John Beilein, Patrick Beilein both step down 5 months apart

Both John Beilein and his son Patrick Beilein have both stepped down from leadership roles in the last 5 months. Here are the details.

Around a year ago Patrick Beilein left LeMoyne to join Niagara as its head basketball coach. It was a similar path that his father, John Beilein, took when he was rising through the ranks.

Everything was going according to plan until it wasn’t.

Seven months into his tenure, Patrick abruptly stepped down from his position citing “personal reasons.”

In an official statement released by the University, Patrick did not delve into the specifics for his departure:

"“Personal reasons I can no longer take lightly have led me to step away from my dream job. Going forward, I must give singular focus to dealing with these issues, so that I can become the man that I strive to be. In time, it is my hope that I can be more open about my ongoing circumstances, but in the meantime, I thank you all for respecting my family’s need for privacy and for all of your continued support.”"

This opened the door for a former Syracuse football quarterback, Greg Paulus to take over as the interim head coach before eventually signing a long-term deal with the Purple Eagles.

Fast forward a few months later and now John Beilein has followed in his son’s footsteps. He is expected to step down either this week or by the end of the season, per ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

At 66 years of age, John jumped to the NBA level for the first time in his 45-year coaching history. It’s something that he had broached before when a few NBA teams showed interest.

Unfortunately, the transition from the college ranks to the pros went even bumper than expected.

"“Friends and associates of Beilein have described him as unhappy — even miserable — with the move to the Cavaliers. The losing that comes with a rebuild, as well as several skirmishes in public and private with players, has played a part in the rapid deterioration”,”per Woj."

One of those skirmishes went viral on social media.

During a January film session, Beilein referred to his players as “no longer playing like a bunch of thugs.”

That rubbed a lot of people the wrong way from an optics perspective: an older caucasian coach using a term (thugs) that elicits racial undertones to a team that is predominantly constructed with African American players.

John was forced to apologize, but the damage was already done.

In addition to his misgivings as a coach, he also was dealing with some personal turmoil involving his son Patrick.

In the Woj report on John, he cited that Patrick Beilein was “dismissed” from Niagara University due to an array of personal issues. Apparently this also weighed pretty heavily on John and played a key role in him choosing to step down from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Within the last year, a pair of Beileins were living out their professional dreams. John was in the NBA for the first time and was excited about a new journey. While Patrick had his dream job as a D1 head coach. Now both are out of a job with uncertain futures.