One Year Later: Who Is The Best Coach In Chicago Sports?
We had this discussion last year around this time on Redline Radio and WOW have things. Jim Boylan is gone. Ricky Renteria is gone. Jeremy Colliton looks actually competent. Just one year ago we unanimously gave the #1 spot to David Ross before he had even managed one single game in the majors. That's how bad things looked last year. Now, I think it looks like this
Billy Donovan just wins every where he goes. He won at OKC even though he only got one year with Kevin Durant. He obviously made Florida basketball into a power house. And this year, this might be his most impressive coaching job to date. He has taken a roster that was a laughing stock and has them in a playoff spot. It's a team with just one star player, emerging young guys, and solid veteran journeymen, and Donovan has them cooking. More than that...the Bulls are fun. They compete. They are improving all the time. It is no longer a chore to watch them like it has been the last several years. They owe all of that to Donovan. To me when you combine the resume with the current state of the Bulls that's enough to have Donovan #1
La Russa is #2 based purely on resume. Hasn't managed a single game for the White Sox since 1986 and hasn't managed for anyone since 2011. WSD says he has no concerns about him as a manager. I think giving a 10 year break to a 76 year old brings some natural question marks, but it's impossible to pull up his baseball reference and have him anywhere besides #2 on this list. There's obviously a strong case that he should be #1, but I think he has to win here for a few months before leap frogging Donovan.
La Russa is going to be a major league manager in 7 different decades once April starts. He's a hall of famer brother.
I can't believe I am writing this. It seemed impossible just 3 months ago, but Colliton is climbing the charts. The way this team is playing and getting results with the roster he has…he is on pace to be a Jack Adams finalist. NOBODY thought the Hawks would be where they are when Toews and Dach were ruled out. The Blackhawks are organized. They work their ass off. They're extremely difficult to play against. Colliton deserves credit for all of those things. If Kane is with you, who can be against you?
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David Ross…has to be 4th. It's hard to judge anyone on just one year, especially when that year was the shortened covid season. Having said that…the Cubs didn't perform last year. All the core guys were terrible. Ross feels like he jumped on a sinking ship, but he was brought in to get the most out of the Cubs' star veteran WS core and that just didn't happen in year 1. It's hard to envision a scenario where Ross gets this group back to the playoffs, but he's a smart and likeable guy who could still be here when the Cubs eventually do get this thing turned around.
Two playoff appearances and has never finished a season with a losing record. And yet…this guy STINKS. Maybe he does just need a better QB, but at some point you have to adjust to your team's strengths and Nagy seems like he'd rather be the "genius" who wins by throwing it 50 times instead of getting behind a line that proved they could play down hill a bit and a running back who has literally(figuratively) NEVER been knocked backwards. Pace and Nagy appear to be going all in for one last dance with this group to save their jobs. We'll see if they're able to land a competent QB that changes our opinion of Nagy, but he's gone from 1st to dead last in 24 months. Unreal fall from grace.