Tulsa: Frank Haith took a Missouri team that was 14th in the nation in tempo and slowed the team down to 163rd in the nation. He now inherits a Tulsa team that is 79^th in the nation in tempo, and a similar slow-down seems likely. But Tulsa fans won’t be complaining if Haith matches what he did in his first year at Missouri. Even though Missouri’s pace was slower, because his team played in a more controlled style, Missouri had the top offense in the nation and won the Big 12 Conference Tournament title.

Central Arkansas: Former head coach Corliss Williamson learned to play fast as a player under Nolan Richardson. And while Williamson didn’t win at a high level at Central Arkansas, he was able to implement a high octane attack. After he left to become an assistant in the NBA, interim head coach Clarence Finley maintained that same up-tempo attack with the team. New head coach Russ Pennell isn’t necessarily a slow coach, but he is unlikely to maintain the pace of the previous staff.

Maine: Former head coach Ted Woodard was Maine’s coach for a decade. Unfortunately, his final season was his worst, as his team won only 6 games. But if his team was going to lose, at least he let his players have some fun on the court. His final season was also his fastest team, as Maine was the 3^rd fastest team in the nation. Bob Walsh is in his first season as a D1 head coach, but he probably won’t implement quite as quick a pace as he tries to let a new group of players learn on the job.

California: New head coach Cuonzo Martin’s fastest paced team ranked only 194th in the nation. Cal’s pace was never ranked that low under Mike Montgomery. Martin had dominant margin-of-victory numbers last year, and won three games in the NCAA tournament, so Cal fans may not mind if his team plays slow, as long as he wins.

Tennessee now has the oddest profile of “firing” head coaches of almost any school. They let Jerry Green leave after he made the NCAA tournament in every season as head coach. Bruce Pearl left after making the NCAA tournament in every season. And now Martin left after making the NCAA tournament. On paper, none of that makes any sense, but when you understand the background, it does. Green failed to live up to high expectations set for the team early in his tenure. Pearl was let go because of recruiting violations. And Martin was fired because he played a boring style of basketball and couldn’t live up to the high expectations set by Bruce Pearl. While I wish new head coach Donnie Tyndall nothing but the best, you do wonder whether Tennessee can every find a way to have, enjoy, and keep a winning coach. 

Oregon St.: New head coach Wayne Tinkle has traditionally had one of the slowest teams in the nation. He sped things up for two years when Montana went 15-1 and 19-1 in the Big Sky conference in 2012 and 2013, but his team still had a below average tempo. To put it another way, Tinkle has never played as fast as Craig Robinson did at Oregon St. last year.

Of course coaches do sometimes change their approach. Robinson started off as a slow-paced coach and sped up at Oregon St. when he thought he had the right personnel. It didn’t result in enough wins, because Oregon St.’s defense was too poor, but Robinsons track record shows that coaches will sometimes change their approach. But with Tinkle coming in, a slower season is the safer bet.