When Chris Collins was introduced as Northwestern’s head basketball coach Tuesday morning, he told those in attendance that it was an overwhelming day for him. As it progressed, it became apparent what was causing him to become emotional: family.
“My family is very important to me, my kids, my wife. This wasn’t just me taking something on; it was our whole family,” Collins said. “To be able to raise my kids in Chicago, where I grew up, it’s a slam dunk.”
The Northbrook, Ill. native had been a hot coaching candidate over the past couple years as Duke’s associate head coach, and after Tubby Smith was fired from Minnesota, he was also being targeted by the Golden Gophers. Despite all the opportunities coming his way, he chose Northwestern.
He wasted no time explaining why. Dubbed as Chicago’s Big Ten team, coming to Northwestern means coming home for Collins.
“I can’t tell you all enough how excited I am to be back in Chicago,” he said. “This is home for me. No matter where my travels and trails ever went, Chicago was always my home.”
Now that he’s here, Collins is ready to start a new family. A Northwestern family.
During Bill Carmody’s tenure, the program achieved great success. He was the second-winningest coach in program history, and he led his teams to four straight postseason berths from 2008-12.
The problem was a lack of unity between the University and the team. Carmody’s work created a culture of winning, but the culture of excitement about the program was inconsistent.
Collins wants to change that. And he wants to start from the inside.
“My first priority was trying to develop a connection with the guys that I’m going to be going into battle with,” he said. “It’s going to take a little time for the players to earn my trust, for me to earn theirs. That’s why it’s so important for me to develop the relationships with those guys as we get started.”
There’s been so much uncertainty within the program since Carmody’s firing, from speculation about whether or not Drew Crawford and Dave Sobolewski will return to the release of star recruit Jaren Sina from his letter of intent. If Collins is to find stability, he has to earn the trust of his players.
His first official day as head coach was a success in this department. He stated that this team has the talent to be successful in the Big Ten, and that he will work just as hard as he wants his players to work in order to get there.
But the team isn’t the only thing. The team represents all of Northwestern, and Collins embraces the challenge of getting an entire university behind it.
“I want to create a family atmosphere in this program,” he said. “It’s important for me to be a part of the Northwestern community. So I want to get around, I want to be on campus, I want to see the students.”
This is essential for a program that struggled to find fan support this past season. The student section was often half-empty, and even after a huge win against Minnesota, there weren’t enough students in attendance to rush the court.
That’s what Collins will take issue with. Not the facilities themselves, but the people inside. He said that Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium isn’t a state-of-the-art basketball facility, but the fans who pack it to capacity make it what it is.
He envisions the same for Welsh-Ryan Arena: a loud, energetic gym where opponents will hate playing.
“My goal for Welsh-Ryan is, let’s make this a heck of a home court advantage. Let’s get these seats packed,” Collins said. “We’ve got to get our students, our alumni and our fan base excited about coming in here and supporting us.”
It’ll be a tough job. This is a school where the students often won’t even know that there’s a basketball game unless they keep track of the team.
Collins knows that if he is to build on the success that Carmody brought, he needs the Northwestern community behind him, which his predecessor didn’t have. He understands that it’s a big challenge, but he’s ready to take it on.
“Let’s get people in the building,” he said. “Let’s get everybody wearing purple. And let’s see what it’s like when you’ve got 8,000-plus people in here going crazy for Northwestern basketball.”