you will win games.
 

What I value most - ability to adjust to game situations.

if the other team switches defenses, your players should be able to adjust on the fly- because they have been drilled in practice on how to recognize and adjust to different defenses.

scouting reports and game plans are nice, but to quote Mike Tyson, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

I want a coach who, when his team gets punched in the mouth, is able to adjust, adapt, and show his team how to punch back.

And - roster management. having a balanced roster in terms of positions, skill sets and grade levels.
 


I'm going to say everything. Because at this level, in this conference, you need to be good at everything. You need to be one of the best of the best, the cream of your profession.

But here are the markers I look for:
  • You have your own tactics and methods that you know inside out because it's yours. Bo Ryan: the swing offense; Mark Few: the flowtion offense; Boeheim's zone; Smart's havoc
  • The ability to teach and communicate; you can have the best ideas in the world, but if you can't teach them...
  • Strong personality and willingness and ability to push and will your players and team to a higher level
  • Related to the tactics and methods: you know what you're looking for in players
  • Always looking to innovate and continuously improve
  • Not threatened by other coaching talent, including and especially on your staff; hire future head coaches
  • Organized
  • Clear headed, clear thinking; can see through the noise and take the proverbial shortcut to grandma's house
  • Knows when enough is enough--when you've squeezed all the lemon juice out of the lemon
 

In my mind there are 3 main jobs:

X's and O's an player development
Recruiting
Media/PR

And I would rank them in that order. At a blue blood, you'd reverse the first two.
 

I prefer the Wisconsin, Virginia, West Virginia, etc. culture building and implement your own style as opposed to the Kentucky, Kansas, Dukes who just recruit 5 stars.

Obviously Minnesota is more of that school where we need to build a culture because we aren't just picking up 5 stars. But it's great to have kids stay 3-4 years and see that consistent culture be established over time. Starts with a coach who knows who they are, and you see that in the way their teams play. Huggins (Hard-Nosed), Bennett (Discipline) two solid examples. I think Craig Smith has that with a high energy based culture.

Solid thread Up and Under. Interesting to see others' opinions.
 

I think I might have started a thread like this in a past, and I also feel like my own answer might have changed since then.

I want a coach that is obsessed with winning. I want a coach that doesn't look at any school as a hurdle to him and instead views each coach as his competition. A coach that doesn't use past history as a cruch and compares himself to Bennett or Few or whoever is the most recent National champion and is driven to figure out a way to beat them. Maybe that means reaching out to Pop in San Antonio to learn new plays or Spo in Miami about how the Heat demand the most from their players while still developing an organization that people want to be a part of. Maybe it means simply hitting the recruiting trail harder or meeting with retired coaches or scouts for ideas on how to better identify under the radar kids. Whatever "it" is they are driven to find it, because they are obsessed with the end result of winning.

If that is too abstract of an idea, then you get down to X's and O's, player development, and recruiting as the 3 main ingredients of a college basketball coach. I think which one of those I value the most is determined greatly by where college basketball is going. Are the '19-'20 and 20'-'21 seasons anomalies or a sign of where college basketball is headed? I tend to think it might be a sign. I think we'll see fewer elite kids playing college basketball and the NBA eventually allowing kids to be drafted straight out of high school again. If that is where we are headed, then I would guess we'll see 5-10 kids drafted out of high school per year (probably closer to 5?) and another 15 or more that sign with the G League program. If that is the case, then I think I would value player development the most. The initial talent level available to everyone will be more flat, which makes getting the most out of the players you do get a huge potential advantage over the competition. I also think that players improving rapidly under a coach are far less likely to transfer which also figures to be a major issue in college basketball going forward.
 




My opinion is not restricted to BB. You have a system/culture that you don't vary from. You impose your will on the other team. No compromises. Good kids, your system.

I understand you still need some talent but a lot of less talented teams win a lot of games and championships.
 

This wouldn't be my number one quality but it would be on my list...does he have the ability to identify and recruit shooters or develop shooters of those players who he recruited for another skill? A lot of shooting is psychological or mental...do his players lose confidence and wallow in slumps for months or years? There is an identifiable ability to do this and the person hiring needs to be able to discern if the coach has this gift.
Belein generally had shooters, Boeheim generally has shooters. Purdue usually has one.
Yes defense and rebounding are critical, but shooting 30 some per cent too dang often will get you beat too often no matter how well you do the other things.
I don't think many coaches have this quality.
 

I would like someone who is not a FRAUD and who doesn't spread ANTI GOPHER NARRATIVES all the while PIVOTING from the issues at hand.
 



I'd take the following
Winning while keeping a clean program (which will follow if you do the below things, to me at least)
Defense comes first (no matter if the shots are falling, you better be having your guys bust ass on the defensive end because in college basketball, that leads to wins)
Fundamentally sound on the offensive end. Even if you don't have the best athletes or a flock a 4 and 5 stars, if you move the ball and run a system well, you will score points.
Adaptability. you have to realize what you have on the roster and tweak your system (not full overhaul it) to play to your players strengths. This team can't shoot 3s for shit (we're last in the league in percentage, but have the most attempts) and we have yet to try change the offensive strategy. That's on the coach to recognize that and actually change it.
 

