Frank Layden Coached With a Smile and Left the Fans Smiling
Frank Layden, who passed away on July 9, 2025 at the age of 93, was the second Utah coach in Jazz history after the franchise spent its first five seasons based in New Orleans. The Jazz did not post a winning record or make a playoff appearance in New Orleans, nor did they do so in their first four Utah seasons--but they went 45-37 and reached the second round in their fifth Utah season (1983-84), which was Layden's second full season on the Jazz bench. That year, Layden won the Coach of the Year award, the Executive of the Year award, and the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship award--a trifecta that is unlikely to ever be matched, as only a handful of other people have won even two out of those three awards, much less won two of them in the same year.
After his great success in 1984, Layden led the Jazz to four more playoff appearances in the next four seasons before suddenly retiring with an 11-6 record in the 1988-89 season. When he retired from coaching, Layden said, "I think America takes all sports too seriously. Sometimes in the NBA, you feel like a dog. You age seven years in one. The pressure in the NBA is intense. It's time to have my time." Two-time NBA scoring champion (1981, 1984) Adrian Dantley was Utah's best player during most of Layden's time with the Jazz, with John Stockton arriving in 1984-85 (but not becoming a full-time starter until 1987-88) and Karl Malone arriving in 1985-86 (but not becoming an All-Star until 1988). Layden returned to the bench in 1998 for a brief stint as the coach of the WNBA's Utah Starzz before retiring from coaching for good, citing his desire to "enjoy life."
Layden posted a 277-294 record as an NBA head coach, which is not bad considering the condition of the Jazz franchise when he took over. Layden had a strong basketball pedigree dating back to his time as a player at Niagara, where he was a teammate/roommate of the legendary Hubie Brown. Layden served as an assistant coach for Brown with the Atlanta Hawks before joining the Jazz.
However, Layden will be remembered for more than his basketball acumen or his won/loss record. He had a jovial personality, and he would banter good-naturedly with fans, one time asking a heckler if he paid for his seats. Layden explained that he could accept barbs from paying customers but not from the "freebies." Layden co-hosted two NBA blooper tapes with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marv Albert.
It seems like a lot of the characters and quirky personalities of the game like Frank Layden have been replaced by "quants" (I call them "stat gurus") who are long on spreadsheets and short on one-liners. There is a place in basketball for analytics and data (properly utilized), but there is also a place for subjectivity and just good old fashioned fun--and Layden understood that.
Labels: Adrian Dantley, Frank Layden, Hubie Brown, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Niagara, Utah Jazz
posted by David Friedman @ 2:02 AM
