As he prepares to coach in his first NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game as a head coach, Penn State’s [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] is having his name attached to a handful of coaching searches outside of Happy Valley. But if you were hoping Shrewsberry would confirm he is ready to return to Penn State in 2023-24, you may not be too thrilled with his response when asked about his future.
Shrewsberry sidestepped a direct confirmation one way or the other on where he will be as a head coach next season. Instead, Shrewsberry attempted to steer the focus on how driven he is to pay all of his attention to coaching Penn State against Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa.
“We’ve just played four games in four days. We have had our backs against the wall for three weeks and now I’m getting ready to coach my first opportunity as a head coach to be in the NCAA Tournament game,” Shrewsberry said when asked about his situation after this season. “I don’t have time to focus on anything else but just being the best version for these guys and that’s all I’m focused on. When the off-season comes then I can focus on other things, but I’m tunnel vision on playing this game for our guys tomorrow.”
After sidestepping the real question, Shrewsberry was pressed for a more definitive stance.”
“It’s an I don’t know question,” Shrewsberry said,
So what does this all mean? It could be telling that Shrewsberry is already coaching with one foot out the door, or it could be absolutely nothing to worry about. But let’s be real for a moment in saying without hesitation that Shrewsberry is about to get paid a good amount of money after this season comes to an end, regardless of when that may be. Either Penn State will re-work his contract knowing there are potential suitors showing interest in their head coach, or Shrewsberry will receive an offer too good to pass up form a school with a deeper history in basketball willing to shell out more for their next head coach.
Georgetown and Notre Dame are two schools that have been linked to having an interest in Shrewsberry to some degree. But nobody knows for sure just how interested Shrewsberry is in those programs compared to staying at Penn State. But a response like Shrewsberry’s could purely be a negotiating gimmick. Financially speaking, it doesn’t make sense for Shrewsberry to commit to any one job. Even if he does want to stay at Penn State, giving Penn State some uncertainty about it is a good negotiating strategy to get the school to bring more financial backing to the table.
This is just a smart response by a coach knowing his value and realizes his stock is pretty hot at this moment. We’ll see what happens after Penn State’s tournament run.
Micah Shrewsberry’s full response on if he’ll be Penn State’s head coach next season (asked by @djoneshoop):
“It’s an I don’t know question” pic.twitter.com/VScSRgkvti
— Seth Engle (@bigsengtweets) March 15, 2023
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