He did a pretty damn good job at both Iowa and New Mexico, programs with little or no FF expectations. Let's give him a chance now at UCLA where he will get the higher end recruits now!!
He did do a pretty decent job at New Mexico (despite choking in the first or second round with very strong teams).
This idea that he did well with Iowa, though, is just not true.
Tom Davis before him coached for 13 years. Two of those years, Iowa was below .500; ten of those years were 20-win season--one of which he won 30 games. He went to 9 NCAA tournaments, never lost in the first round, went to 1 Elite 8, and two other Sweet 16s. His overall record was 269-140 (.658), and his last year they were in the Sweet 16.
Before Tom Davis, George Raveling coached at Iowa for 3 years. They had one losing season, and two 20-win seasons with NCAA appearances (losing in the first round both times). He was 55-38 (.561)
Before Raveling, Lute Olson coached there for 9 years. During those 9 years, they had two losing seasons (in the first four years), six 30-win seasons, five NCAA tournaments. Olson took them to the 1980 Final Four and another Sweet 16. He left for Arizona with a 168-90 (.651) record.
So, for the 25 season from 1974 to 1999 (when Alford was hired), Iowa went 492-268 (.647). They had 16 NCAA appearances in those years (64% of the years). They had 1 Final Four, 2 Elite 8s, 5 S16s, and lost in the first round 4 times. They had 18 20-win seasons (72%). Those aren't the best stats ever, but they are better than a number of other teams over a 25 years period.
Steve Alford coached from 1999-2007 (8 years). Over that time, they had 1 losing season, 3 20 win seasons (37.5% of them). They made the NCAAs 3 times (37.5% of the times), but they never made it out of the first weekend, losing in the first round twice. His overall record 152-106 (.589)
So, summary of the 25 years before Alford compared to the 8 with:
Before: A .647 winning percentage
With: .589
Before: Won 20 games or more 72% of the time
With: 37.5%
Before: Made the NCAAs 64% of the time
With: 37.5%
Before: 20% of their seasons went beyond the first weekend of the NCAAs
With: 0%
And this isn't accounting for the fact that they haven't recovered...
