Good Article on Coaching Change

[UMGriz75]

Here is another perspective on this same subject;
http://freakonomics.com/2012/12/21/is-changing-the-coach-really-the-answer/

Yeah, but there are always the Beau Baldwins, the Chris Petersens, and the Craig Bohls.

The history of the UM program speaks to this blogpost directly in an interesting way. It has often made a huge difference, but, once the direction of the program has been changed, changing coaches generally continues the success pattern of the past, or, as it was, the failures of the past. What is interesting is the why's of how a given coach can reverse a program trend -- in either direction. For all the interest and money involved in collegiate and professional sports, there are not a lot of studies out there. There are great books written by great coaches that give insight into high level coaching skills and demeanors, but since poor coaches generally don't write about their failures, the literature fails to offer the ability to distinguish key characteristics.

What the blogpost fails to note is that head coaches are not, in general, selected by head coaches. They are most often selected by managers who have no coaching experience themselves. Those are the real and literal "principal clerks" identified by Adam Smith -- and may very well be the key to the homogeneity found in coaching records.

 

[Grizzoola]

Here is another perspective on this same subject;
http://freakonomics.com/2012/12/21/is-changing-the-coach-really-the-answer/

Yeah, but there are always the Beau Baldwins, the Chris Petersens, and the Craig Bohls.

... What is interesting is the why's of how a given coach can reverse a program trend -- in either direction....

Griz success was in the program; the coaches simply kept the momentum going. Where the program was torpedoed was in RE's firing of a successful coach & AD. But, I understand where RE was coming from. The program was not only successful, but had a helluva bad rep for off-field "activities."

The football Griz were unfavorably in the press too damned much, verifying too many UM students' and Missoula citizens' opinion that all football players are basically goons. There was some justification for what RE did. Maybe he shouldn't have fired Pflugrad & O'Day so summarily. Maybe he should have given them some time to "clean up" the program. Maybe he already did! I don't know; none of us know.

Bob Stitt is now our coach, and altho the program looks like it's regressing, if Stitt is the coach I think he is, he needs at least two more years to prove his worth. Give the guy and the program a break!