Maryland and the Reverse Coaching Hot Seat

Due to the odd timing of Mark Turgeon quitting/getting fired, we will have the entire conference season to play this game. Who is on the hot seat to become the Maryland Terrapins’ next coach.

Yes, the irony is intentional, that GETTING a coaching gig puts you on the hot seat.

First, two notes:

• Everyone around Maryland loves Nat Oats from Alabama Crimson Tide. His buyout is $10 million. Not happening.
• Another popular name is Eric Musselman from Arkansas Razorbacks. He is also cost prohibitive.

Musselman and Oats can be filed under yes, but too expensive.

Option #1: Local, with Power-5 Experience

Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images

Andy Enfield is a legit target. I’l put him as #1 when considering feasibility and desirability.

Enfield was repsnsible for Florida Gulf Coast’s Sweet 16 run in 2013, which he parlayed into a gig at USC, where he inherited a complete mess. He has done a good job rebuilding that.

Beyond that, Enfield is local. He was born and rasied in Pennsylvania and played basketball at Johns Hopkins. Plus, when Maryland is on, Xfinity gets load energetic crowds of 18,000; USC currently gets crowds of about 3,000, even when ranked top-25.

USC mysteriously released details that Enfield signed an extension last year. This info wasn’t released until there was interest from Maryland.

Option 2: Mid-Majors with Talent

A: Program-Builder

Mark Pope (BYU): Played for Kentucky and played in the NBA. Has been at BYU since 2019 and has a 52-17 record. Before that he spent 4 years at Utah Valley inheriting a sub-.500 team and improving them into a 25-10 team in four years.

Nice improvement. He is my 1b or #2 choice.

B: Mid-Major Climber

Casey Alexander (Belmont): Has improved teams at all 3 coaching stints, Stetson, Lipscomb, Belmont. Only 2 years at Stetson. Took a 15-15 team at Lipcomb in year 1 to NCAA tournament in years 5 and 6. Has a 55-12 record at Belmont and led Belmont to 1st place in Ohio Valley Conference for first two years. Currently 5-2 this year.

Wild cards:

• Gary Williams has publicly advocated for 67-year old scum bag Rick Pitino (Iona). Time to put a muzzle on Gary Williams. We love you for two Final Fours and a Natty, but shut up.
• Thad Matta (formerly Ohio State): He can coach and he is only 54 years old! I thought he was much older. Health is an issue. And he may not want to get back into coaching.
• Sarunas Jasikevicius (FC Barcelona): MD alumnus under Gary Williams from Lithuania. Played briefly in the NBA. Absolutely a top-5 coach in Europe professional leagues. Can absolutely coach, but would have to hire some good recruiters. No college basketball coaching experience. This is a wild card I can support. He is Lithuanian. He may be much more comfortable coaching professional basketball players in Europe.

Turgeon Replacements

Guys with high ceilings, but low floors:

Ed Cooley (Providence) and Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)

Both have been at their respective schools for about 10 years and have rebuilt these programs, but very slowly. Not disastrous hires, but definitely would not be excited—these guys are literally Turge clones.

But I don’t see Damon Evans going for a Turge replacement.