I generally agree with you, although I’d just note that being an assistant at your alma mater, making bank, and living in Charlottesville with your family/keeping your kids in one school is pretty attractive too. It really depends on whether Williford aspires to be a head coach and how he weighs that against other factors. Given that he’s competitive and has gone into coaching, there’s a good chance he wants to make the leap, but you can never be certain. Honestly, if I were in his position, I might stay at least until all kids were out of the house - but that’s me, and I’m not a high-level basketball coach (yet!).
Also, you’re probably right about Ham, but that man truly does seem ageless. He could coach until 90 and nobody would probably notice.
As of a year or two ago, his wife was a partner at a DC law firm. He may the rare high level D-1 assistant whose location decisions are being driven by someone else in the fam. That may be constraining options. Just speculation here, obviously.
I think it gets to where you wann have your own team at some point. The travel etc as an assistant is insane whereas as head coach you can pick and choose the trips you take etc. Being said the more the years go and his salary has gotten better plus Kwamina’s more than solid job why leave such a comfortable situation
Few years ago he was in the running for American or some such and didnt get it. I told him thank goodness he didnt get it. This was like 2014 I think
Anyhow I couldnt be happier he is TBs right hand man and how else would I have tickets tonight?
JWilly is so over in our house that my 2yr daughter points to his pic on the tote bag and yells Willy whenever she sees it.
JWilly found himself in a coaching sweet spot. He’s the right hand man on a major Power 5 program that pays it’s assistants like HC’s that’s not all that common. Add in the fact his spouse has a great gig that provides an extra layer of financial security he’s not tasked with being the one responsible for the financial load. On the court he’s rubbing shoulders, and making all the calls and moves that set him up to be a sought after target the moment he pokes his head out. But because of everything mentioned above he can hang cool where he is and be fine as well.
Dunn playing vs Brewster Academy. I recall him doing well last time they played. Brewster has a few 2023 5 stars
Edit: not sure if it’s the same Brewster or their postgrad team since this is the prep school national championship. Last time vs Brewster it was the team with the 5 stars and I think Dunn had 9pts 13 rebounds in a close game
I think that’s relative…sure, he objectively makes much more than an average white collar professional worker, but if the state employee salary database is right, what he makes affords him an upper, upper, upper middle class lifestyle, but it isn’t a generational wealth lifestyle.
VCU’s coach is at 1.5 mil and GMU’s is about a mil plus bonuses. Chris Mooney was on a 10 year 13 mil contract at Richmond before his most recent extension. JMU and ODU are about a half mil a year, so that’s a raise, but not enough of one that makes the choice a no brainer.
His wife works at a firm with offices everywhere and with today’s meeting tools, she could work from anywhere and still keep her current client base.
Also depends a lot on if she’s an equity partner or non-equity. Her firm has more than twice as many non-equity as equity. Non-equity salary is in the neighborhood of a JMU or ODU HC. The firm’s profit per equity partner is in the neighborhood of 4 times that.
Lots for the family to think about should an opportunity arise.
The Richmond job would make a lot of sense for the school and him.
Sanchez is safe. His 2nd winning conference season in four years. The last two coaches there never did that once. Next year is big for him though, needs to take a step forward.
To bring it back around to UVA, before Mark Price, the UNC-Charlotte coach was Alan Major, who had health problems in the 2014-2015, which led him to cede control of the team to an interim coach.
At the end of the season, Major left UNC-Charlotte, Price was hired, and the interim coach – Ryan Odom – eventually took the head coaching job at UMBC.