Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Mark Harlan's job as Utah athletic director may hinge on hiring a successful men's basketball coach.
- The program needs revitalization to regain fan enthusiasm and meet NCAA Tournament expectations.
- Harlan's selection must navigate NIL challenges, with significant financial investment crucial for future success.
SALT LAKE CITY — Is it too dramatic to say Mark Harlan's tenure as Utah athletic director rests with the impending men's basketball coach? The answer might be in the eye of the season-ticket beholder.
No doubt about it, the program needs some kind of explosive jolt to reenergize a fan base that has grown apathetic after several years of mediocrity. Harlan made the obvious move on Monday, releasing coach Craig Smith.
The only real surprise is the timing. With three weeks remaining in the season, excluding a potential meaningless run in the NIT like the Utes did last year, Harlan could have created a cleaner break.
By expediting the inevitable, he gets a jump on the process of hiring Smith's successor before the annual coaching carousel spins wildly next month.
Following the athletic director's unwritten code, Utah issued a press release in which Harlan thanked Smith for his wonderful contributions the last four years. For good reason, considering a strong tradition of making the NCAA Tournament, going forward Harlan listed the expectations as conference championships and tournament appearances.
To get there, Harlan's reputation could be on the line with the new hire. He chose to hire Smith after firing Larry Krystkowiak, who didn't want to shake up his coaching staff, and may not be able to withstand another mistake.
The proud program needs a great coach to reverse course or risk losing a generation of fans. For a while now, the Huntsman Center atmosphere has failed to come close to the most recent glory days of the 1990s when it was often packed with rabid loyalists that created an outstanding homecourt advantage.
The world of college athletics has changed substantially since the late Rick Majerus was leading his team on deep postseason tournament runs. The updated version, to the chagrin of many old-timers, demands shelling out money in the form of NIL to acquire talent.
Harlan can win the press conference by hiring the likes of former Utes Alex Jensen, Andre Miller or Johnnie Bryant, all of whom are coaching at the professional level, but even the greatest won't succeed without sufficient NIL cash. Therein lies the problem.
As former college coach and longtime analyst Fran Fraschilla posted on social media platform X: "This has little to do with Craig Smith's coaching. This is one of those few times that nobody in his right mind would take the job without saying, 'Show me the (NIL) money.' Coaching the team has much less to do with success today than ever before."
According to an ESPN.com story, the 2025 top high school basketball recruit, AJ Dybantsa, is due to get upwards of $8.5 million to play next season at BYU. The figure is estimated to be more than Utah's entire available NIL.
In short, Utah must pony up to retain and attract difference makers and even role players.
"We have continued to invest in our men's basketball program, adding staff, increasing compensation and significantly enhancing NIL opportunities with our partners for our student-athletes," Harlan said in the press release. "And our investments will only grow. I am confident that our national search, which has already begun, will lead us to the right coach to take our storied program back to national prominence.
Since succeeding Chris Hill in 2018, Harlan has not shied away from decisions that created enemies within the athletic department. He's had fiery exchanges and made personnel changes that led to departures of long-term and loyal staff members.
In turn, some of those former employees were willing to voice their displeasure with Harlan to trusted media members. But in the end, leaders deserve the right to choose their subordinates.
Perhaps his biggest gaffe, and certainly most embarrassing, came after the football team's loss to BYU last November. He essentially blamed the loss, which was the fifth of a seven-game losing streak, on the officiating and voiced concern with the program's Big 12 membership.
In the heat of the moment in midst of a bitterly disappointing season, the boss made a regrettable mistake. The conference subsequently fined him $40,000, which was the largest ever levied against an athletic director.
