Jerry Sloan to Consider Coaching Again?


by Marcel Mutoni@marcel_mutoni

According to those closest to former Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, he has adjusted to his retirement from the NBA reasonably well.

Keeping himself busy this summer with farm work, and the sale of some of his old stuff (including a large collection of John Deere tractors), it remains to be seen if the urge to coach again will be possible to resist once the NBA gets going again.

Though teams around the L reportedly tried to entice him with job offers this summer, Sloan won’t directly answer questions about a possible return to NBA sidelines. But his wife Tammy and longtime friend Danny Brown believe that it’s not entirely out of the question.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Another NBA job? Sloan, who turns 70 in March, doesn’t know what his future holds. As has been the case since he stepped away from the Jazz, he shies away from questions about a possible return to NBA coaching. “I don’t think you can ever say, ‘No,’ ” he said. “But I’m not agonizing over it, that’s for sure. I think I’ll always be able to find something to do.”

Tammy Sloan isn’t so sure. “I just don’t see him staying retired,” she said. “I just can’t see that happening.” … “If the right deal came along, maybe. He might do it again,” said [Danny] Brown. “But right now he just wants to get everything gone [from the farm] and make life easier for himself and everybody else.”

In fact, several NBA teams called Sloan this summer to gauge his interest in a return to coaching. Teams with job openings — all now filled — included Golden State, Minnesota, Indiana, Detroit, Toronto, Houston and the L.A. Lakers … “The camaraderie we had with the players and coaches all those years was special and now, all of a sudden, it stops,” [Sloan] said. “There’s a void there, no question about that. But do I miss it that much? I’d say, ‘Not really.’ But we’ll see.”

Sounds to me like a man who is truly content with his new life, but not quite sure he’s ready to leave coaching in the past just yet.