Do college coaches go to the NBA any more?

[BigErnMcCracken]

But most average college coaches aren’t getting NBA offers

Okay. The average NBA coach has a better QOL than the average coach of a successful P5 program. Better? It's just my take. People can differ. I randomly played golf with an NBA coach a few years ago and asked him if he would consider a college gig and he laughed. A lot of guys just don't want to deal with the grind of recruiting, the year-round nature of it, and babysitting teenagers. Again, people can disagree, but that doesn't seem very controversial.

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

I agree - I was surprised someone thought the quality of life favors college. Popp is not sitting in a high school gym in South Carolina in July and then jumping on a plane to sit in some other dumpy gym the next day. He's drinking ten bottles of wine and falling asleep on a boat off Positano.

Unless you're an all-time great like Popp or Phil Jackson, I just don't see the upside to coaching in the NBA besides getting to tell people "I coached at the highest level".

Nick Nurse won a title and was jettisoned from Toronto 3 years later. Mike Budenholzer only lasted two years after his title. Same with Frank Vogel. Hell, Dwayne Casey won Coach of the Year in 2018 and was still fired the exact same year!

It really just doesn't seem worth it to me.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Unless you're an all-time great like Popp or Phil Jackson, I just don't see the upside to coaching in the NBA besides getting to tell people "I coached at the highest level".

Nick Nurse won a title and was jettisoned from Toronto 3 years later. Mike Budenholzer only lasted two years after his title. Same with Frank Vogel. Hell, Dwayne Casey won Coach of the Year in 2018 and was still fired the exact same year!

It really just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Eh, Nick Nurse is coaching the 76ers. These guys get recycled, just like the NFL. I think the upside is not dealing with recruiting, parents, boosters, summers, etc. The flip side is that it's a longer season with more travel, but they're not exactly slumming it. Some guys like Hurley (and Calhoun) seem built for the college game.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Okay. The average NBA coach has a better QOL than the average coach of a successful P5 program. Better? It's just my take. People can differ. I randomly played golf with an NBA coach a few years ago and asked him if he would consider a college gig and he laughed. A lot of guys just don't want to deal with the grind of recruiting, the year-round nature of it, and babysitting teenagers. Again, people can disagree, but that doesn't seem very controversial.

I think it's personal preference. The travel sucks (or is great) in both jobs. You get to be a surrogate Dad to a rotating group of kids, or you get to manage uber-rich star athletes and their entourage. In college you control your roster but have to rebuild it every year. In the NBA, you have to work with what you're given and may honestly not even have a chance of winning. College is a lot fewer games, but recruiting is its own season. Media expectations are similar.

I don't think I'd want either job.

 

[SportsFan88]

I remember the lakers flirting with JC at a point and time, but I think coaching in college compared to the NBA is night and day

 

[StllH8L8ner]

They had high hopes for Fred Hoiberg and he bombed out.

The Mayor! (At Iowa State). Great player but my only real memory of him was getting torched by the Fab 5 at the Palace.

 

[superjohn]

Fair enough: the average NBA coach has a much better, more comfortable lifestyle than the average college coach. That's my take.

Agreed and maybe the job security thing is overrated because the NBA has always liked retreads. It's fine if you don't mind changing addresses. I do find it interesting that more college coaches have always been more well known and more revered than NBA coaches. A lot of these guys have huge egos so I think it's a factor.

I've been told Jay Wright didn't like the direction of college hoops. He didn't want to have to coach and be their head fundraiser/dealing with boosters while not developing kids his way anymore with the portal threat. I wouldn't be surprised if it pushed Roy to leave a little early too. The college job has gotten more complicated in recent years.

 

[Waquoit]

The Mayor! (At Iowa State). Great player but my only real memory of him was getting torched by the Fab 5 at the Palace.

He got a win coaching in the Dance against us. He got his NBA job after losing to UConn in the Dance.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Agreed and maybe the job security thing is overrated because the NBA has always liked retreads. It's fine if you don't mind changing addresses. I do find it interesting that more college coaches have always been more well known and more revered than NBA coaches. A lot of these guys have huge egos so I think it's a factor.

I've been told Jay Wright didn't like the direction of college hoops. He didn't want to have to coach and be their head fundraiser/dealing with boosters while not developing kids his way anymore with the portal threat. I wouldn't be surprised if it pushed Roy to leave a little early too. The college job has gotten more complicated in recent years.

Agreed on all points.

Think the biggest draws to college are complete autonomy over your program and not only being the face of your school or state, but really the entire sport.

March Madness doesn't take a back seat to just about anything in the US, and guys like K, Roy, Izzo, Pitino, Calhoun had the limelight for decades.

I don't think it's hyperbole given Hurleys personality, success, platform and age that he could be THE face of the sport in the coming decade. That is a pretty cool carrot.

 

[bendm]

hurley is a control freak and would therefore be an absolutely horrible nba coach. no offense intended. not worried about him making the jump at all. his personality is perfectly suited for college.

