College Basketball: Tom Izzo and the 25 Most Likable Coaches in the Country
Whenever we watch a college basketball game, we see two coaches prowling the sidelines, waiting to encourage their players in any way they can. But which ones do we like the most?
As you can tell from the picture, Tom Izzo has to be one of the most likable coaches in the sport, but you'll have to read on to learn who the other 24 are.
First, though, what exactly makes a coach likable?
In my opinion, a coach becomes likable if he's either ridiculously successful or very personable and memorable on the bench.
Some coaches are more animated than others on the sidelines. Others choose to remain stoic and let their teams figure things out for themselves. But regardless of style, some men are just better at winning over fans and players.
These are those men.
Rick Barnes
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Rick Barnes has been coaching the Texas Longhorns since 1998 and has enjoyed quite a good bit of success during his tenure.
He's won three Big 12 regular-season championships and has been named Coach of the Year in his conference three times while in Austin, Texas.
Barnes has even become famous enough to make a cameo appearance on Friday Night Lights.
The coach has a great sense of humor and always seems to maintain a calm demeanor on the sidelines. He also just looks like a classy guy.
Maybe it's the Texas fan in me, but Barnes is a coach that I've always liked.
Jim Boeheim
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When you're the longest-tenured coach in men's college basketball, there have to be a whole bunch of people that like you.
During his time at Syracuse, which stretches back all the way to 1969, Jim Boeheim has been named national Coach of the Year once, Big East Coach of the Year four times and has won a National Championship. If I were to list all of his accomplishments, you'd have to scroll down a lot to get to the end of the list.
Boeheim has also been asked to participate in a lot of commercials in the Syracuse area and is a very well-liked and well-respected coach. He's also battled prostate cancer and has been a major player in the nonprofit organization Coaches vs. Cancer.
Jim Calhoun
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Jim Calhoun has coached Connecticut to three Final Fours since 1986 and has taken home two National Championships. He's won six Big East Tournaments and was a 2005 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
I don't think I'm alone when I say that I find success to be likable. It's fun to watch people that are good at what they do.
Calhoun may seem grumpy at times on the sideline, but don't let that fool you. You'd be hard pressed to find a better human being off the court.
Thanks to the fact that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer and squamous cell carcinoma, plus the fact that both he and his wife lost parents to heart disease, Calhoun has been very active in the community. He founded a cardiology center and research fund at Connecticut, he was named honorary chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the list goes on and on.
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Billy Donovan
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Billy Donovan burst onto the scene when he led the Florida Gators to back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007.
With the exception of a five-day stretch as the coach of the Orlando Magic, Donovan has been with the Gators since 1996 and has enjoyed quite a bit of success.
As Dick Vitale once said about the devout Christian: "Look at Billy Ball—the style of run, press and shoot employed by the Gators. It's the same style Donovan learned as a player under his mentor at Providence, Rick Pitino (currently the head coach at Louisville). Remember when the Friars went to the Final Four in 1987 with Donovan as their on-court leader and Pitino as their coach? Players love being around an upbeat guy like Donovan."
And it's true. So much so that he couldn't bear to leave his college kids behind despite the tantalizing appeal of the NBA.
Mark Few
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Mark Few has been a constantly familiar face on the sidelines for the Gonzaga Bulldogs ever since 1989, when he began his coaching career as an assistant coach. He became the head coach in 1999 and he has led the Bulldogs from obscurity to their current status as a constant mid-major power.
Gonzaga has lost the WCC regular-season championship just twice since Few has been the head coach and has won 10 in a row.
So why do I like him so much? Well, Gonzaga isn't exactly the biggest program in the nation. Few could have almost any job he wanted, but he's chosen to remain loyal to his team.
I love that.
Steve Fisher
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Steve Fisher has been around for a while now.
His most successful season came back in 1989 when he led the Michigan Wolverines to a very surprising National Championship. More recently, since 1999 actually, Fisher has prowled the sidelines of San Diego State, helping the Aztecs become one of the more respected mid-majors.
Fisher had to leave Michigan because of a recruiting scandal, but I still believe he's a good guy. He's doing a remarkable job repairing his image and putting his troubled past behind him. I have no choice but to respect that.
Mark Fox
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Maybe it's the glasses. Maybe it's the cool demeanor on the sidelines, staying calm until he needs to throw a little bit of a tantrum. Maybe it's the slight comb-over.
Maybe it's the fact that I'm a Georgia student and Mark Fox is my head coach.
But whatever it is, I really like the man who's turning around the Georgia Bulldogs basketball program.
One story that stands out it my mind happened during the Bulldogs game against Notre Dame. Fox was particularly displeased with his squad's lackluster effort so he took a full timeout. After talking to his team for literally five seconds, Fox sent them back onto the court. And not just near the bench, but all the way out under the basket.
