People convince themselves that its all about coaching to advance in the NCAAT.
Matt Painter was a joke until he isn't. KK was a a joke until he isn't. Tony Bennett was a joke unti he wasn't and now he may be again.
A year ago, everyone praised Jim Larranaga as Miami surprised their way to a final 4 (and a Elite 8 the year before). This year, Miami was picked #2 in the ACC, finished the 14th in the ACC and on a 10 game losing streak, and there are murmurs he should retire. Is Larranaga a good coach or bad coach? Even KY with all their advantages have won 1 NCAAT game in last 5 years. They have lost to St. Peter's and Oakland. Kentucky.
The new hot basketball coach is Danny Hurley. What an incredible motivator! What a perfect system they run!
Danny Hurley's UCONN teams completely shit the bed in his tournaments with UCONN until last year's run. In 2021 as a favorite, in the first round, UCONN lost to a MD team coached by Mark Turgeon (and assisted by DM) and MD fans are in unanimous agreement that Turgeon was a horrendous coach. Turgeon didn't even make through the next November at MD before he was replaced by DM.
In 2022, again as a big favorite, 5 seed UCONN lost to 12 seed New Mexico State. Yes, NM State, a team that the next year, suspended their season in early February because one NM State was suspected of murder, and there was rife hazing within the program. In the 2022 NCAAT, UCONN scored 53 points against NM State. There were a ton of UCONN fans convinced that Hurley couldn't coach and UCONN should move on.
Coaching is really hard. Especially these days. It's not as easy as "this guy is a good coach" and "that guy is a bad coach". Talent, luck, cohesion, injuries, draw, shooting variance... all create a randomness that even the best coaches can't overcome and weaker coaches can ride to success.