Atlanta Hawks: Larry Drew officially hired as coach
The Hawks officially hired Larry Drew as coach today, signing him to a two-year contract with an option for a third year.
Drew, 52, succeeds Mike Woodson, who was let go following this season. Drew was Woodson’s lead assistant and now slides into the head coach’s seat for the first time in his career.
The Hawks plan to introduce Drew as coach at a news conference Monday afternoon. From the official Hawks release:
“We are very pleased to welcome Larry as the new head coach of the Atlanta Hawks,” GM Rick Sund said. “After aggressively going through the interview process with all of the candidates it became clear, with his knowledge of the game as well as his experience as player and assistant coach, he had the qualities we were looking for to lead our club. Over the last few years, a number of teams have had success hiring from within and we feel he is more than ready for the challenge.”
MC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
82 comments Add your comment
O'Brien
June 13th, 2010
6:00 pm
Co-sign northcyde
General Sherman
June 13th, 2010
6:08 pm
White coaches need not apply!!
I MUS WRITE
June 13th, 2010
6:17 pm
Congratulations to Coach Drew, I like the fact that he was really prepared for his interview. Showing the owners his offensive sets and actually having players run them says alot. I just hope we can the switch everything Defense -ZAZA gaurding Jennings is a disaster waiting to happen.
Bring back Chillz and dump the following for some real NBA talent: Joe Smith,Mario,Collins
Give Randolph Morris more PT to see if can really contribute. Start teague Bibby to the bench
Blast
June 13th, 2010
6:19 pm
Congrats are in order for Larry Drew for snagging that coveted? Hawks head coaching job. Wish him the best. Won’t make any judgement on him until I see what he can do.
northcyde
June 13th, 2010
6:22 pm
Wow . . only 1 million next year huh? LOL . . that puts him on the same pay scale as Mark Few at Gonzaga and Jamie Dixon at Pitt.
Still can’t blame Drew for taking the job. Itmay be his one and only shot to show that he can be an NBA coach, so he pretty much had no choice but to accept a deal like that.
Hoops
June 13th, 2010
6:32 pm
Will the Hawks gamble and draft Da’Sean Butler (West VA) in the second round if available?
J-Rod
June 13th, 2010
6:39 pm
This makes perfect sense. We fire the head coach and hire the assistant.
JeJe
June 13th, 2010
6:40 pm
FIRE SUND
jordan
June 13th, 2010
6:40 pm
Let’s roll with the new guy. What else can we do? Just having a point guard on board is good stuff to begin with I think. C’mon on Mr. Drew let’s rock and roll. Keep JJ, get an active big and develop Teague.
mykhalc
June 13th, 2010
6:41 pm
good luck to Coach Drew!!! the choice is 3 yrs too late IMHO and i don’t think the timin’ is right…again just my opinion…ALL things Woodson must go!!! well, as Hawks fans we stay amazed AND flabbergasted!!! maybe that’s entertainment ASG style??!!!?? go figure…
really??????????
June 13th, 2010
6:42 pm
WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!! WHEN ARE THE PEOPLE IN ATL AND THE MEDIA GOING TO WAKE UP!!! LA,NY CHI MEDIA WOULD BE HAVING A FIELD DAY WITH THIS HORRID HIRE!!!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!
Tmac
June 13th, 2010
6:51 pm
Wasn’t Drew the “offensive coach” as an assistant under Woody?
Does that mean we can expect more of the stand around one-on-one play that has worked so well for the Hawks over the last several years?
How pathetic are the Atlanta Spirit… (that’s rhetorical for those looking to answer)
KevinM
June 13th, 2010
6:52 pm
I can’t say that Drew would have even been on my list of contenders for the job, but getting this far after 6 years I guess gives you some credibility to say you are the man for the job.
A couple of questions:
1) What was Drew’s role under Woody? Did he take care of the defense? Was he not part of the offensive game plan?
2) If Woody continued to ignore him, how did Drew keep his job status here? Wouldn’t he consider himself a lame duck on this staff if he had no input?
Something isn’t adding up. We just didn’t see Woody change during these playoffs. It has been the same game plan no matter who we brought in this year. We were going to live and die with Bibby and Marvin. Woody had ample time to make adjustments. You can’t tell me Drew just sat there and watch it implode.
I am trying to find out where Drew’s role was the past 6 years and how much influence he had on game day. I can’t see a coach staying on a staff for 6 years if he was being ignored as so many have said.
Something doesn’t add up here and this wasn’t a midseason change when we hit a slump. We all knew the game plan, the other team just chuckled when they saw our game plan and everyone on that staff and including management was responsible for it happening.
The house needed to be cleaned, aired out, and brought in a new mindset despite the last 2 50 win seasons. I can’t see right now what the combination of Sund/Drew has that we haven’t seen already.
Run all you want in the regular season, but you aren’t fooling anyone come playoff time.
I hope for bigger changes in the next 30 days roster wise.
KevinM
June 13th, 2010
6:54 pm
One more thing……….was Drew even mentioned around the league for ANY opportunity?
Noting I read tells me he was being considered anywhere else except one time in Sacramento and they are still trying to climb out of the mess they created.
mykhalc
June 13th, 2010
7:00 pm
didn’t Drew try to leave for SAC 2 yrs ago when Theus was there??
