The Utah Jazz plan to interview more than 20 candidates for their head coaching vacancy after parting ways with Tyrone Corbin earlier this month, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. An unusually large number, it appears the team hopes to be as thorough as possible in locating a replacement for Corbin.
Utah Jazz plan to interview ‘20-plus candidates’ for head coaching gig, according to report
Utah appears to be planning the most comprehensive of coaching searches.
Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Via Genessy:
“It will be an exhaustive search. We’ll be expeditious, though,” [team president Randy] Rigby said Wednesday during an interview on The Zone Sports Network. “But we’ll be sensitive to taking the necessary time, so that we get it right and it will be the right selection for the Utah Jazz.”
With some team executives currently in Europe scouting for the upcoming draft, the actual search won’t hit its stride until next month, but it appears no stone will be left unturned. Utah plans to look at all options, “from ‘iconic players’ to guys with NBA head coaching experience, assistants, and coaches from international leagues and the college ranks.”
That broad description of possibilities makes it difficult to speculate who might interest the team, but Genessy mentions Spurs assistant Jim Boylen, who coached at University of Utah from 2007-11, and Italian coach Ettore Messina as "two of the more popular names circulating right now."
Those represent just two of the wide range of options that the Jazz will seemingly consider in the coming weeks after opting not to offer Corbin a contract extension earlier this week. He finished his time in Utah with a 112-146 record following a 2011 promotion.
The Jazz have a young core built around Derrick Favors, Trey Burke, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter and Alec Burks, so expect the team to consider that group when selecting a new coach. Guys like Favors and Kanter have seemingly stagnated after making progress early in their careers, so getting the most out of them will be the key.
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