Happy returns?

Success has eluded many who rejoined former teams

10:20 PM PDT on Saturday, June 11, 2005

By DIAMOND LEUNG / The Press-Enterprise

SECOND TIME AROUND There have been many times coaches have been fired or resigned from one team, only to be re-hired later. Some have had success the second time around, others have not. Among them: Basketball Brian Hill, Magic -- Re-hired last month after taking a Shaq-led team to the NBA Finals in 1995. Football Bill Walsh, Stanford -- Forgettable second stint ended with the Genius's resignation after a 3-7-1 season in 1994. John Robinson, USC -- After winning three Rose Bowls in the 1970s, he returned to win one more in 1995 but was later fired. Joe Gibbs, Redskins-- Came back with a 6-10 season last year after coaching the Hogs to three Super Bowl wins. Baseball Earl Weaver, Orioles -- Hall of Famer couldn't manage better than a fourth-place finish in two seasons after a three-year layoff. Billy Martin, Yankees -- Managed the Bronx Bombers five separate times while feuding with George Steinbrenner. High schools Don Markham, Bloomington football -- Led the Bruins to three playoff appearances after three CIF titles in the 1990s. Yancy Dodson, Riverside Poly basketball -- The Bears went 24-6 this past season and Dodson is trying to get them back to the CIF semifinals.

When Don Markham came back as head football coach at Bloomington High, he declared in the team's game-day programs that "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Rare is a coach who has the opportunity to return to the scene of past glory, so after already having won three CIF titles at the school, Markham was ready to go once again in 2002.

But it wasn't easy.

While Phil Jackson mulls the possibility of trying to rekindle fairy tale success with the Lakers, Markham has been humbled by the challenge, having realized that his original assessment of the situation was overly sunny.

Just a small number of coaches have been bitten by the nostalgia bug after success in the past. But even big names such as Bill Walsh and Earl Weaver, who have attempted to resuscitate their old teams, have produced mixed results that often fall short of lofty expectations.

"It was tougher than I thought," said Markham, even after returning to lead the Bruins to three consecutive playoff appearances. "I expected to come back and pick up where I left off, but I didn't realize what I was dealing with."

Brian Hill is the latest coach to try his luck, signing on with the Orlando Magic last month after taking the team to the NBA Finals in 1995. Certainly things have changed within the franchise and the league since then, but Hill desired to be back in his comfort zone.

"When you have something good and you leave it, and then you have substitutes, things to compare it to, you realize, 'That thing was pretty darn good,' " Hill said at his introductory press conference.

History, however, shows that the second honeymoon does not last very long.

Joe Gibbs was rehired to coach the Washington Redskins last season, a decade removed from his three Super Bowl wins. His subsequent 6-10 season prompted heavy criticism about the game having passed him by.

John Robinson won a national championship and three Rose Bowls at USC in the 1970s, but he was unceremoniously dumped after two subpar seasons in his second stint that also produced a fourth Rose Bowl victory.

Bill Walsh resigned after a rough final season at Stanford, site of his first coaching job in 1977 before winning three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers.

Colorful managers Billy Martin, who led the New York Yankees five times, and Earl Weaver of the Baltimore Orioles both won World Series before coming back to end their careers in forgettable fashion.

"They think, 'I want to prove that you can't do this without me,' " UC Riverside sports psychologist Bob Corb said. "There's a certain amount of ego involved to show that 'I'm the only one that can do it.' "

Markham felt he belonged back at the place where he once set the national record for scoring with his championship-churning double-wing offense. Bloomington had been losing consistently since he left to coach at Bandon, Ore., Lawndale Leuzinger and Rialto.

When he came back he had to deal with an administration that is still working on keeping promises to build a new stadium and locker rooms.

Of course, the players changed as well.

"I expected the kids to be the way they were when I left, but it's the 'me generation' now," Markham said. "They're getting harder to deal with because they want to be taken care of before the team."

The desire for coaches to fix dysfunction on teams that once thrived under them is in large part what brings them back, psychologists said. For what it's worth, Phil Jackson and the Lakers certainly fit the mold.

"A lot of coaches miss the attention," said Richard Lustberg, a New York-based sports psychologist. "They have the need to be noticed and recognized. Ultimately they can't live without those feelings, but you're only as good as your last win."

Reach Diamond Leung at dleung@pe.com or (951) 368-9529.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.