Let's get one thing out of the way first: nobody knows what Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman is thinking other than Wellman himself when it comes to his quest to replace Jeff Bzdelik as coach of the Demon Deacons. Little information about coaching candidates and possible offers to said candidates has leaked thus far in what has been a mostly tight-lipped search for a new coach. Local and national media have speculated on the obvious (Shaka Smart and Ben Howland) and the not-so-obvious (Chris Mack and Danny Manning).
What's most curious are not the names themselves, but rather the fan reaction to those names.
Tie Dye Nation has been clamoring for Smart for years, and the opportunity to get him had many on social media and message boards giddy with anticipation. After all, why wouldn't Smart want to come to the ACC? Heck, Wake Forest has a sophomore-laden team and could be pretty darn good with the right leadership. The timing was right for the next coaching superstar to wind up at Wake Forest.
Except he didn't. At least, not yet.
Gregg Marshall's name has been bandied about, as well. Except sources close to the situation were telling me (emphatically, I might add) that there was no chance Marshall would be the next coach at Wake Forest, due to an apparently well-earned reputation for being prickly and not playing well with others. If that is true, then that certainly won't fly with Ron Wellman.Howland was another name tossed out on occasion, too, but I've always thought he would want too much control. Again, that won't fly with Ron Wellman and the Wake administration.
All three names: Smart, Marshall, Howland were met with varying degrees of enthusiasm by Wake fans. Most I've heard from had them in their top three of their "wish lists". I don't disagree- Wake needs a winner, and each of them has a proven track record for creating just that.
The problem as I see it is not that fans are disappointed one of them hasn't been hired (yet, always yet). The problem is that, judging from what I've read, no other candidates mentioned can coach or coach nearly as well as the Big Three (save for new coaching star Archie Miller). Early on, Mack's name emerged as a possible candidate and some fans quickly dismissed his hypothetical hire as a failure. So, too, was the reaction Monday to a report that Danny Manning was a Wake Forest target. That information was later confirmed by Manning himself, making social media and message boards a bastion of doom and gloom.
The truth is that the only way Ron Wellman fails in this coaching search is if he didn't at least offer Smart (and in my own opinion, Miller) a package to come to Winston-Salem. That's it. If he interviewed candidates major and minor, big and small, and decided they weren't the best fit for the school he represents- well, that's his job. It's called vetting. Wellman, for all his faults, has a good sense of who fits at Wake. For every Jeff Bzdelik, there are five Jen Hoovers. At Wake Forest, you'd best win but you shall not win at all costs. That means that Wellman's job is to find a coach that will best serve the University and its stakeholders.
The bigger truth is that if Wellman trots out Mack, Manning or Lon Freaking Kruger at the press conference, Wake Forest has hired a good coach. My hope is that the fan base can get past the new math of "Not Shaka = "Bad Coach" and realize their situation. The shine is off the gem that is the Wake basketball program, and Wellman knows it. Heck, he's mostly to blame for it. I understand that, no matter his success with other sports, people are nervous about this basketball hire. But, they shouldn't be.
At least, not yet.
