Thoughts And Reactions To The Steve Kerr Signing

Apr 4, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Steve Kerr (left) in attendance during Kentucky Wildcats practice before the semifinals of the Final Four in the 2014 NCAA Mens Division I Championship tournament at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

After the Golden State Warriors and Steve Kerr “agreed in principle” to a 5-year, $25 million contract, there were plenty of mixed reactions. I personally thought the signing was a great one for multiple reasons here, but lets see what others think as well.

Even Jed York, CEO of the San Francisco 49ers, had something to say regarding the signing.

First of all, the signing makes Steve Kerr the fourth highest paid coach in the league, without having coached a game.

Keep in mind both the recently signed Stan Van Gundy and Doc Rivers are more than just head coaches as they have lots of control regarding all player personnel as well. That means Greg Popovic is the only remaining head coach that makes more than Kerr. $1 million a year is the difference between Popovic and his perennial playoff team and Kerr, a guy who has never coached? That’s hard to justify.

Steve Kerr also had plenty to say in a phone interview with Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News:

"Jeff Van Gundy told me two years ago, when I said I’d really like to coach, what should I do, he said put all of your thoughts on paper, everything you think is important for a team. Put it on paper. Just a chance to get thoughts together and think about it. And that was great advice.I’ve done that. Gone over in detail what my expectations would be for a team and how I’d like to play, how my staff would look like, what the daily routine would be, everything from social media, training staff, assist coaching staff… I’ve put a lot of thought in this.And this year when I really decided I think I’m going to do this, I put together some scouting reports and synopses on the team. So I had stuff prepared for various teams and when the Warriors job opened up, I worked hard on just thinking about their team and what I would like to do and that sort of thing.So it was just something that I’ve been working on with an eye towards my next career."

If that doesn’t blow your mind regarding his preparation then nothing will. He has obviously been preparing for this for a while now, and the fact that he has broken everything down from his daily routine to the training staff, and even social media, has me excited to see what he can bring.

We are still in the honeymoon period, so I acknowledge I may be that kid who is just happy to have a new toy to play with, but you can’t deny what he can bring to the Warriors.

Steve Kerr also brought to light some of what he’d like to do with the Golden State Warriors on the floor.

When asked whether he would try and incorporate the triangle Kerr said the offense “will be influenced by the Triangle but it will not look like the Bulls of the ’90s, I can tell you that.” He went on to say that “the game has changed and I think my philosophy would reflect that. For instance, I would be crazy to do away with screen and roll with Steph–he’s devastating in it. We’ll do plenty of that.”

Certainly there is plenty to be done, but at the moment Dubs fans should be excited. We’ll definitely see a different brand of basketball on the court, and that will be a good thing. It also says something about a coach who was [1] willing to turn down one of his mentors in Phil Jackson and [2] willing to take the tougher choice in the Western Conference. That’s a plus in my books.

Lastly, I had hoped that this meant Steve Kerr would be able to attend the NBA Draft Combine, but since Kerr has yet to be officially signed this is not the case. How that affects this team moving forward for the draft remains to be seen, though it may not help in the beginning.

Either way, whether you hate it, loved it, liked it, or are still questioning the decision the fact remains Steve Kerr is the new head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Only time will tell whether this deal, and massive contract, were good decisions.