Inheriting a team never easy for sons
Sutton, Knight will always be compared to fathers
Sutton, Knight will always be compared to fathers

By Andrea Cohen

Published: March 13, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joey Meyer took another phone call about an issue he's got to be tired of discussing. The first notable son to succeed his father as a college basketball coach, Meyer has become the "go-to guy” when it comes to questions about bequeathing college athletic programs.

With four Division I coaches taking over for their fathers in the last two years, Meyer's phone has been ringing a lot. But the son of Hall of Fame coach Ray Meyer answers, and he answers all the questions about the pressure, and lobbies for coaches' sons to get time to work out the kinks.

"Anything I can do to help those guys out,” said Meyer, now a NBA Developmental League coach in Tulsa.

When Texas Tech and Oklahoma State tip off today at 11:30 a.m. in the Big 12 Tournament, Meyer will be pulling for both Cowboys' coach Sean Sutton (son of 804-win coach Eddie Sutton) and Red Raiders coach Pat Knight (son of Bob Knight, college basketball's all-time victory leader), mostly because he understands the unusual burden they share.

It's never easy to succeed a legend. Sharing the legend's DNA may make it easier to get the job, but it doesn't make it any easier to succeed at it.

ESPN.com's columnist Pat Forde, who wrote a column this winter sarcastically bequeathing his column to his 12 year old son, said the expectations are exponentially higher for sons who take over for their fathers.

"If you're going to put a family-business succession plan in place, it better work,” Forde said via e-mail. "Otherwise you've opened yourself to criticism of all kinds: nepotism, provincialism, failure to perform a thorough search for a replacement and allowing a coach's self interest to override the best interests of the program.”

Said Meyer: "Any time you take over a big-time program there's a lot of pressure, that's just a given. But when you succeed your father there's so much added pressure. Everything is always comparing you to your dad. The questions are always about what you'll do differently. Have you asked him questions? What will be the same? It's a constant comparison.”

Case in point: The first question Sutton was asked during Wednesday's press conference was about the differences between a Pat Knight-led Tech team vs. a Bob Knight Tech team. At the end he was asked if his father would attend the Big 12 Tournament.

The thing is, comparing young coaches to their fathers who coached 30-plus years is like comparing apples and oranges.

The reasoning for a bequeathing program is that recruiting will not be disrupted, the transition will be seamless, and the program will completely avoid the growing pains of a new coach.

In reality — at least the present reality of the four sons who have taken over Division I basketball programs for their fathers; Sutton, Knight, Tony Bennett at Washington State and Keno Davis at Drake — is that schools get young guys who have little or no previous head coaching experience.

Players say the recruiting factor is big — OSU sophomore Obi Muonelo said of his recruitment: "If it hadn't been Sean (in line) it would have been a different story” — but some of the other expectations may be unrealistic.

"That's what you hope for, that things stay the same, the players know the coaches, you have the benefit in recruiting,” Sutton said. "But what I told Pat (Knight) is, ‘People think you're going to step in from day one and be just as good as your dad when he did it for 42 years, and that's not very realistic.' But I think a lot of people think that.

"I'm not nearly as good a coach as my dad. And shouldn't be, at this stage. But I think a lot of people think it should be an easy transition.”

In his two years as OSU's head coach Sutton's teams have been inconsistent, playing well the first half of his first season and the second half of this season. In his extremely brief tenure (Pat took over with 10 regular-season games left), Pat Knight's Tech team has been wildly inconsistent, beating Kansas State and Texas but losing to Texas A&M by 44 points and Kansas by 58.

Early indications are that coaches taking over for less-legendary fathers have fared much better.

Tony Bennett took over at Washington State after his father Dick coached the Cougars for three years. In his father's last year Washington State finished last in the conference. In his first two seasons the younger Bennett has compiled a 49-15 record, and Washington State is currently ranked No. 21.

Keno Davis has orchestrated a similar turnaround since taking over at Drake for his father, Tom. Drake had its first winning season in 20 years under the elder Drake last season, going 17-15, and this year, Keno's first, Drake is 28-4 and No. 16 in the country.

Meyer, who coached at DePaul for 13 years before being forced out, said the most important thing for coaching heirs is to block out the critics and try to find their own way.

"The first year we struggled, and then the second and third years we went to the Sweet 16,” Meyer said. "So then people were saying, ‘He's a better tournament coach than his dad,' but I'm saying, ‘No, I'm the same dummy you were talking about who couldn't coach last year.'”

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