There are a handful of assistant coaches who have bided their time behind some of the NBA's best head coaches today, waiting for that opportunity to run their own team. Some of them have held their assistant roles for several years, and the trend toward younger hires doesn't appear to be changing.Â
That trend bodes well for Chris Quinn, who has coached under Erik Spoelstra with the Miami Heat for over a decade. In fact, he's since moved from assistant to associate. There is only one further rank for Quinn to climb after associate: head coach.Â
Quinn has interviewed for head coaching jobs in the past few years but continues to get passed over. That said, every season that passes feels like Heat fans are getting closer to seeing Quinn eventually leave for a head coaching job where he won't be passed over. He deserves a shot, and the Chicago Bulls are the next team that could possibly give him one.
Miami Heat's Chris Quinn lands interview with Chicago Bulls; more are sure to follow
It's rare for a team to retain assistant coaches for over a decade, especially when that team hasn't won a title in that time. That's not to say the Heat haven't been competitive during Quinn's tenure on the bench beside Spoelstra. In fact, Quinn was right there during Miami's two finals runs over the past six years, including all of their unprecedented deep playoff runs in between.Â
Quinn has seen it all, and it's high time he got a chance to lead his own team. The success story emanating out of Los Angeles with JJ Redick is cause enough to give someone like Quinn a chance. Redick has done an incredible job with the Lakers in his two seasons thus far. Both Quinn and Redick are about the same age (42 and 41), and both played in the NBA.Â
The only difference between them is that Redick had never coached in the league, whereas Quinn has coached for 12 years. The resume that has Quinn's name at the top far outweighs the one Redick handed the Lakers when he walked into his interview. Who's to say Quinn can't do what Redick is doing?
The Bulls, who were recently granted approval to speak to Quinn about their head coaching vacancy, would do well to go with a younger voice, but an experienced one at that. If there is a franchise in the NBA that needs to do things the exact opposite of the way they've been doing them, the Bulls are them.Â
Going with someone like Quinn would be a step in that direction. Imagine what a coach like Quinn, coming from a franchise like the Heat, could bring to an organization that hasn't done anything since Derrick Rose?Â
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