Following the news of Mike White’s departure to Georgia the Gators now have a huge coaching search on their hands. With many high-level jobs opening around the country the Gators are far from the only appealing landing spot for quality candidates so they’ll have to be diligent in selling the program to who they hope will be someone that can lead the program for years to come. Here are some names they may consider.
Matt McMahon
Murray State
If you haven’t already heard the name Matt McMahon, you will shortly. For one, he’s got the Racers playing at an incredible level, set to be a quality seed in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, he will be rumored for pretty much every quality high major job opening this offseason after what he has accomplished in Murray.
Not only has he proven he can make Murray State into a program that can compete with high majors, but he plays a style of play that would be extremely enjoyable to Florida fans. McMahon’s teams are explosive offensively and play a modern, creative offense that has shooters flying off screens and big men cutting hard for uncontested dunks. He is a winner that plays an exciting brand of basketball and he will have his pick of any top job this offseason.
Bob Richey
Furman
Richey is a young coach who has turned Furman into a team that is regularly at the top of the Southern Conference which is no small feat. What Florida fans would love most is that he is an incredible mind. In fact, when the Gators knew they needed to revamp their offense a few years ago, they tried to adapt some of Furman’s modernized Princeton offense principles and it led Florida to one of their most efficient offensive seasons under Mike White. He hasn’t recruited at the high major level and hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament but he has been a consistent winner and is an outstanding offensive mind which is something that Scott Stricklin might be looking for.
Jerome Tang
Baylor (Assistant)
Right now Baylor is essentially the class of college basketball, coming off an NCAA Tournament Championship and maintaining that quality of play until injuries slowed them down this year and potentially pouring cold water on their chance at a repeat. Jerome Tang is a long time assistant there who has been ready to make the jump for years and with high-level jobs open this year it could be his opportunity. He’s considered the top assistant at Baylor and is in charge of their recruiting operations which have been successful in both landing top targets and also identifying under the radar talent that have turned into diamonds in the rough. Something that might help Tang’s case is the fact that Arizona hiring Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd has worked out better than anyone could have imagined, and Tang is essentially the Lloyd equivalent but for Baylor.
Kevin Willard
Seton Hall
One of the elements to coaching is maximizing talent and Kevin Willard has done that consistently at Seton Hall turning it into one of the consistent winners in a tough Big East. Willard has never been someone who has chased stars for recruiting and has always handpicked underrated recruits who have turned out to be studs. If he was at a program with more prestige that could land better recruits to go alongside his talent evaluation…watch out. Plus, if there is one thing you can know about Willard’s teams is that they play hard for 40 minutes every game, no matter the opponent. A lot of Florida fans are clamoring for a physical team that’s difficult to play against and Willard has proven he can put out that kind of a team consistently and he can win with it against elite opponents.
Anthony Grant
Dayton
Anthony Grant is in the Florida family, a former assistant who was extremely popular during the glory days of Gators basketball. Joakim Noah and Al Horford sing his praises to this day, and he has experience as the head coach of a quality program in a good league with Dayton in the Atlantic 10. Had there been an NCAA Tournament two years ago when Grant had Obi Toppin he might have been ready to leave for an elite job, but instead he’s still at Dayton ready for a leap. As a reminder, Grant also spent 6 years as the head coach of Alabama, so he has SEC experience.
Kyle Smith
Washington State
With Washington State being a team that’s geographically just about as far away from Florida as possible this might sound like a strange name, but targeting Kyle Smith would be all about recognizing raw coaching talent that could be unlocked with the resources of Florida. Kyle Smith has taken two extremely difficult jobs, San Francisco and now Washington State, and turned them into respectable winners in their respective leagues. Smith is incredibly modern with the way his teams play basketball and he is very analytically savvy, something that might be a necessity in the modern basketball world. There are very, very few coaches who could turn San Francisco and Washington State into winners, and that speaks to Smith’s abilities.
Mark Pope
BYU
Pope played at Kentucky so he knows SEC basketball and at BYU he has stewarded a consistent winner that plays an aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball. It’s not easy for anyone to hang with Gonzaga consistently in the WCC but Pope has turned it into a tough game every year with plenty of wins going his way, and he’s recruiting to BYU in a way that program has never seen. Pope is extremely innovative offensively and runs a lot of modern actions no one in college basketball has seen and he could flip the SEC on its head with his style of play. Pope is well compensated at BYU who is about to head to the Big 12 so he may not be looking to make a move, but the Gators could make a play at one of the smartest basketball minds in the country.
Rick Pitino
Iona
Say what you want about Pitino’s indiscretions in the past but the fact of the matter is that Pitino might be the best X’s and O’s coach in the country who has served his time and has now turned Iona into a powerhouse, speaking to his coaching ability. People will also point to the fact that he is about to turn 70 but he shows no signs of slowing down. He’s still relentless on the recruiting trail and is known for his long hours in the office working on gameplanning and scouting. If the Gators hired Pitino, they’d go into every game moving forward essentially knowing they’d have an X’s and O’s advantage in every matchup.
We have to stop going with potentials and focus on bringing in proven commodities. Yes, they will cost more, but we will get more benefits. In the age of NIL, the cheating component has been seriously minimized. A big named coach with proven coaching ability will draw fans and most important recruits.
While I have no doubt that many of the names mentioned will elevate to stardom in the coaching realm, there are only two on the list that check all of the boxes- ANTHONY GRANT, RICK PITINO., and SHAKA SMART.
Mike White’s strength was recruiting even though I don’t think he was passionate about it. His lack of passion was probably spurred by the results he got from bringing in some incredible young men through HS and transfers, to play for the program. The difference between an MW and an AG, RP, or SS is chemistry, development, and game time strategy.
AG, RP, and SS will not have 6’3″ guards defending the post against 6’9″ power forwards. One year with injuries or a recruit that does not pan out is one thing. But with MW it was every single year where we watched the bulk of his recruiting focus on 6’0″ – 6’5″ players. Duruji had to play center for much of this season simply because there was a dearth of legitimate power forwards who could slide to the 5 position. We will never know what Appleby, Jones, McKissic, Felder, Fleming, and Duruji (let alone Lane and Reeves) would have been able to do on offense if they had been able to continuously play their natural positions, and not be forced to expend valuable energy defending people 30 pounds heavier than they were.
We understand why MW relied heavily on the transfer portal, and brought in super athletes who would still perform admirably, but not up to their true potential. He was set on forcing his will of playing small on the SEC. And that strategy failed.
We can’t afford experimentation by coaches who think their way is the substitute for butter on bread, and who might take two years to realize the experimentation is not going to work or worse, like MW, not realize it at all.
We need coaches with successful coaching histories on the big stages- SEC Championships, NCAA Final Fours (even if as an assistant coach), and coaches who demand that their players reach their full potential and know how to get them to do so.
Only Anthony Grant and Rick Pitino meet such criteria. And since Grant was in the system during the successful era, and has ties to the Florida market having recruited in the state before, I would put him as the top priority. He deserves the right of first refusal (along with in my opinion Smart), before anyone else is considered.