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Merits of Tom Crean
Tequilla
Member Posts: 19,815
Generally speaking, I would not be a huge fan of picking up the scraps of a recently fired head coach. I've obviously been on record as saying that I would make Gregg Marshall an offer he can't refuse and call it for what it is.
However, should Marshall not be available, I definitely think it's worth considering whether Crean's a worthwhile candidate ... and comparatively to the list that has been floated about his resume certainly compares favorably to many on the list.
Career Resume:
Michigan St: Member of Izzo's initial staff at Michigan St ... prior to that was a member of Ralph Willard's staff at both Western Kentucky and Pitt
Marquette: 9 years with an overall record of 190-96 (90-56 in conference) highlighted by the Final Four run with DWade in 2003. While making the NCAAs 5 of the 9 years at Marquette, he only got out of the first weekend in 2003.
Indiana: 9 years with an overall record of 166-135 (71-91 in conference) ... took over a dumpster fire (similar to what one likely will take over at UW) following the Kelvin Sampson debacle and the violations tied to it. The first 3 years were a total rebuild with an overall record during that period of 28-66 (8-46 in conference) ... next 2 years were 27 and 29 win teams that included a #1 seed in the East before losing to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Made NCAAs 4 of last 6 years. 3 of those 4 NCAA trips got Indiana to the 2nd weekend ... but never past the Sweet Sixteen. 2014 tournament miss can be attributed to significant turnover from 2013 (early entries and graduation). 2017 tournament miss this year can be attributed in part to significant injuries to OG Anunoby (25 minutes per game, 11 points, 5 boards ... team was 13-6 at the time of his last game, was 5-10 without him) and James Blackmon (leading scorer with 17 points per game, missed 3 conference games where team went 1-2 without him).
Positives for Crean as a coach:
Strong recruiter with track record of high level coaching ability with a Final Four and #1 seed on his resume. Known for strong offensive basketball with a plan. Offensive philosophy of transition basketball that makes use of athletic talent could be a strong magnet for local talent who tend to want to play that style.
Negatives for Crean as a coach:
Ability to sustain his program at a consistent level can be questioned ... definitely some peaks and values. While his offensive knowledge is vast and his preparedness unquestioned, very possible that he creates a "paralysis by analysis" situation for his players by putting too much on their plate and not simplifying plans to meet the capabilities of his players. Received criticism at Indiana for not being able to recruit well in-state (counter to how style may be a fit with local community if he was to have a bristling relationship).
Tequilla Opinion:
Probably the most polarizing head coaching candidate out there to me. If I was advising him, I'd probably advise him to take a year off, go into broadcasting, and get some perspective. I think the Indiana tenure for him was a blessing and a curse. Blessing in that it was at the helm of one of the premier bluebloods and the ability to handle other difficult situations will likely pale in terms of the pressure he was under at Indiana. On the other hand, you could definitely see as things were heading South with the Indiana program this year that his frustration level was at an explosion level and a fresh start for all parties was likely for the best. He needs to re-evaluate the parts of his program that he does well versus what could be improved. I don't think it's a question that he's probably trying to pass off NBA caliber sets and strategies onto college players that don't always grasp the concepts leading to turnovers and what can at times look like stagnant offense ... although also fair to say that over the years when Indiana has had their offense working in harmony it's beautiful to watch. It's also probably led to some of the player transfers that along with potentially a couple of early entrants leaving before expectations (perhaps Oladipo and Vonleh) created a dip in the roster and performance. His intensity in that regard is another blessing/curse situation for him.
At 50 years old, he's probably in a position where he'd be willing to go for another 10 years in a job but given his age I don't think he'll ever be in a position to go after another elite job. Mid-tier Power 5 job seems about right to me for him going forward. Given the dumpster fire at Washington that a coach is going to step into, having a coach that knows the process of a strong rebuild and being able to build properly is something that I think Cohen needs to consider strongly in a target ... Crean has the experience in this regard to know what he's getting into and has a resume that has delivered results out of that environment. If I was the AD interviewing Crean, the most important set of questions that I would have with Crean would be tied to having him do some self reflection on his career and in particular his tenure at Indiana ... what does he think has worked well? What would he change in retrospect? Where does he feel like the situation went sour and what did he learn from that? I think he still has it in him to be a very successful coach going forward and will be motivated to do so after leaving Indiana. If he makes the right adjustments in his approach he could get some significant results. I wonder how much of the situation he was in and the pressure to win at the highest level for a fan base that expects nothing less (particularly given Kentucky's success) perhaps magnified the pressure for him in ways that were counter-productive to the program.
