The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/888498
50 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 2017-18 BASKETBALL PREVIEW M ichigan head coach John Beilein has always been a by-the-book coach, so it was no surprise when he was voted 'cleanest coach in Amer- ica' in a poll of his peers. It wasn't a shocker to the article's author, CBSS- ports.com's Gary Parrish, either. "I'm not surprised Beilein was the most common answer, if only be- cause I've never heard another coach even whisper about him," he said. "In a business where back-stabbing is normal and accusing somebody of cheating every time you miss on a recruit is a go-to move, Beilein's name has never been connected to anything shady, far as I can remem- ber. Coaches just don't talk about him that way. "Simply put, he's universally re- spected. "Beilein has led the NCAA's ethics coalition, and his colleagues seem to believe there's nothing about that deserving of a roll of the eyes. They think he plays things straight by the book." Being named cleanest is better than the alternative, Beilein quipped in early October. "I would say it's a very inexact poll … in fact, Gary Parrish sent me an individual text on it, so I guess it was pretty cool," he said. "But there are a lot of really, re- ally clean coaches out there. They must have caught the right coaches … probably talked to my assistants or something during that time." He saved his best for last. "I take a lot of showers, too … a couple a day, so that keeps me nice and clean," he joked. Parrish concluded that Beilein has earned the respect of his peers for the way he does things. "Sometimes coaches get new jobs and compromise their moral com- passes; pressures make them do things they previously never imag- ined doing," he wrote. "But that doesn't seem to be the case with Beilein. Or, at least, his col- leagues don't believe it to be the case. And that's just about the greatest compliment he could receive — that he's flourished without changing and won big without cheating. "Coaches love to point fingers, even at the giants of the sport. But with Beilein, really, they just tip their hats." — Chris Balas BEILEIN LIKES TEAM'S TOGETHERNESS AND DEFENSE IN THE EARLY GOING Though the Wolverines have big shoes to fill after losing three starters from last year 's team, head coach John Beilein likes what he's seeing through the team's first six practices. He told The Huge Show's Bill Si- monson he rarely "loves" a team be- fore February, but that there's a lot to like about this year 's club in the early going. "We've had six days of practice. I like some things," he said Oct. 9. "Their energy is incredible, and they really work hard. Defensively, they probably have both a will and a skill to be a better defensive team … We couldn't have been much worse than we were last year at certain times. MICHIGAN BASKETBALL John Beilein Comments On Being 'Cleanest Coach In America' Beilein was given 26.6 percent of the votes in CBSSports.com's survey of college coaches when they were asked which high-major coach do you genuinely believe does everything by the book — he more than doubled second-place Mike Brey of Notre Dame (10.5 percent). PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL