Randy Smith
When Tennessee Athletic Director Dave Hart hired former Texas Coach Rick Barnes to be the Vols' fourth head basketball coach in six seasons, he talked about timing; he had finally gotten a break and lucked out enough to hire Barnes within a few days of firing Donnie Tyndell. After all, in hiring coaches in this fast-paced world of college athletics, it's all about timing. Texas and Barnes parted company after seventeen seasons at the same time Tyndell was let go because of a continuing NCAA investigation.
It couldn't have worked out any better for the Vols, unless Duke suddenly became tired of Coach "K".
Now, UTC is faced with hiring a new head coach as Will Wade is being introduced today as the new head coach at Virginia Commonwealth. Wade replaces Shaka Smart, who ironically is the new hire at Texas. The only time timing doesn't become a factor in hiring coaches is when there is someone already in place to take the job. That's the case at UTC as assistant Wesley Long is a strong candidate to replace Wade.
The rumor mill is certainly running at full speed in Chattanooga as Mocs' fans hope to fill their wish list with the next big-time winners in mid-major college basketball. Florida assistant Matt McCall is said to be a leading candidate along with Wes Long, but UTC has had prior success going in either direction. So allow me to answer your questions.
What about hiring a UTC assistant already in place? It worked very well before. When Jeff Lebo left the Mocs in 2004 for Auburn after only two seasons, John Shulman was promoted from the Mocs' bench to be the head coach. Shulman responded with a win over Tennessee, a SoCon Tournament Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Shulman would spend ten years as UTC's coach and would win the Tournament again in 2009.
Alright.....What about hiring an assistant coach from a big-time conference? Remember Mack McCarthy? He came to UTC to replace Murray Arnold in 1985 after serving as Sonny Smith's assistant at Auburn and stayed twelve seasons, amassing a record of 243-122. He won five SoCon Tournament titles making five trips to the NCAA Tournament, and advancing all the way to the "Sweet 16" in 1997.
Well.......What about hiring a little known commodity such as a Division II head coach? There is some chatter about Florida Southern University coach Linc Darner who won the D-II National Championship. Murray Arnold came to UTC in 1979 from Birmingham Southern, and Coach Arnold had tremendous success here. He won three straight Southern Conference titles and made three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
As you see, the Mocs have had proven winners in all three categories and they will again. Whoever takes over at UTC replacing Will Wade will find the cupboard full. Wade left enough talent to make a run at a SoCon title in 2016, much the way that Jeff Lebo left things for John Shulman in 2004-2005.
At the power five conference level, timing is much more important when you're looking for a new head coach, because you're looking to hire a proven winner with head coaching experience. At the mid-major level, most of the time you're about to give a deserving assistant coach a first shot at being the head guy. That's the situation that UTC athletic director David Blackburn is faced with. We all hope he makes the right choice!
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.