The University of Dayton has long been associated with college basketball. Since the early 1950’s when Tom Blackburn led the Flyers to their first NIT appearance, an outsider couldn’t think of UD without mentioning that they had a good basketball program. It was a program that won more game in the 1950’s and ’60’s than any other program in the land. They had made it to the NCAA Finals and won the NIT twice. They had some of the most loyal fans in the universe and no one looked at the Sunday Dayton Daily News obituaries without check how the Flyers did first.

This was a program that completed more than five decades with only four coaches. In comparison, North Carolina has had four different coaches in the last six years. This was one of those special jobs that a young aspiring coach like Brian Gregory would certainly have an interest in.

“Even when Dayton wasn’t playing well, it still had many of the things that are important to me. The tradition does not change. That does not mean that recruiting would not be hard. The people that helped shape me as a coach knew what kind of a job this is. In some schools of thought, it might be thought of as a better job [coming to a school with a losing tradition] because the only place you can go is up. There is certainly more pressure on me now, but at the same time I’d rather be where we are that where we were.”

When Oliver Purnell announced that he would be leaving the University of Dayton for Clemson, there were many UD fans that were concerned that his leaving might bring an end to the recent success the team had achieved. Ted Kissell was not one of them.

For years, Kissell knew that it was only a matter of time before some bigger pond came looking for his big fish. A school can only be successful in the A-10 for so long before one of the Big Six conferences gives your head coach a call. Oliver Purnell had a history of taking downtrodden teams from the bottom of the pond back to the surface. A number four seed in the NCAA Tournament and number 16 national ranking brought Purnell one million dollars a year and a ticket out of town. However, Kissell was ready.

Kissell had been putting together a file for several years of coaches he would consider as a replacement for Purnell should he decide to leave. That list included names such as Dennis Felton, Dana Altman, Ron Jirsa, Anthony Grant and Brian Gregory, among others. It was a list that had been constructed through the help of Kissell’s friends in the business. Coaches that would bring both the skill and desire to succeed that the University of Dayton demanded. Within days of Purnell’s announcement that he was leaving, Kissell had begun the process of scheduling interviews.

Kissell quickly narrowed the field to two, Jirsa and Gregory. After two days of intense scrutiny, Gregory was offered the job.

“When I found out I had the job, I was fired up. I had been through some interview processes before and actually got into conversations where I was asked, ‘If we offer you this job…’ I had a feeling in my stomach that it just wasn’t the right job for me at that particular time. I did not have that feeling when I sat down with Ted. The feeling in my stomach was, we’ve got to get to work. That was great.”

Although just 36, Gregory is wise beyond his years. He was brought up by parents that let him make his own decisions, but were always there when he needed them. His job pedigree is impeccable. He had been tutored by the best in the business. He was a man ready for this level of responsibility. Yet, he was not a man that was just willing to take any job. He knew that the Dayton job had all of the elements that he desired.

“Coaching, especially basketball, is the one profession where everybody thinks that you are not happy until you become the head coach. The vice president of GM isn’t getting pressure to become president of some other company. Yet, you can be an assistant for 10 or 12 years and everyone things your anxious to take that next step. You aspire to do that, but it is not your top priority. It didn’t bother me to be something other than the man in charge. The last four years have been great. I had a lot of freedom to do what needed to be done to help the program. I wasn’t overanxious to get a head coaching job because I wanted to get the right job, one that fit me and fit the things that were important to me. I was excited when the opportunity came, but I wasn’t worried that it wouldn’t come.”

Although it is a private Catholic Institution, the University of Dayton has long been embraced by the majority of those in the Dayton area as their school. It is the school that they follow in all things, not just sports. One does not have to be Catholic or a graduate of UD to be completely enamored with the success that has followed the program on the basketball court. Gregory understands this passion. He knows that he must succeed, yet he is ready for the challenge.

“If you don’t have some fear when something like this happens, one, you are not normal and two, you are lying. It is the same thing with players. There has to be some nervousness before a big game. If there isn’t, then you are not emotionally tied to what you are doing. There will be nervousness before that first game, but you just put yourself in the best position to be successful and then whatever happens, happens. We will be ready”.