Paying Their Dues: Five New Head Coaches With 22 or More Years as Aide
April 29th, 2022 - 8:04
Has there ever been an individual spend as long a time as an assistant (32 years) as Brian Dutcher before moving over a chair and becoming San Diego State's head coach five years ago succeeding Steve Fisher? Exercising patience to the max while world became full of masked Michael Jackson impersonators, five new bench bosses (Chris Gerlufsen, Ryan Pedon, Daniyal Robinson, Mike Schwartz and Dwayne Stephens) joined the following list of 18 active mentors toiling more than 20 seasons as a college aide:
| Active Head Coach (Years as Aide) | Current School | 20-Season-Plus Background as Assistant Coach |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Dutcher (32) | San Diego State | Illinois in 1983-84 and 1984-85, South Dakota State in 1986-87 and 1987-88, Michigan from 1989-90 through 1997-98 and San Diego State from 1999-00 through 2016-17. |
| Desmond Oliver (27) | East Tennessee State | Niagara from 1994-95 through 1996-97, Texas A&M in 1997-98, Cornell in 1998-99 and 1999-00, St. Bonaventure in 2000-01, Rhode Island from 2001-02 through 2003-04, Georgia from 2004-05 through 2008-09, Canisius in 2009-10, Charlotte from 2010-11 through 2014-15 and Tennessee from 2015-16 through 2020-21. |
| Steve Lutz (26) | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Incarnate Word (Tex.) from 1995-96 through 1998-99, Garden City Community College (Kan.) in 1999-00, Stephen F. Austin from 2000-01 through 2005-06, Southern Methodist from 2006-07 through 2009-10, Creighton from 2010-11 through 2016-17 and Purdue from 2017-18 through 2020-21. |
| Dwayne Stephens (25) | Western Michigan | Oakland in 1997-98 and 1998-99, Marquette from 1999-00 through 2002-03 and Michigan State from 2003-04 through 2021-22. |
| Matt Figger (24) | Texas-Rio Grande Valley | Wabash Valley Junior College (Ill.) in 1993-94, Vincennes College (Ind.) from 1994-95 through 1998-99, Odessa College (Tex.) from 1999-00 through 2001-02, South Alabama from 2002-03 through 2006-07, Kansas State from 2007-08 through 2011-12 and South Carolina from 2012-13 through 2016-17. |
| Chris Gerlufsen (24) | San Francisco | Washington College (Ga.) in 1998-99, Southwestern in 1999-00, The Citadel from 2000-01 through 2005-06, Hartford from 2006-07 through 2014-15, San Diego from 2015-16 through 2018-19, Hawaii in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and San Francisco in 2021-22. |
| Tony Madlock (24) | Alabama State | Arkansas State from 1997-98 through 2005-06, Texas-El Paso from 2006-07 through 2009-10, Auburn from 2010-11 through 2013-14, Mississippi from 2014-15 through 2017-18 and Memphis from 2018-19 through 2020-21. |
| Greg Gard (23) | Wisconsin | Wisconsin-Platteville from 1993-94 through 1998-99, Milwaukee in 1999-00 and 2000-01 and Wisconsin from 2001-02 to 2015-16. |
| Mike Schwartz (23) | East Carolina | Texas in 1999-00 and 2000-01, Long Beach State in 2001-02, back at Texas in 2002-03 and 2003-04, Texas-San Antonio in 2004-05, Miami (Fla.) from 2005-06 through 2010-11, Fresno State from 2011-12 through 2014-15, Tulsa in 2015-16 and Tennessee from 2016-17 through 2021-22. |
| Glenn Braica (22) | St. Francis (N.Y.) | New York City Tech in 1988-89, St. Francis (N.Y.) from 1989-90 through 2003-04 and St. John's from 2004-05 through 2009-10. |
| Ryan Pedon (22) | Illinois State | Miami (Ohio) in 2000-01 and 2001-02 plus 2005-06 through 2009-10, Kent State from 2002-03 through 2004-05, Toledo from 2010-11 through 2012-13, Illinois in 2013-14 and 2014-15, Butler in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and Ohio State from 2017-18 through 2021-22. |
| Daniyal Robinson (22) | Cleveland State | UALR from 2000-01 through 2002-03 and 2007-08, Illinois State from 2003-04 through 2006-07, Iowa State in 2008-09 and 2009-10 plus 2015-16 through 2021-22, Houston from 2010-11 through 2012-13 and Loyola of Chicago in 2013-14 and 2014-15. |
| Ron Sanchez (22) | Charlotte | SUNY Oneonta from 1996-97 through 1998-99, SUNY Delhi in 1999-00 and 2000-01, Indiana in 2001-02 and 2002-03, Washington State from 2003-04 through 2008-09 and Virginia from 2009-10 through 2017-18. |
| Jeff Boals (21) | Ohio University | Ohio University in 1995-96, Charleston (W. Va.) from 1996-97 through 1998-99, Marshall from 1999-00 through 2002-03, back at Charleston (W. Va.) in 2003-04, Robert Morris in 2004-05 and 2005-06, Akron from 2006-07 through 2008-09 and Ohio State from 2009-10 through 2015-16. |
| Mike Hopkins (21) | Washington | Syracuse from 1996-97 through 2016-17. |
| Tommy Lloyd (21) | Arizona | Gonzaga from 2000-01 through 2020-21. |
| Patrick Sellers (21) | Central Connecticut State | Central Connecticut State (1999-00 through 2002-03), Massachusetts (2003-04), Connecticut (2004-05 through 2009-10), Hofstra (2011-12 and 2012-13), Creighton (2013-14 and 2014-15), DePaul (2015-16 and 2016-17), Fairleigh Dickinson (2017-18 and 2018-19) and Fairfield (2019-20 and 2020-21). |
| Jeff Wulbrun (21) | Denver | California from 1986-87 through 1992-93, Illinois State from 1993-94 through 1996-97, Virginia Tech in 2011-12, UAB from 2012-13 through 2015-16 and Stanford from 2016-17 through 2020-21. |