 

[yungdowork]

Seems like at this point, it's a lot more common for guys to start as assistants somewhere in the NBA and then come back to college. I don't really think that's a super successful model when you look at guys like Ewing or Kenny Payne, but that's definitely more the norm than college coaches making the jump.

I wouldn't be surprised if a big part of the reason is because, regardless of salary, successful college coaches are generally pretty revered at their school, whereas in the league they'd likely be just another guy.

 

[elmcityboy]

i think john beilein was a major turning point. as others have pointed out, it's just two completely different sports at this point.

wouldn't be shocked if it happened again, but it would have to be a really special case (e.g. a brad stevens type)

 

[superjohn]

Agreed on all points.

Think the biggest draws to college are complete autonomy over your program and not only being the face of your school or state, but really the entire sport.

March Madness doesn't take a back seat to just about anything in the US, and guys like K, Roy, Izzo, Pitino, Calhoun had the limelight for decades.

I don't think it's hyperbole given Hurleys personality, success, platform and age that he could be THE face of the sport in the coming decade. That is a pretty cool carrot.

Agreed, it's all right there for Hurley. It's why I found it kind of stunning Jay Wright turned down being the face of college basketball and probably the whole sport.

Side note, watching the ESPN game last night to watch Hawkins and on the other end was Mark Daigneault coaching OKC. I don't think most basketball fans have any clue who he is and I don't think most UConn fans have any clue who he is even though he went to UConn and was the student manager at UConn when they won a national championship.

 

[polycom]

Either some people don't understand what being an NBA coach is v. college or are intentionally being obtuse. The average NBA coach has a much better life than the average high major D1 coach and it really isn't close. Think about the difference in talent between the NBA and college and then realize the same difference exists in coaching.

You can coach far more advanced basketball concepts and not really worry about much else, if you don't want to really do GM type things you don't need to think about it. If you can get along with the star play or ownership you are set for life.

Basketball is the only thing that matters not being a celebrity (specifically for coaches). Random example, Quinn Snyder is generally understood to be a good NBA coach yet it his relatively anonymous.

Every NBA team flies private and stays at the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton depending on the contract with the team, I'm not share the jobs are really even comparable other than they coach basketball.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Either some people don't understand what being an NBA coach is v. college or are intentionally being obtuse. The average NBA coach has a much better life than the average high major D1 coach and it really isn't close. Think about the difference in talent between the NBA and college and then realize the same difference exists in coaching.

You can coach far more advanced basketball concepts and not really worry about much else, if you don't want to really do GM type things you don't need to think about it. If you can get along with the star play or ownership you are set for life.

Basketball is the only thing that matters not being a celebrity (specifically for coaches). Random example, Quinn Snyder is generally understood to be a good NBA coach yet it his relatively anonymous.

Every NBA team flies private and stays at the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton depending on the contract with the team, I'm not share the jobs are really even comparable other than they coach basketball.

Can confirm the Heat were at the Ritz in Boston on Friday. My daughter ran into them on the sidewalk.

@superjohn I remembered Mark Daigneault but I don't think I realized that he's now the HC in OKC. It's a pretty wild route to that job. UConn - Holy Cross - Florida - G League - NBA. Grad assistant at Florida before Donovan promoted him.

 

[Excalibur]

Stevens did so well they told him he could no longer be their coach but they like him in the office.

He also turned down $10 Million per year from Indiana even as he was arranging his exit from the Celtics' head coaching position.

 

[aburks41]

Either some people don't understand what being an NBA coach is v. college or are intentionally being obtuse. The average NBA coach has a much better life than the average high major D1 coach and it really isn't close. Think about the difference in talent between the NBA and college and then realize the same difference exists in coaching.

You can coach far more advanced basketball concepts and not really worry about much else, if you don't want to really do GM type things you don't need to think about it. If you can get along with the star play or ownership you are set for life.

Basketball is the only thing that matters not being a celebrity (specifically for coaches). Random example, Quinn Snyder is generally understood to be a good NBA coach yet it his relatively anonymous.

Every NBA team flies private and stays at the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton depending on the contract with the team, I'm not share the jobs are really even comparable other than they coach basketball.

The debate shouldn't be average high major coach vs NBA coach. That's not fair. Average high major coaches are not sniffing NBA job opening's radars. The debate should be: would you rather be in the tier of Bill Self, Dan Hurley, Tom Izzo, Calipari, Pitino, etc where you are treated like royalty in your home state, have unlimited job security, make just as much money as NBA coaches, and have complete autonomy over your organization. Plus, it's not like our program travels on the poverty train. We charter flights and stay in nice hotels too.

In the NBA you're subject to the diva personalities of multi-millionaire professional athletes, have a front office making every personnel decision, and very little job security. What exactly is so attractive about the that? You can make an argument that the QOL is better with travel and hotels. But at the same time, the season is exponentially longer. 82 games, playoffs are 2 months long, a month of preseason, and summer league.

