Providence head coach Ed Cooley is moving up the list in Michigan's search for a new head coach, and he's interviewed for the job.
Cooley was in Florida Monday for the Big East coaches' meetings, but sources have confirmed Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel has interviewed him. Manuel was slated to head to the Sunshine State to interview Miami Heat assistant and former Fab Five standout Juwan Howard today, and will.
Reports that Cooley has been offered or accepted the job are inaccurate, but he checks all of Manuel's boxes.
“I want somebody who wants to coach and teach young men," Manuel said. "To drive success on the court and off the court. Academically, we’ve been as solid as well as we’ve played. We’ve had young men with character who have done the right thing, so I want that.
"If I can get a proven coach, someone with a track record as a head coach, that’s what I’d like to see. And then I want somebody who can coach, who can develop talent. John [Beilein] did it and this league does it year in, year out without teams full of five-stars. We develop talent in the league and we’re a tough league that plays hard, so I’m looking for somebody that can develop talent and who can also coach.”
Cooley, 49, was recommended by Turnkey, the search firm Michigan is employing to aid in finding Beilein's replacement. Managing Director Gene DeFilippo was the athletic director at Boston College during Al Skinner's tenure there, during which Cooley was an assistant for nine years, so he knows him well.
Cooley is a Rhode Island native and said when he arrived a Providence, "this will be a marriage made in heaven for a long, long, long time."
Several sources, however, have confirmed Cooley is likely to take the job, if offered.
Cooley went 92-69 in his first head coaching job in 2006, winning the MAAC regular-season title in his final season in 2010-11 before moving on to Providence. The Friars hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament in eight years and posted two winning seasons in that span but made it in Cooley's third year. They made it every year for four years after that but went just 1-5 in tournament play.
Watch for more on these developments in the hours to come.
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