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Micah Shrewsberry was in his office late one night during the first few weeks of his stint at Penn State, still trying to get a grasp on all the jobs and obligations that come with being the new head coach of the Nittany Lions. His phone then rang.
On the other end of the line was Minnesota coach Ben Johnson, who was likewise in his office late at night, trying to figure out what it meant to be a rookie head coach.
“He was doing exactly what I was doing,” Shrewsberry said. “We’re both late for work, and he’s interrogating me. ‘How are you going about achieving this?’ Is this something you’re experiencing as well?’ Our responses were quite similar.”
Former assistants getting their first head-coaching jobs at high-major programs is a new but growing trend in college basketball coaching. Shrewsberry and Johnson are part of a small fraternity of former assistants getting their first head-coaching jobs at high-major programs. Prior to the spring of 2021, such a hiring in collegiate basketball was regarded unusual. High-major schools almost always went with a retread high-major coach or a hot mid-major name.
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“As an assistant coach, you sometimes felt like you weren’t even considered for certain positions because you didn’t have head-coaching experience,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, a 20-year assistant at Gonzaga, said. “How are you going to get experience as a head coach?”
Even before Duke assistant Jon Scheyer was chosen Mike Krzyzewski’s replacement in the spring, the Blue Devils’ illustrious history in the sport had made the school stand out as a rare exception to the industry’s norm against assistant hiring at top institutions. From Coach K’s bench, Johnny Dawkins (Stanford, 2008), Chris Collins (Northwestern, 2013), and Steve Wojciechowski (Marquette, 2014) all made the jump to high-major head coach. (Dawkins and Wojciechowski were dismissed by their respective institutions; Collins is about to start his eighth season at Northwestern.)
With the exception of Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins, who was hired by Washington in 2017, assistant hires by high-majors over the last decade have all been promotions from within: Chris Holtmann (Butler, 2014), Greg Gard (Wisconsin, 2015), Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State, 2017), Wyking Jones (California, 2017), and Travis Steele (California, 2017). (Xavier, 2018).
Except for Frank Martin (Washington State, 2006), all of the other current high-major head coaches were promoted from assistant positions: Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 1976), Tom Izzo (Michigan State, 1995), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh, 2003), Tony Bennett (Washington State, 2006), and Frank Martin (Pittsburgh, 2003). (Kansas State, 2007).
Leonard Hamilton, who was hired by Oklahoma State from Kentucky in 1986, was the only other current high-major head coach who didn’t have collegiate head-coaching experience or considerable NBA experience before making the transition.
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Coach K’s replacement at Duke has received great accolades from Jay Williams.
So, certainly, it’s uncommon. However, the number of assistant-coaching hiring in the spring of last year about mirrored those in the previous decade.
There was Shrewsberry, who was hired by Penn State from Purdue, and Johnson, who was hired by Minnesota from Xavier. DePaul chose Oregon assistant Tony Stubblefield, while Arizona hired Lloyd. There were also three promotions. North Carolina hired Hubert Davis to succeed Roy Williams, Duke picked Scheyer as their coach-in-waiting, and Texas Tech promoted Mark Adams, despite having Division I head-coaching experience in the 1990s at Texas-Pan American.
“I think it’s amazing because you can see the fresh enthusiasm and new ideas in the game,” Collins added. “It’s a fantastic thing to have some younger players who haven’t had a chance to come in and put their own stamp and mark on the game and on their program. And maybe some schools are beginning to see this, and it’s an opportunity for a new approach.”
Why has it taken so long for assistant coaches to advance to high-level head coaching roles? It’s a common occurrence in college football, as prominent institutions often recruit coordinators for the top job. Before being named interim and then permanent head coach at Clemson after Tommy Bowden’s departure in 2008, Dabo Swinney had never been a head coach. At the Power 5 level, nine of the 14 current SEC football coaches got their first Division I head-coaching position.
On the basketball side of the coaching profession, this situation had caused a lot of discontent.
