FGCU names longtime assistant Michael Fly as new men's basketball head coach

It didn't take Florida Gulf Coast University athletic director Ken Kavanagh long to realize it was time for the Eagles to Fly.

About 21 hours after East Carolina officially hired FGCU men's basketball coach Joe Dooley after five seasons, longtime Eagles assistant Michael Fly was announced as his successor Thursday afternoon in Alico Arena's Hospitality Suite.

Kavanagh spoke of the big interest from coaches all around the country, including assistants at Power Five conference schools, during the press conference that tipped at 2:30.

"It's all about that fit, and whenever possible I think great organizations try to create their own and grown their own to hire from within," Kavanagh said. "And I think we're in a position right now where there's no better candidate for us at this particular junction than what we're going to do right now.

"Someone who's learned from two great mentors over the last seven years, someone who's been a tremendous contributor in all the areas."

Just as Dooley did in 2013, Fly signed a three-year contract that will pay him $225,000 his first season. That's $125,000 less than Dooley's last FGCU salary, and Kavanagh said $50,000 of those savings will go toward increasing the pay of assistants.

The 34-year-old Fly didn't win the press conference, he dominated it, drawing roaring laughter from every Eagle but senior Brandon Goodwin -- he's at the Portsmouth Invitational -- his parents, longtime girlfriend Heather Searcy, boosters, fans and fellow coaches with his sharp wit. He was literally moved to tears in speaking of his relationships with Kavanagh and his players.

"This is not a press conference to me, it's a family gathering," said Fly, who spent much of the 40 minutes directly addressing his players. "And I hope you guys understand, that's what I want this to be like for a lot of years to come."

Fly came to FGCU with Andy Enfield from Florida State in 2011, where he had served as video coordinator under Leonard Hamilton for three NCAA tournament teams from 2008-11.

"Fly is an excellent choice to be the head basketball coach at FGCU," said Hamilton, who led the Seminoles on an Elite Eight run this season. "There is no question that he has prepared himself for this position because he has studied the game throughout his career and will utilize the skills he has learned to be a detail-oriented teacher to all of his players. He will recruit well and his players will enjoy playing for him because he will be an outstanding mentor during not only their playing careers, but throughout their lives."

Prior to that the FSU stint, the Fulton, Kentucky, native and University of Kentucky graduate spent a year as an intern with the NCAA working with corporate and broadcast alliances. Before that, he spent a year as a video coordinator with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.

Fly helped Enfield lead FGCU to the shocking 2013 Sweet 16 run in just the Eagles' second season of Division I postseason eligibility.

"Fly is an outstanding basketball coach," Enfield said. "His hire as head coach brings tremendous pride to all of us who have watched him grow in the last seven years into one of the best assistant coaches on the East Coast. His extreme dedication and loyalty to FGCU and to the players he has coached is admired by all. This is a great day for Coach Fly and the FGCU men's basketball program, and we look forward to following the success of the Eagles in the coming seasons."

More: College basketball: FGCU's Dooley heading to E. Carolina; Replacement to be named Thursday

After Enfield left following the Sweet 16 run in just his second season as a head coach to take over at USC, Fly stayed at FGCU with Dooley, who compiled a 114-58 record with the Eagles.

From the podium, Fly thanked all of his previous head coaches, especially Enfield and Dooley.

Part of more than 150 FGCU wins, three Atlantic Sun regular-season titles and three NCAA tournament teams, Fly repeatedly pushed off chances -- like the Oklahoma State offer last year -- to be a high-paid assistant at a Power Five conference program because his dream was to lead the Eagles one day.

Unlike Enfield -- who was charged with kick-starting a lifeless program -- and Dooley -- who expected to win like crazy and leave after a couple of seasons for a much bigger job -- Fly wants to be at FGCU for the long haul. He's even talked about retiring as the Eagles' coach.

"This is an amazing hire for FGCU," said forward Chase Fieler, a fourth-year overseas pro who was dubbed the Mayor of Dunk City during the Sweet 16 hoopla. "It's not a steppingstone job for Fly. He loves FGCU and the surrounding area. Of all the coaches I've played for, none of them keep in contact as often as Fly and his passion for the FGCU program is incredible."

Fly's teams will play about as fast as the decision process on this hire.

Under the 52-year-old Dooley, FGCU's gambling, defensive Dunk City style was shelved for a more structured, tough-guy, man-to-man approach that didn't produce nearly as much transitional excitement.

Although Fly said he would retain some Dooley things, he will change much of that. The Eagles -- who are scheduled to return three starters from last season's 23-12 ASUN regular-season championship team -- will press full-court incessantly, speeding up opponents. When Dooley employed that, the Eagles' dominant athleticism befuddled ASUN opponents. But they only went full-bore when way behind, like during the 108-96 home loss against Lipscomb in the ASUN tournament title game at home when the Eagles cut a 32-point deficit to five before running out of steam.

