Roundtable: Ryan Steps Down

Former Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan caught almost everyone off guard on Tuesday when he announced his retirement after his team's win over Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi. The Badgers knew Ryan had retirement on the brain, but I would doubt anyone expected Ryan to make the move when he did.

Tuesday was the start of what will surely be an interesting time for Wisconsin basketball, with associate head coach Greg Gard taking over as interim head coach- in large part because Ryan wanted his longtime lieutenant to have a shot at being his permanent successor.

There's a lot to break down, so Jon McNamara, Zack Miller and I tried to give our take on where the Badgers go from here. Our roundtable discussion is included below.

Jon McNamara: I think this was an intentional and calculated move by Ryan. He’s made it absolutely clear of his desire to have Gard take over the program and this midseason “sacrifice” will give the current interim coach a valuable chunk of experience. I believe this move would have happened earlier in the year had Gard not been dealing with his father’s battle with cancer.

Ryan’s certainly at the point in his career where he could hang it up and be satisfied with an outstanding career, but I believe this was much more about pushing Gard to the top spot permanently.

Zack Miller: I think it is a combination of the two. For starters, Bo is not the kind of guy to make a statement like he did at the beginning of the summer without having a full on plan in place, so I never bought the whole “this might not be my last year” bit that he pulled at the end of the summer/beginning of the season.

Bo alluded to it a little bit during his press conference, but I truly believe that Bo was ready to call it a career over the summer but the health issues that began to arise with Gard’s father made Bo want to give Gard ample time to deal with his personal life before taking on the responsibilities as head coach. After Gard’s father passed away at the end of October, I think Bo wanted to give Gard some time to reflect, all the while knowing he would not make it to the Big Ten season.

Additionally, this is Bo’s way of forcing Gard into the head coaching position, at least for half of a season. If Bo finished out the season and the Badgers finished toward the bottom of the conference, I’m not sure how much pressure there would be on Alvarez to hire Gard for the 2016-17 season. At least now Bo is giving Gard the opportunity to make Alvarez think long and hard about hiring his right-hand man.

John Veldhuis: Bo does everything for a reason. The one big knock against Gard taking over after Bo retired was his lack of head coaching experience. He knows the program back to front, but there's a big part of the job that he hadn't experienced before. Retiring now gives Gard a chance to get his feet wet with all the extra responsibilities that come along with the top job, and Barry Alvarez will get a up-close look at how Gard handles himself.

And Bo isn't the kind of coach who would keep going just to burnish his own ego. I think he thinks that making the change now is the right thing for the program, in part because he believes so strongly that Gard is the right man for the job. Bo did what he thought needed to be done to keep the program going strong in to the future.

Jon McNamara: This, to me, is very much a Barry Alvarez to Bret Bielema handoff, where Ryan knows Gard will carry on the same values and philosophies. As with any new coach, though, I’m assuming Gard will add a few new wrinkles or tweaks he deems necessary. A fresh take on an established program isn't the worst thing, but there are limits (ie: Gary Andersen).

As far as this season, it’s going to be a difficult few months. I don’t think Gard has any secret plan up his sleeve that will be able to alleviate the problems on this current roster. I do, though, think this team can grow throughout the year and potentially contend for an NCAA tournament birth in March. But there’s a long way to go before that conversation can start.

Zack Miller: It’s no secret Gard sees the game of basketball in the same light Bo does. If this weren’t the case, Gard would have jumped at the first opportunity he had to coach elsewhere so he could begin coaching the way he wanted to. There will not be many noticeable changes as the program moves from Bo to Gard. I wouldn’t count on the Badgers to implement a zone and then fall back into a 1-3-1 zone anytime soon.

What I will say, however, is that I believe Gard will give his bench guys ample opportunities to succeed. I’m not saying Gard will have an 11-man rotation or anything like that, but in speaking with some players I can tell you that quite a few are excited about the opportunity to see more minutes and prove their worth on this team.

John Veldhuis: If Bo thought Gard was going to overhaul the program, I don't think he would have gone to the same lengths he did to put Gard in a position to take over. I will be interested to see how they fare on the recruiting trail, but this was going to be a young team that needed some development whether or not Bo finished the season or retired mid-way through. If Gard can get his young team to start playing with a little more chemistry I think that will burnish his resume and give him a better chance to keep the job full-time, whether or not their improvement shows up in the win-loss column.

Jon McNamara: Alvarez already, I’m assuming, has a very strong opinion of Gard, and I don’t think the remainder of the season will be “make-or-break,” nor do I think a certain numbers of wins will cement his job. Ryan has given his top lieutenant a glowing recommendation, one you’d think Alvarez values quite a bit.

That said, Alvarez understands the university, coming off two Final Four appearances, deserves a nationwide search at the conclusion of this season. It would be lazy (and illegal in Wisconsin) to simply hand the reigns over to Gard this summer without exhausting the interview process. The best candidate, if you trust Alvarez’s track record, will lead this program forward, be it Gard or an outside hire.

