My Two Cents: Coaching Searches the One Time Where No Doesn't Always Mean No

Brad Stevens said no earlier this week when asked if he was leaving Boston for Indiana, but history tells us in coaches searches that saying no in public doesn't mean the same thing in private.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Every time, at every big-time school, the situation plays out the same way when a coaching opening happens. People don't lie, but they don't really tell the truth, either, at least not in public.

And it's true on both sides of the aisle. There's a lot of subterfuge in play when you're trying to match coach to school. That word was made for coaching hires. It is the perfect word.

"Deceit used to in order to achieve one's goal,'' that's the definition. And it's the ultimate smoke screen.

In high-profile coaching searches, it happens every time. You can argue that maybe Indiana isn't a blueblood basketball program anymore, but I will always argue back with you. College basketball is better when Indiana is really good, and that does not change after a few short years ... or decades.

It's the same at North Carolina or Kentucky. It's damn sure been the same at UCLA for 40 years. Seen it, lived it, watched it all play out any time the seats have come open at those schools.

I've seen it and lived it at football bluebloods too, like Alabama or all the Florida schools, Florida, Florida State and Miami. Every hire plays out the same way. Subterfuge at every turn.

And that is playing out right now at Indiana, too, just as we knew it would. Once it became abundantly clear that it wasn't going to work with Archie Miller – and some people saw that sooner than others – the mind games have started.

Archie Miller was fired on Monday after four mostly unglorious years in Bloomington, and within minutes, the lazy lists of potential replacements started showing up. Top five candidates, top 10 candidates, you name it, it was out there.

So with every name that's mentioned, you have to ask for a comment. Brad Stevens, asked and answered. Scott Drew, John Beilein, Chris Beard, Nate Oats and others, asked and answered, sort of. And then you shuffle the list and cross off names.

But behind the scenes, that's not how it works, because no doesn't really mean no.

Not in a coaching search.

We've seen all this before

I lived  through the Nick Saban drama in Miami, when he kept saying he wasn't leaving the NFL's Dolphins for Alabama, right up until the time he got on the plane – and went to Alabama. I've seen a dozen more hires just like it, football and basketball both.

In my role, you don't really read the lines, you read BETWEEN the lines. And over time, you get pretty good at it. You have to, or a coaching search will drive you crazy

Texas Tech's Chris Beard, for instance, can come to Bloomington – of all places – for his NCAA Tournament game and say he doesn't talk about jobs. That's his line. But he's on that Indiana wish list for many, and close to the top.

"One of our core values is eliminate distractions," Beard said about being connected to the Indiana opening because he's the freshest limb on the Bob Knight coaching tree. "You Google anything, something is popping up. I understand and respect the question, but our players are more concerned about when Drake’s new song is coming out or what uniforms we’re wearing Friday. It’s all about eliminating distractions."

Between the lines, it's completely different. He's probably looking around Assembly Hall very closely, wondering about the fit, and visiting with the Knights, Bob and Patrick, his former bosses at Texas Tech. 

It's impossible not to. But he's never going to say that.

And then there's Nate Oats, the hot new name in college basketball. He's high on the Indiana wish list because he's got Midwest roots and he just won the regular season and conference titles at Alabama. 

He's winning basketball championships at a football school. Isn't that Indiana now? (Wink, wink.) He certainly would be a good fit in Bloomington, but his no was very clear on Wednesday – and I believe him.

“No interest in any job other than the one I currently have,” Oats said in a text message to The Tuscaloosa News. “We have something special here, love it here, and just signed an extension for this very reason, so we didn’t have to address these situations while we’re trying to win games.”

He's not leaving Alabama right now, because he's very happy there, two years in. I've heard that from many voices. And if he makes the Final Four this year, don't be surprised. He's that good.

This "say one thing but maybe do another'' works both ways, too. Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson will have a public face throughout this at the beginning of the search and the end of the search, but we're not going to hear from him in between. He answered questions for 30 minutes on Monday afternoon after the Miller firing, and said all the right things, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything behind the scenes.

Those Indiana ties he talked about? Well, a lot of phones you'd expect to be ringing have remained silent. Not just one or two, but several. Say one thing publicly, do other things privately. That's how this works. We aren't going to get daily, truthful updates. It's all in an effort to find the absolute best coach for this situation. And surprisingly, considering what I do for a living, I'm fine with that. 

Which brings us, finally and lastly, to Brad Stevens.

No, no, no .... yes?

 Brad Stevens was asked about Indiana on Tuesday and immediately shot down any talk about leaving Boston. He said it, so we all wrote it. We had to. That was the story ... for THAT day.

But in the days that follow, behind closed doors, you have to read between the lines. Closely, because where the truth is buried deeply between those lines.

No one has said anything, on the record or off, but I still don't believe you cannot cross Brad Stevens off the Indiana list with a permanent marker. He's the name on top of the list for many (hand raised) because of what he did at Butler, and what he could do with Indiana's resources.

