In early February there was curiosity within men's college basketball over whether there'd be more than 30 jobs that could change, due in part to lingering financial concerns from the ongoing pandemic.
Turns out the number was 60. The pandemic had almost no impact on coaching movement in 2021. This year's carousel turned into the noisiest of the past decade -- if not longer -- and that doesn't even account for Mike Krzyzewski announcing he'll be retiring from Duke in 2022. It's also been a rare year not just in terms of volume, but quality of job. North Carolina, Texas, Indiana and Arizona can all reasonably be labeled top-10 gigs in college basketball. All opened this year. Who knows how long it will be before we have another carousel cycle that features four of the 10-12 best jobs all coming open? Pretty fascinating.
It will also be interesting to check in four or five years from now and see which decisions are working out and which, maybe, are not.
There were 15 gigs in Major Seven conferences that had a change; that amounts to 17.4% of all the jobs in those seven leagues switching this year.
Here are the 60 (!) jobs that turned over in 2021. As of early June, the only school still in need of filling an open post is Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
2021 Coaching changes
| Team | Former coach | New coach | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Roy Williams | Hubert Davis | UNC once again kept it in the Carolina family after Roy Williams' retirement by elevating long-time assistant Hubert Davis. Davis has been on the Tar Heels staff for nine seasons. He is the first Black men's basketball coach in UNC history. |
 | Shaka Smart | Chris Beard | Texas nabbed its top target, which is a reflection on how coveted the UT job is. Beard went 112-55 at TTU and carries a 142-60 career record. It is anticipated that he will get Texas to the Final Four and turn that program into one that can win the Big 12 as often as any other. We shall see. |
 | Archie Miller | Mike Woodson | Mike Woodson left the NBA life after decades in the pro game to return home and coach the Hoosiers. Woodson, an IU alum, agreed to a six-year contract. His biggest win came quickly; Trayce Jackson-Davis will return for his junior season in Bloomington. |
 | Sean Miller | Tommy Lloyd | After a seven-day stretch that was filled with plenty of drama behind the scenes, in the end, it's one of the best assistants in the country who winds up getting one of the best jobs in the country. Lloyd has spent nearly two decades helping Mark Few build up Gonzaga. Now he'll seek to restore Arizona's luster as a top-10 program. |
 | Steve Wojciechowski | Shaka Smart | Marquette moved quickly and quietly to lure Shaka Smart away from Texas, and in doing so, turned some heads. A fresh start for Smart, a Wisconsin native, who goes back to basketball-first university in a basketball-first conference. |
 | Larry Krystkowiak | Craig Smith | Smith scoots on down from Logan to coach in Salt Lake City. A solid hire for a historically proud program. There's a chance this winds up as the longest lasting marriage of any power-conference hire in this year's cycle. |
 | Lon Kruger | Porter Moser | Kruger's somewhat-sudden retirement opened the door for the Sooners to swoop in, offer a six-year deal and lure Moser away from Loyola Chicago. The question is, can he be as successful in a power conference as he was in the Missouri Valley? Following Kruger is doable, but not simple. |
 | Steve Prohm | TJ Otzelberger | Otzelberger had a pair of mediocre seasons at UNLV, but prior to that was outstanding at South Dakota State. He is capable of having success in territory he's quite familiar with. (He is a former ISU assistant.) The Cyclones have been to seven NCAA Tournaments since 2012. |
 | Richard Pitino | Ben Johnson | Minnesota closed the deal with a Golden Gophers alumnus, Ben Johnson, who formerly worked under Richard Pitino before more recently serving as an assistant for Travis Steele's Xavier staff. |
