Top 5 coaches of all time. Calhoun in or out?

[the Q]

Bulls signed Billy Donovan, love the hire.

I’m kind of surprised he took that job.

He could easily have done the analyst job for a year and gotten any college gig He wanted.

Or waited out Philly.

 

[Umami Zen]

UCLA's boosters provided all sorts of benefits to Wooden's recruits that were not within NCAA rules. That has been shown over time. Not clear how much Wooden participated in it, but he was playing with a stacked deck.

Thanks for clarification.. Wanted to understand what the characterization was based on.. Seems like this describes many D1 FB/BB Programs of today.. Had heard that USC FB did similar things starting in the mid to late 60"s..Have a friend whose cousin(played FB at USC/future NFL Player) who benefitted from such arrangements.. Back to Top 5..

 

[husky429]

BTW, as an aside, Dan Hurley a really good in-game coach.

I actually have thought game day was his relative weakness (not that it is terrible or anything). I think partly because he wants to set a high standard early, he has been pretty rigid defensively... like forcing Carlton to double the perimeter. Obviously a stupid idea, but hes probably sticking with it just because it's better in the long term for Josh and the program.

Offensively, I like that he incorporates some principles from the NBA with handoffs and an emphasis on 3s. It is definitely a bland offense so far. But we've had a really young team or offensively one dimensional players... I expect this season we'll see some more unique play calls and an emphasis on ball screens

Personally, I've been impressed with his talent development, recruiting, and program management most. I especially like how he leans on assistants and let's them utilize their strengths.

 

[CL82]

Roy Williams is a very good coach. At some point, your resume speaks for itself. 9 Final Fours, 3 National Championships, and 900 wins is a legendary career.

Well it helps if your players aren't distracted by trivial things like actually going to classes...

 

[CL82]

BTW, as an aside, Dan Hurley a really good in-game coach.

We'll see this year. His first two years were hampered by bench depth.

 

[Brochacho]

Calhoun had the best program build of all time . Unsure if that puts him in the top 5 but definitely in the top 10.

 

[The Funster]

Wooden
K
Calhoun

What Wooden did was amazing. Yes, there was some shadiness but still it was an amazing dynasty

K just edges Calhoun, IMO

Calhoun built a program. Maybe only K could have done what JC did.

 

[Palatine]

K is a great recruiter. But is is a great coach or very good coach who was an unbelievable recruiter.

If you look at that list. Calhoun is probably the worst recruiter which probably makes him the best coach of the group.

With K's talent on the squad, JC probably wins ten NCs.

 

[Improviser]

Wooden
K
Calhoun

What Wooden did was amazing. Yes, there was some shadiness but still it was an amazing dynasty

K just edges Calhoun, IMO

Calhoun built a program. Maybe only K could have done what JC did.

Without giving a specific numerical rating for Calhoun, except that he should be in the top 5, another positive metric for him was his postseason record. As I recall, he had a high winning percentage once the team got to the NCAA.
However, and I have not researched this, I think I also once read that his record against top 50 teams for his coaching years, during the regular season was around 500.

Maybe the statisticians out there can verify and quantify my assumptions.

The fact is that he took over a mediocre team to great heights in a highly competitive league, the Big East , with 3 national championships to boot plus his post-season games were always competitive with the team never being blown out in a loss.

 

[Zissou]

1. K (5)
2. Wooden* (10)
3. Calhoon (3)
4. Knight (3)
5. Smith (2)
6. Williams* (3)
7. Pitino* (2)
8. Crum (2)
9. Wright (2)
10. Izzo (1)
11. Olson (1)

Rupp - too ancient

Give Wright another 10 years to move up the list

 

[dennismenace]

JC was the greatest overall due to the hand he was dealt and despite that never stopped believing that this team could win. Neither would he let others believe otherwise as well. Jim had character and the perserverance to accomplish all this. I think his early career relationship to Red Aurbach and studying under him gave him the belief that he could succeed no matter what. That and his younger days of rock fights.