John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American basketball coach, currently a senior coaching consultant for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was previously the senior advisor of player development for the Detroit Pistons (2021–2023) and the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers (2019–2020). Prior to the NBA, he was an NCAA Division I head coach at the University of Michigan (2007–2019), West Virginia University (2002–2007), University of Richmond (1997–2002), and Canisius University (1992–1997). As well as at Le Moyne College (1983–1992), Nazareth College (1982–1983), and Erie Community College (1978–1982). Beilein won 754 career games in the NCAA and 829 college games altogether, including the NJCAA. Beilein's overall career wins, including college and NBA, is 843 games.
Beilein was the only active collegiate coach to have achieved 20-win seasons at four different levels: NJCAA, NCAA Division III, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division I. At the time, Beilein was one of only six active Division I coaches with 700 or more career wins at all levels.John Beilein becomes sixth active DI coach to reach 700 career wins MLive.com, March 23, 2014 He has been recognized as conference coach of the year five times: in 1981 at Erie Community College, in 1988 at LeMoyne, in 1994 at Canisius, in 1998 at Richmond, and in 2014 at Michigan. In addition, Beilein was the seventh of only 10 coaches to have taken four different schools to the NCAA Division I tournament. He is known for his attention to details, focus on fundamentals, and knack for developing under-the-radar players. Beilein is also widely respected in collegiate sports as one of the cleanest and most rule-abiding coaches. In a poll conducted by CBS in 2017, Beilein was voted the cleanest coach in college basketball, gathering 26.6% of the votes vs. the next highest candidate's 10.5%.
Beilein's first Division I head coaching position was at Canisius, a hometown school of which he had been a fan. He turned around the school's losing program and helped it earn two National Invitation Tournament (NIT) bids and one NCAA tournament appearance in five years. Next, at Richmond, he reached the NCAA Tournament once and NIT twice in five years. He moved on to West Virginia, where his teams reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament twice, and also twice went to the NIT, including one championship. At Michigan, where he became the school's winningest coach, he won two Big Ten regular-season championships, two Big Ten tournament titles, and in the NCAA Tournament twice advanced to the national championship game. He has a 26–13 career record in the NCAA tournament, with championship game appearances in 2013 and 2018, as well as a 13–6 record in the NIT.
Early life and education Beilein was raised in Burt, New York. He is the eighth of nine children of a millworker and an apple farmer. His mother's cousins were the inspiration for Saving Private Ryan, and two of his uncles (Tom and Joe Niland) were lifelong basketball coaches in the Western New York area. Beilein attended DeSales High School in Lockport, New York. He went on to attend Wheeling College (now Wheeling University) where he competed on the school's basketball team from 1971 to 1975 and served as team captain during the 1974–75 season. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1975. After graduating, Beilein returned to Western New York where he began his coaching career at Newfane High School in 1975. He remained there for three years. Beilein went on to earn a Master of Science degree in education from Niagara University in 1981.
Early college coaching career Beilein has never served as an assistant coach; he has held head-coaching positions throughout his career. He served as the coach of Erie Community College from 1978 to 1982, Western New York's Division III Nazareth College in Rochester, New York for the 1982–1983 school year, and Le Moyne College from 1983 to 1992. Le Moyne was a Division II contestant in the Mideast Collegiate Conference (MCC). Beilein first applied to coach Division I basketball at Canisius in 1987, but he was not hired. During his time at Le Moyne, he held annual coaching clinics that welcomed coaches and athletes. Beilein was named the 1988 MCC Coach of the Year, when his team finished as co-conference champions with a 21–5 regular season record and number 14 national ranking. The team tied with Gannon University with an 8–2 conference record. Although it was Beilein's third 20-win team at Le Moyne, he had never taken them to the NCAA tournament before. The team captured the conference post-season tournament after receiving a first round bye. As the number three seed, they faced the number one seeded California University of Pennsylvania in the NCAA Division II Eastern Regionals. They lost their first-round game to fall to a 23–6 record, but won the consolation game against Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
The MCC disbanded following the 1990–1991 season. In Beilein's final season at Le Moyne, the team was an independent team unaffiliated with a conference. The team was scheduled to join the New England Collegiate Conference for the 1992–1993 season. After his first application for the job at Canisius, Beilein had tried to land other Division I jobs at schools such as Colgate University, where he had been a finalist in 1989. In 1992, he was finally hired to a Division I post at Canisius.
NCAA Division I coaching career
Canisius (1992–1997) During the 1991–92 season, Canisius compiled an 8–22 record prior to Beilein's arrival. In 1992, he arrived at Canisius College as head coach for the 1992–93 season, and was able for the first time to hire assistant coaches. A Western New York native, he had grown up a Canisius basketball fan because his uncle, Joe Niland, had been a former player and coach there. At Canisius—his first Division I coaching position—Beilein reached the NCAA Tournament once and the NIT twice in his five seasons.
