When Brooklyn-born, Irish Catholic Frank Layden strapped a struggling National Basketball Association franchise on his back and carried it from New Orleans to Utah in the summer of 1979, he set the team down in its new home in the Salt Palace, turned on the lights, and started telling one-liners.
On his son Scott joining the Jazz staff: “I didn’t hire Scott because he’s my son, I hired him because I’m married to his mother.”
On his weight: “In India, they’d worship this body.”
On the media: “I’d like to welcome the Eastern writers here where they can finally breathe some air they can’t see.”
On player contracts: “I remember once negotiating with one of our top draft choices. After we had agreed on an $800,000 salary, he told me he wanted a gas card, a car, a job for this father and four paid trips home. I told him this was the NBA and we pay cash. No perks like in college.”
On the state of the world: “The decline of Western civilization started when the Dodgers and the Giants moved to California.”
On dealing with players: “I told him, ‘Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?’ He said, ‘Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.’”
His reply to a fan asking what time the game started: “What time can you be there?”
He had a million of ’em, and today Utah is mourning the passing of the man who made everyone laugh and feel good about themselves, who put the Jazz in Utah and wouldn’t let them leave, and who never left himself, adopting the state as his second home. He was 93.
Jeff Wilkins, left, coach Frank Layden and Darrell Griffith celebrate a Utah Jazz win.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz assistant coach Jerry Sloan is pictured with coach Frank Layden during a game in the mid-1980s.| Deseret News archives
Steve Brown and Frank Layden do their halftime show from the Delta Center.| Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Annie Zarbock, a patient at Primary Children's Medical Center, center, turns on the lights for the 1998 Festival of Trees with help from Frank Layden, right, and Earlene Rex, festival chairwoman.| Gary M. McKellar, Deseret News
Utah Jazz President Frank Layden clowns around with coach Kenny Natt during an NBA draft.| Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Utah Starzz coach Frank Layden signals a timeout during a WNBA game against the Sacramento Monarchs on June 6, 1999.| Gary M. McKellar, Deseret News
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden is pictured during the 1985-86 season.| Don Grayston, Deseret News
Frank Layden gets the crowd going with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch during a Salt Lake Stingers vs. Colorado Sky Sox baseball game on Aug. 27, 2001.| Michael Brandy, Deseret News
Rosie Jenkins, Adrian Dantley's aunt, left, mom Virginia Dantley, Frank Layden and daughter Kalani Dantley watch as Adrian Dantley's jersey is retired during halftime of the Utah Jazz home game against the Denver Nuggets in Salt Lake City on April 11, 2007.| Keith Johnson, Deseret News
Mascot coach Frank Layden holds back some of his team on the sidelines at the fifth annual Mascot Bowl to help raise money for Firemen and Friends for Kids, which was established to offer underprivileged children the opportunity to shop for presents during Christmas, at Lehi High School in Lehi on Sept. 29, 2008.| Tom Smart, Deseret News
A photo of John Stockton, Frank Layden and Karl Malone is on display in Layden's home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014. Layden says it is his favorite sports photo.| Courtesy of Frank Layden
An autographed photo shows Frank Layden and Magic Johnson at an NBA All-Star Game in this photo taken by the Deseret News' Don Grayston.| Don Grayston, Deseret News
Frank Layden speaks during a high school graduation ceremony at the Utah State Prison in Draper on Thursday, June 9, 2011. Donning traditional caps and gowns, a record-breaking 378 inmates graduated and were awarded their diplomas from Canyons School District's South Park Academy.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Former Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden is announced to the crowd on his birthday in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012.| Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Frank Layden shows a photo of himself with Magic Johnson at his home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Frank Layden reads at his home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Frank Layden jokes around as he poses for a portrait with his wife, Barbara, at their home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Barbara Layden and her husband, Frank, read a newspaper at their home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Frank Layden, right, reads a newspaper with his wife, Barbara, at their home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Frank Layden reads at his home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Former Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden and his wife, Barbara, receive a humanitarian award from Catholic Community Services in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013.| Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Utah Starzz coach Frank Layden is pictured after a game at the Delta Center.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden questions a call while Darrell Griffith and John Drew intercede during a 1984 NBA game.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, right, and Jazz coach Frank Layden smile in this undated photo.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden is pictured in 1984.| Deseret News archives
