Nearly two weeks have passed since Northwestern cut the rip cord on Ricky Byrdsong’s parachute. As promised, Mr. Stealth, otherwise known as Northwestern Athletic Director Rick Taylor, hasn’t said a peep about the possible replacements.
Maybe he’s stuck. Maybe he has AD’s cramp. If so, the following advice comes with no risk or obligation. Try it for 10 days and if not completely satisfied, return for a full refund.
Five suggestions for salvaging the worst-ever program in the Big Ten:
1.) Make a serious run at George Washington coach Mike Jarvis.
If we had to guess, Taylor already has called his longtime buddy and offered him first crack at the Northwestern position. The two men go back a long ways, beginning in 1985, when Taylor took a chance on Jarvis–then Patrick Ewing’s high school coach at Cambridge Rindge & Latin–and gave him the Boston University job.
Taylor trusts Jarvis. Jarvis trusts Taylor. That sort of thing matters when you’re trying to revive a program in serious need of CPR. Also in Northwestern’s favor: as long as Georgetown is in Washington, D.C., the Colonials will be the No. 2 team in town.
Better yet, Jarvis should be available at regular-season’s end. In one of the shockers of the year, George Washington is on a collision course with the NIT, not the NCAA tournament.
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Even those coaches interested in the Wildcats’ job concede Jarvis would be a nice fit, as opposed to Byrdsong, who was a 48-long in a world of 36-regulars. Jarvis is an accomplished national and international recruiter and a solid coach who would give Northwestern’s program instant credibility.
“If they hired Mike, I’d have no problem with that,” one would-be candidate said. “I’d completely understand that.”
Problem is, Jarvis hates cold weather and adores his school, his athletic director and his D.C. digs. His wife is heavily involved in a charitable foundation, and who knows if Taylor could put together a big enough package to entice Jarvis to Evanston. Probably not.
Also mucking up the process is Randy Ayers’ status at Ohio State. Buckeyes Athletic Director Andy Geiger says he doesn’t want to make a change, but he also doesn’t want to be a second-division program any longer. Jarvis, as well as Clemson’s Rick Barnes, Stanford’s Mike Montgomery and Southwest Missouri State’s Steve Alford, will be on Geiger’s wish list.
2.) Dare to be different.
If Taylor absolutely must have a Division I head coach and he can’t lure Jarvis to Evanston, then he could do a lot worse than Drexel’s Bill Herrion. Herrion would come with Jarvis’ stamp of approval. In fact, he would come with an actual Jarvis because Mike Jarvis II is a Drexel assistant coach.
Herrion is no marquee name, but he is a marquee coach. There isn’t a big-time athletic director or coach worth his rollover contract who doesn’t know about Herrion’s amazing Drexel program. The only catch is that Herrion, an East Coast fixture, might be wooed by Rutgers or a handful of other schools all in a better position for success than lowly Northwestern.
There are other possibilities. Tulane’s Perry Clark and Boston University’s Dennis Wolff might be receptive. Wyoming’s Joby Wright wants the job . . . actually, any job that will get him out of Laramie. But a sub-.500 record in the Western Athletic Conference? Don’t think so.
Alford’s name keeps coming up, but he isn’t interested. Ohio State has more appeal. And Northwestern can forget about Washington’s Bob Bender, and probably Illinois State’s Kevin Stallings, Bradley’s Jim Molinari and California’s Ben Braun. They can do better than the Wildcats.
3.) Make the most of Byrdsong’s lame-duck status.
The Wildcats’ season officially ends March 8. That’s 16 days from now . . . 16 days in which Taylor should have his coaching interviews scheduled and his preferences in place.
Callous? Sure it is. But so was dumping Byrdsong with seven games left in the season. So if you’re going to fire a guy in early February, you might as well take advantage of it.
If we’re Taylor, we force the issue–but in a nice way. Get a commitment and a contract from a coach before the NCAA tournament starts. Promise to keep it quiet. Whatever you do, don’t wait until tournament time. By then, you’re in competition with every other school that needs a new coach. Last year, there were 42 Division I coaching changes.
4.) Quit freezing out assistant coaches.
To hear Taylor talk, it would take an act of God for him to hire an assistant coach as Byrdsong’s successor. Taylor should know better.
Maybe someone needs to remind him that Roy Williams wasn’t even North Carolina’s No. 1 assistant when Kansas hired him; that Dean Smith was an assistant when hired at Carolina; that Jarvis was a high school coach when Taylor hired him at Boston University; that Rick Pitino made a successful switch from Syracuse assistant to Boston University; that Northwestern’s own Gary Barnett didn’t have a single day’s worth of Division I head-coaching experience when he took over the Wildcats’ football program.
By limiting his hiring options, Taylor does Northwestern no favors. Isn’t the point to get the best person for the job, regardless of current title?
5.) Show them the money.
You want a Top 50 program? Then you’d better be able to pay Top 50 salaries, provide a substantial recruiting budget, have a marketing plan in place, and not be shy on support staff.
Bottom line: If Taylor tries to hire someone on the cheap, then it’s going to be a long wait for the introductory news conference.
Don’t quit your day job: Atlantic Coast Conference whistle-blowers are having a February to forget.
First comes the unforgivable gaffe at last week’s Duke-Virginia game, when the officiating crew forgot to wave in a Cavaliers substitute in the waning seconds. Then came Sunday’s Wake Forest-North Carolina State game, when State won on a buzzer-beating three-pointer that was actually a two-pointer.
The Duke-Virginia crew received a one-game suspension. Sunday’s ACC crew got a loud slap on the wrist.
“The (official) acknowledged that the sub was there, but then he brainlocked . . . went brain dead,” ACC Assistant Commissioner Tom Mickle said. “The one Sunday was a judgment thing.”
The bigger question is this: Will Virginia (16-10, 6-8), which is on the NCAA tournament bubble, receive any mercy votes from the selection committee?
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“I would expect them to take that (Duke game) into account and a whole lot of other things,” Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. “How much that would factor in, I have no idea. It’s not like there’s an asterisk next to the game. Duke won the game. It’s not like a half win.”
By the way, Virginia Athletic Director Terry Holland is the chairman of the nine-member NCAA Tournament Committee.
Big Ten tournament update: Big Ten athletic directors returned home earlier this week after spending their annual winter meetings in Orlando. Among the topics discussed: Where to play the inaugural conference tournament, which begins in 1998.
Right now, it appears as if the 21,500-seat United Center might be the early favorite. No official vote was taken, but several of the athletic directors said they liked the idea of a non-dome venue. . . . in a metropolitan area. . . . in a neutral site. . . . in an area chock-full of Big Ten alumni. . . . in a media center. . . . with an arena that would be easier to fill than several of the domed options.
Also in the mix is the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, the Metrodome in Minneapolis, and the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Around the country: Temple coach John Chaney nearly fell out of his chair when he saw Indiana, the poster team of man-to-man defense, beating Michigan with a zone. “Bobby, I can’t believe what you’re doing,” said Chaney, whose own matchup zone is legendary. “You’re playing a matchup?” Asked about Knight’s favorite defense, Chaney said: “Man-to-man doesn’t stop anybody.” . . . Little-known fact: UCLA approached Williams about becoming the Bruins’ new coach. Williams, who also turned down the Los Angeles Lakers several years ago, politely said he wasn’t interested. . . . Pitino has a simple reason why shooting percentages are taking another dive this year. “The (three-point) line is up too close in college basketball,” he said.