Thin coaching pipeline?

[Vowelguy]

Another way to frame the question: how long does it take for a coach to show that they’re great?

Or maybe the answer is as long as it takes.

 

[visitingcock]

My question was poorly formed.

What I asking is not so much who will be the next 'top' coaches, but will any of them be 'great'? And if there are fewer great coaches, what does that do for the game and player development?

I know that every generation thinks their era is the best never to be reproduced, and that my question can be discounted on that basis.
But the fact that none of the younger generation has really broken through by their 40s seems notable.

It could be that the overall quality of coaches and players has improved so it's harder to ascend early. Or that with the W and foreign leagues, ex-players are getting a later start.

My opinion?

Well , I divide coaches into two categories. First, there are the great coaches who led schools to elite blue blood levels by achieving certain bright lines (1) either 3 national championships or 2 championships with 5 championship game appearances AND (2) a “decade of greatness” meaning ten or more consecutive years of reaching at least the sweet 16. Only Barmore, Pat, Geno, Tara, Kim, Muffet and Dawn have achieved that!

Then, there are the Excellent coaches who have put together (1) more than one appearance in the national championship AND (2) “ a decade of relevance” meaning ten or more years of reaching the NCAA tournament AND reaching the Sweet 16 at least 6 of those years. Examples are Joe Ciampi (Auburn), Andy Landers (UGA), Brenda Frieze (Maryland), Vic Schaefer (MSST and Texas) , Jeff Walz (Louisville). There are probably others because I have not done an exhaustive search. Linda Sharp at USC? Gail Goestenkors at Duke? Jody Conradt at Texas? Sylvia Hatchell at UNC?

As you can see, it takes at least ten years of coaching to qualify as either a “great” or “excellent” coach ( for me). The young Turks like mark Campbell or Kim Caldwell need more years to attain the proper achievements. Coaches like Neil Ivey, Cori Close, Joe Brooks etc etc are working on their resumes.

 

[SoonrFan]

Coach	Years as HC	Overall Record (exact)	Record at P4 School	NCAA Tourney Record @ P4/5 School
Jennie Baranczyk (Drake → Oklahoma)	14 seasons (4 yrs @ P4)	293‑130 (.693)	101-34 (.748)	5-4
Kenny Brooks (James Madison → Virginia Tech → Kentucky)	24 seasons (9yrs @ P4)	542‑212 (.719)	203-90 (.692)	7-5
Yolett “Coach Yo” McPhee‑McCuin (Jacksonville → Ole Miss)	13 seasons (7 yrs @ P4)	220‑158 (.582)	125-95 (.565)	5-4

I'm a little bias of course being a sooner fan.

Jennie has two Big 12 titles during her 3 yrs in that conf and never finished below 4th place in the Big 12 & SEC. She took over an OU program where none of the players on the team ever won more than 12 games in a single season.

Kenny has made it past the second round of the NCAA 1 time in 9 yrs...that was a final four run though.

Coach Yo has made the Sweet Sixteen twice in 7 yrs at Ole Miss.

 

[DefenseBB]

Interesting observation. It should be noted that, by this yardstick, Coach Yo and Jenny Baranczyk have a little time left and Carly Thibault-DuDonis has more than a decade (2 decades + for Coach Caroline Ducharme...).

Coach Yo...

Yes, she can sell a program to a portal transfer player, yes she will have cash to burn, but can she recruit elite or very good HS players and can, you know, she actually coach a cohesive offensive game or defensive scheme to win close games? In my book, that is highly doubtful.

For @Vowelguy , Scott Rueck has made a final four back in 2016, he should still be around in 10 years but who really knows.

I did just get a call from @triaddukefan who says we are overlooking Courtney Banghart.....Thanks for that tip....😜

 

[GamecockFam]

Coach Yo...

Yes, she can sell a program to a portal transfer player, yes she will have cash to burn, but can she recruit elite or very good HS players and can, you know, she actually coach a cohesive offensive game or defensive scheme to win close games? In my book, that is highly doubtful.

I did just get a call from @triaddukefan who says we are overlooking Courtney Banghart.....Thanks for that tip....😜

I love Coach Yo! She hasn't had the best offenses but she has had her fair share of success. I always hated going again her defenses, so I don't understand that criticism. Let's not forget that her team knocked off #1 seed Stanford as an 8-seed in the tournament two years ago. She has turned Ole Miss into a perennial sweet 16 team. I personally think she is a recruit or two away from taking the next step with her program.