Georgia Tech’s coaching search: Won’t be much longer, folks
Gregg Marshall in his Winthrop days. I'm guessing he's high on Radakovich's list. (AP photo)
Perhaps you have questions about Georgia Tech’s coaching vacancy. You’re not alone. I do, too. The man who could answer them all — athletic director Dan Radakovich — isn’t talking, but in his stead I’ll offer what I know and what I’ve been given reason to believe. And, as a bonus, even a wild guess.
What’s taking so long?
Paul Hewitt was fired nearly two weeks ago. If Tech hasn’t interviewed anyone — and as of Wednesday morning, it hadn’t — it hasn’t been to heighten the drama. Most of the coaches in whom Tech has interest have teams still playing, which would only make sense. Wouldn’t want to hire someone whose team didn’t reach the postseason, would you?
When will interviews begin?
As soon as those coaches’ teams lose.
Does Tech have a short list? Is there a leading candidate?
Yes to the first. And if there’s a leading candidate, he hasn’t been identified by any outsider in position to know. Though it seems fair to guess that Chris Mooney of Richmond and Gregg Marshall of Wichita State — both of whose teams were still alive as of Wednesday – are obvious top-of-the-list possibilities, with Tommy Amaker of Harvard, Shaka Smart of VCU and Chris Mack of Xavier mixed in.
Why didn’t you include Brad Stevens of Butler?
He could have his pick of almost any job almost any year. There’s no guarantee he’ll ever leave Butler, and if he does there’s no reason to think Tech will be the destination.
What about Mark Price? What about Craig Neal? What about Kenny Anderson?
Tech has to know those distinguished alums have expressed interest in the job, and there would seem no percentage in not making some sort of contact with each. That said, it’s difficult to conceive of a scenario in which Radakovich’s first look wouldn’t be at candidates who are head coaches.
Is money a factor for Tech?
It is. Hewitt made $1.3 million; in hiring his successor, the Institute can’t go much above that. (Anthony Grant, by way of contrast, is making $1.8 million at Alabama. The big football schools can also afford to spend on basketball.) A key reason to focus on mid-major coaches is that they’re more apt to fall in Tech’s price range.
Will the searches of North Carolina State/Oklahoma/Missouri/Tennessee squeeze Tech?
All four will aim higher than a mid-major coach. (As did Arkansas, which just lured Mike Anderson from Missouri.) Rumored targets at N.C. State include Pitt’s Jamie Dixon and Arizona’s Sean Miller; Buzz Williams of Marquette is thought to be on Oklahoma’s list. Tennessee is looking to make a splash in finding Bruce Pearl’s replacement — AD Mike Hamilton has his own job to save — but might not be as attractive as Tech. The Vols, as you’ve heard, have NCAA issues.
Some have questioned whether Tech is a good job. Is there reason to believe no worthwhile candidate will say yes?
It’s in the ACC. It’s in the capital of a state that produces a ton of basketball talent. It can pay more than a million dollars a year, and in 2012 it will open a refurbished arena. More than a few accomplished mid-major coaches would take a charge from Shaquille O’Neal for the chance to work here.
Does Radakovich know what he’s doing?
Let’s recall his admission that he’d reached the decision to fire Hewitt three weeks before doing it. Does anyone think those three weeks were spent not mulling replacements? Let’s note that Radakovich made the considered decision not to employ Parker Executive Search, the Atlanta-based firm that does almost everyone’s coach-hunting now (including N.C. State’s and Georgia State’s), but to seek the counsel of Eddie Fogler, a former coach and a basketball lifer. Let’s also note that D-Rad’s first big hire — Parker Search assisted in that process, FYI — was Paul Johnson, and two years later the Jackets were playing in the Orange Bowl.
Radakovich has said he wants a coach in place by the Final Four, which convenes April 1 in Houston. Why?
Three reasons. First, it has become difficult for a high-profile AD to interview coaches in a city overrun by coaches — their annual convention is held concurrent with the Final Four — and media. Second, the convention would give the new Tech coach a chance to hire his staff, should the need occur. Third, Tech would like to take advantage of that media glut to get a little buzz going regarding its new man.
When should we expect D-Rad to have his man?
By this time next week, give or take a day.
