After tonight’s loss in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, Stanford Athletic Director Bernard Muir relieved Head Coach Jerod Haase of his duties.
It was an uneven and challenging eight years. Each season began with a particular vision, but a unique set of obstacles often turned that vision upside down. He dealt with COVID, surprising early entrants in the NBA draft, the proliferation of the transfer portal and NIL, and Stanford’s stringent graduate admissions standards preventing additional years from some of his best players. Jerod Haase took all of this in stride, and always led with the utmost of class.
There are several memories I will hold onto more than anything when I think about Jerod Haase and his tenure as Stanford Head Coach. This list is not exhaustive, but it speaks to the man he is and the class with which he led this program.
I will remember when he came into the student section and shook my hand after his first Stanford victory during my senior year. The handshake tradition did not catch on, but his gratitude toward all stakeholders of the program, no matter how small, never wavered.
I will remember the way he treated me as I stuttered out my first questions to him in post-game press conferences. He treated everyone who took the time to cover Stanford men’s basketball (and there haven’t been many of us) with genuine respect. He gave measured and thoughtful answers to even the weirdest of curveballs we threw at him.
I will remember the genuine hurt he felt when they failed to come away with a win on Josh Sharma’s Senior Day. He’s nothing if not sentimental, and Josh Sharma was a cornerstone of the program during their transition from the Johnny Dawkins era. Jerod remembered his own Senior Day with great fondness, and wanted to give Josh the opportunity to do the same. It meant the world to him.
I will remember the bizarre quarantine 2020-21 season, when some of the Cardinal players were not cleared to return from a road trip. Jerod stayed behind and took care of them, doing their laundry and making sure they had everything they needed. There are not many coaches who would do what he did for his players.
I will remember the way he reacted to a severe head injury suffered by Oscar da Silva in Boulder. Jerod’s nurturing instincts were immediately on display, and no matter the score or game situation, the most important thing to him was that one of his guys was hurting and he could be there for him.
I will remember the true pride Jerod took in every single academic accomplishment by his team. In his final press conference, in which the entire roster and coaching staff joined us in the interview room, he emphasized how proud he was of his scholar-athletes. He touted the program’s run of four consecutive Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year awards (Oscar da Silva, Sam Beskind, James Keefe, Brandon Angel). He embodies what college athletics should be about.
And I will always remember the genuine joy he had from his final two victories over Cal. On a crowded Senior Day in which half the roster was being honored, his team laid a whooping on the rival Golden Bears. A week later in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament, they completed an 18 point comeback victory in the most dramatic of fashions, and he gave one final inspirational locker room speech.
"He's a one-of-a-kind coach,” said Brandon Angel. “He's been exemplary in so many ways, and I couldn't be prouder to play for him. I'd run through a brick wall for him, and whatever he has next, I'll support him and have a relationship with Coach the rest of my life."
Spencer Jones opted to come back for a fifth year. He described his decision to play for Jerod and his staff for an additional year as one he didn’t even have to think about. “Being here under Haase, I feel as prepared for life as anything else could have prepared me for,” Spencer said. “Sure, I didn't get the wins. Sure, I didn't get a lot of those things, but I feel whatever I do next I'm as prepared as I could ever have been doing that.”
Jerod led the program with his principles: Invested, Tough, Selfless. His 126-127 record was not what it needed to be, and the move by the athletic department is understandable. But no matter the success this program has in the future with the next hire, they will never find another man with the quality of character of Jerod Haase. He says he doesn't know what his next move will be, but that he's going to "chase awesome."
Years from now, most of the individual wins and losses from his tenure will have long faded from my memory, and the seasons will be little more than numbers in a record book. But I will never for a minute forget the way Jerod Haase treated me and what he meant to everyone in and around the program.