Zack Miller: While Alvarez certainly knows Gard well, he only knows him as an assistant coach. I think Gard does have a great deal to prove here, but it isn’t anything that Gard isn’t capable of proving. I would think first and foremost that Gard has to show that he’s able to take control of the team and really win the locker room. By my estimation, that will happen by Big Ten season. Players on this team love Gard. I believe Alvarez knows Gard’s personality is such that when the Badgers get off to a subpar start to conference play that Gard will not waiver and he won’t allow the team to quit. Having said that, I think Gard will have to a couple of marquee victories this season and finish at least in the top-7 of the Big Ten.

What will really help Gard out is if he can somehow work his magic and land one or two 2016 recruits and maybe a 2017 as well. That will be the greatest tell to Alvarez that recruits view Wisconsin as an attractive place with Gard at the helm.

John Veldhuis: On-court performance is important, to be sure. But Barry will need to take a look at the whole picture, including recruiting, when making his decision. I agree with Zack- if the Badgers can make some inroads on the recruiting trail despite Ryan's retirement that would be a good sign for him as he tries to keep the job moving forward.

Jon McNamara: I don’t think recruiting is going to change all that much. Maybe Gard is more open to the idea of fifth-year transfers, but he’ll likely continue to recruit the same states and AAU programs that Wisconsin has had previous success in. As long as he has Lamont Paris on staff, the Badgers will be active in Ohio and parts of the East Coast, and Gard himself has strong ties in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It will be interesting to see if they can add someone to recruit in Illinois, say former UW player and coach Howard Moore, who is not coaching this season. The Badgers have had previous success in that talent-rich state and may need someone to man it moving forward.

Zack Miller: I don’t see the recruiting philosophy changing one bit. Gard has been the lead recruiter for numerous targets and players over the years and recruits really do seem to be drawn to him. Of course this isn’t to say that Bo wasn’t a big pull on his own, but Gard has had plenty of practice selling the program and the school without selling kids solely on playing for Bo.

John Veldhuis: Yeah, the fact that Gard had a big hand in building this roster suggests to me that the Badgers aren't going to go out and recruit a whole lot different if Gard sticks around as the permanent coach. Who knows how Gard feels about the 5th-year transfer rule, but even if they're more open to it with Gard running the show I'm not sure how often they might try and bring someone new in- it's hard to get a new player up to speed in UW's offensive system on short notice.

Jon McNamara: Tony Bennett seems very happy at Virginia and is making great money there. If this goes to someone outside of Gard, my money is on Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson. He’s racked up 20-plus wins in six of the past seven seasons and has strong ties to the Midwest. Jacobson has “Gard characteristics” with more head coaching experience.

Zack Miller: First let me say that I think Gard is the most realistic candidate for the job. If he can prove himself capable of handling head coaching duties then I believe Alvarez should at least give him the opportunity to try and continue on for a couple of seasons.

But since we’re talking about options outside of the program, Ben Jacobson is probably the most realistic option for the Badgers. Jacobson has been at Northern Iowa since 2001, which is the same year Bo began at Wisconsin. Staying in one place for 15 seasons is very difficult in today’s landscape, and when a national power like Wisconsin comes calling it is hard to pass up the opportunity.

Having said that, if we’re talking about the most intriguing option outside of the program, Archie Miller may very well be that guy. Miller, 37, has been an assistant at Western Kentucky, NC State, Arizona State, Ohio State and Arizona. He’s been Dayton’s head coach since the 2011 season and the Flyers are 5-2 in the NCAA Tournament under his command and made a trip to the Elite Eight in 2014.A Miller hire would be Alvarez throwing his eggs in the “this is the next great young head coach” basket. Not realistic, but would be very interesting to see happen.

John Veldhuis: If we were having this conversation a few years ago, before Tony Bennett's Virginia program took off, I'd say he was the most likely guy from outside the program to come in and replace Ryan. But he's probably too expensive for UW to pry away now, even if he would be open to coming back to Wisconsin.

I feel like if Barry does decide to hire from outside the program he would try and go with someone like Jacobson or Miller. Miller comes from a great coaching tree, too, which is a bonus. There are other Bo Ryan disciples who are coaching at other schools today, but if Barry does want someone with connections to Bo then I would doubt he goes with someone other than Gard.

Jon McNamara: I’ll take the easy way out and go with Gard, but we’re likely months away from any real news on this front. But if Alvarez’s recent hire of Paul Chryst showed us anything, it’s that he values someone who understands the Wisconsin culture and the fabric that makes up the people. Gard is that person, just like Chryst was almost a year ago.

Zack Miller: I will go with Gard here, but I’m not sure he begins the season with a lengthy contract by any means. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Alvarez give Gard some time to have a full off-season as the lead man and maybe have one or two of his own recruits in the program before he ultimately makes a decision that he hopes will last for the next 15 seasons.

John Veldhuis: Yeah, I'm not going out on a limb in saying I think Gard will still be the head coach this time next year. Barring something extreme happening (both good or bad), I wouldn't blame Alvarez for taking a good long look around the country to make sure he finds the right man for the job. The Badgers are a national program, and it would be doing a disservice to the team if they didn't do their homework. But in the end I think Gard is the right choice for UW, and my hunch is that Alvarez will feel the same way in the end.