Billy Donovan had some interesting things to say about Richard Pitino going back to Louisville to be an assistant again for his father Rick Pitino.
Donovan says that Richard could be the coach in waiting for the Cardinals.
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This from the Palm Beach Post:
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“Richard’s got an opportunity right now to go back to Louisville as the associate head coach with an opportunity to possibly be the coach-in-waiting there,” Donovan said.
“The situation at Louisville is really going to depend on how he feels about (being the coach-in-waiting), whether he wants to do something like that. I know it’s been talked about for him.
How he feels about that is probably something he’ll talk to his dad and the A.D. about, but I know that’s something that has been talked about.”
If that has been discussed, it makes sense that Donovan would know about it. Louisville’s current head coach, Rick Pitino, is Richard’s father. Rick Pitino and Donovan have been close for more than two decades.
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“Richard’s very, very close to being a head coach,” Donovan said. “I think in today’s day and age, people say, ‘Wow, he’s really young,’ but Richard’s done it the right way … He’s worked his way up; he just wasn’t handed the Louisville job and the Florida job. He worked through it.
“It’s a matter of time before he’s going to have his opportunity to become a head coach. I think besides having a chance to go back to Louisville and be the head coach, the thing that was more important to him was having a chance to be reunited with his father and mother.”
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[URL=”http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/gatorbytes/2011/04/12/billy-donovan-says-louisville-discussing-coach-in-waiting-arrangement-with-richard-pitino/”]Source[/URL]
I think this is very surprising news for a program of the supposed high caliber that Louisville is supposed to be.
I don’t think any assistant that Kentucky has on their staff at this point would ever be considered as the next Kentucky head coach. That isn’t a knock on them, it is just the Kentucky job isn’t for anybody.
I guess the Louisville job is…..Nepotism at its finest..