In the end, outside of Marshall, this is a very good candidate. Definitely more of a needle mover of a hire than other next tier candidates that we'd be looking at in the Musselman and Rice range. I do think that there's a decent ceiling for what Crean can accomplish (probably slightly higher than Romar's ceiling ... dips not as low) and probably as important the opportunity to stabilize the program and at worst position it to be in far better position going forward than when he took it over. He'd be a Top 3 to 5 candidate for me and on my short list that I'd want to talk to IF I didn't already have a targeted name that I'm not going to allow to tell me no.
However, should Marshall not be available, I definitely think it's worth considering whether Crean's a worthwhile candidate ... and comparatively to the list that has been floated about his resume certainly compares favorably to many on the list.
Career Resume:
Michigan St: Member of Izzo's initial staff at Michigan St ... prior to that was a member of Ralph Willard's staff at both Western Kentucky and Pitt
Marquette: 9 years with an overall record of 190-96 (90-56 in conference) highlighted by the Final Four run with DWade in 2003. While making the NCAAs 5 of the 9 years at Marquette, he only got out of the first weekend in 2003.
Indiana: 9 years with an overall record of 166-135 (71-91 in conference) ... took over a dumpster fire (similar to what one likely will take over at UW) following the Kelvin Sampson debacle and the violations tied to it. The first 3 years were a total rebuild with an overall record during that period of 28-66 (8-46 in conference) ... next 2 years were 27 and 29 win teams that included a #1 seed in the East before losing to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Made NCAAs 4 of last 6 years. 3 of those 4 NCAA trips got Indiana to the 2nd weekend ... but never past the Sweet Sixteen. 2014 tournament miss can be attributed to significant turnover from 2013 (early entries and graduation). 2017 tournament miss this year can be attributed in part to significant injuries to OG Anunoby (25 minutes per game, 11 points, 5 boards ... team was 13-6 at the time of his last game, was 5-10 without him) and James Blackmon (leading scorer with 17 points per game, missed 3 conference games where team went 1-2 without him).
Positives for Crean as a coach:
Strong recruiter with track record of high level coaching ability with a Final Four and #1 seed on his resume. Known for strong offensive basketball with a plan. Offensive philosophy of transition basketball that makes use of athletic talent could be a strong magnet for local talent who tend to want to play that style.
Negatives for Crean as a coach:
Ability to sustain his program at a consistent level can be questioned ... definitely some peaks and values. While his offensive knowledge is vast and his preparedness unquestioned, very possible that he creates a "paralysis by analysis" situation for his players by putting too much on their plate and not simplifying plans to meet the capabilities of his players. Received criticism at Indiana for not being able to recruit well in-state (counter to how style may be a fit with local community if he was to have a bristling relationship).
Tequilla Opinion:
Probably the most polarizing head coaching candidate out there to me. If I was advising him, I'd probably advise him to take a year off, go into broadcasting, and get some perspective. I think the Indiana tenure for him was a blessing and a curse. Blessing in that it was at the helm of one of the premier bluebloods and the ability to handle other difficult situations will likely pale in terms of the pressure he was under at Indiana. On the other hand, you could definitely see as things were heading South with the Indiana program this year that his frustration level was at an explosion level and a fresh start for all parties was likely for the best. He needs to re-evaluate the parts of his program that he does well versus what could be improved. I don't think it's a question that he's probably trying to pass off NBA caliber sets and strategies onto college players that don't always grasp the concepts leading to turnovers and what can at times look like stagnant offense ... although also fair to say that over the years when Indiana has had their offense working in harmony it's beautiful to watch. It's also probably led to some of the player transfers that along with potentially a couple of early entrants leaving before expectations (perhaps Oladipo and Vonleh) created a dip in the roster and performance. His intensity in that regard is another blessing/curse situation for him.
