The Orlando Magic reportedly met with former Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel on Monday as their search for a new coach continues.
The Orlando Magic met with Frank Vogel on Monday to fill their open coaching position, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. He is considered a strong candidate to land the job, according to Wojnarowski.
The Magic met with Frank Vogel on Monday, league sources tell @TheVertical. He's a strong candidate for Orlando's head coaching job.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 18, 2016
Vogel would certainly represent one of the best possible outcomes for the Magic following last week’s surprise resignation of Scott Skiles, throwing the Magic into this somewhat crowded coaching market. Vogel is well thought of around the league and one of the best young coaches in the league.
Vogel was surprisingly fired from the Indiana Pacers after a 45-37 season and forcing the Toronto Raptors, now in the Eastern Conference Finals, to seven games as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. When Vogel was fired, Larry Bird seemed to suggest he just felt like it was time for his team to have a new voice.
In six seasons with the Pacers, Vogel amassed a .580 win percentage with five playoff appearances including two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. His Pacers teams twice pushed the Miami Heat on their way to the NBA championship. That also includes defeating the Orlando Magic in 2012, the last time the Magic made the playoffs.
As the team changed around him following the trade of Roy Hibbert and David West, Vogel still seemed more than capable of adjusting his style while maintaining his team’s strong defense. With a team trying to play smaller, the Pacers finished third in the league in defensive rating.
Vogel has always coached not just good defenses, but elite defense. This is something Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan said last week he would be looking for in a coach as the Magic want to be a defensive-minded team. It would certainly help continue the message from Scott Skiles and his staff that was instilled in the team last year.
Vogel has interviewed with three teams so far — the Magic, the Memphis Grizzlies and the New York Knicks — but Wojnarowski reports league sources have said Vogel has a “serious interest” in the Magic job.
With Orlando’s young core and seemingly boundless potential, there certainly is the makings of a good team. But after a 35-win season, albeit a 10-win improvement, there are also many, many questions. It is something a good coach like Vogel is sure to be able to figure out.
There are other targets though, and the Magic are continuing through their process to hire a coach.
The Magic also met with Skiles’ lead assistant, Adrian Griffin, on Tuesday in New York. Wojnarowski reports many Magic players support Griffin for the work he put in with the team through the last year. The Magic certainly could use some stability after going through three coaches in the least year.
Whoever the Magic hire will be the fourth coach for this team since February 2015.
The Magic are also said to have an interest in former Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek. However, it would appear that Vogel and Griffin would both be strong options and favorites for the job.