Cuonzo Martin accepted the job to be the next head coach of the Missouri Tigers last week, but the question is: Is he the right guy for the job?’
Cuonzo Martin has been a head coach for just nine years, and Missouri marks the fourth stop of his coaching career. Martin insists that Missouri is the place where he wants to stay for the long haul, but what do you really expect him to say?
Martin started his career at Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference and he stayed there for three years. In his final two years in Springfield, Martin led the Bears to 24-12 and 26-9 records, including a regular season MVC title.
Then Tennessee came knocking.
Tennessee
In six seasons at Tennessee, Bruce Pearl led the Volunteers to six straight NCAA Tournaments. But after NCAA violations, Tennessee chose to fire Pearl.
So Martin didn’t take over your typical job. It wasn’t a program that was underachieving that needed to a culture change and a new voice to lead. Tennessee was a program that was ready to win.
Under Pearl, the Vols went 145-61 and went to six straight NCAA Tournaments, and never had lower than a 9-seed. In those six seasons, Tennessee went to the Sweet 16 three times, and made it to the Elite 8 once.
Martin failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in his first two years in Knoxville, but in the third year he led them to the Sweet 16. But most people don’t give Martin much credit for that Sweet 16 run since the Vols were able to beat the 14-seed Mercer in the second round, but all you can do is beat the teams in front of you.
Then, after a 63-41 record in three years, Martin left Tennessee for California. It was unknown if Martin left on his own or if he was forced out, but the bottom line is that he left.
California
Martin arrived at the University of California in 2014, and once again took over a successful program.
Cal wasn’t winning national titles or anything, but Mike Montgomery was the head coach of the Bears for six years, leading them to a winning record each season and the NCAA Tournament four times before he retired.
Martin also led Cal to a winning season in each of his three years there, but in the one NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016, they lost to 14-seed Hawaii in the first round.
And once again, after rumors of the head coach being unhappy at Cal, Martin is on his way to Missouri.
Missouri
In three years under Kim Anderson, the Tigers went 27-68, including an 8-46 record in the SEC.
Martin seems to fit at Missouri. He’s an East St. Louis-native and he started his coaching career at Missouri State. He’s proven to be a capable head coach, recording winning seasons in eight of his nine seasons as a head coach and making two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Not only has Martin yet to stay anywhere more than three years, he’s also taken over winning programs at each stop. But Missouri is a much bigger rebuilding job than his previous two stops.
How long till Missouri gets tired of him or he gets tired of Missouri?