Donovan had coached at least one game. Florida was able to see whether he was competent in that capacity. Therefore, he was a guy, like Ollie, with lots of upside. There was also a floor. You saw what he did at Marshall, that was the floor. Ollie has no floor. I agree on the upside. And if they had at least let him sub for Calhoun last year, we could have gotten enough of a look at him to get a sense of his floor. He could be the worst game coach in history. He could be truly and spectacularly awful. I think the odds of that are close to zero. But the reality is, that since he's never coached a single game, not even AAU or high school, nobody knows. It is that "unknown" that necessitates a one year contract. By late winter he'll be known. He'll have a floor. Then the university can decide if the upside is worth the investment given the potential downside. Today that evaluation is impossible or would be answered "no".
Mr. Smart by the way, has loads of upside, and very high floor. A floor much higher than Donovan's was coming from Marshall. He's won big with a mid major with no real budget or fancy practice facility, with no time on TV. I think Mark Few has a really high floor, as he helped build an enduring program at a small school with no advantages.
Now, to your point about searches, yes, sometimes the people conducting the seach look only at the floor. That leads to hires like PP. His floor is his ceiling. There's no upside. That's a bad hire. That's hiring Leitao or Howie D. I love that KO is getting a chance because his upside is so high. Doc Rivers high. But I fully understand why the school had to protect itself, and the taxpayer's money, from a possible costly mistake. If it were a pro team, with a rich owner, well hell, sign him long term and pay him when you fire him. That's irresponsible at a public U.
