Former assistant John Gallagher seizes new role

John Gallagher understands the “chain of command.”

After working as an assistant at Penn, La Salle, Lafayette, Hartford and, for two-days, Boston College, Gallagher will officially begin his first stint as a Division I head coach at Hartford when preseason begins Oct. 15.

“As an assistant you make suggestions,” Gallagher said. “As a head coach you make decisions.”

One of Gallagher’s first decisions after returning to Hartford as the man in charge was to reinforce the unique motion offense that he helped institute as an assistant there for two seasons.

This style of play has been developed, Gallagher said, during his time spent under the instruction of respected coaches and programs.

“Some of it’s from Penn, some of it’s from my time at Hartford, some of it’s my time at Lafayette, some of it’s from my time at La Salle, some of it’s my time playing for coach [Phil] Martelli at St. Joe’s.”

When asked to describe his offensive philosophy, Gallagher had a simple answer.

“Score, score and score more.”

And now, Gallagher’s long journey — which brought him to Penn in 2008 under former head coach Glen Miller — leads him to the icy tundra of Connecticut.

During his tenure as an assistant at Hartford, the Hawks made their first trip to the America East Conference championship game and tallied a Hartford record 18 wins in 2007-08.

Familiarity will make a huge difference as Gallagher attempts to make the leap from assistant to boss.

“Having an idea of what the place is about is even more beneficial,” Gallagher said. “I feel really good about it.”

But even if the head coaching job were at a school where Gallagher had no connection he still would have jumped at the chance to ascend the ranks of the Division I college basketball hierarchy.

With many overqualified candidates vying for a relatively static number of positions, Gallagher seized the opportunity — even after accepting an assistant job two days earlier at Atlantic Coast Conference Boston College.

“Any time you have you have an opportunity to [take a head coaching position], you cannot wait on it. You just have to go,” Gallagher said.

“I called [Boston College head coach] Steve [Donahue] right away and he said, ‘you have to go.’”

And now that he’s where he wants to be — at least for now — Gallagher is planning on keeping his Hawks out of the Red and Blue’s path, and vice versa.

“We’re not gonna play because [Penn head coach] Jerome [Allen] is too near and dear for me,” Gallagher said.

“If the choices were [North] Carolina or Penn, I’m gonna play Carolina.”

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