Beilein Versus Some Other Blind Coaching Resumes

Michigan Basketball
1

I compared Beilein’s resume after seven years on the job to a few other well-known coaches after seven years on the job. Intentionally, I did not include coaches who took over blue chip programs. So, for example, Roy Williams at Kansas does not make the list after taking over for Larry Brown, who won a national championship in 1988 before leaving. (Interestingly enough, Williams went 19-12 his first year in Kansas).

Beilein after seven years: Took over a program with a 7 year NCAA tourney drought. Record: 150-94 (.614), 5 NCAA tourneys in 7 years, 10 NCAA tourney wins, best finishes: one title game, one Elite Eight.

Coach A after seven years: Took over a program with a 1 year NCAA tourney drought. Record: 147-74 (.665), 5 NCAA tourneys in 7 years, 9 NCAA tourney wins, best finishes: one title game, one S16.

Coach B after seven years: Took over a program with an 8 year NCAA tourney drought. Record: 133-86 (.607), 3 NCAA tourneys in 7 years, 6 NCAA tourney wins, best finishes: one Elite Eight, one S16.

Coach C after seven years: Took over a program with a 1 year NCAA tourney drought. Record: 169-67 (.716), 5 NCAA tourneys in 7 years, 9 NCAA tourney wins, best finishes: one Final Four, one Elite Eight.

Coach D after seven years: Took over a program with a 1 year NCAA tourney drought: Record: 146-77 (.654), 4 NCAA tourneys in 7 years, 8 NCAA tourney wins, best finishes: one title game loss, one S16.

So, among these five coaches, Beilein ranks:

4th in overall winning percentage (note: the two coaches with the lowest winning percentages are the ones who took over programs with a 7 year and an 8 year absence from the tourney)

Tied for first in the most NCAA tourneys made (5 out of 7)

First in NCAA tournament wins

First in the best NCAA tourney finishes (one title game, one Elite Eight).

The coaches: Coach A (Billy Donovan), Coach B (Jim Calhoun), Coach C (Rick Pitino - Louisville), Coach D (Coach K).

Beilein is holding his own here with four Hall of Fame coaches after seven years on the job.

Now, of course, all of these guys went on to much bigger and better things, so we can’t put Beilein in their class until he does the same. But the trajectory looks promising.

By the way, I did not include Izzo and Matta in my analysis, but those two guys had incredible starts:

Izzo: took over a team with a 0 year drought. Record: 167-65 (.719), 5 tourneys in 7 years, an incredible 16 tourney wins, best finishes: championship, Final Four (twice).

Matta: took over a team with a 3 year drought. Record: 190-57 (.769), 5 tourneys in 7 years, 10 tourney wins, best finishes: one title game loss, one S16.

And that’s one reason why I think our recent success against MSU (6 of 9 over the past four years) and OSU (4-3 over the past three years) is important: both Izzo and Matta are great coaches. If your program is on par with them, you’re in great shape.

Now, of course, JB has to keep it going to match any of the guys I mention above. But his track record after seven years is, well, pretty strong.

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We only had a 7 year tourney drought when Beilein took over?

3

My fault, it was 10.

4
My fault, it was 10.

Its worth noting that plenty of those seasons would probably have ended in tournament bids given todays new set up. Also, never really got the benefit of the doubt back then.

5
My fault, it was 10.

Its worth noting that plenty of those seasons would probably have ended in tournament bids given todays new set up. Also, never really got the benefit of the doubt back then.

What? In what seasons? The only one we would have made the tourney is Horton’s FR year when we were ineligible. Every other year, our non conference sucked and we sucked in the BT with no certifiable good wins. That’s just nuts. We never deserved any benefit of the doubt. We cleaned up on garbage non conference.

6
My fault, it was 10.

Its worth noting that plenty of those seasons would probably have ended in tournament bids given todays new set up. Also, never really got the benefit of the doubt back then.

What? In what seasons? The only one we would have made the tourney is Horton’s FR year when we were ineligible. Every other year, our non conference sucked and we sucked in the BT with no certifiable good wins. That’s just nuts. We never deserved any benefit of the doubt. We cleaned up on garbage non conference.

We were the #1 seed in the NIT in 2004 and 2006. Probably make it with the new set up. I thought there were more. My bad.

Pathetic teams who collapsed like 2010-2011 Michigan State and 2013-2014 Iowa Hawkeyes would not have earned bids under the previous criteria - benefit of the doubt.