Recruiting kids with talent but also a small social media following. I’m not sure if anyone has tried this.
 

At Minnesota, it's player development. The best recruiter in the world isn't going to come in here right now and bring in the top recruits.

Perhaps once we can establish a culture of winning and recruits want to come here, then the top recruiter can come in here and battle for the Sugg's, Hurt's, and Holmgren's of the world, but right now we need someone who can put together a roster of guys that fit and then develop them into a very good cohesive squad.
 

WoodburyTim said:
At Minnesota, it's player development. The best recruiter in the world isn't going to come in here right now and bring in the top recruits.

Perhaps once we can establish a culture of winning and recruits want to come here, then the top recruiter can come in here and battle for the Sugg's, Hurt's, and Holmgren's of the world, but right now we need someone who can put together a roster of guys that fit and then develop them into a very good cohesive squad.
Click to expand...
This. (y)
 

Ensuring fundamentals are taught and expected.
Strategies to compete at all times.
In game adjustments can be implemented immediately.
Sloppy/lazy passing is not tolerated.
Movement on offense, very little hero ball.
Successful recruiting with top in state kids. Not every one, but landing some of them annually
Great rebounding
 

howeda7 said:
In my mind there are 3 main jobs:

X's and O's an player development
Recruiting
Media/PR

And I would rank them in that order. At a blue blood, you'd reverse the first two.
Click to expand...
Good short concise list. I would add leadership and tenacity which could be included in player development. I would love to see a MSU type effort every game.
 

WoodburyTim said:
At Minnesota, it's player development. The best recruiter in the world isn't going to come in here right now and bring in the top recruits.

Perhaps once we can establish a culture of winning and recruits want to come here, then the top recruiter can come in here and battle for the Sugg's, Hurt's, and Holmgren's of the world, but right now we need someone who can put together a roster of guys that fit and then develop them into a very good cohesive squad.
Click to expand...
This is a bit of a chicken/egg thing. Gonzaga has become a modern-day blue blood of sorts during our lifetimes by winning and developing players. If you show you can do that, you DO end up getting the Suggses of the world. But in the meantime, the pipeline from Lakeville North that's heading to Madison could be heading here if we were as good at developing players and winning. Will Tschetter could be coming here instead of Michigan. And who knows where Eli King will end up, but it'll probably be somewhere that develops players and wins.

Don't rule out running before you even get good at walking.
 

A coach that is either:

a) Able to land recruits that can be successful in the system he wants to run

or

b) Able to successfully adapt his system to the types of recruits he is able to land

If you can't do one of these, then good luck. Example: If you want to exclusively run an offense that shoots 25 three pointers a game, you better be able to recruit guys that can shoot.
 

I want a coach with a short skirt and a looooong jacket.
 


This question can really be different depending on where you are. For the MN job I want the following:
  • A program builder with a specified plan and system. I don't care where the recruits come from or are even ranked, but I want them to fit our profile. I want them to want to be here and fit "what we do".
  • The B1G is different in than some other conferences in the fact that you have to defend to be successful. Since that's the case, I want a coach who is defense oriented first and foremost.
  • I want a coach who will not cheat. I'll take some bad years at the price of building something special and having high character guys on our roster.
  • Offensively I expect them to use analytics and data. My preference is a motion based offense with good ball movement that looks to create inside out 3's, but I can be flexible on this part.
My dream scenario would be for us to find our Matt Painter. What he does at Purdue year in and year out is where I think we should be striving for at this point. We can look to push beyond that later someday.
 


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I said, "Dribble down the shot clock again, Mother F$%^er!"
 


I would concur with what Selection Sunday said. A coach who values consistency of effort.

Medium and old timers, do this thought experiment. Clem Haskins is the coach. Think of the lazy-assed passes that Gach and Carr have made recently. Do you think they would see the court again for the rest of the game?
 

restovich said:
I would concur with what Selection Sunday said. A coach who values consistency of effort.

Medium and old timers, do this thought experiment. Clem Haskins is the coach. Think of the lazy-assed passes that Gach and Carr have made recently. Do you think they would see the court again for the rest of the game?
Click to expand...
Unlikely
 

There is a built-in tension for a coach when trying to create a culture. Players need to be developed, (mostly in practice), and then pushed to execute during the game. If someone continues to step outside the plan, or the values of the new culture, it should affect their playing time. The other side of the coin, the player shouldn't be looking over their shoulder, expecting to get pulled after a stupid foul or a traveling call. There's the tension; lettem play, or pullem after a mistake. If a player consistently chooses to force up contested shots when there is an open man, he sits. If he travels, or misses an open shot.... play on. The coach that can't tell the difference shouldn't be our coach.
 

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