Frank Vogel Will Not Return as Pacers Head Coach: Latest Comments and Reaction

Making the playoffs in five of the last six seasons wasn't enough for Frank Vogel to keep his job as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. The team declined to offer him a new deal after his current one expires at the end of the 2015-16 season, team president Larry Bird announced on May 5:

Bird also told reporters that he spoke with Vogel the morning of his departure, with the coach asking him to "reconsider his decision and 'start all over.'"

Bird also shot down the notion of his former Celtics teammate Kevin McHale taking over for Vogel, saying he "would not do that to Kevin, to have him work for me. That's not fair. I respect him too much."

Vogel released a statement on the decision, per Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star: 

Indiana finished the regular season seventh (45-37) in the Eastern Conference and lost in seven games to the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.

By most standards, making the playoffs was a positive overall result for a Pacers team somewhat in transition. Paul George was in his first full year back from a major knee injury, and Indiana was undergoing a stylistic change from what made it so successful in past years. George posted a statement about his relationship with Vogel on Instagram on Saturday:

"If you watched us play the last four, five or six years, we were more of a plodding team," said Bird in December 2015, per ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz. "We had the big center who protected the rim in Roy [Hibbert]. We had David West. And Paul was still elevating his game to another level. We weren't scoring enough points."

Last October, Bleacher Report's Josh Martin and ESPN.com both predicted the Pacers would win 39 games. ESPN's FiveThirtyEight projected Indiana to have 38 wins and a 50 percent chance of reaching the playoffs.

Despite Vogel meeting—or even exceeding, depending on your opinion—expectations, The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on May 1 that the team had yet to discuss an extension with its head coach.

Immediately after the Pacers' playoff exit, Bird refused to comment on Vogel's contract situation, per the Indianapolis Star's Gregg Doyel:

It's easy to see why Bird and Indiana's front office would be unhappy with the Pacers' continued struggles on the offensive end, but there's no arguing with how well Vogel has drilled his teams defensively.

From last year to this season, Indiana also became a more uptempo unit, showing Vogel is capable of instituting the necessary tactical changes:

Season	Off. Rating	Def. Rating	Pace
2010-11*	103.5 (18th)	104.3 (12th)	97.80 (3rd)
2011-12	103.5 (8th)	100.4 (10th)	93.35 (19th)
2012-13	101.6 (19th)	96.6 (1st)	92.84 (25th)
2013-14	101.5 (22nd)	96.7 (1st)	94.90 (20th)
2014-15	100.8 (23rd)	100.9 (8th)	95.50 (19th)
2015-16	102.4 (23rd)	100.2 (3rd)	98.99 (10th)

The timing of this decision also means the Pacers are entering the coaching market after some of the best candidates have already found new jobs: Luke Walton is joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Tom Thibodeau returned to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kenny Atkinson signed up for the massive task of rebuilding the Brooklyn Nets.

As Deadspin's Kevin Draper wrote, Indiana will have a hard time finding an improvement over what it had:

"

Perhaps more salient at this point, none of the candidates on the job market are as good of a coach as Vogel, let alone better than him. Mark Jackson? David Blatt? Vinny Del Negro? Jeff Hornacek? C'mon. The only possible upgrade to Vogel is if a currently untested assistant is the second coming of Gregg Popovich, and it seems awfully optimistic to take a flyer on that.

"

Bird could potentially gamble on a marquee assistant who has yet to prove himself as a head coach, but doing so might also mean another season or two of transition during George's prime years. Not everybody can be Steve Kerr and lead a team to a title in his first season on the sidelines.

Change doesn't always guarantee success, something one of the Pacers' Eastern Conference rivals is well aware of.

Letting Thibodeau go was the right move for the Bulls, and the hiring of Fred Hoiberg—the polar opposite in both style and demeanor—was seemingly a shrewd decision. But then Chicago won eight fewer games from 2014-15 to 2015-16.

The good news for Vogel is that he won't be lacking for opportunities this offseason if he chooses to jump right back into coaching. The Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and New York Knicks are all looking for a new head coach.

The 42-year-old could also take a year off so he has a potentially better selection next spring. His stock would only increase should the Pacers struggle in his absence next season.

Note: Stats are courtesy of NBA.com, and Vogel only coached the Pacers for 38 games in the 2010-11 season after replacing Jim O'Brien.