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Former Pacers head coach Frank Vogel lands new NBA coaching gig

By Elie Deglaoui

Apr 8, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel talks to a player during a break in the action against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Indiana 111-98. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Apr 8, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel talks to a player during a break in the action against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Indiana 111-98. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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Over eight years after he coached his final game for the Indiana Pacers, Frank Vogel has found a lot of success in the league, most notably coaching the Los Angeles Lakers to their first championship in a decade in 2020.

Now, Vogel has landed a new job in the NBA, though it is not in a head coaching role this time around.

Frank Vogel has joined the Dallas Mavericks as a coaching consultant

According to Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, via NBA insider Marc Stein, the team has hired Vogel as a coaching consultant. Given that he has championship experience and has been around the league since 2001, Vogel seems like a solid hire for a Mavericks team that just made an NBA Finals appearance.

What Vogel's exact role in Dallas will be is not entirely clear. Last year, the Boston Celtics signed Jeff Van Gundy to a similar role and helped the team win a championship. Earlier this offseason, he joined the Los Angeles Clippers to become a top assistant coach for the team.

After just one season with the Phoenix Suns, the team fired Vogel after they got swept in the first round of this year's playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Considering there were no other head coaching spots available, this move may work out for Vogel in the long run.

Despite not coaching another championship team since 2020, Vogel has a good resume, one that Pacers fans are quite familiar with.

Most notably, the New Jersey native coached the Pacers to consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2013 and 2014. Furthermore, his 431 wins as the team's head coach rank second in franchise history, only trailing Bobby Leonard (529), who coached the team from 1968 to 1980 and was a three-time ABA champion.

Additionally, his 50.8% winning percentage as the head coach of the Pacers still ranks fifth best of all time. However, Vogel was unable to bring the Pacers back to the NBA Finals, something the team is still trying to do after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.

Now that he has joined the Mavericks' coaching staff, Vogel could be in line to return as a head coach in the league down the line. However, given the Pacers' recent success under Rick Carlisle, who has been great since returning to the team in 2021, a potential return to the team seems entirely out of the question for Vogel.

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