In his first two seasons at Canisius, Beilein turned a last place 1991–92 squad into a 1993–94 team that recorded the first undefeated home schedule (15–0) in the school's modern era. The team entered the 1994 MAAC tournament on a 15-game winning streak, and Beilein earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Beilein's number one seeded Canisius team lost in the second round semi-final contest against Loyola University and thus failed to make the 1994 NCAA tournament. Although Canisius failed to be invited to participate in the NCAA tournament, Canisius was invited, along with two other schools from the MAAC, to the NIT tournament, and it was matched up against a taller, more experienced Villanova team. The eventual 1994 NIT champion Villanova prevailed in a 103–79 victory over Canisius in the first round.
During the 1994–95 season, the Golden Griffins were led by the team's first MAAC Player of the Year, senior Craig Wise. In the first round of the MAAC tournament, a pair of future Michigan Wolverine coaches opposed each other when Canisius met Loyola, coached by Brian Ellerbe. Canisius won and reached the MAAC semi-final for the fifth time in six years. The team lost in the semis for the third straight season, and it continued its record of never having won the conference tournament. Canisius earned the team's first post-season victory in 32 years, in the 1995 NIT, against . A pair of subsequent wins enabled Canisius to earn a trip to the semifinals of the 1995 NIT at Madison Square Garden. Canisius lost in the semifinals against Virginia Tech by a 71–59 despite a school postseason record 32 points from Wise. Canisius lost the consolation game against . The three wins and two losses enabled Beilein to even up his NIT career record at 3–3.
In 1995–96, the team also was led by a MAAC Player of the Year, Darrell Barley. Beilein coached the 16–10 (7–7 MAAC) team to the conference tournament championship to earn a berth in the 1996 NCAA tournament despite the absence of the injured Barley for the tournament. Canisius earned a thirteen seed and matchup against the fourth-seeded Utah Utes in the team's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1957. Utah defeated Canisius in the game, 72–43.
In Beilein's final season coaching Canisius, the Golden Griffins were the top defensive team in the MAAC. The team's season ended in the conference tournament finals. After the 1996–97 season, he interviewed with the University of Richmond.
Beilein was inducted into the Canisius Sports Hall of Fame on September 24, 2019, for his tenure and success with the program.
Richmond (1997–2002) In 1997, Beilein became the coach of the Richmond Spiders. There, he compiled a 100–53 record in five seasons, recording a winning record each season, and again reached the NCAA tournament once, where his 14th-seeded team upset third-seeded and nationally ranked South Carolina. His teams also reached the NIT twice.
During the 1997–98 season, A third Beilein player was named conference player of the year in six seasons when Jarod Stevenson was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year. The 1997–98 Spiders posted its first winning season since 1993. The Spiders entered the 1998 CAA tournament as the third seed in the nine-team conference. The team won the tournament, earning the school a 1998 NCAA tournament selection, its first NCAA tournament berth since 1991. He won his fourth Coach of the Year award that season; this one was the Richmond Times-Dispatch Virginia Coach of the Year. Beilein was selected for the award over Charlie Woollum of William and Mary, who beat Beilein for the CAA coach of the year award. During the NCAA Tournament, Richmond, which was seeded 14th, upset the third-seeded South Carolina in the first round of the tournament. The Spiders lost their second game in the tournament to Washington. Beilein's career NCAA tournament record was 1–2.
Beilein relied on a nucleus that included two freshmen and two sophomores after two returning starters were removed from the team for disciplinary reason during the 1998–99 season. The team finished third in the CAA with a 15–11 (10–6 CAA) record. However, they were upset in the 1999 CAA conference tournament by sixth-seeded cross-town rival .
Richmond again earned the third seed in the conference tournament in the 1999–2000 season. In the 2000 CAA tournament, they ousted number-six and number-two . Then, with the CAA conference's automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament at stake, Richmond lost to fourth-seeded in the championship game.
During the 2000–01 season, Richmond finished the regular season with a 21–6 record, finishing first in the CAA with a 12–4 record. The Spiders won ten of their final eleven games. However, since Richmond was going to change its athletic affiliation from the CAA to the Atlantic 10 the following season, it was ineligible for the 2001 CAA conference tournament. Only one team from the CAA had ever earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Spiders played in the 2001 NIT, where they defeated West Virginia before losing to Dayton. With one win and one loss, Beilein stayed at .500 in the NIT (4–4 overall). At the end of the season, Beilein declined an offer to coach at Rutgers. The victory over West Virginia is credited as a large part of why Beilein was eventually hired at West Virginia.
The following year during the 2001–02 season, Richmond finished in second place of the West Division of the 12-team Atlantic 10 Conference to earn a first-round bye in the 2002 Atlantic 10 tournament. In the tournament, Richmond won its first two games to advance to the final, where it lost to Xavier. During the 2002 NIT, Richmond defeated , Montana State, and before losing to Syracuse in the quarterfinals. This improved Beilein's record to 7–5 in the NIT.
West Virginia (2002–2007)