Patriot League foe College of the Holy Cross unveiled their new head coach Bill Carmody at a press conference Monday, March 23. Carmody becomes the second product of the legendary Princeton head coach Pete Carril’s coaching tree to enter the Patriot League, joining AU Men’s Basketball head coach Mike Brennan.
Brennan, Carmody and Carril’s lives were completely intertwined for four years, 1990-94, at Princeton University. Brennan was a hard-working four-year starting point guard under Carmody, the assistant coach, and Carril, the head coach and creator of the “Princeton Offense." Together, they made two NCAA Tournament appearances, won two Ivy League championships and compiled a 79-28 record.
“In my playing days, he was definitely one of the best coaches I played for,” Brennan said. “He was with coach Carril for a long time before he got the head coach, he’s one of the best.”
After the 1995-96 season, when Carril announced his retirement and ended his 29-year Princeton coaching career, Carmody was tapped as the new head coach.
In his first season taking over for Carril, Carmody, while still running the “Princeton Offense," led the Princeton Tigers to an Ivy League title and a NCAA Tournament berth. His second season saw the Tigers advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
After four total seasons as a head coach at Princeton, Carmody suddenly traded in the Ivy League to coach for a Big Ten conference school, Northwestern University. This left Brennan, a recently hired assistant coach, unsure of his future.
Team huddle of Princeton Tigers. Mike Brennan left, Bill Carmody upper left side. Photo by Peter Borg.
Brennan couldn’t follow Carmody because he didn’t have the experience at the time to be a Big Ten assistant coach, he said. Brennan would go on to stay at Princeton for seven seasons. He then moved on to be an assistant at AU and Georgetown University before eventually being named to his first head coaching job at AU.
Brennan and Carmody will never sit on the same bench again and coach together, but they will now look down the court at each other as they face off two, possibly three, times a season.
When asked at his introductory press conference if he was looking forward to matching up with Brennan, Carmody said, “Not at all, not at all. I recruited Mike from Elizabeth High School, NJ, and he was a very very good player then. I actually hired him at Princeton as a coach, and I’ve watched his teams, and he’s done extremely well.”
Brennan offered the same level of enthusiasm at the prospects of having to face Carmody.
“He’s one of the best basketball minds, and no one in the league is happy at all to see him at Holy Cross,” Brennan said.
Brennan’s shortage of excitement about facing Carmody is justified, as Carmody has amassed a head coaching record of 284-245, and more than half of the wins have come in the Big-Ten, one of the country’s most competitive Division I men’s basketball conferences.
During his 13 years at Northwestern, Carmody’s most successful season is widely considered to be his 2009-10 season when his Wildcats finished 20-14 and were, at one time, nationally ranked 25th in the Associated Press Poll. The success of this team came off the backs of a signature offensive-minded lineup that was capable of stretching the floor, draining threes, looking for the assist and handling the ball with finesse.
However, over his tenure at Northwestern, Carmody was never able to realize the only true goal of the the program: earn the university its first bid into the NCAA Tournament. He was let go after the 2012-13 season.
As Carmody starts a new season at Holy Cross, he brings his offensive-focused version of the Princeton Offense to the court. The original Carril Princeton Offense, ironically, centered around strong, smart and dominant defense, often allowed the fewest points per game of any team in the country. However, under Carmody’s Princeton Offense at Northwestern, his team’s defense allowed more points than they scored in seven of his 13 seasons. Carmody failed to assemble a team with defensive mindset during his time at Northwestern.
During Brennan first two years as a head coach, he has gravitated towards the original defensive-minded Carril Princeton Offense. In both years of Brennan’s AU coaching career, the Eagles have been in the top 20 in fewest points allowed per game while at the same time averaging more points scored per game than their opponent.
Regardless, both Brennan and Carmody both value passing ability, ball control and selflessness in a basketball player because of the Princeton Offense. This pursuit of the same undervalued qualities could possibly lead to recruitment battles between AU and Holy Cross.
Brennan, however, didn’t express fear of going after the same recruits.
“I’m more worried about playing him twice a year that’s the biggest concern is just playing against his teams,” he said.
General Script
