After his former teammate Juwan Howard was named the Big Ten
Coach of the Year, Chris Webber texted me when I asked him for a
quote for an article about him.
"I’m happy for Juwan. He earned it! He is a great leader! He
doesn’t even have to address all the critics that doubted his
success because I will.... Haaaaa told you soooo. Lol. I’m so damn
proud."
By leading his Michigan Wolverines to a 19-3 record as the No. 4
team in the nation, Howard has stuck it to the critics that Chris
was referring to. Let's go back to May 2019, when his alma mater
introduced him as the university's next men's basketball head
coach.
It was a beautiful moment seeing the Fab Five member and 19-year
NBA super-vet sitting there with his entire family by his side and
overcome with emotion, and watching him fighting back the tears as
he held up his same No. 25 jersey and hugged Michigan athletic
director Warde Manuel.
It was enough to plug at the heart strings of Howard and
Michigan fans, but anybody with eyes could see how much this meant
to him. This wasn’t simply someone being excited and elated to take
the reins of a team as the head coach, this was special to
Howard. It was so special that, as he took the podium, he needed
almost a full minute to compose himself before he uttered
words.
“I said I wasn’t going to cry...I guess that happens when you’re
excited about something so special to you," said an emotional
Howard.
As amazing and as memorable of a moment that it was, however,
not everyone shared in that excitement. It didn't take long for the
media and pundits to foolishly come after Howard's credibility as a
head coach.
“In essence, U-M is replacing a great coach who was never an
assistant coach with someone who has never been a head coach, which
raises all kinds of concerns and question marks,” wrote Jeff Seidel of the Detroit
Free Press. “...Howard has never been a head coach -- Coaching
the Heat's Summer League team doesn’t count. And he has no college
coaching experience.
“...We don’t know if Howard will be able to push the right
buttons or draw up the right plays or manage the clock or make the
right adjustments in a game. And we don’t know know if he will be
able to be an effective recruiter.”
MLive's Andrew Kahn questioned the move. There were
articles saying at the time that Howard's hire “raises all kinds of
concerns and question marks," and considered the decision “a huge
risk.” Mike Valenti, a radio host on 97.1 The Ticket, went further
with his disrespect: “Hiring Juwan Howard is nothing more than a PR
stunt and an admission you couldn’t get a quality candidate,"
Valenti said.
This is still happening now, too. It is well known that Doug
Gottileb of FOX Sports thrives to criticize. It’s kind of his
schtick. Just look at this tweet from last month.
The disrespect was evident of not only misspelling Juwan’s name
in his tweet, but the backhanded compliment in suggesting that
Howard doesn’t know what he’s doing or isn’t qualified to be a head
coach so he needs people around him that do.
Well, Howard proved each and every one of them wrong. Not only
did Howard win Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2021, but he also was
named Sporting News' COY.
On Sunday afternoon, SN's Mike Decoursy went into detail on
former-players-turned-coaches and tied it into the initial
reaction of Howard's hire two years ago.
“There was cause to be skeptical of whether Howard was the ideal
choice," Decoursy wrote. "The immediate period before he was hired
saw a series of NBA alum cycle through the college game with
moderate to no success. Avery Johnson lasted four seasons at
Alabama and finished just 13 games over .500, with one NCAA
Tournament appearance. Chris Mullin spent just as long at St.
John’s and was 14 games short of breaking even. From 2016 through
2019, Mike Dunleavy Sr. compiled a .258 winning percentage at
Tulane. With his fourth season at Georgetown soon to end, Patrick
Ewing is exactly a .500 coach.
"All of these men made serious contributions to the greatest
basketball competition on the planet, but each found conquering the
college game elusive. Working in the college game is a different
deal; one is as much a general manager, a salesperson, a fundraiser
and a mentor as a coach. The NBA has others to fill those roles,
leaving the people in charge of coaching to do only that. Handling
that wide variety of duties appears to be one reason those who
attempt to make the jump from the pros so often fail. But Howard
immediately demonstrated he was different.”
Asked about the critics during a press conference in Feb. 17,
Howard admitted that he's heard the doubters from day
one.
"I’m not gonna sit here like I don’t hear the noise before I got
hired. And also, still to this day, I hear the backhanded
compliments," Howard said. Am I competitive? Of course I am! But
I’m also about improving and having the growth mindset of how I can
get better to be the best version of myself to help prepare this
team, and more importantly to represent this fine institution the
best way possible. That’s my No. 1 goal. That’s what drives me.
That’s what really excites me.”
“And also -- yeah, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking
about plays, thinking about defensive situations, thinking about
how I can get better, how I can help prepare the team. That’s
how I’m wired. I wouldn’t have been able to last 19 years in the
NBA if I didn’t have a certain edge about me. To get back into
coaching, for six years as an assistant coach, the Miami Heat staff
and also I took upon myself to prepare myself to become a head
coach someday. I worked at this. And I’m gonna continue to keep
working. I love it.”
As a result of that love and dedication, Howard’s feisty
Wolverines are in contention for a national championship as we
enter the NCAA tourney next week. He’s out-recruiting Kentucky's
John Calipari and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, two of the top coaches in
college hoops. Michigan's freshman center, Hunter Dickinson,
exceeded expectations and won Big Ten Freshman Of The Year,
The Wolverines are a conference champion, a presumptive No. 1
seed for the NCAA Tournament and a highly-favored Final Four lock.
As Chris Webber told me, “He doesn’t have to address all of the
critics that doubted his success."
And with that success, Juwan Howard shut all of the critics
up.