Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin has done an exceptional job maintaining stability within his coaching staff. It’s rather remarkable, really.
Despite a rise in UC basketball from the depths of ineptitude following the self-inflicted death penalty in 2005 to the point where the Bearcats are consistent conference title and NCAA Tournament participants, Cronin has kept his coaching staff intact for the last decade.
His right hand man Larry Davis has been with Cincinnati since 2006. Darren Savino, Cronin’s liaison for the New York/New Jersey recruiting pipeline, has been on the staff since 2010. Fellow assistant coach Antwon Jackson just completed his third season in red and black. And each year throughout this resurgence, Cronin’s rewarded them with fatter paychecks and expanded responsibilities.
But UC’s head coach might not be able to hold back the suitors this offseason. Not with Larry Davis leading the Bearcats to their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and an opening round win over the Purdue Boilermakers.
Cronin was of course forced to sit out the season hours before Cincinnati’s game with VCU due to an unruptured aneurysm in his brain. At that point, and especially after the Bearcats were shell shocked by the Rams, it looked like UC’s season was destined for the toilet bowl with their intrepid leader unable to coach.
Thankfully the Bearcats had Larry Davis and his decades of coaching experience to plug the holes in the ship and get Cincinnati’s season back on course.
UC wound up winning 15 of 22 games under their interim head coach, including resume polishing wins over North Carolina State, SMU (twice), and Tulsa. It wasn’t always so rosy (East Carolina, Tulane) but the Bearcats did enough to get into the NCAA Tournament and win a game there. I don’t think anyone would have been upset with those results back in November.
The real questions now are, who’s most likely to inquire about him and will he reciprocate that interest?
I don’t think Davis is necessarily ready for a position at a “power” school. Alabama and Mississippi State have both fired their head coaches in the last few days. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for them to reach out to Cincinnati’s assistant coach, especially after what he’s done of the past couple of months and considering both aren’t in need of an immediate turn around. However, he might need to prove himself with a smaller program of his own than a prebuilt one like Davis had at UC this past season.
The last time he was a head coach it was at Furman, who went just 124-139 under him. Now, the Paladins aren’t exactly a basketball power but neither are the Crimson Tide or Bulldogs. Proving his worth at a “mid major” like Northern Kentucky, Bradley, or Fordham, if only for a year or two, might be better for his head coaching career.
Larry Davis is in a pretty lucrative position. He can afford to turn down jobs to wait for the right one, like he did with Montana State this time last year. Knowing he has a position on Mick Cronin’s staff back at Cincinnati, regardless of the outcome of his interviews, allows Davis the patience to choose the team best for him.
On the other hand, if Davis does want to take over the reigns of a program again, now might be the best time to make the leap. His stock will never be higher. Reinvigorating a team after the loss of their head coach, leading them to the NCAA Tournament, and even a win there has earned Davis national notoriety. He might want to strike while the iron’s hot, whereas reverting back to an associate head coach next season will make him just another coach on another top tier team.
So I’m not sure if Davis will leave Cincinnati or see this through with Cronin, Savino, and Jackson. He’ll certainly get his share of interest this offseason but it remains to be seen if an offer be the one that tears him away from the Bearcats.