 | John Brannen | Wes Miller | Cincinnati is in a state of disrepair from a roster perspective, so the 38-year-old Miller will have his work cut out for him. He went 183-135 in 10 seasons at UNCG. No telling if it's a true home run hire, but it's a stand-up double at absolute worst. |
 | Chris Beard | Mark Adams | Adams, the top assistant on Beard's Red Raiders staff, has been with the program since Beard took over the gig in 2016. He was elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2019-20 season. A Texas Tech alumnus, Adams, who graduated from the school in 1979, paid his dues and earned his shot. |
 | Gregg Marshall | Isaac Brown | Marshall's resignation in November allowed Brown to step in on an interim basis. After putting the Shockers into the NCAA Tournament and guiding them to the top of the AAC standings, the school announced a promotion for Brown to the full-time position on Feb. 26. |
 | Jim Christian | Earl Grant | Grant comes from Charleston, where he went 127-89 in seven seasons with one NCAA Tournament bid. Christian was fired Feb. 15 after six and a half seasons. He went 78-132 and did not make an NCAA Tournament. Boston College has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2009. |
 | Pat Chambers | Micah Shrewsberry | Shrewsberry was considered an inevitable head-coaching hire in college basketball for a couple of years now, and he'll stay in the Big Ten, as the school is now the only one in that league employing Black coaches in men's basketball and football. |
 | Dave Leitao | Tony Stubblefield | Congrats to Stubblefield, who was a pick out of left field for many. He's spent the past 28 years in coaching, with this his first opportunity to run a program. He comes via Oregon, where he spent the past 11 years as an assistant for Dana Altman. |
 | TJ Otzelberger | Kevin Kruger | Lon Kruger coached in Las Vegas once upon a time. Now his son will get the chance, as the school decided to stay in-house and promote the 37-year-old to his first head-coaching gig. Kruger finished his college playing career with UNLV in 2007. |
 | Paul Weir | Richard Pitino | Pitino is adaptable, that's for sure, and this opportunity should suit him well. New Mexico has lofty expectations given its conference and location. The fan base holds its head coaches accountable on the level you'd find at a top-40 program. |
 | Jeff Neubauer | Kyle Neptune | Neptune spent the past eight seasons serving under Jay Wright. This hire is a good one for the Bronx native, who can give Fordham its best chance at competing in the A-10 as any coach in the past 20 years. The job remains among the toughest in a multi-bid league. The school joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995; it's failed to make the NCAAs since. In fact, it's had just two seasons above. 500 in that span. |
 | Dave Paulsen | Kim English | George Mason went young, hiring 32-year-old Tennessee assistant Kim English. The former second-round NBA pick starred at Missouri and also spent time on the bench at Tulsa and Colorado. |
 | Craig Smith | Ryan Odom | Utah State tapped sitting head coach Ryan Odom -- of UMBC -- to fill its vacancy. Odom was 97-60 in five seasons with UMBC and most famously was the head coach of 16th-seeded Retrievers when they knocked off No. 1 Virginia in 2018. |
 | Porter Moser | Drew Valentine | Loyola elevated 29-year-old Drew Valentine -- who was on Porter Moser's staff the last four seasons -- to the head gig. Valentine played at Oakland where he later returned as an assistant. He also gathered experience at Michigan State under Tom Izzo. He's the youngest head coach in D-I basketball. |
 | Earl Grant | Pat Kelsey | The top job in the Colonial is filled by Kelsey, who has a chance to get Charleston back into national relevance. Surprising yet true: The program has made the NCAAs once in 22 years. |
 | Jean Prioleau | Tim Miles | The toughest job in the Mountain West goes to a guy who was always going to get back in the game. Miles, last seen coaching Nebraska, could wind up being the perfect hire for a program that must climb out of the basement. |
 | Rob Murphy | Stan Heath | Eastern Michigan tapped 56-year-old Stan Heath to be its next coach. Heath graduated from EMU in 1987. He has a 209-206 career record as a college head coach and spent the past four years as coach of the Orlando Magic's G League program. |
