Associate Head Coach - good for Yak.
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They left out “…and future interim head coach.” Just kidding. Mostly.
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good for Yak, and no way that he is offered this gig by Juwan.
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Yak was a great hire here and we’re all better for having him in Ann Arbor. Best of luck to him in Austin except if we bump heads. Will be interesting to see if he can do there what we think he did here.
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It’s also possible that Yaklich saves Smart’s job. I know Texas was a pretty good defensive team already, but if he can help make them top-3 level, it could make a big difference. Especially if the offense improves even slightly.
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yak wont be there more than a year
Yak is just a good guy to have on a staff period. He works extremely hard, is very detail oriented and prepares specifically for every opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.
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Doing some research on Eisley he seems to be very soft spoken, his jazz teammates used to joke about how he they called him the silent assassin. Should be a interesting staff dynamic between Martelli who seems like a firecracker and 3 other soft spoken guys (juwan, Saddi, eisley).
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Yaklich is going to be missed. I still wish they would have moved quickly and named him Head Coach. I think we let a star get away. Look at when Dan Monson left Gonzaga and they went with Mark Few. Butler has maintained success by hiring within their Butler Family. The ship at Michigan was sailing they didn’t need new energy or a different plan. Yaklich took our teams to an elite level defensively and his system gave us an identity.
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If Yaklich had been at Michigan for 4-5-6 years, I might see some of that. But he was in Ann Arbor for two years and didn’t really have much to do with running the offense at all. I don’t really see how hiring him was the right move (not saying he won’t end up a potential head coach or that I don’t think he’s a great coach), it just wasn’t the right time.
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Yaklich’s resume for the most part is his two years as an assistant at Michigan. He was not getting this job. Neither was Saddi who I think had more experience than Yak in dealing with division I programs as a whole. I don’t get this love affair with him.
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I think Yak is a unique talent, but Dylan makes a good point. The timing would’ve made his hire really problematic, and in many ways, more risky than Howard. Perhaps it would’ve worked. we’ll never know. I do think we’ll be hearing his name for years to come, however. As a fan, I appreciate what he did for our program and I’ll always be a fan of his.
As mentioned with the Howard hiring though, it’s truly an end of an era. Time to move on. I’m cautiously optimistic about this next chapter. Go Blue!
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The love affair is based on his obvious talent as a coach. Experience isn’t everything to everyone. His Illinois St. experience is nothing to sniff at either, btw–or the fact that JB felt enough confidence in him to not only give him a shot, but hand over the entire defense. Plus UT also thought pretty highly of him. I think the “love affair” is easy to understand man.
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obvious talent yes… having X, Teske and Charles also played into that success. Would we be a top 2 defense with Donlon/others? maybe not, but still top 20ish as long as you emphasizing defense & corresponding effort/fundamentals
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I agree he’s a good coach but his loss isn’t greater than JB leaving. It’s at a move on stage at this point and suck it up and root for the new guys.
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Few was at Gonzaga for ten years and was being groomed to take over. Yak wasn’t even the lead assistant yet. Saddi was the one who took over when Beilein was out.
I wish him well and am genuinely curious what offers he gets next year after adding AHC experience to his resume.
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I preferred Howard over Cooley and Jordan.
However, I’m also in the camp that would have preferred Yaklich, someone like Nate Oats (had the timing been better), or another up-and-comer from the mid-major ranks over Howard.
I’m sure all of us would have loved a Brad Stevens hire that was never going to happen.
Having said all that, it’s hard to argue with your points here Re: Yaklich. We’ll see what he can do on offense when he does eventually get that head coaching opportunity somewhere.
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Yak has proved to be a great assistant, but I don’t think that any Texas fans wish Yak to replace Smart.
Why are you grouping Yaklich with Nate Oats?
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nope, UT fans are counting down to offer chris beard 10 million a year lol