The tears said more than words could express.
Juwan Howard stood at a podium in Crisler Center, his family beaming and his eyes glistening. He had plenty to say, but he couldn’t say it.
He paused, tried to collect himself, even turned away from the crowd at one point. The tears weren’t subsiding, until released. So Michigan’s new head basketball coach let them flow, demonstrating his love for a place he calls home.
“Tears of joy,” he choked out. “That’s what happens when you’re excited about something so special, that means so much.”
Howard simply soaked up the maize-and-blue lovefest he experienced in his first Crisler press conference since 1994. He acknowledged fellow head coaches, like football’s Jim Harbaugh, softball’s Carol Hutchins, hockey’s Mel Pearson and more.
They were there to support the new man, who bleeds blue beyond the fiercest Michigan fan out there.
He spoke passionately about the only college job he’d consider, setting aside NBA opportunities to do so. He doesn’t have to learn Michigan. He lives and breathes it.
“The Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry … on Saturdays, when it’s time to watch that game, at 12 noon, Eastern time, I put on my Michigan football jersey,” Howard said. “My wife puts on her Michigan sweatshirt. [Sons] Jace and Jett put on their Michigan football jerseys.
“We had a dog that passed away, he [wore] the Michigan football jersey. His name was Blue, a bulldog. We’re all in. We’re Michigan family.”
This introduction wasn’t about nuts and bolts — assistant coaches, strategy, etc. There will be time for all that. It evolved into a cardiology exam, revealing Howard’s heart for Michigan.
The new boss admitted he has a lot to learn — about the War And Peace-like NCAA rulebook, about recruiting particulars, about his players and more. But he vowed to learn quickly, and U-M Athletics Director Warde Manuel wasn’t shy in defending the “risk” many say he took, hiring a man who has never been a head coach.
“If I’m going to take a risk with somebody, you all see why I took the risk,” Manuel said.
“What I wanted to hear is what I heard — I care about them as people first. I want them to be great students, and great athletes. He’s competitive. He wants to win because they want to win.”
Manuel went on to underscore his confidence about Howard regarding an Xs and Os side of which the AD himself disavows a deep knowledge.
“In the last two years, folks, 110 schools have changed basketball coaches,” Manuel continued. “A lot of those people who changed had a great deal of experience. Let him evolve. Let him develop into a head coach of his own.
“That’s what I’m going to do. Support him, answer questions, put people around him and let him evolve … I’m going to gamble with people who love this place the way he does.”
Some wanted to use Michigan’s sudden coaching change as an excuse to bash Manuel, insisting he should have done more to keep John Beilein around. Maybe they thought Beilein was going to coach in Ann Arbor until he was 95.
He wasn’t. He wanted to coach in the NBA. He’d checked out leaving the past two springs, and got the chance to pull the trigger this year. When it arrived, he didn’t look back.
Neither should Michigan followers, other than with a grateful glance toward the best coach the Wolverines ever enjoyed. There’s a new sheriff in town, with Beilein’s blessing, bringing unbridled energy and pride and love to the place where he played his college basketball.
Does Howard know everything about being a head coach at this level? No. But he’s smart enough, driven enough and street savvy enough to learn very quickly, channeling his contacts and track record of success into an all-out effort to keep Michigan basketball humming in the days to come.
It will be a challenge in 2019-20. Sixty percent of last year’s starting lineup bailed, to pursue NBA Draft dreams. What better time to allow a new coach to learn, grow and put in place his own foundation for future success?
Manuel didn’t just pull Howard from a junior high coaching gig in Elkhart. Nineteen seasons in the NBA count for something, especially when they include a couple of championships and unsolicited backing by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Six years as an NBA assistant can’t hurt.
“He started six years ago, with two of the best minds in basketball — Pat Riley and Eric Spoelstra,” Manuel pointed out. “He’s played for some of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He played for Steve Fisher here, who was a national championship coach.
“Let him evolve. Because he will, in my opinion, evolve into a great head coach.”
Howard’s aura and pedigree gives a very knowledgeable basketball mind the power to recruit, and recruiting fuels success. For someone who’s succeeded at every level of basketball, there’s no reason to think of any other option moving forward.
“Now, it’s my goal to lead a beautiful group that’s sitting back there,” Howard said, referring to his present team. “To teach them how privileged they are, how special they are to be part of the Michigan tradition. That just feels so good to say that — the University of Michigan.”
There may be more tears before the first big hurdles are cleared, more bitter tears — in East Lansing, in Columbus. But Howard knows those places. He knows what it means. He knows how desperately he doesn’t want to lose.
The job of translating those motivators into all it takes to succeed has already begun. Howard caused more opponents’ tears as a player than he shed himself. He’s determined to continue that tradition, in a place that brings out his deepest emotions.
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