The 42-year-old’s contract was set to expire this summer and the decision not to offer him a renewal was confirmed by Pacers president Larry Bird at a news conference in Indianapolis today.
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Bird made it clear Vogel is “not getting fired”, and that the team is just not renewing his contract.
Bird said there is no timeline for the decision, but he wants to move quickly to allow Vogel to seek employment elsewhere if a move is made. From that time forward, he led the team to post a 250-181 regular season record, 31-30 in the playoffs plus a number of postseason appearances in five in the last six years. Mark Jackson is someone that all the players respect and listen to since he played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association as well as five and a half years with the Pacers. IN reached the East semifinals the next season and pushed Miami to the brink in the conference finals each of the next two years.
We here at P&T have provided coverage of Frank Vogel’s departure from the Indiana Pacers with the underlying hope that our own New York Knicks would at least reach out to the coach. Jackson has met with former Cavaliers coach David Blatt and spoke with his former player Luke Walton, who ended up taking the Lakers’ job. “It really is, every day, the same voice, I think guys sometimes tune that out”, he said.
According to Rachel Nichols, Vogel basically begged for another year with the Pacers when he was on the phone with Larry Bird, being informed he was out. But who will Bird hire as the next Pacers’ head coach? Frank, we’re sorry, but we’re ready to see other coaches. Houston is a more immediately compelling job, and Vogel also has ties to Phil Jackson in NY.
The only time a Vogel-coached team missed the playoffs was 2014-15 when George missed all but six games after snapping his right leg during a summer scrimmage. “If you have a new coach and a new strategy, people listen”. Kevin McHale is an experienced coach without a team.
Of the players on this list, Philadelphia 76ers associate head coach Mike D’Antoni is the flashiest name given his past success as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns while former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson (I assume that’s him) is also a big name on the list.
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– Bird indicated that part of the voice losing impact is in motivating players to play at a higher level and holding them accountable.
