Does Brigham Young University hire assistant coaches for the men’s basketball team that have a desire to be lifelong coaches?
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We decided to take a look at the list of assistant coaches that were hired under the last two regimes. We evaluated the Steve Cleveland & Dave Rose eras, tracked down their assistants and what their career moves were, as well as whether they are still in the college basketball coaching world. Here is what we found:
Steve Cleveland Era
Coaching Staff
- Steve Cleveland
- Dave Rose
- Andy Toolson
- John Wardenburg
- Walter Roese
- Nathan Call
- Jeff Judkins
- Heath Schroyer
Steve Cleveland
Head Coach 1997-2005
Next Position: Fresno State Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Current Position: Retired
Dave Rose
Assistant Coach 1997-2000
Associate Head Coach 2000-2005
Next Position: BYU Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Current Position: Retired
Andy Toolson
Assistant Coach 2001-2005
Next Position: VP Financial Consultant at Charles Schwab
Current Position: Partner at Eventide Partners
John Wardenburg
Assistant Coach 2001-2005
Next Position: BYU Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach under Dave Rose
Current Position: Southern Utah Men’s Basketball Associate Head Coach
Walter Roese
Graduate Assistant 2001-2003
Director of Basketball Operations 2003-2005
Next Position: BYU Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach under Dave Rose
Current Position: Technical Director/Coach at NBA Development Academy in Mexico
Nathan Call
Assistant Coach 1997-2001
Director of Basketball Operations 2001-2005
Next Position: Sales Rep at First American Title
Current Position: Senior Sales Representative at Chicago Title
Jeff Judkins
Director of Basketball Operations 1999-2001
Next Position: BYU Women’s Basketball Head Coach
Current Position: BYU Women’s Basketball Head Coach
Heath Schroyer
Assistant Coach 1997-2001
Next Position: Wyoming Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
Current Position: McNeese State Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Dave Rose Era
Coaching Staff
- Dave Rose
- Tim LaComb
- Quincy Lewis
- Lee Cummard
- Andrew May
- Heath Schroyer
- Terry Nashif
- Mark Pope
- Cody Fueger
- Mike Hall
- Dave Rice
- John Wardenburg
- Walter Roese
Dave Rose
Head Coach 2005-2019
Next Position: Retired
Current Position: Retired
Tim LaComb
Director of Basketball Operations 2007-2010
Assistant Coach 2010-2015
Associate Head Coach 2015-2017
Assistant Head Coach 2017-2019
Next Position: Director of Enterprise Sales, Visible Supply Chain Management
Current Position: Director of Enterprise Sales, Visible Supply Chain Management
Quincy Lewis
Assistant Coach 2015-2019
Interim Head Coach 2019-Present
Next Position: BYU Men’s Basketball Interim Head Coach
Current Position: BYU Men’s Basketball Interim Head Coach
Lee Cummard
Assistant Coach 2018-Present
Next Position: TBD
Current Position: BYU Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
Andrew May
Director of Basketball Operations 2015-Present
Next Position: TBD
Current Position: Director of Basketball Operations
Heath Schroyer
Assistant Coach 2017-2018
Next Position: McNeese State Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Current Position: McNeese State Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Terry Nashif
Director of Basketball Operations 2005-2007
Assistant Coach 2007-2016
Assistant Head Coach 2016-17
Next Position: EVP, Enterprise and Partner Sales at Visible Supply Chain Management
Current Position: EVP, Enterprise and Partner Sales at Visible Supply Chain Management
Mark Pope
Assistant Coach 2011-2015
Next Position: Utah Valley Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Current Position: Utah Valley Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Cody Fueger
Director of Basketball Operations 2013-2015
Next Position: Utah Valley Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
Current Position: Utah Valley Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
Mike Hall
Director of Basketball Operations 2010-2013
Next Position: BYU Academic Advisor
Current Position: BYU Honor Code Counselor
Dave Rice
Associate Head Coach 2005-2011
Next Position: UNLV Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Current Position: Washington Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
John Wardenburg
Assistant Coach 2005-2010
Next Position: BYU Hawaii Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
Current Position: Southern Utah Men’s Basketball Associate Head Coach
Walter Roese
Assistant Coach 2005-2007
Next Position: San Diego Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
Current Position: Technical Director/Coach at NBA Development Academy in Mexico
Combined Number of Assistant Coaches under the last 2 Head Coaches = 16
Active Number of Coaches = 7
Inactive Number of Coaches = 6
To Be Determined = 3 (Quincy Lewis, Lee Cummard, Andrew May)
Coaching attrition is common in college basketball, especially amongst assistant coaches. Sports Illustrated looked at the turnover rate of assistants across the SEC, ACC, and PAC-12 back in 2015 and the average number of new assistant coaches per program over a 4-year period of time was 3.1.
The more alarming statistic is that BYU is losing coaches to the corporate world at the same rate as they are to the coaching world.
The percentage of former coaches that chose the corporate path rather than their initial coaching path, currently stands at a surprising 37.5%. The percentage of active assistants from these two eras currently sits at 43.75% with the future coaching careers of Quincy Lewis, Lee Cummard and Andrew May still to be determined. The only active coach from these two eras that is still working for BYU is Jeff Judkins, the head coach of the BYU Women’s Basketball team.
At a mere 6.25% difference between the two groups, one should ask, “Is BYU hiring assistant coaches that are passionate about their career path? Do they love what they do? Do they have one foot in and one foot out? Does the BYU coaching experience create perspective that influences coaches to pursue a different career path? Does the BYU experience take the coaching out of the coach?” Tweet at me @CriddleBenjamin and use #ESPN960.