Utah Starzz coach Frank Layden tries to hear an official's call during a game at the Delta Center on Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998. Layden was dressed up for ’70s night.| Chuck Wing, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Frank Layden plays golf in 1987.| Deseret News archives
Utah Starzz coach Frank Layden is pictured after a game in the Delta Center.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden is pictured in 1985.| Deseret News archives
Utah Starzz coach Frank Layden cheers and slaps the hands of Tammi Reiss as players are introduced at the beginning of a game against Phoenix on July 27, 1998.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden is pictured during a game.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden confers with a referee during a game in May 1987.| Deseret News archives
Frank Layden is pictured in his office in the Delta Center in 1997.| Kristan Jacobsen, Deseret News
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden is pictured during an NBA draft night in the 1980s.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden, center.| Deseret News archives
New Utah Starzz coach Frank Layden hopes his player will make a foul shot near the end of the game against Phoenix on July 27, 1998. At right is trainer Leanne Stockton.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Scott and Frank Layden sit in Frank's office, surrounded by memorabilia Frank acquired since coming on with the Utah Jazz in 1979.| Don Grayston, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Frank Layden is pictured during a game in May 1987.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden, second from left, greets Westminster's Ralph Backman, far right, as Westminster President Charles Dicks, left, businessman Spencer Eccles, third from left, and President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, look on at a 1986 graduation ceremony. Westminster presented Layden with an honorary degree during the ceremony.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden gets a kiss from Morganna Roberts, aka “The Kissing Bandit,” during a 1988 game.| Deseret News archives
Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden visits Primary Children's Medical Center during the holidays in 1986.| Deseret News archives
Frank Layden in his office in the Delta Center in 1997.| Kristan Jacobsen, Deseret News
Frank Layden sings along with fans during the seventh-inning stretch at a baseball game between the Salt Lake Buzz and Phoenix Firebirds on Aug. 5, 1997.| Kristan Jacobsen, Deseret News
Frank Layden instructs the Utah Starzz during a timeout during a WNBA game against Houston in 1998.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Current Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, left, is joined by former coaches Jerry Sloan, center, and Frank Layden following the formal announcement on Oct. 26, 2015, that the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City will now be called the Vivint Smart Home Arena.| Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Former Utah Jazz coaches Jerry Sloan and Frank Layden pose in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016.| Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Steve Brown, left, and Frank Layden comment on an NBA D-League basketball game between the Salt Lake City Stars and Northern Arizona Suns in Taylorsville on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Frank Layden instructs the Utah Starzz during a timeout against Houston on Aug. 4, 1998.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
Starzz players Debbie Black, left, and Natalie Williams, right, with coach Frank Layden.| Chuck Wing, Deseret News
Frank Layden, former coach and president of the Utah Jazz, motions to the crowd during a halftime ceremony for the 1997 Western Conference champion Jazz team at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 22, 2017.| Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Frank Layden, former coach and president of the Utah Jazz, right, motions to the crowd during a halftime ceremony for the 1997 Western Conference champion Jazz team at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 22, 2017.| Alex Goodlett, Deseret News
Francis Patrick Layden was born Jan. 5, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York. His mother died giving him birth, leaving Frank and his two older sisters in the care of his father, who worked long hours on the docks. Sports served as another parent. On Sundays, “First it was Mass, then Ebbetts Field,” Frank reminisced about his growing-up years. He watched the Dodgers of Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges. He saw Jackie Robinson’s first game. As a schoolboy he played basketball against Sandy Koufax. Another future major leaguer, Frank Torre, Joe’s brother, was his close friend.
Layden was all-New York City in basketball and baseball playing for Fort Hamilton High. That led to an athletic scholarship at Niagara University in Buffalo, New York, where he also played and coached both sports. Even before he graduated, Taps Gallagher, Niagara’s basketball coach, assigned him to coach the freshman team.
