Kellogg To Coach UMass Per Katz

[Wisexuowl]

Memphis assistant Derek Kellogg will be named the next coach at Massachusetts on Wednesday, a UMass source told ESPN.com.
Kellogg played at UMass from 1991-95 and was an all-Atlantic 10 player under John Calipari, in the years the program was nationally ranked.
Kellogg has been an assistant under Calipari at Memphis the last eight years. Previously, he spent one season as an assistant at Youngstown State and two more at George Mason.

Kellogg, 34, will replace Travis Ford, who left the program last week to become coach at Oklahoma State.

UMass is expected to make Kellogg's announcement official at a news conference Wednesday evening.

During Kellogg's four years as a player at UMass, the Minutemen won four consecutive A-10 regular season and conference tournament titles.

[muskieman]

Maybe the new coach with his ties to UMass will give that program some stability for years to come.

Good luck to him except when they play X.

[Wisexuowl]

MM, I think you got something. He's back home, and will have a lot of support. Good transition for UMass.

[Fansince87]

I think hiring assistants esp. for a borderline high-major program like umass is a mistake. I don't think it is as much about who you mentored under as it is about the individual. Assistants are completely untested but coaches at lower schools have to prove that they can coach.

Look at guys like bruiser flint, Quinn snyder, tommy amaker, eddy sutton's son. If it were about being in a successful program and assisting a great coach how could those guys fail. Of course some of them work out but I think your chances are much better by picking a proven winner - bruce pearl, thad matta, Billy Gillispie (even jim tressel). For every one Sean Miller asst coach success I think there are 5 Bruiser flints.

[_LH]

It goes both ways. Marquette was successful with their assistant hire in Crean and just hired another assistant. Michigan hired Armacker and failed. Prosser had one year as a head coach and was mostly as assistant.

Flint was not really that bad but he had some unreal expectations and his replacement (not an assistant) actually set the program back more. GW has done well with their assistant hire moreso than they did with the previous coach who again was not an assistant.

[Wisexuowl]

<If it were about being in a successful program and assisting a great coach how could those guys fail.>

Probably because in the cases of Tommy and Quinn, they couldn't handle the pressure. Sean at OSU is just the victim of an interferring alum.

But, if assistant in a successful program can't cut it, then what about Roy Williams, Coack K, Ed Jucker, Bob Stack, Pete Gillan, Mark few, ....and the beat goes on.

If there was an absolute secret formula, all coaches would be successful big time.