 | Greg Lansing | Josh Schertz | Indiana State dipped into the Division II ranks for its next coach. Schertz spent 13 years and Lincoln Memorial and won nearly 85% of his games. He'll make for an interesting experiment in the Valley. |
 | Rodney Terry | Joe Golding | Terry left his post at UTEP after three seasons to become the top assistant -- making nearly a million dollars annually -- for Chris Beard at Texas. Golding comes over via Abilene Christian, where he took the Wildcats to the past two NCAA Tournaments. Sensible hire. |
 | Joe Mihalich | Speedy Claxton | Sadly, Mihalich stepped down after not coaching the 2020-21 season due to health reasons. Hofstra opted to hire a program legend in Claxton, 42, who spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant in Hempstead. |
 | Pat Kelsey | Mark Prosser | Prosser got his first head job at Western Carolina three years ago. He went 37-53 and was handed the keys to Winthrop. A huge opportunity here. |
 | Keno Davis | Tony Barbee | Central Michigan won more than 20 games three times in Davis' nine-year run in Mt. Pleasant. Barbee, who previously was a head coach at Auburn and UTEP, will get another shot. He's 131-127 in his career. |
 | Byron Rimm II | Matt Crenshaw | No shortage of alumni who've been picked to be head coaches this year. Crenshaw is among that group, and is one of the best guards in the history of IUPUI basketball. |
 | Terry Porter | Shantay Legans | After taking Eastern Washington to the NCAA Tournament, Legans was swiftly lured away and into the WCC at Portland. Tough job in a great city. |
 | Mark Montgomery | Rashon Burno | Arizona State assistant Rashon Burno is on his way to Northern Illinois. He's a savvy, high-energy hire. Burno replaces Mark Montgomery, who was 125-170 in nine and a half seasons. The school last made the NCAAs in 1996. |
 | Shantay Legans | David Riley | Within days of Legans' move to Portland, Eastern Washington announced longtime assistant David Riley would take over. He gets a roster that just went to the NCAA Tournament, a perk few other coaches on this list get to inherit. |
 | Chris Ogden | Greg Young | Ogden took a raise to join Beard's staff at Texas, which is also Ogden's alma mater. Nice work if you can get it. Young scoots one chair over at UT Arlington, as he was associate head coach under Ogden. |
 | Tony Jasick | Jordan Mincy | Jacksonville did not have to look that far for its next coach. The school tagged Florida assistant Jordan Mincy to take over after serving the past six seasons on Mike White's Gators staff. |
 | Danny Kaspar | Terrence Johnson | Terrence Johnson stepped in and rightfully earned the full-time gig after guiding Texas State to an 18-7 season, following the firing last fall of Danny Kaspar. |
 | Wes Miller | Mike Jones | UNC Greensboro's reputation has been mightily upgraded in the past six years under Wes Miller. Now that he's off to Cincinnati, UNCG plucked Radford coach Mike Jones, who went 174-150 in 10 seasons. |
 | Rodney Billups | Jeff Wulbrun | A Stanford assistant lands a Denver job that is viewed as a potential Summit League power. Good area, solid facilities for that level. Just waiting to be untapped. |
 | Jason Shay | Desmond Oliver | Oliver goes to East Tennessee State and becomes the school's third coach in as many seasons following the surprising resignation from Jason Shay, who lasted one season and went 13-12. It's been reported he resigned after backlash over his players kneeling during the national anthem. |
 | Ryan Odom | Jim Ferry | UMBC looks to have done well for itself in replacing Odom. Jim Ferry was a good interim head coach for Penn State last season, and prior to that took LIU Brooklyn to the NCAA Tournament before he sputtered at Duquesne. |
 | Will Brown | Dwayne Killings | Brown lasted 20 seasons and made five NCAA Tournaments, but it was time for a change. Marquette assistant Dwayne Killings, who has been a rising star in the industry the past five years, has received rave reviews from peers as Albany's next coach. |