The five players had to stand there in full view of the crowd and television audience thinking about what their coach had just done.
How many coaches would have the guts to do that?
Anthony Grant
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Dick Vitale called Anthony Grant, Alabama's head coach, one of his "Coaches on the Rise" for good reason.
This season, Grant has surprised the SEC while putting together a strong Crimson Tide team that very well may be the nation's most underrated squad.
Grant started his head coaching career at VCU in 2006 and won three CAA championships in his four years at the school. He was even named CAA Coach of the Year in 2007.
The man never seems to get mad. The picture on the left is the most emotional one I could find.
But get used to seeing his face as you're going to be seeing it a lot more in future seasons.
Ben Howland
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Ben Howland has been the Coach of the Year in three different conferences and has even been named the National Coach of the Year once in 2002.
He's coached the Bruins of UCLA since 2003 and has taken them to the Final Four three times, all between 2006 and 2008.
Bill Plaschke wrote last month, "Having watched Howland turn numerous cocky kids into strong, resilient men while winning 74 percent of his tournament games in eight UCLA seasons..."
He does this while maintaining a winning demeanor on the sideline and seems like one of the nicer coaches in the land.
Bob Huggins
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One Bob Huggins moment sticks out in my mind.
In the tournament last season, West Virginia was just moments away from being eliminated when their star player, DeSean Butler, went down with what was clearly a severe injury.
In a touching, albeit slightly uncomfortable, moment, Huggins knelt and put his face just inches from Butler's and attempted to console him.
A lot of people might find his style slightly abrasive, but I can't help but like him after that moment.
Tom Izzo
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There's a reason that the Michigan State coach was on the cover of this slideshow.
Tom Izzo may be the single most likable coach in all of college basketball. He wants his players to be tough and they're willing to be because they want to make him proud. It's what has made him so remarkably successful during his coaching career.
Whether it's wearing Hawaiian shirts on the sidelines or just being a fun-loving, personable man, Tom Izzo is quite likable.
Mike Krzyzewski
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There are probably a ton of people out there who can't stand Mike Krzyzewski. Hell, just trying to spell his name correctly made me question whether or not to include him.
But you can't argue with success and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better coach. As I said earlier, I like success.
Then when you learn the reason that he wears the pin on his lapel, you really can't not like Coach K. You can read the story here.
Plus there's the fact that Coach K possesses a wonderful set of morals. His character and principles are almost unmatched.
Jim Larranaga
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I absolutely love how goofy Jim Larranaga looks in this picture.
His New York accent has really grown on the people of George Mason since he's coached their team to 13-straight winning seasons, including the Cinderella-like 2006 season when the Patriots made the Final Four.
The media absolutely loved him during his time in the spotlight, and I'm sure they still do around George Mason. He just doesn't garner much national attention anymore.
I mean, Larranaga once told his players that CAA stood for Connecticut Assassins Association in order to motivate them on their quest to take down Connecticut. How is that not likable?
Chris Lowery
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Only real men can wear pink ties.
Chris Lowery has been the head coach for the Southern Illinois Salukis since 2004 and has guided them to two regular season MWC Championships and one MWC Tournament title, winning the conference's Coach of the Year award once in the process.
Not only is Lowery willing to talk about basketball history, but he's also willing to coach his Salukis into making some of their own.
The head coach has always seemed like a classy men, and c'mon, he wears pink ties.
Frank Martin
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A lot of you may be wondering if this is a joke. How in the world could Frank Martin be likable?
The Kansas State coach is known for "The Stare" (yes, it deserves capital letters). He paces up and down the sidelines with previously-unseen intensity and intimidates everyone around him.
Martin yells and screams at his players. He is absolutely brutal to the referees.
But you know what? It works. He wins games. And Kansas State loves him for it.
I wasn't going to put Martin on this list, but then I saw the video that you'll see if you click on this sentence. Once you watch, it becomes quite clear that Martin is a nice, well-spoken man who is adored by his fans and school.
Thad Matta
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After coaching at Butler and Xavier, Thad Matta moved on to his current gig as the head coach at Ohio State.
This season, he's enjoyed remarkable success. The Buckeyes are 25-1 right now and appear to be one of the most complete teams in the nation. Their sole loss came in an away game against the always-tough Wisconsin Badgers.
I've always liked Matta because he seems to know exactly what his team needs at different times during the game. He tends to be passive until the moment is absolutely right, but then he can indeed get fired up.
Sean Miller
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Look at that three-point stance. See the left hand placed firmly on the ground to the left of his body, the left knee resting on the floor as the tip of the left foot gracefully presses upon the ground and the right foot planted, coiling up his leg so that he's ready to spring up at any moment?