At 50 years old, he's probably in a position where he'd be willing to go for another 10 years in a job but given his age I don't think he'll ever be in a position to go after another elite job. Mid-tier Power 5 job seems about right to me for him going forward. Given the dumpster fire at Washington that a coach is going to step into, having a coach that knows the process of a strong rebuild and being able to build properly is something that I think Cohen needs to consider strongly in a target ... Crean has the experience in this regard to know what he's getting into and has a resume that has delivered results out of that environment. If I was the AD interviewing Crean, the most important set of questions that I would have with Crean would be tied to having him do some self reflection on his career and in particular his tenure at Indiana ... what does he think has worked well? What would he change in retrospect? Where does he feel like the situation went sour and what did he learn from that? I think he still has it in him to be a very successful coach going forward and will be motivated to do so after leaving Indiana. If he makes the right adjustments in his approach he could get some significant results. I wonder how much of the situation he was in and the pressure to win at the highest level for a fan base that expects nothing less (particularly given Kentucky's success) perhaps magnified the pressure for him in ways that were counter-productive to the program.
In the end, outside of Marshall, this is a very good candidate. Definitely more of a needle mover of a hire than other next tier candidates that we'd be looking at in the Musselman and Rice range. I do think that there's a decent ceiling for what Crean can accomplish (probably slightly higher than Romar's ceiling ... dips not as low) and probably as important the opportunity to stabilize the program and at worst position it to be in far better position going forward than when he took it over. He'd be a Top 3 to 5 candidate for me and on my short list that I'd want to talk to IF I didn't already have a targeted name that I'm not going to allow to tell me no.
Comments
Crean sucks.
Locally, Jim Hayford at EWU has built a solid program if you want to look at an up-and-comer. Ryan Looney did great stuff at SPU. Tony Dominguez at WWU has it rolling. Jim Shaw at Western Oregon fell off this year but made the D-2 Elite 8 last year. Shaw probably has a little 'stench' as a former Romar assistant but he coached under Randy Bennett and Kelvin Sampson so he's got good bloodlines. None have 'home run hire' written on them but all would be a massive step up from roll it out Romar.
Tim Jankovich at SMU might be worth taking a run at. Pac-12 would definitely be a step up competitively. SMU boosters have deep checkbooks if they want to, so that might cost a couple bucks. Plus he's only been the head guy there a couple years so timing might not be right.
I just don't see a Power 5 coach out there worth taking a massive flyer on. Richard Petino gets me about as excited as picking up someone in Liberty Lake bar. So you're back to Marshall, someone from the Few tree like Rice or Lloyd, Randy Bennett, Musselman, etc.
Personally, I like Larry Eustachy or Kermit Davis. Both have coached in the Northwest and both win big. But their baggage is massive. Probably not OKG.
batteredwife.jpeg
Locally, Jim Hayford at EWU has built a solid program if you want to look at an up-and-comer. Ryan Looney did great stuff at SPU. Tony Dominguez at WWU has it rolling. Jim Shaw at Western Oregon fell off this year but made the D-2 Elite 8 last year. Shaw probably has a little 'stench' as a former Romar assistant but he coached under Randy Bennett and Kelvin Sampson so he's got good bloodlines. None have 'home run hire' written on them but all would be a massive step up from roll it out Romar.
Your list?
this is what I object to. It's just a classic example of a classic example.
You didn't answer the question.
Or you just don't know anything about what those guys listed have done. Hayford is Randy Bennett lite except his teams score at a prodigious pace.
So answer the fucking question.
And tons who've come off P5 staff or moved and fallen on their face.
Marquette, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Connecticut, Georgetown, Creighton, Memphis, Villanova, to a lesser extent Duke and Syracuse - those are basketball schools with limited football programs. UW would piss down their leg to have basketball success of any of those schools. None of them had a 'proven' name coach. They had guys with a plan. Then they worked the plan. "Proven name coach" screams style over substance, so, hurray for another six years of 4 and 5 star recruits and shit results. Fuck.
High profile means getting a coach with a winning personality and proven system in place. Dude who wins big at D-2 or a mid-major is a helluva lot better than getting a low-level P5 guy like Richard fucking Petino. High level P5 guys don't have to move and their assistants are unproven. That's the career path for rebuilding football programs. Not the same in basketball. You only need 5 or 6 guys to turn around a losing program.
Another name to watch - Mark Schlessinger at New Orleans. He'll be a big time coach somewhere someday.