Friendly advice from past, present influenced Sloan

Frank Layden is gone from the organization, and Bobbye Sloan is gone from this Earth, but they are still having a profound effect on the Utah Jazz and Jerry Sloan — who is still the coach largely because of their influence.

Sloan received a number of phone calls and visits from people whose opinions he respects after the difficult 2004-05 Jazz season was in the books and his decision to return was left completely up to him by team owner Larry H. Miller.

Sloan heard from family, former player John Stockton and others "in the business."

The two he talked most about Thursday after the Delta Center press conference that announced he would remain Jazz coach through the 2007-08 season were two of his former bosses — his late wife, Bobbye, and Layden, who brought him into the Jazz organization as a scout in 1983, made him assistant coach in November 1984 and his successor in December 1988.

"Frank called me right off the bat, when I got ready to go home," Sloan said, adding he admires Layden's "common sense," especially when it comes to basketball.

"He was very positive about me coming back and coaching. There were some other people, but everybody knows Frank," said Sloan.

"He just said that I should stay in coaching. That's where I belong. That's what he said, plain and simple. That's what he is. He just tells you right up front."

Sloan said he's remained close to Layden, who retired as Jazz president and joined his son Scott's New York Knicks team as a scout/consultant, then retired completely when the younger Layden was forced out two Christmases ago. Layden still lives in Salt Lake City.

Frank and Scott visited Sloan at his McLeansboro, Ill., farm last summer, and Sloan hopes they'll come back again.

Other than Layden, "I had tremendous conversations with other people involved in basketball, and those things certainly were important to me. You always try to draw from the experience of someone you respect, and I did that to a certain extent."

"But you know what was amazing?" he added. "I never had one person tell me to quit. Everybody that I talked to felt like I should be in coaching. People that have known me for years and years know how competitive I am, and I think they couldn't hardly see me going another direction."