JeJe
June 13th, 2010
7:06 pm
WHY DID WE HAVE THE LOWEST PAYROLL AMONG PLAYOFFS TEAMS?
UNDERPAYING YOUR PLAYERS AND MAKING THE 2ND ROUND IS PATHETIC.
SPEND MORE MONEY AND GET US TO THE FINALS, YOU ELITIST P.O.S. ASG GROUP
Ramon
June 13th, 2010
7:08 pm
Mykhalc, maybe Drew can bring in Theus to work on his staff.
KevinM, Drew couldn’t do much about the situation. There were a few times when Woody tried to bow up at Drew during timeouts when Drew would make suggestions.
mykhalc
June 13th, 2010
7:50 pm
@Ramon…i thought Theus did a very good job a SAC…much more creative as a HC than anythin’ we’ve seen in ATL…
SWAT Native
June 13th, 2010
8:28 pm
None of us got to see the interview process. It sounds like Drew hit it out of the park when he interviewed. What impressed me about him bringing in five players to run the new sets was that he showed that he already has the players behind him. Imagine getting five players in the offseason to practice the sets and come in and support him for his interview when there was nothing in it for them? No wonder he got the job – he at leaset deserves a shot.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
June 13th, 2010
8:41 pm
@ LARRY BIRD ….. JOHN DREW IS A TAXI DRIVER IN HOUSTON, TX.
Mel
June 13th, 2010
8:50 pm
Wow.. Im happy for Drew. I think he and Woody argued before about certain things..MW’s ignorance is what got him canned..
I really really hope JJ returns.. He said something out of frustration, he played poorly, but he is a piece to our puzzle.
Im really intrigued in what Drew’s sets are.. I hope it involves more PG penetration with JJ and Marvin catching and shooting..more as opposed to ISOs
Robert
June 13th, 2010
9:25 pm
DREW WILL FAIL.THE HAWKS WILL NOT EVER GET ANY FURTHER THAN THEY ARE NOW.THERE OWNERS DONT WANT TO PUT UP MONEY LIKE THE CELTICS AND THE LAKERS.
BIG SWILL
June 13th, 2010
9:34 pm
congrat’s toJD ireally enjoyed watching you play, BUT SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHY VANGUNDY IS NOT OUR COACH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!
Robert
June 13th, 2010
9:38 pm
BIG SWILL,IT COMES DOWN TO MONEY AND THE OWNERS WOULD HAVE TO PAY VANGUNDY TO COME HERE.THEY CAN PAY DREW LESS AND THATS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT.
The Truth
June 13th, 2010
9:42 pm
Not that I am representing these few disgruntled fans about our new coach hiring, but perhaps a reason why the “knee-jerk” reaction still lingers points to Sund characterization of why the coach change was necessary. He said the Hawks needed a “new voice”. To some fans that statement translated into something new, something bold, and something completely different; a well-respected coach (around the league) capable of taking us to that next and final championship level. Maybe these disgruntled fans feel that our recent hired coach does not fit this bill. But from a qualification stand point we all know this was a good match. The reaction from the media and around the league is that Coach Drew has paid his dues and is more then qualified for the job. So really this lingering argument is not about Drew qualifications because he certainly has that; then perhaps this is about Sund misleading statement of a “new voice” for a coaching change. I will admit he gave us all a “hard-on” for a “big-splash” coach selection that didn’t apparently happen. Maybe again this exposes discord between Sund understanding of change and the ASG understanding of change as Sund apparently got overruled.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
June 13th, 2010
10:35 pm
I’M SURE, IF COACH LD’S INPUT WAS BEING SHOT DOWN, HE SPENT MANY A NIGHT JUSTIFYING IN HIS OWN MIND …. WHAT COULD WORK AS OPPOSED TO WHAT WE WERE DOING . AND IF WE THINK THIS MAN WHOSE FINALLY GETTING HIS SHOT TO BE THE MAN … AFTER SO MANY YRS. OF BEING JUST A LOYAL ASST. …… ISN’ T GOING TO GIVE HIS BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS ON HIS WATCH …. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT’S IN A MAN ‘TIL HE GETS AN OPPORTUNITY ….. TO BE THE MAN !!!!!!!!!
2 FOR JOHN DREW
June 13th, 2010
10:38 pm
I HOPE JEFF VAN GUNDY NEVER EVER GETS A HC JOB AGAIN ….. I FIND HIM QUITE ENTERTAINING BEHIND THE MIKE !!!!!
Blast
June 13th, 2010
10:46 pm
Been a great day for me. Got some major personal tasks taken care off. Lots of wildlife shows to binge on. The Atlanta Dream won to go up 8-3, and the Celtics beat LA to go up 3-2. What could be better?
Oh, yeah! Make me some more money and find myself a bride!
Bill
June 13th, 2010
11:05 pm
I didn’t like it to start with but really beside Avery there was nobody.
I like pulling for the underdogs and Coach Drew has paid his dues…Give’m Hell Drew and good Luck .
.
June 13th, 2010
11:08 pm
Why all the CAPS tonight? Most readers skip reading blogs in caps. I do.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
June 14th, 2010
12:28 am
sorry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TheAntiMe
June 14th, 2010
12:51 am
Why didn’t they let Nique be coach? He always does a fine job in his Above The Rim game keys during the Hawks broadcasts. I’m sure that Bob Rathbun would have put in a good word for him.