A Division I college football or men’s basketball coaching search isn’t your normal apply for a job, interview in-person, get offered the vacancy type of situation.
Search firms are hired, airplanes are tracked on message boards, and speculation runs rampant. The behind-the-scenes maneuvering can be just as enthralling as the College Football Playoff or the Final Four. But when you’re in the driver’s seat, the process can be a meat grinder, with pressure from rabid fans and media opining on gossip raising the temperature.
“Let’s face it,” a Division I athletic director who requested anonymity told The Blade. “Hires of that magnitude can make or break an AD. Nobody said life was fair. That’s just the way it is. I get it.”
Michigan AD Warde Manuel is finding out just how demanding it can be. Less than a week has transpired since John Beilein left the Wolverines for the Cleveland Cavaliers, yet a flurry of activity already has taken place. Michigan hired the search firm Turnkey Search, one of the program’s incoming freshmen requested his release, and rumors are plentiful.
On Day 1, according to the anonymous AD, most phone calls actually come from search firms looking for business. Athletic departments base their decision on past history with certain firms, confidence, and success rate.
The use of search firms has exploded the past decade for various reasons. One is confidentiality — search firms can contact coaches and their representatives to prevent it from leaking. Coaches and agents can travel to the search firm, keeping the interview process hush-hush. But it’s often the athletic director’s preference to deal with a coach and not go through intermediaries.
“The relationship has to be with the coach, not the agent,” the AD said.
Every athletic director has a short list of candidates, but search firms can provide additional names that might not have been considered. They also can find flaws in a person’s background. Universities want to avoid the embarrassment Notre Dame suffered when it hired George O’Leary and quickly fired him after it was discovered he lied on his resume.
ADs are judged by their football and men’s basketball hires. If the coaches succeed, the athletic director’s job is safe. If the coaches fail, the AD could be fired, which is why they vet candidates thoroughly.
The Detroit Free Press reported Manuel drew up a short list of candidates last year when Beilein flirted with the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic. Manuel thought the chances of Beilein leaving for the NBA were high if a job was offered, so he didn’t have to scramble to narrow down his list.
“I want somebody who wants to coach and teach young men, to drive success on the court and off the court,” Manuel told reporters this week at the Big Ten meetings in Chicago. “Academically, we’ve been as solid as well as we’ve played. We’ve had young men with character who have done the right thing. So I want that.
“If I can get a proven coach, someone with a track record as a head coach, that’s what I’d like to see. And then I want somebody who can coach, who can develop talent. John did it, and this league does it year in, year out without teams full of five-stars. We develop talent in the league, we’re a tough league that plays hard. So I’m looking for somebody that can develop talent and who can also coach.”
A coach’s fit with the institution and recruiting footprint is given heavy consideration. How committed are they to live in the school’s area of the country? For example, the ill-advised hiring of Mike Jinks, who never had been to Ohio, and his original staff, which had zero Ohio natives, proved to be a strategic mistake.
Candidates’ contracts and public statements are closely scrutinized when premier jobs open. Michigan basketball isn’t on the level of Kentucky, North Carolina, or Kansas, but Beilein elevated it to a top-15 job. Already, Alabama coach Nate Oats, who’s a former longtime Michigan high school coach, reiterated his happiness in Tuscaloosa. But Oats is the same coach that signed a contract extension and expressed his intention of staying at Buffalo weeks before leaving.
Nick Saban said he wasn’t leaving the Miami Dolphins. As Memphis’ coach, John Calipari, told reporters, “This is where I want to be.” He was bound for Lexington three days later. Football coach Bobby Petrino is perhaps more guilty of playing the “I’m not leaving” card than anyone.
“Contracts don’t mean anything,” the anonymous AD said.
Speed is imperative when conducting a search, but administrators shouldn’t panic. Already, one member of Michigan’s 2019 recruiting class — four-star forward Jalen Wilson — has requested his release. Zeb Jackson, a four-star guard from Maumee Valley Country Day, committed to Michigan last year. The 2020 recruit wouldn’t comment on his status this week, but Jackson certainly is being courted by other schools.
“To use football as an example, when the coach leaves, the team can be in total disarray,” the AD said. “All of a sudden, 10 guys say, ‘I'm out of here, I'm leaving.’ You want to settle the troops down. You can lose a recruiting class overnight.”
Two weeks is a general time frame, mostly because of recruiting. Ohio State’s last two basketball coaches — Thad Matta and Chris Holtmann — each were hired during the summer, an odd situation for the university. But the Buckeyes nailed both hires, proving time of year can be irrelevant if the job is desirable and a well-constructed plan is followed.
Ohio State AD Gene Smith said this week Michigan’s search won’t be “as difficult as people think it is,” according to the Free Press.
"The reality is, they have such a great brand,” Smith added. “It’s a place that someone wants to be. I think Warde and his team will find an outstanding coach. End of the day, they’ll find somebody good because of who they are.”
It will be the most important hire of Manuel’s career. At Buffalo, he hired football coach Turner Gill, who led the Bulls to a Mid-American Conference championship. Manuel also tabbed Kevin Ollie at UConn, which won the national title in Ollie’s second season before floundering amid NCAA sanctions.
Michigan basketball is devoid of the headaches Jim Harbaugh and the football program present. Not only has Beilein won big, he’s done so without an ounce of controversy. The importance of Manuel’s task cannot be overstated.
“Sometimes it’s your gut,” the anonymous AD said, “and you just get lucky.”
First Published May 17, 2019, 4:00 p.m.