 | Mike Jones | Darris Nichols | Mike White lost two assistants to head-coaching opportunities this year. Jordan Mincy went to Jacksonville, and on April 21, Nichols accepted the Radford job. He's 34 and a natural: Nichols is from Radford, Virginia. |
 | David Patrick | Mike Magpayo | Magpayo coached UC Riverside all last season in an interim role. The school debated dropping out of D-I, but instead will keep on and do so under Magpayo after months of waiting to make it official. |
 | Barret Peery | Jase Coburn | Peery is one of a few coaches who left their spot as a head man to join a bigger program as an assistant. In his case, he moves from Portland State to Texas Tech. Coburn was promoted from within. He apparently doesn't eat breakfast. |
 | Jay Spoonhour | Marty Simmons | Eastern Illinois hired Simmons due in large part to his depth of experience as a head coach at this level. Simmons is 282-248 with previous stops at SIU Edwardsville and Evansville. |
 | Willis Wilson | Steve Lutz | Wilson transitioned out at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and the university plucked Purdue assistant Steve Lutz to get his first head-coaching job in college basketball after 25 years as an assistant. |
 | Joe Golding | Brette Tanner | Abilene Christian wasted no time. After Golding took UTEP, Tanner was rallied around by the players immediately. It resulted in one of the quickest hiring decisions of the 2021 cycle. |
 | Mark Prosser | Justin Gray | Gray got the job after working the past two years at Winthrop. Best known for being a standout at Wake Forest, playing alongside a guy named Chris Paul. |
 | Anthony Stewart | Ryan Ridder | UT Martin brought in Ridder, who won 48 games in three seasons at Bethune-Cookman. The team did not play this past season due to COVID-19. Ridder replaces Stewart, who tragically died less than a week before the start of the season when he never woke up from a nap. Stewart led the UT Martin Skyhawks for four seasons. |
 | Matt Figger | Nate James | The next Duke assistant to get his shot is Nate James, who heads to the OVC and coach Austin Peay. James, 43, was an assistant at Duke since 2009. |
 | Lew Hill | Matt Figger | Terribly, two coaching vacancies existed due to coaches dying. Lew Hill died in his sleep the morning of Feb. 7, perishing just hours after he coached what he thought would be his last UTRGV game for an indefinite hiatus. Figger will be the next coach after going 76-51 in four seasons at Austin Peay. |
 | Tic Price | Alvin Brooks | Houston's Final Four run propelled Alvin Brooks to make the leap from assistant under Kelvin Sampson back into the head-coaching ranks. Brooks' last job as a head coach was at Houston, of all places, in 1998. |
 | Tommy Dempsey | Levell Sanders | Binghamton is one of the toughest jobs in the country, and Dempsey lasted nine seasons despite never finishing above .500. Sanders steps in on an interim basis for the 2021-22 season. |
 | Donyell Marshall | Patrick Sellers | Central Connecticut picks an alumnus with deep ties to the area and plenty of experience. Sellers has been an assistant coach in Division I for more than 25 years. |
 | Ryan Ridder | Dominique Taylor | Bethune-Cookman opened when Ryan Ridder left to take the UT Martin job. Taylor was promoted on an interim basis for the upcoming season. |
 | Heath Schroyer | John Aiken | Schroyer stepped down as McNeese State coach on March 11, but here's the twist: He's also the school's athletic director. His first decision as AD was to promote assistant John Aiken to head coach. An unusual gambit, the program continues without enduring a coaching search after a trying season. |
 | George Ivory | TBD | Ivory was let go after back-to-back four-win seasons that tailed out a 13-year run with Arkansas Pine Bluff. |
 | Murray Garvin | Tony Madlock | South Carolina State, out of the MEAC, opted not to renew Garvin's contract on March 15. Madlock, a Memphis assistant, will be tasked with turning around a 1-17 team. |
 | Eric Skeeters | Stan Waterman | Delaware State announced Waterman, 55, as the filler for its vacancy on June 4. He is a legendary high school coach in Delaware, having won 571 games and eight state titles. |
