Glen Taylor Makes it Clear: Get Used to Ryan Saunders as Timberwolves Head Coach

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Unsurprisingly, it’s been a rough start to Ryan Saunders’ head coaching career. He took over a team in shambles, thanks to Tom Thibodeau and an often incompetent owner, so expectations weren’t very high.

Nonetheless, questions regarding Ryan’s job status have been floated throughout this season, especially when they were losing every single night, right before Andrew Wiggins was traded and a different supporting cast was brought in.

If anyone was still asking those questions about Saunders’ job status, now that the Wolves future path is more clear, Glen Taylor answered them today. He gave an interview to his state newspaper, the Star Tribune, where he made his plans for Ryan very clear:


Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said that at no point during the difficult start to this season — which included a 5-27 streak before the trade deadline — did he consider firing coach Ryan Saunders, who is in the first year of his contract as the youngest coach (33) in the NBA.

“No, no, no, he is hired,” Taylor said. “A young guy and he is going to get better as time goes on and we just have to give him that time.”

Star Tribune – Sid Hartman

“[Saunders] is excited about this change that now he has guys that can play the kind of basketball he wants,” Taylor said. “He is really a believer in the three-point shot, moving the ball fast, and getting up and down the court. He needed some players that were better three-point shooters than what we had previously.”

Star Tribune – Sid Hartman

This isn’t surprising. It’s difficult to push togetherness and continuity within the franchise if you start axing the head coach you just hired, especially when KAT loves him so much.

Let’s be real too, this organization is bending over backwards to make sure Karl-Anthony Towns gets whatever he wants…. and he wants Ryan as the head coach.

I’m fine with Ryan staying, don’t get me wrong. I think he deserves more time in his position. However, I’m a little bit over the perceived entitlement he has to the Timberwolves head coaching position.

Ryan was pretty much handed this job, after Rosas was hired. It might not have been a Jim Pohlad/Paul Molitor situation, but it sure seemed pretty damn close to the same thing.

Now Taylor is asked about Ryan’s job security after losing 90% (or something like that) of his first games as a head coach, and it’s laughed off as if the question is blasphemous…?

But hey, if we were talking about a Glen Taylor interview that rubbed everyone the right way… we probably wouldn’t be talking about a Glen Taylor interview.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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