I will post a few notes in bullet form about each candidate in no particular order. The first one I will discuss is Anthony Grant.
Current position: Head Coach at Dayton
Head coaching record:
VCU: 3 seasons - 76-25 including 45-9 in the CAA
Alabama 6 seasons - 117–85 including 54-48 in the SEC
Dayton: in his 4th season - 71-34 including 42-17 in the A10
Overall: 264–144 (65%)
Current salary (per USA Today): $1.2 million (for reference, Coach L makes $2.17 million)
Positives:
- Had a wildly successful start to his head coaching career at VCU, including 2 NCAA appearances in 3 seasons
- Lead Dayton to a historic 29-2 season last year. they were a projected #1 seed in the tournament before COVID cancelled it
- Still relatively young at 54
- Has a ton of experience as a head coach (in his 13th year), including in P5 conferences (SEC) and high-end mid-major conferences (CAA and A10)
- Has local ties as he's from Miami and was an assistant at UF for 10 years
- Has a bit of NBA experience on his resume as he worked under Billy Donavan at OKC for a couple of seasons
Negatives:
- His 6 year stint at Alabama was mediocre. Bama was never a bottom dweller in the SEC like we are right now, but they never could quite get over the hump, either. 3 NIT appearances and just 1 NCAA tournament in 6 seasons
Overall, his local ties, combined with his experience and impressive successes at VCU and Dayton would have him near or at the top of my list. A little concerning that he struggled to get Alabama over the hump, but there will be some risk with every candidate.