Coaching changes 2021

[billyjack]

Richard Pitino out at Minnesota.

Richard Pitino was just hired at New Mexico.

That was quick probably a good spot, New Mexico has a ton of potential but have been horrible lately.

Yeah, had to be the fastest job change ever, like a 13 hour turnover. Great position like you said, in a beautiful part of the country.

[kayako]

Other than Indiana, DePaul should be able to compete with anyone with an open HC position right now. Hopefully they don't screw this up somehow.

[jbarajas0490]

Why is wojo still here!!! Get rid of him. Please basketball gods.

[DudeAnon]

Why is wojo still here!!! Get rid of him. Please basketball gods.

Never, Wojo is a lifer.

[Omaha1]

UNLV basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger is leaving the program to accept the same job at @IowaStateU.

[ArmyVet]

Xavier assistant Ben Johnson going to be head coach at Minnesota per twitter.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

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Archie Miller's contract makes him among college basketball's highest-paid coaches - Zach Osterman, Indystar – June 27, 2017

Obtained via records request by IndyStar, the contract — which took effect on March 25, 2017 and runs through March 2024 — will pay Miller an average of $3.35 million per year.

Miller's guaranteed compensation, which is comprised of yearly base pay ($550,000), outside marketing and promotional income ($1.65-$1.95 million annually), and deferred compensation ($1 million annually) immediately makes him one of college basketball's 10 highest-paid coaches. Outside marketing and promotional income will start at $1.65 million this season, and increase automatically each year by $50,000 through the life of the contract, to $1.95 million annually.

IU basketball coach Archie Miller fired: Here's what we know about his abrupt exit - Dwight Adams, Indystar – March 15, 2021

Archie Miller earned $550,000 a year in base salary, plus another $1 million a year in deferred compensation.

Not once in Miller’s past two seasons in charge did Indiana win more than two games consecutively in league play. Miller finishes his IU career with a 67-58 record. He went 33-44 in Big Ten play.

Miller's four uninspiring seasons in Bloomington include no appearances in March Madness. And a dismal 0-7 record against archrival Purdue.

How Much Will IU Have To Pay Its Next Basketball Coach? - Mike Pudlow, IndianaHQ.com - March 16, 2021

For 2020-21, Archie Miller made a base salary of $3.35 million, which was the 21st highest salary in college basketball this season, according to USA Today. It’s safe to presume that Indiana’s next coach will make an equal to or higher salary, unless the administration decides to go with a lesser-known commodity.

Four coaches are scheduled to make over $5 million this year. The highest-paid coach in college basketball is University of Kentucky’s John Calipari at a base payment of $8 million this season. Calipari is followed by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. According to USA Today, Coach K is set to make slightly over $7 million this season.

Villanova’s Jay Wright and Texas Tech’s Chris Beard clock in at the third and fourth positions, making $6.14 million and $5.05 million respectively. Tennessee’s Rick Barnes rounds out the top five at $4.95 million per year.

Overall, the Big Ten has six coaches (including Miller) that rank in the top 30 highest-paid in college basketball for the 2020-21 campaign. Thus, Indiana will likely have to come in around a similar salary in the $3 million to $4 million range (or likely even higher) in order to be competitive at the conference level. However, given inflation and the desire to be competitive on the national level, it’s entirely possible that the next coach will be closer to the $5 million to $6 million range.

An Indiana booster's $10 million for a new coach shows money talks, but when players walk, is it worth it? - Gary Parrish - March 24, 2021

As Hoosiers head to the transfer portal after Archie Miller was fired, the job gets more difficult for his replacement

Indiana fired coach Archie Miller on March 15 and announced that a super-rich booster had agreed to give the school $10 million to cover his buyout. Nine days later, Indiana still doesn't have a new coach.

In fact, it barely has a team.

That's because Race Thompson on Wednesday became the third IU starter -- not just player, starter -- to enter the transfer portal since the end of the season, joining Armaan Franklin and Aljami Durham. Those three combined to average 31.8 points and 13.4 rebounds this past season. They ranked second (Franklin), third (Durham) and fourth (Thompson) on the team in scoring, second (Thompson), third (Franklin) and fourth (Durham) on the team in rebounding. So these are not end-of-the-bench/out-of-the-rotation guys. They matter. And though it's true any (or even all) of them could exit the transfer portal and return to Indiana after the school hires its next coach, that's not usually how these things work.

So are we sure this was money well spent?

