Former Griz Coaches

[griz8992]

Interesting to follow the lot of some of our past Griz coaches. Blaine Taylor's Monarch's are 10-1, with their only loss coming by 4 points to a team that is 7-1 itself. Stew Morrill has built Utah State into a perennial power, and they are 9-2 so far. Towsen, on the other hand, led by Pat Kennedy, is 3-7.

When you look at the success of coaches like Taylor and Morrill and Montgomery when he was at Stanford, it demonstrates what a great lineage of coaching we had (and now have again) at UM. It all dates back to Jud Heathcoate, those who learned from him and in turn taught to others. Krystowiak is right in line with that tradition, having learned it as a player. I am far more comfortable with a Griz team at 4-6 under Krystowiak's leadership than I would be with a 7-3 team under Kennedy. The new system will take some time, but we are headed in the right direction.

 

[Potomac Griz]

I wouldn't put Taylor in the same bunch with Morrill or Montgomery. He's having a good year this year, but really he's one of the big reasons why the Griz basketball program went downhill so quickly in my opinion.

Kennedy at least left Krysko with some really good talent this year to work with. If Kennedy is happy at Towson and stays there for more than a few years I wouldn't be surprised to see them turn into a fairly respectable program. 3-7 is what they were at this point last season too...they won a total of 8 games last season..and 4 games the previous season. So he didn't exactly inherit a good team.

Anyway, Kennedy is gone now, and Krysko is the coach. So hopefully he can turn the Griz Basketball program around & will stay with the Griz long enough to do so.

 

[griz8992]

Taylor's personal problems were one thing, while his performance as coach was another. His record as winningest coach in Griz history speaks for itself, as does the fact that Montgomery thought enough of him to bring him to Stanford.

Taylor posted a 142-65 record in seven seasons as head coach at Montana, taking his teams to the NCAA tournament in both 1992 and 1997, and the NIT in 1995. His teams had five 20 win seasons. The most successful head coach in Montana basketball history, Taylor earned national Rookie Coach of the Year honors in 1992, as well as being named Big Sky Coach of the Year. In 1992, Montana was 27-4, winning the Big Sky title and advancing to the NCAA tournament. In Big Sky history, only three teams have won 27 games. His winning percentage of .686 is fifth best all-time in Big Sky Conference history. The Grizzlies won 20 or more games 15 times in school history, and Taylor's teams accomplished that five times, in 1992 (27), 1994 (20), 1995 921), 1996 (20) and 1997 (21). Montana averaged 20.3 wins per year while Taylor was the head coach.

 

[TrueGriz]

Nice to see a former Griz coach get a chance at coaching the NBA. But, Mike Montgomery is certainly having a tough time of it in his first year. Maintaining a .300 winning percentage isn't going to make a long career.


Taylor wasn't as bad a coach as Dexter X mentions. But, I do agree Griz BB started to go downhill excitement wise. That revolving door substitution pattern of Blaine's just killed so many rallies, thus, the game became more boring to watch.

But, to be technical here, I think Griz BB started to go downhill before Stew Morrill became coach, and only those two Big Sky Championships won by the Griz in Stew's last season as coach and Taylor's first year just delayed the inevitable decline. I left Missoula after the 1983-84 season. Returned in 1988, and noticed the crowd wasn't as pro-active during the games in 1988-89 season as they were in 1983-84 and earlier. What I mean by pro-active is that the fans, especially the student section, didn't wait till the team went on a roll to get the crowd going. If the team became stagnant, the student section would start chanting and yelling just to energize the players.

 

[Sweetwyne]

Good posts, UM has been fortunate to have so many good coaches throughout its history with the slight hiccup that occured with Pat Kennedy.

IMO Kennedy was a disaster for the program and either kept it from going forward or set it back.

Krysko wil be a very solid coach for this school, regardless of his record this year or next year. The guy knows basektball, knows how to run a program and treat players.