You gotta be kidding. The Utah State basketball coach is leaving? AGAIN?
Was it something someone said? The brisk Logan mornings? Sardine Canyon in December?
This is getting ridiculous. The Aggies are about to hire their seventh coach in 13 years, or their sixth in 10 years.
Who knew USU was running an employment agency. HELP WANTED: Come coach in Logan, polish your résumé with a guaranteed 25-win season and land a higher-paying job somewhere else!!!
Every time the Aggies win 25 games — a regular occurrence these days — other schools parachute into Logan and steal the coach, offering more money, perhaps more prestige, and/or the appeal of an alma mater.
Jerrod Calhoun is the latest to put Logan in the rearview mirror. He lasted two entire seasons. Now he’s heading back to his alma mater, Cincinnati, a resident of the Big 12.
He lasted one more season than Danny Sprinkle, who left Logan for the University of Washington, where he is 29-35 after two seasons of Big Ten competition.
Ryan Odom left Logan after two seasons to coach at his alma mater, VCU (he’s now at Virginia, where he won 30 games this season).
Craig Smith parlayed three seasons at Utah State into a job at the University of Utah. He was fired after three seasons and he is no longer a head coach anywhere.
Tim Duryea lasted three seasons and didn’t leave the job voluntarily; he was fired. He’s an assistant coach at Boise State.
In other words, only Odom has thrived after leaving Utah State. Leaving USU has had its downside. It might have paid off in the long run for coaches to remain with the Aggies, especially when they were riding so high.
Coaching turnover is part of the game, but there aren’t many schools who can rival Utah State’s turnover. Butler is seeking its sixth coach in 14 years; Texas its fifth coach in seven years; Virginia Commonwealth its fourth in five years; Xavier its sixth in 10 years; and Murray State its fourth in six years.
(The Aggies have experienced the same phenomenon in football, where they have had six head coaches in eight years, counting two who were given “interim” status.)
But none of those schools have churned out winning basketball teams at the same rate as Utah State. The Aggies are coach-proof. They lose one coach after a 25-win season and then bring in the next guy and win 25 games again.
The USU program is on autopilot. Despite all the coaching changes, the Aggies have produced won-lost records of 29-7, 26-8, 28-7, 26-9 the last four seasons. They were preceded by two lean seasons and then seasons that produced records of 20-9, 26-8, 28-7. In all, they have won at least 26 games six times in the last eight years, advancing to the NCAA Tournament each time. They won the Mountain West regular season and postseason championships this season.
So who’s the next coach (office temp)?
Is Stew Morrill available? He’s the man who started this revolving door of coaches. He coached 17 seasons and never went anywhere until he retired. He was loyal and successful and content to be the USU coach. The USU job wasn’t a steppingstone; it was a destination. Since then, USU has become Steppingstone U. He’s 73 and presumably available.
How about bringing Smith back for an encore? He’s got some free time.
History suggests that the Aggies probably should hire a native Utahn for the job if they have any remaining hope that the head coach will remain in Logan long enough to warm up the office chair. Morrill was raised in Provo. Dutch Belnap (six seasons) was from Ogden. Rod Tueller (nine seasons) was from Logan. Kohn Smith (five seasons) was another local. Ladell Andersen (10 seasons) was from Malad, Idaho, 49 miles north of Logan.
None of the coaches who have passed through Logan in the last decade are Utahns. Calhoun is from Ohio, Sprinkle from Washington and Montana, Odom from North Carolina, Smith from Minnesota.
It’s business as usual in Logan; the Aggies are looking for another basketball coach.