* * * * * * *

But, at this point, it's fair to wonder if this process might turn into a net negative that culminates with Indiana paying $10 million only to end up with a lesser coach and inferior roster. Again, any of the candidates with strong IU ties could be terrific. I don't personally know them all, but the ones I know I like. So I'm willing to keep an open mind. But, that said, and this is just the truth, none of them would currently be candidates for any other job comparable to the Indiana job. So if Indiana goes that route, it would have spent $10 million -- plus whatever it takes to hire the next coach and his staff -- to replace Miller with somebody who is way more of a gamble than Miller seemed at the time he was hired in March 2017, and Miller's replacement would then likely have a worse roster in Year One than Miller would've had in Year Five.

Again, it's not my money. So I don't care.

My only point is that there are multiple reasons to think Indiana really might've just spent $10 million to put itself in a worse position going forward.

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Indiana Hoosiers Roster – ESPN • Indiana Hoosiers Stats 2020-21 - ESPN • Indiana 2021 Basketball Commits - 247Sports

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Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball - Wikipedia

Link

Indiana is such a toxic job, sky high expectations and huge pressure.

Indiana’s next head coach will inherit a weaker roster than Archie inherited from Tom Cream, and will be expected to lead the Hoosiers to annual deep NCAA Tournament runs. The sort of Indiana boosters who can afford to pay $10 million+ to get rid of an underperforming basketball coach are old enough to remember the glory years of the Bob Knight era, and they expect nothing less from Indiana’s future basketball coaches.
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I was quite pleased to read that Jay Wright is the third-best-paid head coach in college basketball at $6.14 million per year. I’ll take that to mean that Jay Wright will conclude his very impressive coaching career at Villanova at a time of his choosing.
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[Fieldhouse Flyer]

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Indiana men's basketball hires Mike Woodson; deal is for six years, sources say - Jeff Borzello, ESPN – March 28, 2021

Ghost of Bobby Knight looms over Indiana - Pete Thamel, Yahoo! Sports - March 28, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana has spent two decades attempting to capture the highs where Knight brought them — the three national titles, five Final Fours and 11 regular season Big Ten titles. The Hoosiers haven’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2016, and Indiana is one bad hire away from being viewed by recruits as a nondescript Big Ten program that’s famous for once being famous.

The most polite way to greet Indiana’s latest hire is with a shoulder shrug. Woodson, of course, is a generational extension back to Knight. Woodson, 63, starred for Knight at Indiana in the late 1970s, ended up the No. 12 pick in the NBA draft and has nine seasons of NBA head coaching experience.

But there’s a glaring lack of college experience, even with the newly announced presence of former Ohio State coach Thad Matta overseeing the sport. This feels like the football coach news conferences where there’s a lot of energy expended on the corresponding coordinator hire.

The floor of this hire appears to be a lot lower than the ceiling is high, as it’s much easier to see this hire ending in the program sputtering than cutting down any nets. If you polled 100 athletic directors and asked if they’d rather have Archie Miller or Mike Woodson as their collegiate head coach, it’s hard to imagine more than 20 would take Woodson (no matter who his coordinators are).

But this is Indiana, where they have long been infatuated with their own.

There are a lot of former NBA folks who’ve shoehorned themselves into college before forgettable tenure and awkward exits — Avery Johnson (Alabama), Chris Mullin (St. John’s), Eddie Jordan (Rutgers), Mike Dunleavy (Tulane), Mark Price (Charlotte) and Terry Porter (Portland).

Indiana’s decision on Miller always hinted at a ready-fire-aim approach. By firing Miller before the start of the tournament, they essentially boxed themselves out of hiring the type of seasoned NCAA tournament coach that could become an immediate magnet for top players. They clearly didn’t have a replacement already lined up before forking over $10 million to Miller, as Woodson is convincing as an upgrade to few who don’t see the world through a candy-striped prism.

Indiana is still busy chasing Knight’s ghost. In trying to revive the past, is Indiana being pushed further away from it?

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[ArmyVet]

I assumed Porter Moser would be gone to Marquette, DePaul, or Indiana by now. Maybe he has told schools that he isn't interested, but that would seem unlikely.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

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North Carolina's Roy Williams announces retirement after 33 seasons as Hall-of-Fame coach at UNC, Kansas – Kyle Boone, CBS Sports – 45 minutes ago

Williams is retiring after a legendary career and winning 903 games as a college basketball head coach

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