What Makes Bill Self so Great?

When Roy Williams left Kansas to coach at his Alma Mater, North Carolina, it was a tough blow for Jayhawk fans nation wide. Bill Self has been nothing short of legendary since coming over from the University of Illinois as a replacement starting in the 2003-04 season. From 2005-2018 the Big 12 regular season title never left Lawrence, KS. As a Kansas fan you take this for granted, but this is simply the textbook definition of consistant success. After winning the conference again in 2020 Bill once again has more conference titles (15) than losses at home inside historic Allen Fieldhouse (14). You can do a double take on that sentence if you want but yes, you read that correctly. Elite coaches win when it matters and Bill Self was able to reach the pinnacle in 2008 when he won the national title in OT against the Memphis Tigers. Without a pandemic hitting the sports world in 2020, Self and Kansas would have had a real chance at title #2 for Bill with a team as hot as you can be headed into the big dance that was eventually cancelled. Regardless, Bill Self's consistency over the years is hard to believe but what makes him one of the top coaches the game has ever seen?

Out of a Timeout Plays

Bill probably needs another title to get in to the NCAA coach "Mount Rushmore" but when it comes to drawing up plays in the huddle and then executing them out of the timeout there is simply nobody better. Self has always been a guy who plays "the game within the game." He runs his offense with the goal of winning 70% of his after timeout situations. The circle lob has done wonders for Self and the Jayhawks and a lot of the time it comes in clutch moments down the stretch.

One game comes to mind this past season when it comes to this play design. #5 Kansas was tied with with #14 Texas Tech in an early season matchup with KU inbounding from behind the basket. Tech's center, Marco Santos-Silva was guarding the ball with Marcus Garrett inbounding, this was the mismatch Self was looking for. Marcus lofted the ball in bounds to David McCormack. Braun set an immediate screen for Marcus and the Red Raiders were immediately a step behind. Garrett got the ball back from Big Dave and the half step advantage off that gave the senior point guard an easy layup that eventually was the difference in the game. At first sight it doesn't seem to be anything special but Bill self saw he was going to get the mismatch and ran the play for his Point Guard which caught the Red Raiders off guard. This one happened to be a layup but I can't tell you how many times I have seen a Kansas inbound play lead to an alley oop. I miss the days of Andrew Wiggins and Josh Jackson, those guys had ungodly bounce.

Best Coach Under Pressure Situations

If you follow the Kansas program closely you now how many close games they play. As much as we win the amount of heart attacks they give us is unhealthy. You're lying if you say you haven't started sweating in the closing minutes of a game. The key word is win here. No coach is better under pressure. A lot of this is correlated to the late game timeout plays I discussed earlier. To give you some numbers behind this, since the 2001-02 season, Self is 72-39 in games decided by four points or less (64.9 winning percentage). That winning percentage is good enough for 1st place on the list, not too shabby. To put this into perspective even further, elite coaches behind him are John Calipari with a 55.3 winning percentage in these games and coach K at 53.6.

The ability to win in the clutch is created by Coach Self before the season even begins. The Kansas Basketball boot camp in September is well documented. Self harps on toughness, teamwork, making the right choices, and physicality. After these intense workouts and as the season gets closer Bill makes it a point to work on late game scenarios. Whether it be two on one's, set designs, or out of bounds plays, working on these situations not only makes the team closer but prepares them for the tough road ahead during the course of the season. An elite coach like Bill knows the game turns out only as good as the preparation. This preparation and close attention to detail when it come to late game situations make Kansas the winningest program in the country when it comes to games games decided by 5 points or less since 2010-11.

His Personality

Coaching in college is obviously a completely different dynamic from the NBA. For one, these are kids not professionals. The coach is not only in charge of winning basketball games but is relied upon to turn these 18-21 year olds from boys to men. You cannot do this without a bonafide personality. Coach Self has an amazing ability to connect with his players, an essential in college ball. He knows the perfect times to rip a guy for sloppy play and then on the other hand he's always shown joking around with the players and having a fun time. A team needs a balance like this to achieve what they want to do during the course of a season. Don't take it from me though. There is no shortage of former players remarks on their former coach. Travis Releford, who played for Bill from 2008-13, said of his former coach "He's consistent. If anything, I can say he's consistent on his coaching, his teaching, how he goes about raising players to become men, become better players, Releford said. "I think he's very consistent on that. Being from around here, I get to go back and see how he coaches the new guys and it's just the same. You can just see the progress in each player." Being consistant in his ways and working on the development of his players on and off the court is how he has built a winning squad year after year.

The most notable of quotes came from Jamari Traylor in his senior night speech. In a speech that lasted about eight minutes Traylor said "You in practice were saying nobody’s had it harder than me. Nobody should ever have a bad day (because Traylor had the worst days possible during a period of homelessness in high school). I remember when you were talking your eyes got a little watery. I was like ‘Man this guy really cares about me." I am jealous of those that were in the crowd that night as this brought tears to Coach Self's eyes yet again regarding Jamari. Players speaking from the heart about Coach Self and his personality just shows you the impact he has made just by being himself every day.

Simply put Coach Self has made us spoiled as Kansas fans. We are quick to jump at the bit when we go on a mini two game losing streak or may not have the most talented roster on any given year. Year in and year out Bill is able to get the most out of his guys and has been a staple for the program, its players, the students and alumni. We all knew he was going to be able to stay as long as he wanted, this chatter was put to rest when he signed a lifetime deal on April 2nd. I could go on forever and list stats until we're blue in the face but when it comes down to it there is nobody better to lead this program in search for title number six (two titles in the pre-ncaa tournament era but it still counts.)