Brownell talks about coaching options, his love of Clemson

Brownell said that Clemson was a job he coveted

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Mar 24 21:05:02 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Clemson head basketball coach Brad Brownell met with the media Thursday afternoon in Littlejohn Coliseum, and he said one measure of success for a basketball coach is whether other teams come calling you as a head coach or wanting your assistants.

Brownell said he would never comment on whether he had been contacted about a job opening – he made it a point to say that – but did say that assistant coach Rick Ray is still in the running for a head coaching position and that just means that people from outside of your own program like what you are doing.

“I need to have people that people want,” Brownell said during his season wrap-up press conference at Littlejohn Coliseum. “I want to be a coach that people are wanting to contact. If people aren’t contacting me and our staff, then we aren’t being as successful as we need to be. I look at it as a good problem to have. It means I have good people doing good jobs. If people recognize that in the basketball community, and if administrators and other coaches recognize it, then recruits are going to recognize it.

“I think that speaks to the quality of our staff. We have good coaches, and I think they will all be good head coaches one day. The way I run things, they all get involved, and I try to prepare them for when they get their chance. I don’t want them to leave, but I want to help them further their careers.”

Brownell was asked what would make him start looking elsewhere, and he said a lack of consistent success.

“I have been other places where we have had consistent success,” he said. “I want to build a program where you have that kind of success. You can’t fall behind, especially in this conference where you already have two super powers. If that doesn’t happen, then that is when your eye starts to wander and you had better listen to some other people.”

He said he met with Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips on Thursday to talk about the state of the program following his first season as head coach.

“Terry Don and I had our kind of first post-season meeting, and we talked about some issues and some different things,” he said. “We are going to get back together the first of next week. Terry Don has been great, and he was very supportive early on when we weren’t playing as well. He popped his head into some of our practices and was around our team and liked what we were doing. He has been great all year.”

He was asked what job had the “wow factor” to make him leave, and he said he wasn’t looking to leave Clemson at this point.

“I really like Clemson,” he said. “I know this is a good place to be. I didn’t just come to Clemson – I had other interviews at schools with some high-paying jobs. There was some interest there. But when this job came open, it was one I coveted. This is a place where I knew I could be successful. I knew there would be some challenges – and there are. But this is a place that fit me and my family.

“A lot of my decisions are based on the girls in my life. My wife and daughters are the biggest part of my life, and I always have their higher interests in mind. This business is difficult – people like you one day and they don’t the next day. Things change. Administration changes and the landscape changes. You want to be at a place where you are all paddling together.”