“There are football coordinators that acquire big-time college football positions,” according to a person familiar with coaching searches in the business. “Why shouldn’t big-time basketball assistants who are successful and prepared and ready to be CEOs of their own program get big-time jobs?” “Why shouldn’t big-time basketball coaches who are successful and prepared and ready to be CEOs of their own program get big-time jobs?”
Last year, the same source told ESPN that he often overheard decision-makers argue that football coordinators have more responsibilities than basketball coaches, which is why they’re hired at a greater rate.
“‘Coordinators run a side of the ball for you to see what they do,’ I hear. We have no idea what [basketball assistants] do,’ says the team “‘Last year,’ he replied. “That’s a cop-out,” she says.
Minnesota’s Ben Johnson joins a Big Ten where Juwan Howard’s success may have prompted a rethinking of hiring policies. File: AP Photo/Michael Conroy
“We want someone with head-coaching experience,” said athletic directors and key officials engaged in the search process, not only at the high-major level, but even in some roles at the mid-major level. Most high-major head coach positions did not even need an interview for assistants. Some assistants were also unable to obtain significant consideration for lower-level D-I coaching positions.
“Experience is a concern for people at the Power 5 level,” Collins added. “To have the guts to hire someone who has never called a timeout as an AD, you have to believe in them completely. That, I believe, is a contributing factor. It’s much simpler to win a news conference if you have someone who has done it before.”
“People don’t want to take chances,” Steele said. “At the same time, it isn’t a danger. It’s the domino effect when people fall in love. ‘Oh, it’s acceptable after one man does it.’ Let’s get started.’ That’s started to become a bit of a trend…. Nobody wanted to be the one who did it first.”
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Jeff Borzello dissects Arizona’s decision to hire Gonzaga coach Tommy Lloyd and discusses how his foreign recruiting experience may benefit the Wildcats.
Due to a lack of options, several long-serving high-major assistants had to settle for positions with a poor track record of success. Lloyd said, “There are a lot of pretty difficult occupations out there.” “It doesn’t matter how good of a coach you are; you may be a fantastic coach, but if you accept a low- or mid-major position and don’t win, you won’t be hired again. Why would I leave Gonzaga for a difficult job?”
Stubblefield has previously been engaged in head-coaching searches, most recently in 2017 when he interviewed at New Mexico State University. But, like Lloyd, he claims he was caught in a catch-22.
“When they say there’s no head-coaching experience,” he says, “you have to give me the chance to obtain some head-coaching experience.” “It’s simply that the opportunity didn’t present themselves.”
The spring hiring season of 2021 shifted the narrative, with a handful of the biggest names in college basketball spearheading the effort. Why not lean on continuity and keep things within the family after North Carolina and Duke had great good success under Williams and Mike Krzyzewski?
Micah Shrewsberry takes his experience as a Purdue assistant coach to his first head coaching position at Penn State. Michael Conroy/AP Photo
Other than that, one of Minnesota’s main problems in recent years has been its struggle to retain top prospects in the state for college; Johnson is a Minneapolis native who graduated from Minnesota in 2005 and has previous recruiting experience in the area.
However, the Golden Gophers might have gone with Dennis Gates of Cleveland State, much as Penn State could have hired Ohio’s Jeff Boals, Arizona could have hired BYU’s Mark Pope, and DePaul could have chosen Pacific’s Damon Stoudamire.
Those actions may have been the safest option. However, unconventional coaching decisions at schools like Minnesota and Penn State, such as Oklahoma State elevating an assistant to the head position in 2018 and Michigan enjoying success with an NBA assistant who had no head-coaching experience in 2020, may have helped create the framework.
“By Mike Boynton doing it, the future AD will be able to say, ‘OK, this is OK,’” Shrewsberry said. “Juwan Howard’s performance in the NBA is impressive. There are now more cases to point to.”
The paucity of clear-cut, home-run hires among mid-major head coaches might be one explanation for the increase in high-major assistant coaches becoming engaged for sought-after head-coaching positions last spring. The Shaka Smart-Archie Miller-Chris Mack-Chris Holtmann combo was referenced with practically every major opportunity seven or eight years ago. Porter Moser, Steve Forbes, and Wes Miller have all been mentioned in relation to high-major jobs in recent years.
