| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Mike Davis understands the interim label.
If he wins, he has a chance to become the head coach. If he doesn't, he said he shouldn't be asked.
"If we don't win, then I shouldn't be considered for it," Davis said after being named interim coach at Indiana on Tuesday, replacing Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight. "I've got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because Indiana is one of the best jobs in the country. I understand that."
Understanding that he can't worry about becoming the full-time coach
is the key part of being an interim coach, according to two coaches who had
to endure the tense takeover of high-profile programs.
|  | | Steve Lavin spent a season with the "interim" tag before proving to UCLA he was the right man for the full-time job. |
Steve Lavin, who is entering his fifth season since taking over for
Jim Harrick at UCLA, and Don Newman, who was the interim coach at Arizona State for
the 1997-98 season after Bill Frieder resigned, said Davis is in for an emotional ride as an interim coach.
"You've got to forget the interim tag," said Newman, who did not get hired at Arizona State. "He's the head coach at Indiana University and every time he takes the floor, Mike Davis has to have that attitude. Whatever happens at the end of the year is out of his control."
Then-Arizona State athletics director Kevin White made it clear to
Newman when he tabbed him as interim that he would look for a fulltime coach
in the spring, and that Newman would be given the chance to be a candidate. Indiana
athletics director Clarence Doninger has given the same parameters to Davis.
"He has a chance to audition for the job every day of the year," Newman said. "You can't look at it as only a three or four-month job or a 27-29 game job. If that's the way you look at it, that's all you've got. He could walk in and have a dynamite season. We were picked last and had a good year."
Arizona State made the postseason NIT after reaching the Preseason
NIT final four in Newman's interim season.
Indiana has a chance to compete for a top-four finish in the Big Ten and an NCAA Tournament berth. The Hoosiers have one of the most talented frontlines in the league with McDonald's all-American freshman Jared Jeffries, sophomore forward Jeffrey Newton, junior center Kirk Haston and sophomore forward George Leach.
If Dane Fife, A.J. Moye and Andre Owens can replace A.J. Guyton's
production in the backcourt, then the Hoosiers have a realistic shot of being
a consistent top 25 team.
"I want to win," said Davis, who will begin conditioning at 6 a.m. Wednesday and then individual instruction later in the day with the Hoosiers.
|
“ |
You've got to forget the interim tag.
He's the head coach at Indiana University and
every time he takes the floor, Mike Davis has to
have that attitude. Whatever happens at the end
of the year is out of his control. ” |
|
|
— Don Newman,
interim head coach at Arizona State (1997-98) |
Davis, flanked by his players during his news conference Tuesday, has the support of the team. Every player is staying, including Fife, who had threatened on Monday to transfer. Davis even has the endorsement of Knight.
And he's going to lean on Knight for advice. Nothing formal has been
set up, but Davis said he wouldn't hesitate to call the former coach.
Lavin didn't talk to Harrick after he replaced him, but Newman was in contact with Frieder. In lieu of Harrick's advice, Lavin leaned on a collection of coaches who could
advise him, including Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Purdue's Gene Keady, his father Cap Lavin, and Pete Newell.
"It's very difficult to replace your boss who has been fired," Lavin said.
"The kids are traumatized and the staff is emotionally torn as well. But
you're thrust into things that you can't control. His life will be on warp
speed. He'll have to handle speaking engagements, deal with the media,
alumni functions, athletic department meetings. These are unchartered waters
for him."
Davis has never been a head coach. Neither had Lavin. Newman had for
a brief time at Sacramento State, but he still had to get the players to
believe in him as a head coach.
"I had to get the players to believe and make a commitment," Newman said.
While Davis has the support of his players,
he will still need to become more assertive, and at times, the disciplinarian. It's a different role for someone who has been the assistant the players could confide in throughout their recruitment and tenure on the team.
But that shouldn't be hard for Davis. The players will likely play
as hard for Davis as they would for Knight. The students, alumni and likely
the national media will get behind Indiana.
The Hoosiers will likely take on an us-against-them attitude and will be as tight as they ever have been at Indiana.
"It's still the tightest group we've had since I've been here," Lavin said of his first team. "I think that will be the same for Mike."
Sun Devils players tried to rally for Newman, but it was to no avail. During the season, the Sun Devils became the underdog team that the locals loved to get behind.
"The town and the people rallied for us," Newman said. "Did Newman
get the job? No. But it was a feel-good year, no question."
That's what Davis and the Hoosier faithful are in for, regardless of what happens with the full-time search in the spring.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
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