Last question: Who will it be?
Just guessing, I’d say Mooney or Marshall. Just guessing, you hear?
By Mark Bradley
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382 comments Add your comment
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:16 pm
Dixon’s Sweet Sixteens:
2003-04
2006-07
2008-09
Elite Eight:
2008-09
Ted M
March 23rd, 2011
2:17 pm
Why not Bruce Pearl? disgraced coaches always resurface. Look at John Calipari.
We can get him cheap. He can win. He can revitalize the program. His past will soon be forgotten.
Why not Bruce Pearl?
gdawginkalamazoo
March 23rd, 2011
2:18 pm
Delbert D. Nor did they move to Kalamazoo. Michigan, I believe, is the only state to have a decrease in population for the last census. Actually I think Detroit lost more than that. Hell you can buy a house for a dollar. I think everybody decided to go to Ohio and get a cheeseburger at McDonald’s and not come back.
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2011
2:19 pm
Bruce Pearl might not be able to coach in college for a while once the NCAA gets through with him. (It’s called a “show-cause” penalty, meaning any school wanting to hire such a coach would have to show cause why permission should be granted, which it never is.) He’s radioactive.
T3
March 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm
Uh-oh. WnE just showed up.
Here comes the Hater-Ade.
gdawginkalamazoo
March 23rd, 2011
2:23 pm
Ted M, his record at UT was fantastic 6 years of dancing, 5 20+ win seasons, 19 wins this year. Why the hell did he goof that up by lying to the NCAA?
black1
March 23rd, 2011
2:25 pm
J. Capel would be a great choice. How about Mike Anderson!!! Eddie Martin, plz is way overrrrrrrrrated!!! Oh yea, guess he can recruit legally now that he’s at GAC!!!
and that's because ....
March 23rd, 2011
2:25 pm
@WnE… most highly-recruited GA High school basketball players, and particularly those in Atlanta, are just not smart enough to get into GT. That’s just the way it is. GT is a difficult academic environment in the middle of one of the WORST and least-intelligent grade school systems in the country. THAT is why there are not many Atlanta HS basketball players who go to GT.
The “one-and-done’s” who DO go there are one-and-done because they’re using GT as a stepping stone to the NBA AND because they know they can’t handle the academics. Derek Favors was there for 9 months and never even unpacked … prime example.
Same scenario for Football. Now I’m sure you’ll spew out all kinds of rubbish and self-induced logic for us about how GT has no basis for claiming difficult academics as an obstacle for Sports success … but you KNOW its true. By contrast, your beloved UGA is a breeding ground for pandering to stupidity, over-inflated egos and lost potential … and its that kind of environment where most of today’s “student-athletes” feel right at home.
WnE
March 23rd, 2011
2:27 pm
re:
T3
March 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm
_____________
What you call “Hater-ade”, I call FACTS!
Quite simply, is my version of the facts wrong?
steve brown
March 23rd, 2011
2:28 pm
You need to take an accounting course so as to understand amortization-you only want to count what you want to count so as to prove your meaningless (on a number of counts) point. It just might make sense to add up his total pay from Ga Tech and divide by the number of years he coached to get the actual figure-but I don’t want to confuse you with how it is actually done.
NeedACoach.com
March 23rd, 2011
2:29 pm
I vote for Mark Price, Head Coach; Dennis Scott Asst Coach & National Recruiter and Half Time Updates; James Forest Asst Coach and In-State Recruiter; John Salley Brooklyn Recruiter; Kenny Anderson Queens Recruiter, Craig Neal, Indiana Recruiter; Yvonne Joseph, International Recruiter;
Tech Forever
March 23rd, 2011
2:29 pm
Delbert D.
If he made the Elite 8 in a tournament then you don’t count it as a Sweet 16 appearance. You count the best effort in each year. Seriously….who does that?
Nick
March 23rd, 2011
2:30 pm
I doubt that Mack would leave Xavier for $1.3 Million when he’s making a million a year now. It took Arizona two million to lure Sean Miller away from XU 2 years ago. GT hasn’t been a consistent Top 25 basketball program for the last decade. Plus XU’s loaded with talent and is consistently in top 2 of the A-10. Why would he leave for a program that’s now in the bottom half of the ACC for a small bump in pay??
