No. 6: Tom Crean, Georgia
Tom Crean has to be ranked by different criteria than the other coaches. He’s going to have to build an entire program at Georgia, and he hasn’t coached a single game in the SEC. I’m a little weary about how high I put a coach without him proving himself at his current School, but Crean has a precedent.
Unlike most coaching ventures in the SEC, Crean has quality coaching time in both the Power 5 and the mid-major level. Spending close to 20 years split evenly between Marquette and Indiana, he surely knows how to work programs at different levels.
Having three conference Coach of the Year awards, he’s definitely had his fair time as a higher-level coach. He also won the Clair Bee award, which has been won by a few elite coaches including Bob Knight, Tom Izzo, and Coach K.
In terms of team success, he’s carried different teams to 9 NCAA tournaments. To put that in perspective, Georgia has 10 as a program all time. Crean also has four Sweet Sixteens (Georgia has 2) and a Final Four appearance (Georgia has one). Some would argue that Crean is more successful as a coach than Georgia is as a program.
All that being said, he left Indiana for a reason. He didn’t step down for a bigger challenge. He got fired from Indiana, and this is a demotion. That doesn’t mean he will be a failure at UGA. Indiana has immensely higher expectations than Georgia. It’s like Lane Kiffin going to FAU after multiple coaching positions in the SEC and PAC 12. There’s just a different definition of success. If Crean has some of the seasons that got him fired at Indiana, he will probably get a contract extension at Georgia.