Lightning
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From The Booth Back To The Bench
The Associated Press
Miami Heat's Pat Riley is seen during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Published: July 9, 2008
TAMPA - The way Barry Melrose sees it - make that saw it - nobody viewed more hockey than he did last season as an ESPN analyst.
"What I like is, no one has watched more hockey than me in the last year, the last five years," Melrose said. "I've probably seen Tampa play 70 times last year and every team on the East Coast probably 70 times and the West Coast teams maybe 50.
"It's the personnel. There's not many players in the NHL I don't have a read on - who I like, who I wouldn't like. That's probably the best thing about the NHL and what I know is the personnel."
The new Lightning coach is the latest to transition from sitting in makeup to making out a lineup. He joins a fraternity of broadcasters-turned-coaches that includes the NBA's Pat Riley, Mike Fratello and Hubie Brown; MLB's Bob Brenly, Larry Dierker and Buck Martinez; and the NFL's Mike Ditka and Dick Vermeil.
Since Riley made the move from the broadcast booth to the sideline nearly 30 years ago and won four NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, it has become commonplace - almost a requirement - for a coach to be plucked from in front of the camera. The career path has benefits and challenges.
Like Riley, Brenly made a successful transition from television to coaching. In his first season as a major-league manager, Brenly led the Arizona Diamondbacks to the 2001 World Series title.
"It's a very subjective thing," Brenly said. "I think if you took Vin Scully out of the Dodgers booth and tried to make him a manager, he'd have a lot of challenges. If you took someone that had a baseball background, that played the game, coached the game ... everyone I talked to said the time spent in the booth was beneficial when they went down on the field as a manager, including Lou Piniella."
Steve Levy, a close friend of Melrose who worked countless hours with him providing hockey coverage on ESPN, said he knew Melrose still had the coaching bug despite a 13-year absence.
"He would never come out and say he wanted to be coaching, but I could tell - especially at playoff time," Levy said.
After Piniella's three-year stint with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ended in 2005, he spent a season doing television before returning to the dugout.
"I needed to get away, I really did," Piniella said. "Personally, I was beat up - I had to get away and clear my mind a little and decide if I wanted to get back on the field or call it a career. I enjoyed television, but after a while I knew I wanted to get back."
Brenly, who played nine seasons in the majors, said he got a different perspective about the game from the television booth.
"You're a little further removed from the action," Brenly said. "You look at things with different eyes when you're a broadcaster than when you're down at field level, either playing or managing the game."
Brenly's experience as a member of the media gave him better insight into utilizing statistical information.
"As a player, I never paid any attention. I never looked at a stat sheet," he said. "You just go play. As a coach, I paid a little bit of attention to it, but only for the guys I was working with.
"As a broadcaster, you rely heavily on statistics. I learned which ones I felt were relative and which ones I felt were window dressing. Going back on the field as a manager, I had a better awareness of which stats you could use to your advantage."
One of the concerns of bringing a coach out of the television or radio booth is how players will react to someone who criticized them on the air.
"I don't think it's a problem unless you cross the line and say something personal," Brenly said. "I'm sure I said some negative things. But I tell the players: 'My role is completely different now. I'm your biggest fan now. If I say anything critical, it's because I want you to get better, not because I want to call you out.'"
Brenly has an idea why owners have looked from within their airwaves for their next coach.
"You have a lot of owners who have no background in the sport at all," Brenly said. "They've made a lot of money, they're successful doing something, but it wasn't being a baseball or a hockey guy. Sometimes they're swayed by what they hear on the TV or radio. 'Geez, this guy sounds smart. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about.'
"If you're not able to compare it with your own experiences in the game, I think it would be easy to be swayed by someone who is articulate and sounds like they know what they're talking about. I think that enters into it as well. The owner is just like a fan listening and watching."
Melrose acknowledged he got the Lightning job because team owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie were comfortable with him. Piniella said he could never stay out of coaching as long as Melrose did.
"Managing is tough work, I'll tell you," Piniella said. "I'm glad I took that break. But I couldn't stay away 13 years."
Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com.
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