His name came up four years ago, but the timing was bad. His Boston Celtics were ascending toward the top of the Eastern Conference pecking order, and it seemed like he would win an NBA title there at some point.

Four years ago, when Fred Glass was looking to replace Tom Crean, Stevens was the first call, too. It was a quick no. He was very happy in Boston. He had the perfect job there. Glass knew that, so he hired Archie Miller instead.

But now, four years later, it's different. It's the Brooklyn Nets who are that team in the NBA now. And there are three or four other teams in the East who are better than the Celtics, who are now barely a .500 team.

That ascension? Long gone. And it's a roster thing, not a Stevens thing.

“It’s been a challenging year,” Celtics president Danny Ainge said. "I don’t base it just on wins and losses. Part of our four-game win streak right before the break was good for us. We needed it for morale, but they weren’t great wins. We didn’t play great. I’ve said this before, but I feel like there are parts of games where we play well in most games. It’s just how long that part is. Is it a quarter, a half, is it three quarters?

“We’ve struggled to close out games and we’ve struggled with consistency and you hear me talk a lot about resolve. It just seems like we don’t have a lot of characteristics of a really good team, for sure. We have some talented guys, but our team right now is not playing as well as we had hoped.”

For the first time in his eight years in Boston, the boo birds are out in Celtics Nation. They haven't been able to boo at home game because of COVID protocols, but they've been vicious and in attack mode  toward Stevens on social media platforms.

The bloom is off the Brad Stevens rose for sure in Boston.

Stevens and Ainge have a great relationship, and Ainge is one of his biggest fans. But in the NBA, eight years is a long time and sometimes players start tuning out a coach's voice. Not saying that's happening in Boston, but when you're 20-20 and suddenly at risk of not making the playoffs, you are what your record says you are.

.It make sense – perfect sense – for a change if the right opportunity was there for the taking.

For Brad Stevens, Indiana is ABSOLUTELY there for the taking.

The stars are all aligning, in a perfect little row. This timing couldn't be better. From our perspective here in Bloomington, of course we can see it all that way. 

But Stevens can see it, too. And so can Danny Ainge. If there is a time, now is that time. The NBA trade deadline is next week, another highlight day on the NBA calendar. If nothing really changes in Boston with that roster, isn't a perfect time for Stevens to re-evaluate his long-term career plans? After all, he is just 44 years old.

"It means a lot," Stevens said of the Indiana interest, and there's no reading between the lines there. He truly believes that. His entire basketball background is based off growing up watching basketball in Assembly Hall, and watching his beloved Hoosiers on TV. Those childhood memories do not go away. Ever.

"Listen, I've got a lot of friends back there. I've got a lot of people that are really important to me there. My dad's still there. That does mean a lot,'' Stevens said. "I won't act like that doesn't. Like I said earlier today, it's flattering. But I also realize that I'm the coach of the Celtics and that's been an amazing opportunity, an amazing challenge every day for the last eight years and I'm extremely grateful for that."

There's plenty for Brad Stevens to be grateful for. Not only is he a great basketball coach, but very few people have anything bad to say about him.

So that's why he's never been crossed off of my list. I won't believe Brad Stevens won't be the next coach at Indiana until someone else is standing in front of that podium at an introductory press conference, or sitting in that top Zoom window like we do it in 2021.

It just makes too much sense for today in Brad Stevens' world. He is Indiana's Nick Saban, fixing both a program and a fractured fan base. He could be, dare we say, Indiana's next Bob Knight. He can absolutely restore the greatness. I'm not saying six more championships great, like Saban, or even three like Knight, but one for sure, and the hope every year of being in that mix. That's all Indiana diehards really want.

That's what Brad Stevens grew up with, too,

"When you're a kid growing up in that state, basketball means a lot and the college programs in the state mean a ton,'' Stevens said. 'And for me, growing up, it was certainly IU."

So this coaching search, it's never over until it's over. I still have a good feeling about this. And there's no reading between the lines necessary.

It just makes too much sense. For everyone involved.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• ARCHIE MILLER FIRED: Indiana fires Archie Miller on Monday after four subpar seasons at the helm of the Hoosiers program. CLICK HERE
• SCOTT DOLSON VIDEO: Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson met with the media Monday and explained why he fired Archie Miller, how tough the decision way, and his vision for the future. Watch all 26 minutes here. CLICK HERE
• TOM BREW COLUMN: Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson didn't let that big buyout get in the way of making the right decision for the basketball program. CLICK HERE
• CHRIS BEARD TALKS BOB KNIGHT: Texas Tech is in Bloomington for the NCAA Tournament and Chris Beard talked about what it means to be there. He was an assistant for Knight at Tech. CLICK HERE
• KEITH SMART CHECKS BOXES: Former Indiana great Keith Smart checks a lot of boxes to be Indiana's next head coach. He's a below-the-radar candidate. CLICK HERE