I'm not saying Monty has to go. But when he does, we should hire Dennis Gates. Cal alum, good recruiter, cares about academics, played and worked hard, has been paying dues and climbing the assistant ranks.

96goldenbear;842289679 said:

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I'm not saying Monty has to go. But when he does, we should hire Dennis Gates. Cal alum, good recruiter, cares about academics, played and worked hard, has been paying dues and climbing the assistant ranks.

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Gates has been climbing the ranks, but he's a Braun guy. What kind of effect would that have on the decision-makers?

I want a coach with Southern California connections. Not as critical as in Football but I think that it would be extremely advantageous to have a guy who could do well in the Southland given the fairly consistent group of high skilled guys that come out of SoCal every year.

I do know if AD for the day I would interview Tommy Amaker (and probably try to do reference checks with recruits/alums) to get at the question of how good a recruiter he is. The fear is that Harvard recruits itself (see Furd). But if Amaker is good at that part of the job he could be a pretty good fit.

Be interesting to see where Gregg Marshall lands. You have to figure he is going to get a HUGE payday. Without a coaching hot seat blog for Hoops hard to follow which programs with huge bucks are going to be on the market this year.

socaltownie;842289689 said:

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I want a coach with Southern California connections. Not as critical as in Football but I think that it would be extremely advantageous to have a guy who could do well in the Southland given the fairly consistent group of high skilled guys that come out of SoCal every year.

I do know if AD for the day I would interview Tommy Amaker (and probably try to do reference checks with recruits/alums) to get at the question of how good a recruiter he is. The fear is that Harvard recruits itself (see Furd). But if Amaker is good at that part of the job he could be a pretty good fit.

Be interesting to see where Gregg Marshall lands. You have to figure he is going to get a HUGE payday. Without a coaching hot seat blog for Hoops hard to follow which programs with huge bucks are going to be on the market this year.

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I don't think it matters where the coach is from. The next guy simply has to be a guy that can connect with recruiting community better. The Bay Area has had an uptick in basketball talent recently and we did not take advantage of it. Hopefully, the cupboard has more to offer in the next decade or so.

Amaker failed at Michigan so I'm a little iffy on him.
If I'm Stanford, Marshall is probably the first guy I call.

tsubamoto2001;842289680 said:

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Gates has been climbing the ranks, but he's a Braun guy. What kind of effect would that have on the decision-makers?

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Why should it have any effect? He's been at FSU for three years, been at three other schools other than Cal and had a bit of NBA experience. I doubt he's viewed as somehow a "Braun guy" other than as a player.

96goldenbear;842289679 said:

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I'm not saying Monty has to go. But when he does, we should hire Dennis Gates. Cal alum, good recruiter, cares about academics, played and worked hard, has been paying dues and climbing the assistant ranks.

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It's time.

If Monty retires and cal has to look for a new coach...I could care less about having ties to a region. Cal should be a national brand. Its academic requirements for athletes are no more stringent than USC,UCLA, Michigan, UNC. Cal is a sleeping giant. It just needs someone with a vision, a passion for recruiting , with energy .....

Gates is interesting with all of his experience and I think he'd do well in recruiting. That said, I would need to know more about his coaching acumen. What style would he play, etc.

R.Hobbs;842298809 said:

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Its academic requirements for athletes are no more stringent than USC,UCLA, Michigan, UNC.....

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I would hope we're a bit more stringent than UNC.

http://extramustard.si.com/2014/03/27/unc-athlete-classes-rosa-parks-paper/

96goldenbear;842289679 said:

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I'm not saying Monty has to go. But when he does, we should hire Dennis Gates. Cal alum, good recruiter, cares about academics, played and worked hard, has been paying dues and climbing the assistant ranks.

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Maybe one day, but if Monty retires next week, Dennis Gates isn't ready yet.

LethalFang;842298933 said:

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Maybe one day, but if Monty retires next week, Dennis Gates isn't ready yet.

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Don't know if that is true (one way or the other). People said Jason Kidd and Ron Rivera were not ready to be Cal head coaches and needed to be the head coach elsewhere first. Turns out that the NBA and NFL didn't have that requirement.

calumnus;842298957 said:

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Don't know if that is true (one way or the other). People said Jason Kidd and Ron Rivera were not ready to be Cal head coaches and needed to be the head coach elsewhere first. Turns out that the NBA and NFL didn't have that requirement.

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The early success of Kidd and Rivera are not typical and do not persuade me that we want to take a shot in the dark, so to speak.

Let's hope we get an up-and-comer, who has demonstrated his coaching and recruiting knack and energy.