Imagine being a head coach and having to deal with James Harden or Kyrie Irving, and your boneheaded GM trades away every asset to acquire them, and then tells you either we win a championship or you're fired. No thank you.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The debate shouldn't be average high major coach vs NBA coach. That's not fair. Average high major coaches are not sniffing NBA job opening's radars. The debate should be: would you rather be in the tier of Bill Self, Dan Hurley, Tom Izzo, Calipari, Pitino, etc where you are treated like royalty in your home state, have unlimited job security, make just as much money as NBA coaches, and have complete autonomy over your organization. Plus, it's not like our program travels on the poverty train. We charter flights and stay in nice hotels too.

In the NBA you're subject to the diva personalities of multi-millionaire professional athletes, have a front office making every personnel decision, and very little job security. What exactly is so attractive about the that? You can make an argument that the QOL is better with travel and hotels. But at the same time, the season is exponentially longer. 82 games, playoffs are 2 months long, a month of preseason, and summer league.

Imagine being a head coach and having to deal with James Harden or Kyrie Irving, and your boneheaded GM trades away every asset to acquire them, and then tells you either we win a championship or you're fired. No thank you.

All it takes is winning a national title and every game along the way by double digits.

First loss next season to a ranked team the question will unquestionably be raised "was last year a fluke?"

 

[polycom]

The debate shouldn't be average high major coach vs NBA coach. That's not fair. Average high major coaches are not sniffing NBA job opening's radars. The debate should be: would you rather be in the tier of Bill Self, Dan Hurley, Tom Izzo, Calipari, Pitino, etc where you are treated like royalty in your home state, have unlimited job security, make just as much money as NBA coaches, and have complete autonomy over your organization. Plus, it's not like our program travels on the poverty train. We charter flights and stay in nice hotels too.

In the NBA you're subject to the diva personalities of multi-millionaire professional athletes, have a front office making every personnel decision, and very little job security. What exactly is so attractive about the that? You can make an argument that the QOL is better with travel and hotels. But at the same time, the season is exponentially longer. 82 games, playoffs are 2 months long, a month of preseason, and summer league.

Imagine being a head coach and having to deal with James Harden or Kyrie Irving, and your boneheaded GM trades away every asset to acquire them, and then tells you either we win a championship or you're fired. No thank you.

That is not how a relatively equal comparison works. Comparing the best college coaches to an average NBA coach doesn't really make much sense at all.

The situation you describe at the end can be boiled down to would you rather be the top 3 coach in school history or an NBA coach of a tanking franchise. You have to see how that is not a reasonable comparison.

The season is longer playing basketball sure, however when exactly are coaches not recruiting, "showing love" sitting in high school gyms and tiny apartments. How many NBA coaches are needing to do that.

 

[nomar]

Think you guys are overrating job security. It's important if you're working a 9-6 email job, sure. Being a basketball coach getting paid millions of dollars...not so much.

I actually wonder why most guys would want to stay in college. Having to fly all over the country and text 16 years constantly to "show love" when you could just be coaching basketball? This is even more true in the NIL world.

The insane drive is what makes these guys so successful, why wouldn't you want to give it a shot in the most competitive basketball league in the world?

I hear what you're saying. I would imagine (a) some guys like the control they have in college to build, rather than merely coach, a team (especially before NIL leveled the field out a bit) and (b) some guys prefer coaching kids rather than guys making 8 figures.

 

[Waquoit]

Can confirm the Heat were at the Ritz in Boston on Friday. My daughter ran into them on the sidewalk

For reference, when UConn first joined the Big East, they stayed at Knights Inn.

 

[uconnfan68]

10 million over 5 seasons.

He lasted only 1 or 2 years (2000-2001), but got a big check and a big buyout. Much more cash than he would have got from any college then, which was the point I was trying to make.

 

[huskyinfl]

Stevens did so well they told him he could no longer be their coach but they like him in the office.

Pitino got 4 years in Boston maybe stevens was too clean

 

[bfs3]

Okay. The average NBA coach has a better QOL than the average coach of a successful P5 program. Better? It's just my take. People can differ. I randomly played golf with an NBA coach a few years ago and asked him if he would consider a college gig and he laughed. A lot of guys just don't want to deal with the grind of recruiting, the year-round nature of it, and babysitting teenagers. Again, people can disagree, but that doesn't seem very controversial.

Was it CCSU legend Tom Thibs? He’s the only one I’ve met in part because I was friends with his niece and I’m a fan of anyone born within 60 miles of me.

 

[Excalibur]

I hear what you're saying. I would imagine (a) some guys like the control they have in college to build, rather than merely coach, a team (especially before NIL leveled the field out a bit) and (b) some guys prefer coaching kids rather than guys making 8 figures.

(a) is what is probably the draw. At this point, there's not much difference in how spoiled the pros are vs. high major college kids.