Hailing coaches

"When asked about the critics of LSU Coach Johnny Jones, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas returned to a familiar refrain. He said coaches get too much credit and too much blame.

That also goes for the idea of coaches producing pros.

“They don’t develop pros,” Bilas said. “They recruit pros.”

Bilas included himself in the media impulse to hail coaches.

“It’s so stupid that we do it,” he said. “Where so-and-so develops all these pros. Certain years they decide not to develop them? How come they only develop top-100 players?”

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Another element of silliness is always selecting the coach whose team finishes at the top of the conference as Coach of the Year. You should finish first if you have the most talent. What about the coach who has middlin' talent but concludes the season in second or third place? Wouldn't that actually be doing a better job?