Originally Posted by
Rocker Ute
This post is pure Ute homerism, I'll just say that out of the gate about what I'm about to say. I fully acknowledge the same sort of things were said about Urban Meyer and anyone else we desperately wished was a long-term part of the program. That being said...
One of the things that has impressed me the most about Kodiak and his crew is their commitment to culture and only recruiting kids who not only have talent, but fit the model and are good people. They seem to really care and enjoy developing kids into great basketball players and working with the people they want to work with. The professional basketball setting doesn't allow for any of that. You are managing high talented egos and trying to coerce them into playing like a team. I tend to believe that he is happy here, his family seems to like it and I think they also like the thought of some stability in life. I don't think that Kodiak is your average college coach in a deep desire to move on up, particularly if he believes he can reach the pinnacle at the U.
One telling story is when he was hired here, Chris Hill offered him a salary mentioning it was about average for PAC12 coaches. Krystkowiak came back the next day asking for nominally more saying, "My wife thinks I'm slightly above average..." That tells me a lot about him and who he is.
Finally, we have all of the elements in place to create a team that could go all the way now. We have superior facilities, he is rebuilding the tradition and we have the right conference affiliation. Yes you have the challenges that will likely be there for a while longer about perceptions of life in Utah, but that can be overcome. If you can succeed in basketball in Indiana, Kansas or Kentucky you can succeed in Utah.
I tend to think that he'll be here for a while and won't be entertaining all offers that come along like Majerus did. I think he'll be up there with Jack Gardner when it is all said and done.
Reply With Quote