We don't need some gamble on a guy whom many liked when he was a Bear player or assistant.

south bender;842299041 said:

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The early success of Kidd and Rivera are not typical and do not persuade me that we want to take a shot in the dark, so to speak.

Let's hope we get an up-and-comer, who has demonstrated his coaching and recruiting knack and energy.

We don't need some gamble on a guy whom many liked when he was a Bear player or assistant.

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If you watched the Chargers when RR was the Linebacker coach is was simply obvious that he would be a great HC. It was amazing how well coached and well schemed the Bolts linebacker package was when he was assisting.

south bender;842299041 said:

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The early success of Kidd and Rivera are not typical and do not persuade me that we want to take a shot in the dark, so to speak.

Let's hope we get an up-and-comer, who has demonstrated his coaching and recruiting knack and energy.

We don't need some gamble on a guy whom many liked when he was a Bear player or assistant.

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I don't have enough information to be for or against, but that dude commanded respect as a player and after. He had some leadership qualities. Personally I'd rather stretch for a younger charismatic guy than go after a retread, but those aren't the only two choices out there and I'm hoping there's a happy medium.

bluesaxe;842299054 said:

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I don't have enough information to be for or against, but that dude commanded respect as a player and after. He had some leadership qualities. Personally I'd rather stretch for a younger charismatic guy than go after a retread, but those aren't the only two choices out there and I'm hoping there's a happy medium.

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In no way was I suggesting that we go for a retread.

For that matter, I am not opposed to Gates, but know nothing about what he has done in basketball since he graduated from Cal. Without knowing of some impressive body of work by him as a coach, I can not get enthused by suggestions he be given our job.

If there are substantive reasons, based on a coaching resume, for considering him, I have not read or heard them.

Go Bears!

south bender;842299064 said:

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In no way was I suggesting that we go for a retread.

For that matter, I am not opposed to Gates, but know nothing about what he has done in basketball since he graduated from Cal. Without knowing of some impressive body of work by him as a coach, I can not get enthused by suggestions he be given our job.

If there are substantive reasons, based on a coaching resume, for considering him, I have not read or heard them.

Go Bears!

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I am not saying one way or the other either, but it is not his resume that matters at this point. It is his personality and readiness to head a program. I think you find that out by interviewing him and talking with people he has worked with.

This reads like exactly what we want in a Cal head coach:

Gates' Florida State bio: LINK

Great recruiter, worked with the Clippers, developer of young men, knows the importance of playing defense, and a loyal Cal Bear who can sell the program. I believe he [U]could be[/U] a great coach for next year's team and really build the program at Cal (and would stay after he achieves success).

calumnus;842299074 said:

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I am not saying one way or the other either, but it is not his resume that matters at this point. It is his personality and readiness to head a program. I think you find that out by interviewing him and talking with people he has worked with.

This reads like exactly what we want in a Cal head coach:

Gates' Florida State bio: LINK

Great recruiter, worked with the Clippers, developer of young men, knows the importance of playing defense, and a loyal Cal Bear who can sell the program. I believe he [U]could be[/U] a great coach for next year's team and really build the program at Cal (and would stay after he achieves success).

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One of the more persuasive things in his background is that he did not go and become a high school head coach. With his brains and leadership skills, that had to be a temptation versus "paying dues" and grinding out experience at the level he eventually wants to end up at.

calumnus;842299074 said:

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I am not saying one way or the other either, but it is not his resume that matters at this point. It is his personality and readiness to head a program. I think you find that out by interviewing him and talking with people he has worked with.

This reads like exactly what we want in a Cal head coach:

Gates' Florida State bio: LINK

Great recruiter, worked with the Clippers, developer of young men, knows the importance of playing defense, and a loyal Cal Bear who can sell the program. I believe he [U]could be[/U] a great coach for next year's team and really build the program at Cal (and would stay after he achieves success).

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That's where I'm coming from. Consider the guy. Gates is going to be a D1 head coach sooner or later. We know he recruits. We know he busts his ass. We know he has ties to Cal. We know he cares about academics (the guy graduated in three years). We know he has been building his coaching experience. He should be on our short list.

calumnus;842298957 said:

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Don't know if that is true (one way or the other). People said Jason Kidd and Ron Rivera were not ready to be Cal head coaches and needed to be the head coach elsewhere first. Turns out that the NBA and NFL didn't have that requirement.

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I didn't think they would be ready there, either, but pro leagues is a lot more than ego management, whereas college level is a lot more about teaching and mentoring.

LethalFang;842299657 said:

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I didn't think they would be ready there, either, but pro leagues is a lot more than ego management, whereas college level is a lot more about teaching and mentoring.