NeedACoach.com
March 23rd, 2011
2:31 pm
Now that Bench of coaches would get more camera time than Duke’s any day!
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2011
2:32 pm
I wouldn’t disagree with that, Nick. I’m not sure I’d leave X for Tech.
The last two Xavier coaches went to Ohio State and Arizona, I should note. Those are big-time jobs.
Jawja Jewel
March 23rd, 2011
2:33 pm
Milton coach David Boyd would seem like a superb choice!!
collegeballfan
March 23rd, 2011
2:33 pm
I would make Brad Stevens say NO before offering anyone. And if Stevens says NO, so be it.
Smart of VCU is OK. But he is only in his second year at VCU I believe.
But damn good recruiter.
If not one of those two, then doesn’t matter to me.
WnE
March 23rd, 2011
2:37 pm
re:
and that’s because ….
March 23rd, 2011
2:25 pm
________________
You know that’s bull-crap!
There are enough great athletes out of Gwinnett, N.Fulton. Cobb, Fayette and other suburban counties with school systems that dwarf the City of Atl. System in size with solid academics to boot.
GT’s claim that the Academics are barrier is overstated, GT cannot recruit 100% of the Elite Athletes in FB & B-ball, but anywhere from 70-80% can major in Business Admin. at GT, but they choose other Colleges over GT for non-Academic reasons, and the GT fanbase refuses to admit this to themselves.
Roughly 40 of ug@’s 85-man FB roster also had offers from GT, and the same goes for places like Florida, F$U, Auburn and other places that GT fans like to call “factories”.
Every time an elite SA turns down GT it ain’t because of Academics.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:37 pm
Tech Forever – picky, picky
Did Duke make the NCAA tournament last season? Yes or no? We are both right. Also, the guy that discredited the 2003-04 Sweet Sixteen for Dixon said it was Howland’s team (he was secretly coaching at UCLA, I guess.)
Paul in RDU
March 23rd, 2011
2:38 pm
WnE
What you call “Hater-ade”, I call FACTS!
—
Facts? How about your claim that GT can’t recruit top b’ball players from the Atlanta area?
Ever hear of Ufon Mudofia, Derrick Favors, Glen Rice Jr, Jason Morris – the first 3 were all local kids who joined GT in the same recruiting class.
T3
March 23rd, 2011
2:38 pm
Tech Foever:
Just go do a wiki search on Jamie Dixon and read it, BEFORE you abitrarily trash Dixon as a coach.
Remember, PItt was nothing…UNTIL…Dixon arrived.
The fact that Pitt GETS to the tourney coompeting in the BIg East with UConn, Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova, etc. is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE accomplishment.
Paul in RDU
March 23rd, 2011
2:43 pm
T3
You called me the wrong name before – should have called me a wiseass instead of a doofus
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2011
2:43 pm
Ben Howland got Pittsburgh going again. Jamie Dixon took over and has done even better. Except in the NCAA.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:44 pm
Greg Marshall/Mark Bradley: separated at birth?
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:44 pm
Well there’s a little resemblance I think.
Ernest
March 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
I’ve heard someone else mention Larry Brown as a possibility. That would make sense if he committed to no more than 4 years and hired someone like Craig Neal as a ‘coach in waiting’. It would provide some visibility to the program, stability and a nice transition.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
BTW people occasionally tell me I look like James Taylor but I don’t see it.
WnE
March 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
re:
Paul in RDU
March 23rd, 2011
2:38 pm
_________________
Favors was the only one in that grou p considered Elite in the mold of Kenny Anderson, D. Scott, or Tom Hammonds.
Too many GT fans looks at names on a roster for their favorite Team and project that that SA is more than he really is from a talent perspective.
GT is not getting Dwight Howard-level Recruits, John Wall-types or Derrick Rose-esque Recruits.
The Metro Atlanta Area is one of the best places for HS B-Ball, but the best don’t consider GT as much as “they theoretically should”.
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
I don’t see the resemblance. But I don’t look much like my picture, either.
Tech Forever
March 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
Delbert D.
