It's the flavor of the day time of the year. What coach took an under seeded team in a game(s) farther than the experts thought - go hire him immediately and entrust your program with him for a minimum of five years. While you are at it, throw millions of dollars at him based on that performance. Slam dunk, can't miss coaches the media and pundits proclaim. It's hard not to get caught up in the emotion of David plunking Goliath on the head with his sling and desiring the same for your alma mater. The flavor of the day is tried and true come NCAA tournament time and the results don't always pan out despite the predictions of success showered on the hires.
We are not against going after hot coaches, but dig deep into whom you go after. There are positive results to point to through the years, but there are enough disappointments to take a second and pause. Can the guy recruit, how strong is his league, has he done it for awhile, how did he do against high majors in non-conference play prior to the tournament? Let's take a trip down memory lane over the last few decades and examine the hot coaches that schools backed the Brinks trucks up to only to realize a few years later how poor their decision was. Some of our favorite Flavors Of The Day that didn't pan out.
Kevin O'Neill - Our very own from Marquette to Tennessee. Took Marquette to the Sweet16 and parlayed that into a gig at Tennessee for more money and prestige. He left the Vols just three years later with a 36-47 record and landed at Northwestern where he lasted only three more years.
Danny Manning - Tulsa to Wake Forest. After taking Tulsa to the NCAA tournament in 2014, the Demon Deacons pounced and hired the former Jayhawk to rebuild Wake Forest. Manning had only two years as head coach at Tulsa with a 6th place and 1st place finish, but at Wake went 78-111 in six seasons before his firing.
Archie Miller - Dayton to Indiana. "Miller is a great hire for Indiana, great hire for the state" exclaimed the Indianapolis Star. He was fired last week after only four years at the helm and zero NCAA appearances despite success at the University of Dayton.
Kim Anderson - Central Missouri to Missouri. Anderson had won the DII championship at Central Missouri after 12 years at the helm. He helmed the Tigers for only three seasons and finished 27-68.
Shaka Smart - VCU to Texas. The jury may still be out here, but coaching for the flagship state school with a massive recruiting base, second largest athletic department budget in the nation, and it's own television network has not been enough to get those coveted NCAA wins fanbases demand. This weekend, his Longhorns lost to a 14 seed in Abilene Christian that could be the final nail in the coffin.
Mike Hopkins - Syracuse Assistant to Washington. What looked like a promising start in his first two years has turned disastrous with only 5 wins this season.
Steve Prohm - Murray State to Iowa State. Prohm crushed it at Murray State with a 104-29 record. He arrived in Ames and produced three NCAAs in his first four years, but his last two years with only his players proved his undoing. After going 2-22 this season, he was fired and replaced by TJ Otzelberger.
TJ Otzelberger - South Dakota State to UNLV. Too early to tell and he jumped ship from UNLV to get another five years on the clock at Iowa State, but his second year at UNLV was worse than his first and neither were something to write home about.
Richard Pitino - FIU to Minnesota.
John Groce - Ohio U to Illinois.
Johnny Jones - North Texas to LSU.
Rick Ray - Clemson (asst) to Mississippi State
And too many more to list. Do your due diligence MU.