Coaching hires in college athletics are a bit like blue jean trends—what’s all the rage at one point in time might be considered hopelessly passé just a few years later. One day you wake up and your skinny jeans coach who looked so good when you purchased him has a losing record and has to go.
The SEC might be the ultimate follow-the-leader league in this regard. In football, the Nick Saban Assistant Trend has had a sustained run—with good reason, if not uniform success. (Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher and Lane Kiffin, yes. Jim McElwain, Will Muschamp and Jeremy Pruitt, no. Billy Napier, TBD.) In men’s basketball, the trends have been even more pronounced.
As the league made yet another attempt to catch up to Kentucky a few years ago, the Big Name Established Coach Trend was red hot. Final Four coaches looking for a second act were hired: Ben Howland at Mississippi State; Rick Barnes at Tennessee; Tom Crean at Georgia. So were coaches who had solid records of success at other power programs: Bruce Pearl at Auburn; Cuonzo Martin at Missouri; Frank Martin at South Carolina; Buzz Williams at Texas A&M. Some took a flier on NBA experience: Avery Johnson at Alabama; Jerry Stackhouse at Vanderbilt.
