Boston Celtics: Butler’s Brad Stevens to Become New Celtics Head Coach
The Boston Celtics have announced Brad Stevens as the team’s new head coach in a shocking announcement that seemingly caught the media and the rest of the basketball world off guard. Stevens, who has spent the past six years as the head coach at Butler, will be introduced officially by the Celtics on Friday and in doing so, will become the youngest head coach in the league at just 36.
Stevens will sign a six-year, $22 million contract, giving him unheard of security and financial stability for an untested, inexperienced professional coach. The contract strengthens the notion that Stevens was general manager Danny Ainge’s top candidate to replace former coach Doc Rivers, who was released to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. While the Celtics appear to be entering a phase of rebuilding after trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets, the length of the contract ensures that Stevens will still be around to see the fruits of his labor while he likely spends the next few seasons developing young talent. For those who are unfamiliar with Stevens, let’s break down his history and coaching technique.
Stevens has amassed an exceptional coaching record at Butler since taking over the head coaching position in 2007. His 166 wins are the most in the first six seasons for a head coach in Division I history and he quickly became the face of a new breed of coaches in the NCAA. He coached Butler to back-to-back NCAA championship games and was a Gordon Hayward buzzer-beater away from winning the title in 2010. While the school has never attracted the top-end high school talent, Stevens has consistently overachieved and brought out the best in the players who have spent time in his program.
Stevens becomes just the 17th coach in the history of the Celtics’ franchise and will bring a new, modern approach to not just the team but to the league as a whole. He is an open-minded individual who is on the cutting edge of modern coaching techniques. He is renowned for his understanding of statistical trends, advanced analytics and innovative scouting techniques. He and his assistant coaches use advanced statistical models to analyse their opposition, adjust game plans, assist with substitution patterns and even to determine how well certain training drills correlate to victories in game.
Far from just a stat guru, Stevens has a tremendous ability to communicate effectively with his young players and is among the best player development coaches in the NCAA. He has a cool, calm demeanour with his team and maintains that approach as he watches on from the sidelines. He rarely argues with officials over calls, doesn’t scream at players after a mistake and instead maintains a “next play” philosophy which flows down through his roster. A logical, intelligent individual, Stevens preaches teamwork, communication, defense and sharing the ball to his teams and has consistently gotten the most out of rosters without the presence of highly recruited high school stars.
Stevens had recently turned down other offers from big schools such as UCLA to stay with the Butler program, but the allure of coaching the NBA’s most storied franchise was too much to resist. After just a single face-to-face meeting with Danny Ainge, Stevens accepted the position and will be the face of the next chapter in Celtics’ history.
It is still yet to be determined whether the hiring will have any impact on All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, who is now not only the lone member of the 2008 NBA champions on the roster, but is also the only player left from the 2010 team that reached the Finals. There are cases for and against Rondo staying in Boston after this hire and it remains to be seen which direction Ainge will head. On one hand the long-term nature of the contract and Stevens’ lack of experience in the NBA would point towards rebuilding and potentially moving Rondo for additional assets. However, Stevens’ modern approach to the game, ability to work with his players to find their best role and his intelligence all seem to be characteristics that would mesh well with Rondo. With 19 players on the roster, the Celtics still have a number of moves to make before the opening-day team is decided.
Stevens’ hiring brings a sudden wave of positivity to the Celtics after an offseason that has seen it deal away cornerstones of the franchise. Ainge hopes that Stevens can become the next great Celtics coach, lead the team through its rebuilding phase and back to the top of the NBA.