As the NCAA Tournament heats up, the styles of Notre Dame's Niele Ivey, LSU’s Kim Mulkey, Alabama’s Nate Oaks, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and a handful of other coaches stand out in a sea of coaches in team polo shirts and quarter-zip pullovers.
Oaks, who routinely reminds fans of former Crimson Tide coach Wimp Sanderson with his colorful tailored sports coats, will stand out on the men's side in the Sweet 16.
Fans saw two other throwbacks — Texas A&M's Buzz Williams and Rick Pitino of St. John's — before the Aggies and the Red Storm were eliminated in the second-round last weekend.
“I don’t fish, I don’t golf, I don’t hunt, I don’t do all the things that you’re supposed to do as a hobby,” Williams recently said when asked about his dapper attire. “That’s just always been my hobby.”
Most coaches moved to casual sideline attire during the COVID-19 pandemic and many simply never went back to dressing up for games.
Count Auburn coach Bruce Pearl among those who have completely abandoned sideline suits after wearing them for years.
Some think that not dressing up on the sideline is disrespectful to the game. But for Pearl it’s simply a matter of comfort.
“Think about what a suit is,” he said. “You put on a 100% cotton shirt and you button it all the way at the top, OK? And then what you do is you put a tie on and then you bring it all the way up and then you choke yourself with it, then you throw a coat on it. And then you go out there and you coach, and you just sweat through it.”
More on the coaches who are standing out in the NCAA Tournament can be found here.
