Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel and longtime Jazz assistant Lamar Skeeter are among the many candidates scheduled to interview for the Jazz’s head coaching opening, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
They are just two names on a long list reported by Wojnarowski in what is expected to be a “lengthy, wide-open” search.
Along with Vogel and Skeeter, the Jazz are expected to interview ex-Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts, as well as the following:
Jazz assistant Alex Jensen, Knicks assistant Johnnie Bryant, Bucks assistant Charles Lee, and Celtics assistants Will Hardy and Joe Mazzulla. Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin is reportedly another candidate, though it is not known if he is actually being considered.
Vogel was fired after three seasons in LA, winning a championship in the 2020 Disney bubble. But the Lakers failed to make even the play-in tournament this past season after some heavy roster turnover.
He has a 431-389 record overall in 11 seasons with the Lakers, Magic and Pacers.
Stotts coached the Blazers for nine seasons, leading them to the playoffs in each of his final eight. Overall, he is an impressive 1,003-507 in 13 seasons overall with the Blazers, Bucks and Hawks.
No one else on the list has head-coaching experience. In that regard, perhaps Skeeter and Jensen have an edge, as both served as assistants under Quin Snyder, who stepped down after eight years on the job. Jensen also played at the University of Utah and was a head coach in the G League.
Meanwhile, Skeeter coached the Jazz summer league team in 2019 and came with Snyder to Utah eight seasons ago, first as a player development/video coordinator position.
Lead basketball executive Danny Ainge told reporters this week that the search is just beginning.
“I have my ideas, but we really haven’t discussed it internally with the rest of the staff, or with (team owner Ryan Smith),” Ainge said. “… I have a few (in mind), but I’m not sure I even know them well enough to give you their names. But it’s the very beginning of the process.”
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