Frank Vogel surprised he wasn’t hired as Knicks coach
A game between the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic on Tuesday brought up an interesting story from Frank Vogel.
Vogel is in his second season as head coach of the Magic. He could very well have been in his second year with the Knicks instead if things went the way he thought they would.
Vogel was one of the finalists for the Knicks’ coaching job that went to Jeff Hornacek before last season. He told the media Tuesday that he was surprised he didn’t get the gig.
“Yes (I thought I’d be offered the job). I was surprised when I wasn’t,” Vogel said, via the New York Daily News. “I interviewed with Phil and Steve Mills, we had a good couple days together.
“They said they had one more person they wanted to talk to before they wrapped up the process, and they met with Jeff (Hornacek), and Jeff must’ve blown them away.”
Vogel, Hornacek and David Blatt were interviewed for the job, while Kurt Rambis also received consideration. Hornacek got the gig and went 31-51 last season and was 27-50 entering play on Tuesday. Vogel’s record has been a little worse on a similarly rebuilding Magic team, but between the two, Vogel has much more past success thanks to his time with the Pacers. We’re figuring Vogel may have been able to do a little more with the Knicks than Hornacek has.
