The "new wave" of coaches in the ACC moving forward...
My mind wanders back to the early 80's. The ACC had what some might view as "The Establishment". These were guys named Dean Smith, Terry Holland, and Lefty Driesell. Though, calling the Lefthander anything associated with "establishment" just doesn't seem or feel right. I miss Lefty. Back then, some of the ACC coaches like Lefty and Jimmy V and Cwemins twying to get to the toowanamint were characters and made rooting for or against them so much more fun. Of course, the ACC was much smaller back then so it was a different time.
But then along came a wave of newbies. Young guys too. Some completely unheard of. Ratface came in from Army. They hated the hire. And, wanted to run him out of New Jersey on a rail after his 2nd and 3rd years. Tech hired a silver haired mophead who while loveable like a puppy was definitely off-center at times and a littly quirky to say the least. NC State brought in a Guido from Iona who was full of laughter and like Cremins didn't worry too much about the regular season but wanted to win just enough to get into the postseason where his teams would tend to peak at the right time.
Fast forward 35 years...
...Ratface is still there. But, his days are in the twilight of his career. Boeheim and Pitino have joined the ACC, not because they necessarily wanted to, but because they had to. Boeheim has already announced his coming departure in a few years. Pitino and the scandal he's facing could drive him out soon as well. Then, you have Deano's right hand man for so many years looking at eventual retirement (and potentially some sanctions for his program, though doubtful) soon. While I think Jim Larranaga at Miami still has at least 3 years in him, his days will come to an end most likely by the time Tech's new HC's contract is up.
The conference is much bigger now of course. Guys with a lot of years left and who are "established" (there's that word again) will soon become the deans of the ACC coaches. We're talking Mike Brey at Notre Dame and perhaps Leonard Hamilton at FSU...though, if he experiences another season with all that assembled talent like he did this past year, question marks are going to fly up quickly on his future. Hard to call Mark Gottfried a "dean" of ACC coaches, but if he stays in Raleigh by time those other guys mentioned above retire, he will be. Same for Brownell for that matter at Clemson.
Danny Manning has a huge rebuilding job at Wake and is just in his 2nd year. Buzz Williams is perhaps the shining star of the young newbies. And, in comes Josh Pastner to a sleeping giant. A gold mine as he says. (I happen to agree, but I am admittedly biased).
The one thing that made those "young punks" Ratface, Jimmy V and Cremins so successful is they bonded together as friends - something you probably won't see anymore...at least not to their levels - and took on the establishment. Jimmy V and Cremins never shook the trees. Ratface, perhaps out of necessity, had to take on Dean Smith. He beyatched about how Carolina got all the calls. Oh yes, some of us older fartekers remember those days. Funny how K morphed into the same person he used to complain about. But, I digress. Winning - especially at the right time (read: ACCT, NCAAT) - allowed these programs and coaches to go from unknown newbies to establishment breakers...and in K's case, the ultimate establishment.
I don't have a clue if Pastner or Williams or whoever will last. Times have changed. Fanbases are far less patient anymore. Cremins would've been given a lot longer time and understanding because Tech knew very little success in hoops prior to his arrival and winning big in the ACC at that time was just a dream. Perhaps an un-achievable dream for the realistic among us. But maybe, just maybe mind you, this young 38 year old will grab this job and all the advantages he has at his disposal that have been building (literally and figuratively) over the past decade for this time. Buzz Williams is already headed in the right direction. He's starting to piss off some of the establishment. How dare he win at Blacksburg? I hope Pastner does the same. Most of the ACC will take a wait-and-see attitude as we have no choice but to do the same. The abundant diatribes by those who are claiming this is a bad hire are unfounded and will be for another 2-4 years. We shall see.
