When Anthony Grant bolted for Alabama this summer, Virginia Commonwealth athletic director Norwood Teague didn't waste time searching for a new coach. He went right back to Gainesville, where he once had found Grant, plucking Shaka Smart from Billy Donovan's Florida staff.
"It's a risk, I admit that," Teague told ESPN.com this summer. "There were a number of head coaches interested in this job, but we've had a model here and I really didn't want to break away from that."
Good head coaches aren't just demanding -- they're unafraid of delegating authority. Smart said that when he took over at VCU, he was overwhelmed by the ancillary demands, but in terms of actual coaching, he was ready. That's because Donovan treated him and his entire staff as head coaches, giving them big responsibilities and incorporating their own suggestions into his plans.
