Warriors eyeing new coach after Bjorkgren goes to Iowa

The Santa Cruz Warriors are looking for a new head coach -- and it may not take long before the vacancy is filled.

Nate Bjorkgren, 37, who guided the Warriors to the NBA Development League Finals in the team's first year in Santa Cruz, has left the job to become the new head coach of the Iowa Energy. 

The Warriors, who made the announcement on Thursday, were not surprised by Bjorkgren's move according to general manager Kirk Lacob.

"We had been in talks about the position," said Lacob, who did not disclose who he may have in mind for the new coach of the Golden State Warriors' affiliate. "Obviously, we thought Nate would go to the NBA when we lost him -- he still could end up there -- but we have some contingency plans. It won't take long to put them in place.  But family matters to him -- just as it does with my family -- and he wanted to go home." 

"It was the most difficult decision we ever had to make," said Bjorkgren, a native of Storm Lake, Iowa, "because we (including wife Heidi) like both places very much. But the bottom line is our family. We have a home in Des Moines, and with both our families in Iowa and two small children (3-year-old Kaylee and 1-year-old Jarrett), we felt we should go home so the grandparents can spend time with the two little kids.

"The last few days we took our time thinking about it and came to this decision. Kirk Jacob was so good to me and very supportive. And he totally understood the family reasoning. I can only say thanks to him."

Prior to joining the Warriors organization, Bjorkgren served four seasons as an assistant coach for the Energy under head coach Nick Nurse. They won the D-League championship together in 2011, and this past season Nurse guided the Rio Valley Grande Vipers to a 2-game sweep of his friend Bjorkgren's Warriors in the Finals. 

While Nurse and Bjorkgren were going on to success elsewhere, the Engery -- also based in Des Moines -- fell to last place in the Central Division and replaced Kevin Young with interim coach Bruce Wilson midway through the past season. That left an opening for the job in Iowa.

"About two weeks ago, the Energy management called Kirk for permission to talk to me," Bjorkgren said. "Kirk obviously gave it, and has been positive about the entire process and has always looked out for me. I'm really going to miss our working relationship because we were constantly in contact and worked well together. It's hard to be saying goodbye.

"I want to say thank you to everybody in Santa Cruz and the Warriors organization for our great stay," Bjorkgren said. "We did pretty well on the court, and the fans were great. We had a lot of fun." 

Bjorkgren spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Warriors/Dakota Wizards. He took the Wizards to the playoffs in 2011-12 where they lost to the champion Bakersfield Jam in the first round before the move to Santa Cruz.

Then he led Santa Cruz to a 32-18 regular season record in which they broke league records for total rebounds (2,424), defensive rebounds (1,730) and opponent field goal percentage (.408). The franchise posted a 61-39 (.610) regular season record under Bjorkgren’s leadership, and he developed five players who earned call-ups to the NBA. 

“Nate is a brilliant coach and a phenomenal defensive mind,” Lacob said. “His professionalism on and off the court helped guide the Santa Cruz Warriors to tremendous success in our inaugural season, and he has had a positive impact on countless players chasing the NBA dream. He will be missed in Santa Cruz, and we wish him the best.

"For two years he was terrific ... awesome ... our team's success was directly related to him.  I can only say thanks to him for the job he did. I'll be rooting for him and his team every time we're not playing each other."

Overall, the 2012-13 Santa Cruz Warriors went 36-20 while finishing 2nd in the Western Division and playing in three playoff series. They swept each of the first two series, ousting the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the Austin Toros 2-0, before losing to the Vipers 112-102 at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, then the final game 102-91 in Hidalgo, Texas. 

Only assistant coach Casey Hill remains from last season's coaching staff. Before Bjorkgren's departure, assistant coach Vitaly Potapenko  left in June to become the player-development coach for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.