Hlas column: Whatever Hoiberg decides, it will be right

It may not make for great commentary to see both sides of an issue, but I see why Fred Hoiberg should and shouldn't consider taking the Chicago Bulls' coaching job.

This assumes 99.9 percent of everyone commenting on the opening are correct when they say Hoiberg is the Bulls' top choice and the Iowa State coach wants the position. The next time the Mayor says he does will be the first.

It's easy to be cynical when it comes to coaching openings and how coaches play their negotiating hands because we've seen so many examples of leaks that weren't really leaks. Just last year, there were published reports out of Texas stating Iowa football offensive line coach Brian Ferentz was going to be Bill O'Brien's O-line coach with the NFL's Houston Texans. The only problem with the story is that it didn't turn out to be true.

Agents have been known not to object when their clients are linked to big jobs, and a lot of coaches in demand conveniently say they don't waste their time denying rumors. They also know such chatter enhances their national profiles. But in this case with Hoiberg, it's hard to imagine him staying mum about the Chicago job to drive up his sky-high market value in Ames. I have no doubt he wants to coach an NBA team in what he considers a good situation, and maybe he sees that time as now on Chicago's west side.

But it's understandably difficult for smart people to grasp why someone who isn't really the Mayor of Ames as much as he's become the King of Iowa State would trade that security and comfort for a city and league without pity. That security and comfort - and power - is very appealing to a lot of top college coaches. Mike Krzyzewzski and Tom Izzo have done their NBA dances without ever biting. When push came to shove, they didn't see themselves working with less control over their teams, no matter the potential paycheck.

John Calipari and Rick Pitino had their shots in the NBA, and they didn't go so well. When you share the stage with the star players who often have bigger salaries than you do, and when the system isn't rigged so you can recruit your way to being a consistent big-winner, the pros lose their luster in a hurry.

But there also are those who look at doing little else but coaching the best players on earth as pretty appealing. There are reasons you rarely see NBA coaches voluntarily leave their jobs behind to enter the world of recruiting, slapping the backs of big-money boosters and having their fates in the hands of college kids. Hoiberg spent a decade-and-a-half as an NBA player and executive, so he clearly feels as much at home and more in the NBA than the NCAA.

Last month in Atlanta I caught up with another former Cyclone star player who is a high-profile head coach. Jeff Hornacek just finished his second season as the Phoenix Suns' coach. Hornacek won't tell you coaching in the NBA is nirvana. Trades can pull the rug from underneath you, injuries are injuries everywhere and no one's too forgiving off a down season.

'Recruiting could wear on you,” Hornacek said, 'all the travel and talking to players, and trying to get them in your school.

'Then again, the atmosphere of college is a lot of fun. Fred's had a lot of success (at Iowa State). It's his hometown there, so it's hard to imagine he would leave.”

The hardest part of coaching in the NBA, Hornacek said, is 'you've got 15 guys on the team who were all-stars in college. They all feel like they can play. You try to win and develop young guys, but you've got veteran guys who think they're better. It gets to be a tough mix when it comes to playing time.”

But they're adult players who are getting paid to do jobs. You don't have to win over their mothers or their AAU coaches to get them to come play for you.

When pro teams change coaches, they often go for opposite personalities and coaching styles. Besides being comfortable with Bulls General Manager Gar Forman, who was an assistant coach at ISU two decades ago when Hoiberg played there, the Mayor's soft-spoken, less-intense style may be just what the Bulls crave after the intensity of Tom Thibodeau.

All that said, I'm right there with Iowa State fans who would be sorry to see Hoiberg leave ISU. He has given the Cyclones and the state a fun product to watch, handles himself like a pro at all times and is totally likable. Plus, he's a really good coach who knows making the game entertaining matters to players and fans.

Yes, Iowa State should be able to hire another fine coach if Hoiberg departs. But it wouldn't be quite the same no matter how much the next guy won with a team that appears loaded with talent for 2015-16. Pro fans get attached to players. College fans bond with coaches.

Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy accomplished certain things at ISU that Johnny Orr did not. But Johnny was Johnny. He transcended wins and losses. He owned the hearts of Cyclone fans in ways Floyd and Eustachy never did in their brief runs at glory in Ames.

Fred is Fred. Even if his successor matches Hoiberg's back-to-back Big 12 tournament titles, it probably wouldn't feel quite the same as when the Ames native and former Cyclone star player directed his alma mater to those two net-snipping moments in Kansas City.

I feel a duty to notify Hoiberg of this fact before he signs any deal in Chicago: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving still will be in Cleveland next year. Bulls fans won't be as understanding of finishing second to King James' Cavaliers as ISU people are of watching Kansas keep winning Big 12 championships.

Regular-season championships, that is.

l Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com