More: Joe Dooley: 5 memorable moments as FGCU's men's basketball coach

More: College basketball: Tweets, speculation make it appear Zach Johnson, others leaving FGCU

"I want it to be all-out pressure," Fly said. "I want it to be very aggressive. I want when people come to Alico Arena, that they are very, very intimidated by the way that we play."

There is no time frame for hiring a staff, Fly said. He'll take his time to get the right fits -- folks who also want to stick around.

Fly has been FGCU's chief recruiter since joining the Eagles. He has extremely tight relationships throughout the state with high school, AAU and college coaches. He's the biggest reason nine scholarship players with Florida ties were on last season's roster. Scads of high school and AAU teams have attended FGCU games at Fly's invitation through the years.

The three signees -- three-star senior guards Caleb Catto of Southwest Florida Christian Academy and Zachary Scott of Westminister Academy in Fort Lauderdale and sophomore guard Quinton Jackson of Tallahassee Community College -- were Fly recruits.

"Super-excited. I'm super happy for him for sure," said Catto, who congratulated Dooley and wished him the best. "Definitely coming."

Fly has often helped hold the Eagles together in tough times and he has his work cut out for him on that front. Part-time starting sophomore forward RaySean Scott has tweeted his desire to leave. Fourth-year All-ASUN junior guard Zach Johnson, whom Fly signed, is considering graduating this summer and playing for a Power Five program as a graduate student next season.

Other players had become impatient with the direction of the program that was strong -- Dooley led the Eagles to the postseason all five seasons, but three of those were sub-NCAA tournament venues -- but did not achieve the results expected of the ASUN's premier program that usually is a runaway preseason pick.

Still others could decide to leave because of the coaching change.

Fly said it wasn't "fair to pressure" the current Eagles to stay, but he encouraged them to. Asked if Fly's promotion changes his mindset, Johnson deferred.

"Honestly, I really haven't thought about me, it's all about Coach Fly today," Johnson said. "He obviously cares about you. We know he has our backs and that's something you don't get at a lot of places."

Starting junior forward Michael Gilmore and part-time starting junior center Ricky Doyle, a Bishop Verot grad, both said they intend to play for Fly next season.

"I'm really happy, really happy for him," Doyle said. "I've known him since I was a freshman in high school. I've always had a relationship with him. I'm happy for his opportunity. I have to be honest, I didn't know what to expect and I'm happy with the outcome."

Dooley's move to ECU -- which has played in just two NCAA tournament games since tipping in 1931 -- was a return. In his only other head coaching stint, he went 57-52 with the Pirates from 1995-99 before being controversially fired. The former 10-year Kansas assistant's first of a five-year contract salary will total $900,000. He was reintroduced to ECU fans during a Thursday morning press conference.

"It’s good to be home," said Dooley, who also complimented FGCU fans for their strong attendance and support. "Long journey. Mom and Dad still live here. My 14-year-old (Max) had not really spent much time here. We were here during the hurricane in September. He couldn’t believe all the facilities and the resources. He was really excited. He’s ready to get in some practice in the gym and start working. I may let him walk-on the team one of these days.

"We need to make basketball important here at East Carolina. Consistently good. Hold young men accountable."

Despite success by any definition and Fly raving about Dooley's tenure, enthusiasm and attendance began to dwindle, especially last season.

"I think part of the drop in attendance this last year was a combination of maybe the product wasn't as exciting to them as they were hoping it was going to be and also that they raised prices," said Brian Rasnick, the immediate past chairman of the Eagles Club. "So people were a little frustrated that, 'Hey, they raised the ticket prices and the product seems to be not as consistent.' It's no fun to go watch a team that can beat Illinois State one night and then lose to Oral Roberts the next night.

"Southwest Florida fans have pretty much all adopted us. They don't have to love us. They don't have to be fans. If we don't have a good product out there that they're happy with, they're not going to support us. There's no reason for them to. It's not in their blood from 100 years ago when their grandparents went.

"I think with Fly coming in and creating an atmosphere that's more family friendly and community friendly, I think everybody's going to jump back on. I'm pretty confident the product he's going to put out is going to be very similar to what we saw in the Enfield days."

Enfield and then Dooley made FGCU a budding mid-major power. Fly intends to take that further.

"These guys will tell you, there's not one person in this community that has a higher expectation level for this program than me," Fly said. "That's part of the reason I'm still here. As good as we have been, I think this can be a special, special, special situation for a long time."