There’s nothing picky about it. does Tech has a banner hanging that says “2004 Sweet 16″? Nope. Why? Because it would be stupid to recognize the lesser achievement. What does Puke making the tournament last year have to do with my point? Incidentally since you brought them up going into this year’s tourney K is the 10th best active NCAA Tournament coach as far as over or underachievement.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:46 pm
Paul – Who’s that Libyan bad guy..Guammar al-Maddafi?
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2011
2:46 pm
Larry Brown: He’d help stability. He’d leave in 2 1/2 weeks.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:47 pm
I’m kinda sick of all this speculation.
Maybe we can’t afford another mistake so everyone wants to offer an opinion.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:47 pm
Kenny Anderson, D. Scott, and Tom Hammonds were not from Atlanta.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:48 pm
Yea but then he’d leave Price in charge.
No I’m not on the Price or Neal bandwagon.
Think both are too inexperienced.
But will accept either if we can’t find someone better.
Either would be very risky.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
The ex-players want Price or Neal so they can get an assistant job.
TroubleFunk
March 23rd, 2011
2:50 pm
EDDIE Martin would probably be a very good college coach but I don’t think he would want to take a pay cut and leave GAC. Also the illegal and dishonest recruiting would eat him alive. HS coaches are too honest to deal with the college RAT RACE.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:51 pm
Jacket fans don’t know their history to think they would even consider Pearl. He is the antithesis of our school.
Tech Forever
March 23rd, 2011
2:51 pm
T3
Dixon gets huge credit for making the NCAAs each of his 8 seasons at Pitt. But he has average seeding of 3.6 with a record of 11-8. WAY UNDERACHIEVING at Tourney time.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:52 pm
Tech Forever – Take a look at Butler’s splash page: http://www.butlersports.com/splash/index
The circle in the lower left. Too bad they didn’t win it. They sure do advertise it, though.
WJ
March 23rd, 2011
2:53 pm
I have to believe DADGUN.. the best Insider info yet. Mooney, Grant (yes he is still on list), Stevens and Beilein on GT’s short list..Money is not the problem. Mooney is 1st choice then the other three. I also like Marshall. Dadgum has alot of contacts in high places. Got to believe in Drads picks all four are good.
Paul in RDU
March 23rd, 2011
2:54 pm
GT is not getting Dwight Howard-level Recruits, John Wall-types or Derrick Rose-esque Recruits.
There is a word that people use for these guys – they are called “one and dones”.
Guess what – there are only 4 or 5 players every year at this level in the entire USA. As you noted, Favors was one of them – so was Thaddeus Young. UNC (Barnes this year) and Duke (Irving – they missed on Wall) only gets 1 every couple of years.
WnE – stick to throwing accusations around about football recruiting – you know more about that than b’ball.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:55 pm
I really shot myself in the foot…I give up. That is for this season, not last season.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:55 pm
Thought u nailed the Hawks this morning.
When you are blunt towards the pro teams, few are offended.
But they hate it when you don’t sugarcoat criticism of either Tech or Ga.
Paul in RDU
March 23rd, 2011
2:56 pm
Delbert D.
Loved the post! Good to see you posting and in good form Delbert.
NCAA Bound Dawg
March 23rd, 2011
2:57 pm
GT paying $2.5 million per year? You are out of your mind!!! It’s going to be a big surprise when DRad announces his man, but you all know him, he had quite a career at Alexander, including a championship, slick dresser, smooth dude, he’s your man —— Dennis Felton babeee!!! Dude can get it on.
Tech Forever
March 23rd, 2011
2:58 pm
Delbert D.
They didn’t win it because……IT’S NOT OVER YET!!!! The 2011 NCAA Tournament is still being played. They probably won’t win it and at such a time as they get knocked out they’ll take down the advertisement for the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
Jackets 2011
March 23rd, 2011
2:59 pm
Felton has as much of a chance as Pearl. Zero.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2011
2:59 pm
Paul – Duke and UNC do pretty well with their 3 and 4-year guys. That’s what I’d like to see at Georgia Tech.
GT Dude
March 23rd, 2011
3:00 pm
All I can say is that unless Cinderella is still dancing on Sunday evening, on Monday morning a private jet will be making its way to Atlanta from Richmond with a new coach for TECH,
Now you have to determine which school…