ACC Double Dippers

Coaches who worked at more than one ACC school

It was the early 1980s and the young coach at American University was unwinding after a tough loss at Wake Forest. Over a meal at a Winston-Salem restaurant he lamented how, without a living mentor or champion, the deck was stacked against his getting a head coaching job in the ACC.

Not so. Within a decade, after stops at Boston College and Ohio State, Gary Williams reached his goal, accepting the job as head coach at his alma mater, the University of Maryland.

Williams replaced Bob Wade, the ACC’s first Black head coach. Wade came directly from Baltimore’s powerful Dunbar High. The only ACC coach after NC State’s Everett Case to jump from the prep ranks to a college job (and that prior to the advent of the ACC), Wade apparently cut too many recruiting corners to the NCAA’s satisfaction. In June of 1989 Williams replaced him.

Soon the NCAA imposed heavy recruiting, TV and post-season limitations that Williams called the most severe sanctions since the death penalty was levied against Southern Methodist in 1987. Nevertheless by 2001 the Hall of Fame coach had the Terps in the Final Four; the next year Maryland won its first and only NCAA title.

Williams joined Frank McGuire as the sole ACC coach who roosted at two league schools and won an NCAA title. (BC was a Big East member when Williams stopped by.) McGuire led UNC to a national championship 1957 and went on to capture the 1971 ACC championship at South Carolina before USC left the league.

Duke’s Bill Foster came close to emulating McGuire, taking the Blue Devils from last in the ACC in 1977 to the NCAA championship in 1978. The man known by many as “the other Bill Foster” commanded widespread respect when chosen to help resurrect the long-dormant Miami program in 1985-86.

Press Maravich similarly won a league title at NC State after replacing a mortally ill Case in 1965. Maravich, a coach-in-waiting before the term was popularized, had already taken Clemson to the ACC Tournament final in 1962, the last of his six years at that school. The Tigers didn’t reach the league title game again until 2008.

Most recently Leonard Hamilton took over at Florida State after flaming out as an NBA coach. He worked for a decade at Miami before it was invited to join the ACC, then moved back to a college post after his NBA flop.

At FSU Hamilton won the ACC Tournament in 2012 and reached the ACC championship game in 2009, losing to Duke. His team finished first in 2020 and was awarded the league title after Covid truncated the tournament at Greensboro.

A word here for Dwane Morrison: He coached 12 games at South Carolina (losing 8) while it was an ACC member and 8 years at Georgia Tech, the last two in the ACC. His Tech teams won 12 games and lost 41 in its new league, and Morrison was replaced by Bobby Cremins in 1982. Morrison was prone to end interviews by telling his questioner “Bless you, brother.” (No word on what he said to women.) Later in life he worked as a golf caddy.