Terry looks like more than just a caretaker
Texas, being Texas, thinks it has options. Rodney Terry can prove it doesn’t need them.
Texas, being Texas, thinks it can hire any coach it wants. Terry can spare it the danger of pursuing the wrong one.
Texas, being Texas, thinks its situation is complicated. Terry can show it doesn’t have to be.
For now, all the Longhorns are letting Terry be is a caretaker. He’s the man in charge of one of the best college basketball teams in the country, one that looks formidable and wellprepared and almost uncharacteristically poised in big moments. But there’s an “interim” in front of Terry’s job title, and it’s almost certain to stay there for at least the next six weeks.
“Hold the rope!” Terry urged his players this week, but he’s trying to do more than that. His Longhorns, ranked No. 10 in the country, are sitting atop a conference they haven’t won since 2008, beating opponents that have tormented them for years, and putting themselves in position to end one of the most mystifying NCAA tournament droughts the sport ever has seen.
And if they end up making the leap 14 previous Texas men’s basketball teams couldn’t?
The Longhorns would be crazy to assume they can do better than the leader they did not choose but might have needed all along.
Granted, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, which is something Texas has done before. This is far from the first time over the past decade and a half when the Longhorns have looked like national contenders in January. The long-standing tradition is to have all of that
enthusiasm and goodwill disintegrate by mid-march.
If that happens again, there will be resistance, if not refusal, to sticking with Terry, the 54year-old Texan and coaching lifer who took over when Chris Beard was arrested on a domestic violence charge in early December. Beard was suspended, then dismissed, and Terry is handling everything from recruiting to game-planning to appearing on the Longhorn Network show that now bears his name.
Texas, of course, has made no announcements about Terry's role beyond this season, and isn't commenting on any potential search. But with their deep-pocketed donors and unwavering belief in their own appeal, the Longhorns tend to aim high during coaching searches, whether their targets are realistic or not. Another first-weekend NCAA tournament exit this March probably will lead to another round of big-name hunting.
Terry doesn't fit that description. The St. Edward's alumnus, who served 10 seasons as a Texas assistant for Rick Barnes before head coaching stints at Fresno State and UTEP, is the kind of guy who never would have received an interview for the job he has now under normal circumstances. But as Beard's top assistant, he got the gig by default last month.
Nothing, though, about his tenure so far has suggested he's just a place-filler. The Longhorns are 12-3 under Terry, including Monday's rousing 76-71 victory over a No. 11 Baylor program that had beaten UT in 12 of the previous 13 meetings.
They're finishing games strong. With rare exceptions, they're defending well. With even rarer exceptions, they're scoring like crazy. And they're doing this for a man who still doesn't know if he'll be allowed to keep his job into April, and doesn't seem to be bothered by this.
“We're just living in the moment,” Terry said Monday. “I'm having fun.”
He might as well, because the truth is he can't guarantee himself of anything until March. The Longhorns, who year after year land elite recruits who go on to the NBA, have not made the Sweet 16 since 2008. It's, to use a term favored by Terry's mentor, “baffling.” And if that streak continues, the job of ending it might be passed along to another coach.
But if Terry ends it? How can UT justify not rewarding him with a new contract and a permanent title? Barnes couldn't get to the Sweet 16 with Kevin Durant or Avery Bradley or Myles Turner. Shaka Smart couldn't get there with Jarrett Allen or Mo Bamba. Beard couldn't get there with the nucleus Terry has now, plus veteran guards Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey.
Terry isn't just trying to maintain the status quo. He's making the team better. If that leads to the Sweet 16, he should get the chance to do it again.
Does it seem silly to base a huge decision regarding the future of the program on one weekend of the NCAA tournament? Sure, but that's the nature of college basketball. Everybody's judged by March Madness, fairly or not. It only makes sense that if Terry passes where his predecessors failed, the Longhorns should be ecstatic to keep him.
It's not as though he has any glaring weaknesses. The two national Top 20 recruits in Texas' current signing class have made public statements reaffirming their commitment to the Longhorns under Terry. The talent should keep flowing into Austin, just as it always has.
But because Texas is Texas, there will be talk of a higher standard than the Sweet 16, however historically inaccurate that is. Because Texas is Texas, there will be a temptation to overthink this. Because Texas is Texas, there will be way too many people in power weighing what they believe is a tough decision.
Meanwhile Terry, doing more than holding the rope, has a chance to show them it can be easy after all.