I've posted something like this before but here it is again. Feel free to ignore.
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Remember, you can learn a lot from the WHOLE career of Frank Haith.
When you look for your next college basketball HC, you should follow simple logic and common sense. Following this doesn't guarantee success but it increases the chances of it happening.
1. Mid-Major HC: The mid-majors are a breeding ground for coaches who deserve a shot at a higher level. You can evaluate an HC and how he does against an inferior conference. You can also see how they do when they make the post season (e.g. NCAAT). Ideally, you want a coach that dominates the inferior conference and wins conference championships. If he does neither, he isn't likely a good candidate. You're not looking for one great season but a bunch. Then, you want to see how often and how far he makes it in the NCAAT. With that said, I don't blame an HC at a mid-major if they can't get out of the round of 32/16. At some point, these mid-major teams go against a big team and they bounce. Of course we've seen exceptions but...they seem to lose eventually.
If you find a coach that dominates the inferior conference, wins conference championships and is making the NCAAT then logic tells you he deserves a chance at higher level. Also, it is important to consider the quality of the conference as not all mid-major conferences are the same.
Examples: Konkol or Huger. Neither have done the above. Nobody would even consider them TODAY if they didn't coach here.
2. Former HC at a big conference program that was fired. Not all coaches are fired for poor performance (e.g. Rick Pitino or Gregg Marshall). If a coach, when promoted to a higher conference (e.g. mid-major to power), does sub-par at a higher conference then the chances are he won't do better at an even higher conference if given the chance. If there is a coach that went to a power conference, was fired and then hired by an inferior conference...you shouldn't forget that they did poorly at a higher conference when given the opportunity. With that said, I do believe in second chances. If there was a coach who was fired (i.e. fired for poor performance) from a PAC-12 school (or any power conference) and then went to (insert mid-major here) and was able to dominate that conference through multiple seasons, perhaps they should be given a second chance. Perhaps this HC has learned from their mistakes and deserves another chance. Perhaps that HC choose a terrible job or it was a horrible fit.
3. Taking an HC from another power conference. This is Frank Haith again. Missouri was dumb to take him from us. He sucked when he was here. There is no reason to think he was going to do big things at Missouri when he couldn't do chit here.
Example: Frank Martin. I wouldn't consider him at all.
4. No college assistants. I don't care if he has rotated Coach K's grapes for the last 25 years, if he has ZERO HC experience, no thanks. This doesn't apply to an NBA assistant, per se. This is why you don't consider Caputo, plus he sucks. This is why we should have NEVER hired Frank Haith.
Example: Frank Haith again.
5. Age. Age should not be used against someone, per se. I don't care if a coach is in his 60s, if he has the track record (above) then bring him in. That doesn't mean I want to hire Steve Fisher. With that said, if there is a young guy (e.g. under 45) who is dominating an inferior conference, it is a plus that he is young and dominating. Perhaps he might be able to learn more.
For example: John Beilein is turning 68 in February. I would take him in a second. I don't care if we only get 2-3 seasons out of him.
6. Tenure or how long he will coach at Miami. This is one of the most illogical points I hear people talk about. You're not hiring a coach into perpetuity. You're hiring a coach for now. There is no guarantee you can keep your HC. Perhaps he has great success and some other program wants him or the NBA wants him. That is fine. You can find someone else. You want other teams to covet your coaches because teams tend to want other teams' success (this is the opposite of Frank Haith and Missouri).
7. Who did your HC coach under? It is great if the HC you're considering was a coach under someone who had a lot of success or a great track record.
For Example: Chris Jans coached under Gregg Marshall for over 7 seasons at WSU.
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