Juwan Howard’s Seat Is Hot And Getting Hotter

Grant Halverson. Getty Images.

I’ve probably had a longer leash with the Juwan Howard era than most people have. I made many excuses for him over the last several years and got criticized at points for not being more cynical towards him in the past. But a switch definitely flipped last night after Michigan’s loss to Florida. It was another game in which Michigan fought hard, held a late lead, and could not finish largely because the offense stalled out in crunch time. We’ve seen this movie well over a dozen times now. The roster has changed quite a bit over the last several years, yet the same problems persist. It’s time to face the facts; either Juwan Howard figures it out now, or Michigan should be looking for another basketball coach at the end of the season. 

What’s sad about this is that it seemed like everything was working for a brief minute. Juwan was recruiting at a high level. The 2021 team that won the Big Ten and made it to the Elite Eight seemed like the beginning of another great era of Michigan basketball. Things have gone sideways since then. Is it 100% Juwan’s fault? Not necessarily. Quite frankly, I was unimpressed by some of his big recruits. Players like Caleb Houston and Moussa Diabate were fine players but failed to live up to the expectations people had for them. They also had no business going to the NBA after one year, but that’s beside the point. Regardless of the talent (and there’s been plenty), the man’s rotations and in-game decisions make little sense. Will Tschetter had been one of Michigan’s few bright spots coming off the bench. Last night, he inexplicably played a season-low eight minutes in a double overtime loss while transfer Tray Jackson played eleven. His stat line looked like this.  

I was one of the first to acknowledge how ugly the Juwan Howard slap incident was against Wisconsin two years back, but I was not somebody who believed that he should’ve been fired. I’m a firm believer in rehabilitation in second chances. It’s a big reason why I still have this job. That said, it’s frustrating that Juwan finds himself in the middle of controversy every few months. Whether it’s his fault or not, a zero-tolerance policy exists for a reason, and the team simply has not been successful enough to deal with this distraction. Winning solves everything. The problem is they aren’t winning. 

I don’t harbor any ill will toward Juwan Howard. This is not a Brad Ausmus or Matt Patricia situation where I couldn’t stand the sight of them by the end of their tenure. I wanted this to work. This blog is simply based on the facts. This program finds itself with six losses before Christmas and a head coach currently 1-15 in one-possession games. There were times in the John Beilein line era when it seemed like things were going sideways, and he always found a way to adapt. Either Juwan has a trick up his sleeve, or his time at Michigan may be coming to an end soon.