Coaching Greats

As part of his "Coaching Greats" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time in the preseason with current Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. Coach Tillette, who led a New Orleans-based Babe Ruth team to the World Series title as a child, is the all-time wins leader in Samford history and was also an outstanding high school coach in the Crescent City. Currently his Samford Bulldogs are 10-7 overall and 2-3 in the Southern Conference.

In the most recent installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with former Louisiana Tech head coach Andy Russo. In six seasons at the school Russo led the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and coached future Basketball Hall of Famer Karl Malone.

Jon Teitel: In 1970 you were co-captain of the Lake Forest HS team along with legendary computer magnate Mike Maiman. How good a player were you back in the day, and did you ever think that Mike would turn out to be so successful?

In the most recent installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series, CHN writer spent some time with former Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff. Coach Wolff, who is now the Director of Operations at Virginia Tech, was let go by the school after fifteen seasons and the most wins in school history. Under Coach Wolff the Terriers won five conference titles and made two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Jon Teitel: You played two years at LSU and then two at Connecticut. Why did you decide to go to LSU and why did you decide to transfer to Connecticut?

In the latest installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series CHN writer spent some time with former Arkansas-Little Rock head coach Mike Newell. Coach Newell won 113 games in the first five years of his tenure at UALR and led the Trojans to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Also a head coach at Lamar from 1990-93, Coach Newell finished up a nine-year run at Arkansas-Monticello in 2010 and hopes to catch on with a Division I program as either an assistant or head coach in 2011.

In the most recent installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series, CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with former North Dakota State head coach Erv Inniger. Inniger, who played at Indiana, won 244 games in fourteen seasons at NDSU and the Bison had thirteen consecutive winning seasons under his tutelage. An associate athletic director at the school since retiring from coaching in 1992, Inniger will retire from that role next month.

Jon Teitel: At Berne HS your team went 67-0 over three straight regular seasons.