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A lot of the college level is enthusiasm, recruiting, motivating... things that a young alum of the school should be better at than anyone. I am sure Gates would be great at teaching and mentoring. It is only his Xs and Os and leadership (ability to be the top guy) that I have no guess about. I don't remember him being one of the obvious leaders on the team (guys that stood out over the years as leaders, beyond their basketball ability: Monty Buckley, Sean Lampley, Jamal Boykin...).

I had no doubt about Rivera or Kidd as leaders. They would have made great Cal head coaches.

Monty Buckley?

Civil Bear;842299704 said:

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Monty Buckley?

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Big personality and outspoken leader on a team with bigger talents (Kidd and Murray). Kidd credited him specifically for recruiting him to Cal (he was very persistent in pick up games--The one Cal player Kidd mentioned in this retrospective LINK ) While Kidd often gets the blame/credit, for better or worse, it was the more outspoken Buckley that reportedly lead the player revolt against Campanelli and went to see Bockrath to lobby for Bozeman. It was Buckley who the media often quoted after games.

south bender;842299064 said:

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In no way was I suggesting that we go for a retread.

For that matter, I am not opposed to Gates, but know nothing about what he has done in basketball since he graduated from Cal. Without knowing of some impressive body of work by him as a coach, I can not get enthused by suggestions he be given our job.

If there are substantive reasons, based on a coaching resume, for considering him, I have not read or heard them.

Go Bears!

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What he's done is coached at Marquette, with the Clippers, was associate head coach at Northern Illinois and has been an assistant coach at Florida State the last three years. He's been the lead recruiter the last two places. It's not a bad resume if you want to take a flyer on a young assistant type, but he has no HC experience.

As for retread, not pointing at you but when people start bringing up Howland, Kent, and Dick Davies of all people I can only hope the search committee is looking for something else.

bluesaxe;842299857 said:

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when people start bringing up Howland, Kent, and Dick Davies of all people I can only hope the search committee is looking for something else.

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Ideal would be an energetic, young, rising head coach, who can leave the sort of legacy at Cal that Monty did at Stanford, for example. Obviously, such a guy must be a charismatic recruiter.

Is the Wichita State guy un-gettable?

Go Bears!

calumnus;842299723 said:

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Big personality and outspoken leader on a team with bigger talents (Kidd and Murray). Kidd credited him specifically for recruiting him to Cal (he was very persistent in pick up games--The one Cal player Kidd mentioned in this retrospective LINK ) While Kidd often gets the blame/credit, for better or worse, it was the more outspoken Buckley that reportedly lead the player revolt against Campanelli and went to see Bockrath to lobby for Bozeman. It was Buckley who the media often quoted after games.

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Having a big mouth does not a leader make. Just like being a thief off the court and never playing up to your athletic ability. Gates was 10x the leader Buckley ever was.

Behind the scenes, there is actually a big push by many former players advocating Shareef. The notion is that Cal needs to think of all angles and he is someone they should at least interview.

There are unique attributes to consider: NBA career, well-liked/respected by coaches in the area, a one and done guy who ultimately got his degree, no off-court baggage from the past. Plus, he has made his money so the motivation is to take this to a higher level - not jump to the next job. This thought-process and angling is the impetus behind the articles starting to leak out including Marc Spears twitter account and Marcus Thompson's article today.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/thompson/2014/04/01/time-for-cal-to-step-it-up/

hoop97;842299900 said:

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Behind the scenes, there is actually a big push by many former players advocating Shareef. The notion is that Cal needs to think of all angles and he is someone they should at least interview.

There are unique attributes to consider: NBA career, well-liked/respected by coaches in the area, a one and done guy who ultimately got his degree, no off-court baggage from the past. Plus, he has made his money so the motivation is to take this to a higher level - not jump to the next job. This thought-process and angling is the impetus behind the articles starting to leak out including Marc Spears twitter account and Marcus Thompson's article today.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/thompson/2014/04/01/time-for-cal-to-step-it-up/

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Does Shareef have a head coach resume?

Great coaching is an art, and being smart or a great player or any other number of wonderful attributes does not mean someone will be even a mediocre coach.

Let's get someone who has demonstrated some head coaching excellence and who can be here for at least a decade, hopefully two.

Go Bears

The Shareef angle is interesting and definately a high risk/high reward sort of hire. The recruiting advantages of having an NBA alumni coach who can come in and say "I was a five star. I wanted (and got) a degree from the finest University in the world. You can do this if you wish to" seems to have a ridiculously high upside.

south bender;842299064 said:

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In no way was I suggesting that we go for a retread.

