Coach on the Hot Seat — Frank Haith (Missouri)

"Other than "Do you and Evan Turner really not like each other?" the one question people most often ask me is "Why do you hate Frank Haith so much?" I never get the chance to fully explain the story because I usually get asked on Twitter and have only 140 characters. Let's address it now. First, however, let me make it clear that I have nothing personal against Haith, and "hate" is way too strong of a word. He's probably a decent enough guy and I'm sure in another life he and I would get together on the weekends to watch football and eat pizza rolls or something.

Anyway, here's what happened: At some point during Haith's first season at Missouri, when the Tigers finished 30-5 and Haith was named national coach of the year, I realized that every time he was shown onscreen he looked like he was having an internal debate over what Nickelodeon slime tasted like. I wasn't criticizing his coaching at that point. I was just noting that he always looked like he was staring off into space. But then I started paying more and more attention to Missouri's games and realized far too many of Haith's players were undisciplined in big spots, especially when they blew a 19-point second-half lead at Kansas. I figured this had to do with Haith's coaching, but I still wasn't completely sold that it was his fault. Then Missouri lost to Norfolk State in the first round of the NCAA tournament and everything became clear.

Most of the national media applauded Haith for a 30-win season and blamed the Norfolk State loss on Mizzou's players, bad luck, and Norfolk State preparing well for the game (while also noting that Coach K and Duke also lost to a 15-seed, so it couldn't be the coach's fault). The consensus was that Haith would build off the success and continue to do well in Columbia. I took a different lesson from this game: Frank Haith just isn't a good coach. Every time I mentioned that Missouri made a hiring mistake,4 Mizzou fans defended Haith and wondered why I was criticizing the national coach of the year. Then I was vindicated when Missouri capped off an underwhelming 2012-13 season with a 12-point loss to Colorado State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Following that loss, I admittedly spiked the ball and said "I told you so" so many times that if you type "Frank Haith Mark Titu" into Google's search bar, "Frank Haith Mark Titus" comes up as a suggestion.

For what it's worth, I'd love to be wrong and see Haith prove that he's been a good coach all along and that he's just had a run of bad luck. Lord knows Missouri fans have been through enough over the years, and the last thing they need to add to their never-ending torture is an incompetent coach. Unfortunately, considering that Haith's successor at Miami, Jim Larranaga, won more NCAA tournament games last season than Haith has won in his career, I'm not getting my hopes up."

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