The Long Shots
Here are a few names that aren’t out of play but also not likely to jump to Tennessee for a variety of reasons.
Tad Boyle (Colorado)
The Latest: The Vols didn’t show much interest in Boyle last coaching search and, unless something changes, that’s likely to remain the case during this search.
Pros: Boyle served as the director of basketball operations at Tennessee in 1997 on Jerry Green’s staff, so there is a connection to the Vols. He took a terrible 4-win Northern Colorado team in his first year to 25 wins in his last before taking the Colorado job. He’s been to three NCAA Tournaments at Colorado in the last four years and has a fantastic 51-7 record at home.
Cons: He’s from Colorado and has called it his “dream job.” Would he be willing to leave? His conference record 46–42 (.523) leaves something to be desired and his team had an underwhelming 2014-15 season with a 16-18 record.
Rick Byrd (Belmont)
The Latest: Byrd simply make not be willing to jump for this job – his ship may have sailed. Early indications from both Byrd and Tennessee suggest there just isn’t a ton of mutual interest there at this point.
Pros: He’s making between $500,000 and $700,000 at Belmont depending on whose numbers you trust. He’s affordable. And he’s taken his team to the NCAA Tournament four out of the last five years and won multiple regular season or conference championships in the same timespan. He’s a proven winner who can consistently beat more talented teams and is a Knoxville native. Byrd’s Belmont team was the only team from the state to make the NCAA Tournament this year.
Cons: He’s been at Belmont since 1986 and hasn’t indicated the willingness the leave. Fair or not, at 61 years of age, he doesn’t have the youthful draw of some other coaches.
Buzz Williams (Virginia Tech)
The Latest: Though Williams seems like a real long shot (he’s making $2.3 million per season at Virginia Tech and made $3 million per at Marquette), we have at least heard his name in connection with the Tennessee job from a few national people. We’d be surprised if Tennessee would pay him enough to make him consider leaving Virginia Tech after just one season.
Pros: He’s well known as a fantastic and like able person. Williams is just 42 years old and is well respected in basketball circles. He boasts a 164–108 (.603) overall record and an impressive 8-5 mark in the NCAA Tournament. He led Marquette to five NCAA Tournament appearances in six years before heading to Virginia Tech last season. His team won the Big East regular season championship in the 2012-13 season.
Cons: Williams went just 11-22 at Virginia Tech last season and won only two ACC games. He’s not likely to bolt from Virginia Tech after one season.
Steve Lavin (Formerly St. John’s)
The Latest: Another long shot, Tennessee could probably afford Lavin, but he doesn’t have a ton of ties to the area and we haven’t heard of any level of mutual interest there.
Pros: He’s relatively young (50 years of age) and accomplished. Lavin boasts a 226–133 (.630) overall record has a head coach and led UCLA to at least the Sweet 16 five times in seven seasons. He spent the last five seasons at St. John’s where he went 81-55 and led the program to two NCAA Tournaments. In his first year there, he transformed the team from a 17-16 squad the year prior to a tournament team ranked in the top-25 at the end of the season. St. John’s made the NCAA Tournament this season as well. Just a few days ago he was negotiating an extension to stay at St. John’s – but talks fell through and the two parties agreed to part ways.
Cons: He made more than $1.5 million per year at St. John’s and wouldn’t come cheap. In 11 years as a head coach, he has just one conference or regular season tournament championship to his name. How high is his ceiling?
Michael White (Louisiana Tech)
The Latest: Though he turned down Tennessee just last season, he’s a name many thought would jump at the UT job this year. Despite that, we’ve heard from multiple sources that he isn’t interested.
Pros: He’s a young, up and coming star. In the 10 years before he took over, Louisiana Tech averaged 15 wins and 16 losses a season. White’s four years on the job have seen the Bulldogs go 101–40 (.716), win three regular season conference championships, and receive their first ranking in the AP Poll in over 20 years. He’s making around $600,000 a year and has a manageable buyout. Those are numbers UT can deal with. Before taking the head job at LA Tech, he spent seven seasons as an assistant at Ole Miss where he also played for four years (1995-99). He has extensive recruiting ties in the SEC and developed a reputation as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation at Ole Miss. He listened to Tennessee last year before turning the Vols down, but he might be willing to listen again – his roster is turning over this year.
Cons: He doesn’t have an NCAA Tournament berth on his resume and the last coach UT hired from LA Tech didn’t work out well—he could be a tough sell from that standpoint. He turned down Tennessee just last season…would he be willing to make the jump now? Would Tennessee even be willing to go back down that road?
Tim Miles (Nebraska)
The Latest: Miles came up last season but there didn’t appear to be much mutual interest there. So far, the same has been true during this search.
Pros: He helped guide North Dakota State to Division-1 basketball before taking over as the head coach at Colorado State. In his first year, the Rams won seven games. He increased his win total every year at CSU and won 20 games in his fifth year, a season in which the Rams made it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. He took the Nebraska job two years ago and went from 5-13 in conference play in year one to 11-7 in year two. The Cornhuskers made the Round of 32 last season after squeaking into the tournament. Two of the last four years, his teams have made the tournament and won a game.
Cons: Miles has earned just two NCAA Tournament bids in his last eight years as a head coach. He’s won just 54.8% of his games which is worse than the winning percentage of three of UT’s last four coaches.
Richard Pitino (Minnesota)
The Latest: During the last search, Pitino was deemed to be too expensive for his relatively scant resume. He comes with a $1.5 million buyout and would likely command a salary over $2 million. That’s probably too much for Tennessee to consider.
Pros: Tennessee flirted with Pitino last year and very well could do so again. In three years as a head coach, he he’s 43–28 (.606) and he led Minnesota to the NIT championship last year. He has extensive experience as an assistant coach and, though he obviously doesn’t have the track record of his father, his name does carry some weight. At just 32 years old, youth is definitely on his side.
Cons: He hasn’t made an NCAA Tournament appearance and is an underwhelming 14-22 in Big 10 play. He’d probably cost over $2 million per season and that might be too much for a coach with an NCAA Tournament berth.
Bobby Hurley (Buffalo)
The Latest: Hurley has an impressive resume and is likely to get a better job soon, but he isn’t believed to be a great cultural fit for the job…and cultural “fit” is something Hart spoke about at length on Friday.
Pros: A standout point guard at Duke in the early 1990s who led his team to two national championships, Hurley went on to play in the NBA for several seasons. He’s just 43 years old and is 42-20 in two years as the head coach of Buffalo. He led his team to the NCAA Tournament this season and makes around $550,000 – he’s definitely affordable. Hurley was rumored to be in the running for the DePaul job earlier this week. He has a bright future ahead of him and an outstanding basketball pedigree.
Cons: He’s a little short on experience – he’s been a head coach for just two years and was an assistant for just three years prior to taking the Buffalo job. He may be more of a risk than Hart, who wants stability more than anything, is willing to take.
Seth Greenberg (ESPN, formerly Virginia Tech)
The Latest: We’ve seen his name on a couple national lists, but haven’t heard of any mutual interest at this point.
Pros: He has tons of coaching experience. Greenberg was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2008 during his time at Virginia Tech. He’s still relatively young (at 58) and has an overall 383–293 (.567) record. In nine seasons at Virginia Tech, he averaged 19 wins a season in the ultra competitive ACC.
Cons: He went to just one NCAA Tournament at Virginia Tech and had a losing record in the conference. He’s not a flashy hire by any stretch and his ceiling is lower than some of the other candidates on this list.
