Pelicans: Why Jacque Vaughn is a good choice to replace Stan Van Gundy

New Orleans Pelicans head coach: Jacque Vaughn has been an assistant under great coaches

Vaughn got his start as an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich, who is probably the greatest coach who ever lived.

After just two years on Pop’s bench he got the head job in Orlando, and at the time he was considered one of the hottest coaching prospects in the game.

Things didn’t work out with the Magic, so Vaughn went back to work as a scout for the Spurs. I like that he has experience in a few different areas and got it with one of the NBA’s best franchises.

He coached under Kenny Atkinson (another potential dark horse for the Pels’ job) who is also thought of as keen basketball mind and innovator before being interim after Atkinson’s firing and assistant once again under Steve Nash.

He was on the bench of a team with three superstars and a lot of egos, so he definitely got some experience in how to deal with elite players.

I know a lot of Pelicans’ fans don’t think he is a sexy enough name and would like the Pels to go in a different direction, but there is a lot to like about Vaughn and I think he’d be a good choice to lead the Pelicans into the future.