The right staff is paramount
As we all know, assistant coaches play a huge part in any successful college program and so the first order of business for Howard is building a staff.
And for a guy like him, that has zero head coaching experience and zero experience coaching in college, putting together the right staff is going to be essential to his success.
Still waiting for official word on Juwan Howard, if he is the guy though, how would you grade his hire?#GoBlue
— GBM Wolverine (@GBM_Wolverine) May 22, 2019
It sounds like Luke Yaklich is going to leave for Texas and after missing out on the Michigan basketball head job, it’s hard to blame him. Would you want to coach for someone that got picked for the job over you? Someone who also specializes in defense? Probably not.
If/when Michigan hires Juwan Howard — no deal is official yet, per @GoodmanHoops and @JonRothstein — I’d expect current Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich to head to Austin in short order and join Shaka Smart’s staff at Texas.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) May 22, 2019
At least one assistant needed to leave because Howard needs a guy with head coaching experience on his staff. But if Howard can pair a veteran coach with current assistants like Saddi Washington and DeAndre Haynes, it could help with recruiting, as well as the transition.
It will also help Howard learn on the job, which is absolutely something he will have to do the next few seasons.