Northeastern Goes Across Town For Coen
BOSTON – Northeastern’s new head coach didn’t have to go far for his new job. Bill Coen, who had been the associate coach at Boston College and a member of Al Skinner’s staff since 1989, is the new leader on Huntington Ave and was introduced on Friday morning.
At Boston College, Coen had a hand in the recent success of the Eagles, which included the winningest five-year stretch in the program’s history. The Eagles won a school-record 28 games this past season and advanced to the Sweet 16 before bowing out in a tough loss to Villanova in Minneapolis. Coen helped see them through a successful, if bumpy at times, transition from the Big East to the ACC, where they finished in third place and made it to the championship game in the ACC Tournament.
He now takes over a program that recently made the switch from the America East Conference, of which it was a charter member, to the Colonial Athletic Association, a conference that has gained a great deal of visibility in the last month. The Huskies had a successful first season in the CAA, going 12-6 in conference play and 19-11 overall. They did not make postseason play, as they were one of the most notable snubs from the NIT.
Athletic director Dave O’Brien said that everyone he spoke to about Coen held him in the highest regard. Not only did he get an unsolicited phone call from a vice president at Boston College about the type of man Coen is, but he even had another candidate recommend him. The candidate wasted no time endorsing Coen, telling O’Brien, “you need to be talking to Bill Coen, because he’s the right person for this job.”
“To have a contender for the job, unsolicited, make that kind of recommendation, I thought spoke volumes for the respect that other coaches in the business have for Bill Coen,” O’Brien said of the candidate’s recommendation.
One thing that has stood out about Coen is his ability to evaluate talent. Boston College’s recent success hasn’t come with the aid of one McDonald’s All-American after another; instead, it has come with players that were not household names nationally in high school. Players like Troy Bell, Craig Smith, Louis Hinnant, Sean Williams and Tyrese Rice weren’t top 25 recruits coming out of high school, but all have had hands in the recent success. Bell and Smith are the program’s top two all-time scorers, while Hinnant joins Smith in the winningest class in the school’s history. Rice was a late signee last year who was a key reserve and has a bright future at Chestnut Hill.
“The number one thing that sold me on him, from a qualification standpoint, is that everyone I talked to said he’s the best talent evaluator out there,” said O’Brien, who interviewed four candidates for the job. “When you look at the Boston College teams of the last few years, you really can see the product of Bill’s, (Al) Skinner’s and (Ed) Cooley’s work, with Bill being a prime mover in that.”
Coen’s first challenge with recruiting will take place in-house. Sophomore Shawn James, the nation’s leader in blocked shots this season and a two-time conference Defensive Player of the Year, is considering following the former coaching staff to Duquesne. Should he stay, James would be a cornerstone of next season’s team as one of three returning starters. Freshman guard Chris Brickley has already transferred to UMass after playing limited minutes as a freshman this season. The Huskies will return three starters next season if James remains on Huntington Ave, although they will lose one of college basketball’s most dynamic players in floor leader and CAA Player of the Year Jose Juan Barea.
Another challenge he will face is far from a new one – getting students involved to support the team. The Huskies did not draw well this season, as Matthews Arena was routinely empty despite the presence of Barea and James, who led the nation in blocked shots. College basketball is not the first choice of Boston sports fans, and that’s true at Boston College as well as Northeastern. Indeed, at times the fan base can be said to be downright comatose, and considering the personnel the Huskies had and the conference they played in, that’s a shame.
“We’re going to try to get them excited about Northeastern basketball. We’re going to reach out to them in many different ways,” Coen said of the student body. “In order for us to have a homecourt advantage, we’re going to need their support each and every night, and I’m hopeful that they’ll enjoy their time and be supportive.”
Coen has seen this at Boston College and knows the lay of the land. The Eagles haven’t always had ACC-type crowds, and Conte Forum’s atmosphere is rarely anything like that of the Comcast Center (Maryland) on a nightly basis. From that, he has a positive mindset going in about this aspect of the job.
“I think once the students realize what a fun time it can be and what type of effect they can have on the game, I think they’ll enjoy coming to the games,” Coen said.
In Coen, the Huskies have a winner and a perfect fit. He will face many of the challenges he faced at Boston College in terms of the types of players to recruit, as he will again have to find the good players who fly under the radar nationally. Coen knows the game well, knows how to evaluate talent and has had a great deal of success in his career to this point. There’s a reason he is well-respected in the coaching community, and his success should continue in his first Division I head coaching job.
