As Maryland is still feeling the pain of the last second loss against Michagan State six weeks ago, they received a bit of bad news this week. Assistant coach Driesell has been named head coach of The Citadel. Just as the coaching staff was creating some chemistry, another coach gets plucked from the Gary Williams coaching tree.
Speculation around town has been that former assistant Jimmy Patsos is the front runner as the replacement. Williams has denied that Patsos has been rehired, but did not deny that he’s been considered for the position. Quoting the Baltimore Sun:
“There were online reports Friday night that Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos has been hired — or is about to be — to fill the post. Williams said that was inaccurate. But Maryland officials weren’t ruling out Patsos as a candidate.”
— Jeff Baker, Baltimore Sun
Patsos has been with Loyola University for the past six years and has had mediocre success. He has an 83 – 99 win/loss record there and although his teams have fire, they lacked the necessary intensity to have winning seasons. Patsos was a great coach and recruiter here at Maryland, but I think that ship has sailed.
Other possibilities include promoting Keith Booth which would be a great for the former Terps player. He has earned his time so far with Maryland and the players look up to him. Another could be Juan Dixon now that he is out of work. Why not follow the Mike Krzyzewshi coaching philosophy and hire back all your former players?
Are you sure he wasn't pushed out like his daddy?
Chuck was not forced out. He was doing a good job as a recruiter and was a valuable memeber of the staff. He will be missed. It is good that he got a head job, but I don't t hink the Citadel is that good of a job.
I was surprised and a little disappointed that Patsos was being mentioned as the front-runner. Patsos was obviously an assistant coach during unrivaled success at MD, but I was hoping a young dynamic recruiter with local connections would get the job. But let's face it, Gary is not looking for someone to exploit AAU relationships and maybe part of Gary's success was havign assistants that understand him and are able to recognize talent that fits well into MD's system.