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Adrian Griffin Would Be Ideal Candidate For Bulls Head Coaching Job

By Paul Steeno

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A report on Friday by ESPN’s Marc Stein confirmed what most people already knew: Coach Tom Thibodeau is a goner. With this statement cemented as a virtual inevitability, the Bulls franchise is scrambling to find a worthy candidate to replace a head coach that had a 62.4 winning percentage during his tenure in Chicago.

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Several names have emerged as candidates—most prominent among them is Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg and Golden State Warriors associate head coach Alvin Gentry.

However, current associate head coach Adrian Griffin is the most qualified candidate for the job.

Griffin, a nine-year NBA veteran, has been an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls since 2010. He is widely regarded as one of the top assistants in the NBA and has been considered for head coaching spots in Cleveland and Utah as recently as 2014.

He has been instrumental in the success and overall development of a number of players on the roster, especially shooting guard Jimmy Butler. In his press conference after winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award this season, Butler credited Griffin for the massive strides that he made this season.

Stein recently tweeted that the Bulls are considering Griffin as a possible candidate to fill their predicted head coaching vacancy.

According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, Griffin still remains a consolation prize for the Chicago Bulls—a “plan B” if they are unable to land Fred Hoiberg or Alvin Gentry. However, Griffin far exceeds the other two in terms of how well he would fit as head coach of this franchise.  

If the Bulls do ultimately decide to part ways with Tom Thibodeau, the ideal candidate to replace him as head coach would be Griffin. He has been with the franchise since 2010 and with him at the helm there wouldn’t be a major overhaul in the philosophy and culture of this team.

In addition, Griffin is more qualified than any of the other candidates for the Bulls head coaching position.

With Griffin at the helm, the Bulls are getting the best of both worlds. They get a coach that will maintain the culture and principles introduced by Thibodeau. At the same time, Griffin is less of a dynamic personality and won’t stubbornly stick to his principles when it is clear that what is being done isn’t working.

Griffin has also been with this team for five seasons so there would already  be a high level of pre-existing trust present if he were to become a head coach. This core group of players will play hard for Griffin and do as he says because he has been a constant in the coaching staff for a majority of their careers.

Another reason that Griffin should be the next head coach of the Chicago Bulls if Thibodeau is ousted is he is better option than the other candidates.

Fred Hoiberg

Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg has been identified as one of the top candidates to inherit the head coaching duties in Chicago if Tom Thibodeau is no longer there. Hoiberg played for the Chicago Bulls from 1999-2003 and has fostered a relationship with Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson. He also has a close relationship with general manager Gar Forman, who even bought Hoiberg a house in Chicago.

Earlier reports indicated that Hoiberg was unlikely to uproot his family from Ames, Iowa (location of Iowa State). In early April, Hoiberg underwent open-heart surgery to fix his aortic valve. He has had a chronic heart condition during his life stemming from a diagnosis of a bicuspid aortic valve in 1991. Many people thought these issues would prevent Hoiberg from changing head coaching jobs, however, new reports indicate otherwise.

Fox reporter Bear Heiser tweeted that Hoiberg has reconsidered his stance regarding the Chicago Bulls head coaching job.

Hoiberg runs an NBA-style offense at Iowa State and the belief is that he could come in and help rectify the sometimes anemic Bulls offense right away. However, this is purely speculative because he has had trouble with his “NBA style offense” when it matters most: the NCAA tournament.

Mar 2, 2015; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg reacts to a call during their game with the Oklahoma Sooners at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State beat Oklahoma 77-70. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

In his five years with the Cyclones, Hoiberg has never led his team past the Round of 16. His tournament struggles culminated with a Round of 64 exit to 14th-seeded University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers this past March.

In addition, Hoiberg doesn’t have any connections with the core group of players in the Chicago Bulls franchise. Therefore, issues of trust and respect move to the forefront. He didn’t establish the current culture in Chicago and any change in culture could be detrimental to the moral of the players of this team.

NBA analyst Kevin Gill agrees that Hoiberg may not be able to earn the respect of this very decorated group of players.

"In my experience as an NBA player, if you’re going to bring in a guy, you need to bring in a guy who is going to be respected. You got Derrick Rose, former MVP, Joakim Noah, All-Star, Jimmy Butler, All-Star, Pau Gasol, NBA Champion and All-Star. You have to bring in somebody that they will respect. I don’t know whether Fred Hoiberg carries the weight."

Alvin Gentry

Alvin Gentry currently is the associate head coach of the Golden State Warriors. He has been the head coach of four different NBA teams during his career and was fired from two of those positions. His record as a head coach is 335-370 (47.5 percent) and he has only made the playoffs in two of the twelve seasons where he has been head coach of a team.

April 18, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors associate head coach Alvin Gentry during the third quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans 106-99. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

His career record proves that he is an average NBA coach; a far giant step down from Thibodeau who has a career winning percentage of 62.4 and has led his team to the playoffs all five of the seasons in which he has been a head coach in this league.

In addition, Gentry doesn’t have connections in Chicago, so he isn’t a system guy and would likely disrupt the established culture on this team. Respect issues would probably also emerge if Gentry was given the head coaching job of the Chicago Bulls.

If Thibodeau must leave, replacing him with a man that knows the existing system and has an established mutual trust with the current players would be the most ideal solution. For the Bulls to make the next step towards winning a championship, a few simple tweaks in their coaching philosophy are needed, not a complete overhaul of a system that has been successful.

Hiring Griffin gives the Chicago Bulls the best opportunity to remain championship contenders for years to come without undergoing a rebuilding campaign.

Next: Bulls players want Tom Thibodeau to stay in Chicago

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