As the Utah Jazz begin the process of identifying the person who will replace Quin Snyder as head coach of the franchise, here is everyone who has been reported to be in contention for the job.
- After a slew of names were reported in the days after Snyder’s departure, things were quiet for a while until The Athletic reported Wednesday that former NBA player Sam Cassell, a longtime assistant who is now with the Philadelphia 76ers, has been added to the list.
- New York Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant.
- Boston Celtics assistant coach Will Hardy.
- Boston Celtics assistant coach Joe Mazzulla.
- Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Charles Lee.
- The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Friday that the Jazz have gotten permission to interview former NBA player Jason Terry, who is now head coach of the NBA G League’s Grand Rapids Gold.
- Detroit Pistons assistant Jerome Allen.
Wojnarowski reported a few more throughout the week whom the Jazz will seek permission to interview:
- Miami Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn.
- Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin.
- Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young.
- Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney.
Wojnarowski reported that Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen and former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts will also be among the first group to interview for the job.
Wojnarowski added that “the list will grow longer with assistants and former head coaches; expect a lengthy, wide-open process.”
Most of these names were on initial candidate lists on Sunday after Snyder resigned, but here is info on new names that have emerged.
- Mazzulla, 33, has been an assistant with the Celtics since 2019, when Jazz CEO Danny Ainge was with that organization (Hardy was hired last year after Ainge left).
He played collegiately at West Virginia and began his coaching career soon after his playing days were over.
- On Wednesday morning, Wojnarowski reported two more candidates who “are expected” to interview for the job, recently fired Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel and Jazz assistant Lamar Skeeter.
The 48-year-old Vogel is certainly the headliner of the two additions, as he has been the head coach of three teams already in his career.
He coached the Indiana Pacers from 2011-2016, then led the Orlando Magic from 2016-2018 before most recently being the Lakers’ head coach from 2019 until this spring.
His biggest accolade is that Los Angeles won the championship in 2020, although the team failed to make the playoffs this season and he was fired.
Prior to becoming the Pacers’ head coach, Vogel was an assistant over the course of 10 years with the Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and then Indiana.
- As for Skeeter, he has been with the Jazz since just after Snyder was hired. He was originally brought on as a player development coach/video analyst and has been given more responsibility over the years, including coaching Utah’s summer league team.
- As far as Quinn is concerned, as Wojnarowski noted, he has been on the Miami Heat’s staff for the last eight seasons under head coach Erik Spoelstra, who is generally considered one of the best coaches in the NBA.
Perhaps interestingly, Quinn was in training camp with the Jazz in 2012 as a player and was one of the final players cut before the season began.
Before that, he played from 2006-2011 for the Heat, New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs. He then played a few years overseas and in the NBA G League (then the D-League) before one final partial season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013, after which he got into coaching.
- As far as Griffin and Young are concerned, the Deseret News has previously detailed their backgrounds here and here, respectively.
- Sweeney has been in the league with a few teams since 2011 and is known as an excellent defensive coach.
He started as a video coordinator with the then-New Jersey Nets before joining the Milwaukee Bucks. After a few years there he joined the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Detroit Pistons until being hired by the Mavericks last summer.
- Terry had a long, very solid NBA career, playing from 1999-2018. In 2019, he became assistant general manager of the NBA G League’s Texas Legends. In 2020, he left to become an assistant at the University of Arizona, his alma mater, and in 2021, he was named head coach of the Gold.
- Allen played sparingly for three seasons in the NBA from 1995-1997 for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets followed by a decade overseas for a bunch of clubs. He coached overseas for a time in 2009 before becoming head coach at Penn, his alma mater. Allen was there for six seasons before resigning in 2015 amid a bribery scandal.
After resigning, he became an assistant with the Boston Celtics, where he was until 2021, at which point he became an assistant with the Detroit Pistons.