A Look at Greg Gard's Coaching Range
Coach Gard's willingness to adapt to his personnel has helped UW capture two of the last three B1G regular season titles:
Madison, Wisc. – Following a legend is never easy, especially one that was as successful as William Francis (Bo) Ryan.
That said, Coach Ryan's heir apparent, Greg Gard, has done a commendable job of upholding the University of Wisconsin's standard of excellence through his first seven seasons.
After back-to-back Final Four runs, some within the UW fanbase felt underwhelmed with hiring long-time Badgers assistant Greg Gard as the next men's basketball coach.
Like it or not, Bo devised a plan for his exit just 12 games into the 2015-16 season, allowing his right-hand man (Gard) the opportunity to earn the full-time head coaching position.
In doing so, the Cobb, Wisconsin native, turned around an under-performing team and led the Badgers to the Sweet Sixteen.
Athletic Director Barry Alvarez was left without much choice when removing the interim tag and naming Coach Gard as the program's next head coach, a move that would soon pay dividends.
In seven seasons at the helm, he's won the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award, been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year twice, won two Big Ten regular season titles, and made the NCAA Tournament in all but one season.
Not too shabby for someone the vocal minority of the fanbase seems to think can't coach his way out of a paper bag.
You can count UW Athletic Director Chris McIntosh among the people who have taken notice of the program's success under his leadership.
At the end of June, coach Gard had his contract extended by the school board and now runs through the 2027 season.
With this new agreement, he receives a 29% increase in base salary, bringing his total pay for 2022-23 to $3.55 million. That figure will grow by $100,000 annually until the 2026-27 season.
To provide additional assurances, UW gave coach Gard a higher buyout figure should the program decide to terminate his contract at any point.
Highlighting Greg Gard's Range as a Coach…
The measure of a good coach is in their ability to adapt their playing style to emphasize the strengths of the current personnel. Gard's' adaptations have taken several forms over the years, but he's never strayed from UW's core principles - defense and ball security. The results are hard to argue with but often seem underappreciated.
Greg Gard, the silent assassin, as Jon Rothstein calls him, has won a Big Ten title in two of the last three seasons (2019-20, 2021-22), with very different personnel/playing styles.
2020-21:
In 2020, the Wisconsin men's basketball program underwent countless forms of adversity. Whether it be Coach Moore's tragic accident, Erik Helland's racial epithet, or starting wing Kobe King unexpectedly leaving the program in the middle of the season, the Badgers' season was an emotional roller-coaster to say the least.
Despite the cards being stacked against them, UW went on an unprecedented run, rattling off eight straight victories to win the conference title with just seven scholarship players available.
This veteran roster featured a balanced scoring attack between several medium-usage players. They were slow and methodical offensively, played disciplined defense, and often had a different leading scorer each night. UW overcame its talent gap by playing true team basketball.
2021-22:
In 2022, the Badgers, picked by the media to finish 10th in the preseason rankings, won the Big Ten regular-season title despite losing six of their top eight contributors from the previous season.
Coach Gard allowed the least experienced team of his coaching tenure to pick up the pace offensively (fastest tempo in last 20 years) and play through high-usage star sophomore Johnny Davis.
These teams, while different, each won Big Ten regular season titles, helping highlight Gard's coaching range. He has rightfully maintained Wisconsin's identity while also showing a willingness to adapt and be flexible when the roster warrants it.