Nice press!

[ASpelling]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/w ... index.html


Immediate Impact
Ten first-year coaches who are already making mark
Posted: Tuesday December 12, 2006 10:32AM; Updated: Tuesday December 12, 2006 11:40AM



After a season at FAU, former North Carolina coach Matt Doherty has moved on to SMU in Dallas.
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There I was at home on Sunday afternoon, scavenging for information that would enlighten my devoted Hoop Thinkers, when I decided to check out how all the new coaches were doing. A whopping 61 schools have new faces manning the sidelines this year, and I was thoroughly unsurprised to discover that just 19 of them -- less than one in three -- had their teams above .500 through Sunday. That includes several schools from BCS conferences (such as 6-2 Cincinnati, 4-3 Arizona State and 6-1 Seton Hall) who would probably be under .500 but for the luxury of being able to buy easy home games in the early going.

This is not surprising for one simple reason: Coaching jobs usually become available because the previous coaches weren't winning. Sure, a handful come open every year because the head coach retired (such as Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton and Washington State's [deleted] Bennett, both of whom bequeathed their jobs to their assistant coaching sons). Some other new coaches, such as Oklahoma's Jeff Capel, UAB's Mike Davis and Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson, filled spots left by men who chose to move on to other, more lucrative positions.

Mostly, though, newly hired coaches are faced with the task reviving moribund programs -- and they know the clock is ticking. I've always thought you need to give a coach at least three years (sometimes as many as five) to make an informed judgment about the job he is doing. While it's never fair to expect someone to make an immediate impact, sometimes it happens. The best example from last season was Bruce Pearl, who took over a Tennessee program that had gone 14-17 under Buzz Peterson the previous season. Pearl led the Vols to a 21-7 mark and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Thus, I've ranked the top 10 new coaches who are making a difference right away. The only people I've taken out of consideration for this exercise are those who: a) replaced a head coach who left voluntarily; and b) got promoted from assistant coach at the same school. That's why you won't find UNI's Jacobson, Washington State's Tony Bennett and Oklahoma State's Sean Sutton, who have a combined 28-2 record, on my list.

Herewith, then, I present the top 10 members of my Immediate Impact Club:

10. Anthony Grant, VCU

Previous school: Florida (assistant)
Replaced: Jeff Capel
VCU's record last season: 19-19
Current record: 7-2

Grant drew a lot of interest during his last couple of seasons in Gainesville and he picked an opportune job to fill after Capel left to replace Kelvin Sampson at Oklahoma. Grant would have really turned heads if the Rams had knocked off Xavier in the Paradise Jam last month, but their late rally fell three points short. Still, VCU handled an NCAA-caliber Houston team at home and have a home date with UAB on Saturday. With George Mason and Hofstra not looking as strong as many thought during the preseason, VCU could be well-positioned to make a run at the CAA championship.

9. Matt Doherty, SMU

Previous school: Florida Atlantic
Replaced: Jimmy Tubbs
SMU's record last season: 13-16
Current record: 6-1

This program hasn't been heard from since Dave Bliss was coaching there back in the early 1980's, but many people believe there is potential for growth at SMU, mostly because of its location in Dallas. Doherty knows how to schedule easy wins (one came against Texas College, a non-Division I school), but SMU did play Florida State close before losing in Tallahassee. The Mustangs also have a five-point home win over a good Dayton team to their credit.

[Hidden James]

Did Doh take over soon enough to do his own scheduling or did he inherit most of it?

[jkflamebo]

i believe he had a say, i almost guarantee he absolutely did not wanna schedule some monsters this year with the depth/skill we have. i expect a different approach next year with papa comin to town