The Utah Jazz have a new head coach to replace Tyrone Corbin, and his name is Quin Snyder.
Snyder, who isn’t exactly a household name, has plenty of experience in the coaching department. Aside from being an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks this past season, Snyder worked wonders as a head coach in the D-League and worked as an assistant to plenty of other notable coaches in past years. Here is his resume, from NBA.com:
From 2007-10, Snyder served as head coach of the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League (the D-League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs), where he recorded a 94-56 (.627) mark, while leading the club to playoff appearances in all three seasons and advancing to at least the D-League Semifinals each year. In his first season with the Toros, Snyder inherited a team that had finished the prior season 21-29, and led them to a 30-20 record, a Southwest Division title and an appearance in the 2008 D-League Finals. He followed that with consecutive 32-18 campaigns and first-round playoff wins, earning the D-League’s 2009 Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year honors and a selection as head coach of the 2009 D-League All-Star Game in Phoenix. During his three-year tenure in Austin, Snyder compiled more wins and guided more players to the NBA than any other coach in the D-League.
His first head coaching position came at the University of Missouri, where in seven seasons (1999-2006), he led the Tigers to a 128-96 (.571) record and four NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2002.
Snyder most recently completed his first season as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks in 2013-14 under Mike Budenholzer, helping the Hawks to a 2014 playoff appearance. He has also served as an assistant with CSKA Moscow (2012-13) for Ettore Messina, worked as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011-12 with Mike Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers in 2010-11 alongside Doug Collins. Prior to being hired as head coach at Missouri, Snyder served as associate head coach to Mike Krzyzewski at Duke from 1993-99, and as an assistant for Larry Brown with the 1992-93 Los Angeles Clippers.
Snyder will now have a chance to prove himself in the biggest stage, but with the team’s roster the way it is now, he will certainly have his work cut out for him. Plenty within the organization are satisfied with the hiring, though, including color analyst Matt Harpring:
Excellent hire for the Jazz. Great basketball mind. This should be a fun year!
— matt harpring (@mharpring15) June 7, 2014
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.