For that matter, I am not opposed to Gates, but know nothing about what he has done in basketball since he graduated from Cal. Without knowing of some impressive body of work by him as a coach, I can not get enthused by suggestions he be given our job.

If there are substantive reasons, based on a coaching resume, for considering him, I have not read or heard them.

Go Bears!

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Link to Dennis Gates' Bio ... he's a strong recruiter !!

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/fsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/1314-gates-full-bio.pdf

south bender;842299914 said:

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Does Shareef have a head coach resume?

Great coaching is an art, and being smart or a great player or any other number of wonderful attributes does not mean someone will be even a mediocre coach.

Let's get someone who has demonstrated some head coaching excellence and who can be here for at least a decade, hopefully two.

Go Bears

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Definitely agree that a great player does not necessarily make a great or even mediocre coach. I'd say the push is more about wanting Cal to think outside the box and not have tunnel vision about finding a person with x years experience, etc. There is definitely a unique identity to a successful one and done guy who came back and got his degree. Clearly he would need to surround himself with stud assistants. I don't see him ultimately getting the job, but the examples pointed to are Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State and Kevin Ollie at UConn - neither had previous HC experience prior to taking the jobs. As SCT alludes to below - definitely a high risk/high reward.

hoop97;842299923 said:

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Definitely agree that a great player does not necessarily make a great or even mediocre coach. I'd say the push is more about wanting Cal to think outside the box and not have tunnel vision about finding a person with x years experience, etc. There is definitely a unique identity to a successful one and done guy who came back and got his degree. Clearly he would need to surround himself with stud assistants. I don't see him ultimately getting the job, but the examples pointed to are Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State and Kevin Ollie at UConn - neither had previous HC experience prior to taking the jobs. As SCT alludes to below - definitely a high risk/high reward.

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Ollie was an assistant under Calhoun for some years. Hoiberg definitely was outside the box. They must have had some knowledge about his potential coaching ability, though, as he can actually coach (and recruit). The worst thing we could do is just throw a legend out there, just because he has a name.

tsubamoto2001;842299927 said:

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Ollie was an assistant under Calhoun for some years. Hoiberg definitely was outside the box. They must have had some knowledge about his potential coaching ability, though, as he can actually coach (and recruit). The worst thing we could do is just throw a legend out there, just because he has a name.

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No, the [U]worst[/U] thing we could do is throw a bunch of money at a guy like Howland (or Howland specifically) just because he has a name and initially got UCLA pretty far in the Tournament while alienating players, alums, the administration, high school and AAU coaches, etc. until he got fired.

If the Nets had not already hired him, I'd be saying "hire Jason Kidd" and we would hear the exact same argument. (Kidd's Bay Area ties and name recognition would have been great). When Kevin Johnson retired if we said his name, we would hear the same, instead, with ZERO political experience (especially relative to his basketball experience) he became mayor of, and runs, a major U.S. city. Any doubt he could run a college basketball team? He has to put together a political organization, solicit $millions in campaign contributions and motivate campaign volunteers, any doubt he could recruit 18 year olds to get a free ride at the University of California and get Cal alums to contribute money to their alma mater? Any doubt he could handle a press conference of Bay Area sports reporters?

Of course, you need to interview any candidate and get an idea of how he would lead the program, but Shareef (or another big name) with a good staff, while risky, could end up being great. Shareef's accomplishment of earning a degree from Cal AND/WHILE making $millions in the NBA is the perfect role model for our players. I do hope that we think outside the box and get someone who will generate some excitement--Shareef deserves consideration.

tsubamoto2001;842299927 said:

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Ollie was an assistant under Calhoun for some years. Hoiberg definitely was outside the box. They must have had some knowledge about his potential coaching ability, though, as he can actually coach (and recruit). The worst thing we could do is just throw a legend out there, just because he has a name.

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Hoiberg was one of those guys who seemed destined to coach even when he was a player. Plus he could have been elected to office in Ames right out of college.

One thing I think doesn't get enough attention here is that a head coach also has to manage an entire program. Recruiting is a huge issue, and game coaching and teaching basketball are obviously important, but the administrative duties are serious as well. Shareef has that kind of experience, talent evaluation experience at the pro level, and some coaching experience.

I'm not advocating for him because I don't know enough about his coaching experience or what he'd want to create in terms of a style of play, but he's smart, young enough, personable, and would have recruiting credibility. I would rather roll the dice on that than make a hire like Russ Turner just because Turner has some HC experience at a minor program.

I kind of like the idea of Gates being the head coach and Shareff being one of the assistant coaches.