Moser (Oklahoma), Forbes (Wake Forest), and Wes Miller (Cincinnati) have all taken larger positions in recent years, so the next set of must-see mid-major head coaches must emerge.
This gives existing high-major assistants greater confidence in their prospects, if the six appointed last spring perform well.
Tommy Lloyd moved from being Gonzaga’s assistant coach to one of the best head coaching positions in college basketball. Arizona Athletics / Mike Christy
“It’s all up to this bunch,” one assistant said. “The flavor of the month for ADs is to follow the leader. They’ll do anything if that’s the taste. However, if it does not function, the whole system will fail. Instead of looking at each scenario individually, they’ll classify and stereotype the whole circumstance.”
The freshly hired head coaches are well aware that they are responsible for establishing the foundation for the next generation of assistants.
“I’m not sure whether they’ll have chances if we don’t succeed,” Shrewsberry remarked. “I won’t get a chance until Mike Boynton and Juwan do what they do, and Ben won’t get an opportunity unless Mike Boynton and Juwan do what they do. As a result, we must now repeat the process. And although success may appear different in various places, it requires me to execute everything correctly…. If I accomplish that and others notice, [athletic directors] can be confident that the next man will have a chance.”
While each of the new coaches expressed astonishment at the increased workload — Lloyd and Shrewsberry, respectively, stated, “Wow, this keeps coming” and “Wow, this is continuous” — the majority of the new coaches felt the basketball part is the simplest to acclimate to. Coming up with a game plan or recruiting a high school talent isn’t difficult, but the other aspects of the job — dealing with sponsors, administration, promoting the program, and so on — are the primary reason assistants must adjust to their new position.
Davis, on the other hand, put it in the most basic words possible.
“Being a head coach is an adjustment,” he added, “but at the end of the day, particularly for college, do you know and love basketball, do you know and love students, do you know and love the institution that you’re coaching at?” “You can be a head coach if you tick those boxes.”
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Jeff Borzello lays out the elements for Hubert Davis to have a good start as the Tar Heels’ head coach.
Which of the present assistants will be the next in line?
Jeff Borzello, Myron Medcalf, and John Gasaway of ESPN’s college basketball team voted on the 40 top college basketball coaches under the age of 40 in the summer of 2020. Jordan Mincy (Jacksonville) and Jon Scheyer (Duke) are the first two assistants on the list to be appointed as head coaches, while three others in the rankings, Darris Nichols (Radford), Kim English (George Mason), and Kyle Neptune (Fordham), were also hired as head coaches last offseason.
Several names on the list might be considered as internal successors. Brian Michaelson has spent the previous 13 years at Gonzaga in various positions, as well as playing in Spokane; with former coach-in-waiting Tommy Lloyd now at Arizona, might Michaelson be a possible Mark Few replacement?
Gerry McNamara of Syracuse has been considered as a potential Jim Boeheim successor, and his strongest rival might be Adrian Autry, another current Syracuse assistant coach.
The name of Houston’s Kellen Sampson, the Cougars’ head-coach-in-waiting, did not appear on the list.
Outside of internal possibilities, Florida State’s Charlton Young was not on our list, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the mix for head-coaching positions next spring. Young was the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2009 to 2013, and throughout his time in Tallahassee, he established himself as one of the greatest recruiters in the nation.
UConn’s Luke Murray (then at Louisville), Texas’ Ulric Maligi (then at Texas Tech), and Kansas’ Jerrance Howard (then at Kansas), Nebraska’s Matt Abdelmassih, Arizona State’s Joel Justus (then at Kentucky), Virginia Tech’s Christian Webster, Wisconsin’s Joe Krabbenhoft, Colorado State’s Ali Farokhmanesh, and Washington State’s John Andrzejek were among the other assistants on the Two other candidates that earned votes, Miami’s Chris Caputo and Stanford’s Adam Cohen, have previously been connected to head coaching positions.