That, my friends, is the perfect form for a coach when he's trying to get into the game and motivate his team.
Sean Miller practiced that stance quite a bit during his successful career at Xavier. As of 2009, though, he's been the head coach for the Arizona Wildcats.
Miller may seem fidgety and overly-intense at times on the sideline, but it's only because his passion for the game of basketball is too big for his body to fully contain.
Matt Painter
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The head coach at Purdue, Matt Painter's career has been one filled with success. A Purdue graduate himself, Painter has been the head coach for the Boilermakers since 2005.
He's guided the team to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, yet this team appears to be his best one. JaJuan Johnson, Etwaun Moore and company give Purdue a real shot at the title this season. The shot may be a long one, but the possibility is still there.
Purdue is a blue-collar basketball team that prides itself on efficiency and doesn't necessarily have to be flashy to win games. Guys like Chris Kramer, who graduated last year, are what the program is all about. Matt Painter, as the head coach, truly reflects that mentality.
Bo Ryan
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Bo Ryan has been the head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers since 2001. During that time, he's won two Big Ten tournaments and three regular season titles. Ryan has also been named his conference's coach of the year twice and the top coach in the nation once.
Thanks to his intensity, omnipresent scowl and badger-like looks, Bo Ryan doesn't exactly look likable while he's on the sideline. But then you meet the man off court and your opinion changes.
His press conferences border on hilarious at times. He's been recorded doing the Soulja Boy dance. That was not a typo.
Bo Ryan is likable. I promise.
Bill Self
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Bill Self may be my absolute favorite coach in the country.
He's had so much success throughout his career. The best times have come at Kansas, but you can't discount his tenures at Oral Roberts, Tulsa or Illinois either. Self has been named a conference's coach of the year three times and he won pretty much every award possible in 2009.
But the reason I like him is because he embodies class and isn't afraid to tell it how it is.
Besides that, Self has even started his own foundation, the Assists Foundation, in order to help provide young children across America with access to better lives.
Brad Stevens
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When I was trying to decide who to put on the cover of the slideshow, the decision came down to Tom Izzo and Brad Stevens. Obviously, Izzo was chosen, but don't let that take away from Stevens' likability.
The baby-faced coach took the world by storm when he led his upstart Butler Bulldogs all the way to the National Championship last season, only to watch Gordan Hayward's desperation heave clang off the backboard and rim mere inches from dropping through for the win.
Stevens is undoubtedly one of the up-and-coming coaches in the land. His youth and every-man looks make him someone with whom the average college basketball watcher can relate.
John Thompson III
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There's a chance that I like him because his Georgetown Hoyas allowed Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats to upset them back in 2008, but I don't think that's the only reason. I mean, the mustache has to have something to do with it.
On a more serious note, Thompson has been remarkably successful during his brief reign at Georgetown. Since he took over in 2004, after four years at Princeton, Thompson has led the Hoyas to two Big East regular season championships and one Big East Tournament title.
When you remember that the Big East is always one of the most powerful conferences in the sport, that becomes quite impressive.
He does it all in a very cool and collected way. His demeanor, just like his looks, are rather reminiscent of a teddy bear. And who doesn't like teddy bears?
Gary Williams
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"Last year in early February people were calling me and saying, 'Hey, Joe Lunardi doesn't have you in the tournament.' I guess I could have worried about that. Or I could try to win games. We won seven in a row, finished tied for first in the ACC. I don't know if Joe ever had us in the tournament. I do know we played in it."
Now don't get me wrong, I love Joe Lunardi and I often read his stuff to see if how the teams I follow are seeded. But I love the candor of Gary Williams even more.
A lot of coaches hold back and don't say exactly how they feel. But not Gary Williams.
He is also known for his pre-game fist pump that never fails to pump up the Maryland student section. Then the game starts and Williams becomes incredibly animated, especially when a player makes his mistakes.
Many people around the country have found this excessive gesticulation and movement worthy of criticism, but I find it rather humorous.
Roy Williams
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Roy Williams is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
He's been named AP Coach of the Year twice.
Williams led his teams (North Carolina now and Kansas in the past) to 13 regulars season conference championships and six conference tournament titles.
He's been to seven Final Fours and won two National Championships.
I said earlier that I like success. Roy Williams qualifies as successful.
Jay Wright
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He very well may be the best dressed coach in all of college basketball and who doesn't like a dapper gentleman?
Jay Wright, who incidentally is married to a former Villanova cheerleader, has been the head coach for the Wildcats since 2001. While there, he's made it to the Final Four once and been named Naismith College Coach of the Year once.
He knows how to be tough on his players, but he's also known for encouraging them and being supportive even during the tough times. If I was a player, Wright is one of those guys that I'd love to play for.
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