Quote Originally Posted by FountainOfUte View Post
I know it's still early, but I can see Krystkowiak becoming a Runnin' Ute coach that we talk about with the same awe and respect as Gardner and Majerus. To me, the only factor in this equation is how long he decides to stay here. If he plants his roots until the end of his career, he'll be a legend here. I have no idea how that vision lines up with his own goals in life. There are blue-er blood collegiate programs he would thrive annually in (imagine what he'd do taking over for the real Coach K when he retires soon), and succeeding as an NBA coach is still the pinnacle of success in the basketball coaching field. I could see him taking one more whack at that.

Anyway, back to Majerus. Rick (and to a lesser extent, Coach Mac) were where my real Ute fanhood began. I was a fan before they arrived, but they both opened my eyes to what Ute athletics could be.
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.