In 1955, the year he graduated from Niagara with an economics degree, Layden met his wife-to-be, Barbara, also from Brooklyn, at McGuire’s saloon — today it would be called a sports bar — in Rockaway, Queens. They were married in 1956.
He served two years as an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey before taking a job teaching history and coaching football, basketball and baseball at St. Agnes High on Long Island. From there he was hired as head basketball coach at Seton Hall High, where he guided the team to a 21-5 record in 1964, prompting Adelphi Suffolk University (now Downing College) on Long Island to hire him as its first athletic director and basketball coach.
All his life, Layden extolled the value of sports as education. “I always felt the gymnasium could be the most valuable classroom in the school if used properly,” Layden said. “What other class do you have to try out to get into?”
In 1968, at age 36, Layden returned to Niagara as athletic director and basketball coach. He compiled a 119-97 record in eight seasons and coached the Purple Eagles to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 1970 and a runner-up finish in the 1972 NIT. His star player was consensus All-American Calvin Murphy, a prolific scorer who, Layden often quipped, passed him on the school’s career scoring list after one game.
In 1976 he entered the NBA, joining his Niagara teammate Hubie Brown’s coaching staff at Atlanta. In 1979, Sam Battistone, owner of the New Orleans Jazz, hired Layden as his general manager. His first assignment: supervise the Jazz’s relocation to Utah.
Despite Battistone’s perpetual money challenges, by sheer force of personality, and often little else, Layden entrenched the team in Salt Lake City. He was the face and the heart of the Jazz, making friends and supporters as salesman, cheerleader, ambassador, money-raiser, player personnel director and publicist. Today’s Jazz franchise has at least two dozen people doing what Frank Layden did alone.
Former Jazz players left to right: Jeff Hornacek, Pace Mannion, Thurl Bailey Mark Eaton and Frank Layden look on as the retiring of Karl Malone's jersey takes place March 23, 2006.| Jefffrey D. Allred
He built the Jazz essentially from scratch. He was instrumental in drafting Darrell Griffith, John Stockton, Karl Malone and Mark Eaton, trading for Adrian Dantley and Jeff Hornacek, and hiring Jerry Sloan — all of whom have banners hanging from the rafters in the Delta Center, alongside Layden’s.
After two years as general manager, he put on another hat: coach. In eight years, from early in the 1981-82 season when Layden took over from Tom Nissalke, to early in the 1988-89 season when he handed off the team to Sloan, the Jazz went from perennial doormat to perennial contender.
They were 47-97 his first two seasons and 230-197 thereafter. In 1983-84, his third season, the Jazz won their first Midwest Division championship and made the playoffs for the first time, starting a stretch of 20 consecutive postseason appearances. In 1984, Layden was named NBA Coach of the Year, NBA Executive of the Year and was awarded the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship award for “outstanding service and dedication to the community” — the only person in history to sweep all three major awards in a single season.
“In the early years, Frank was the glue that held the Jazz together,” said the late Larry H. Miller, who purchased the franchise from Battistone in 1985-86. “How he did it, I don’t know. He sold the Jazz to the fans, the players, the owners and the NBA. He never gave up hope.”
As coach, Layden concerned himself with more than X’s and O’s. He assigned books for his players to read, took them on cultural outings while on the road, and to Broadway shows in New York.
After stepping down as coach, Layden became Jazz team president, a position he held until he retired on Dec. 29, 1999, days before his 68th birthday. In 1998-99 he coached the Utah Starzz, the Jazz’s short-lived entry in the WNBA. He later served as senior consultant to the New York Knicks when his son Scott was general manager there.
Frank Layden instructs the Utah Starzz during a timeout during a WNBA game against Houston in 1998.| Ravell Call, Deseret News
In addition to his No. 1 being retired by the Jazz in 1989, Niagara University retired his jersey in 2012 and in 2014 named its basketball court at the Taps Gallagher Center the Frank and Barbara Layden Court. He is enshrined in the New York City basketball Hall of Fame, Niagara University Hall of Fame, Dowling College Hall of Fame and the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. He received honorary degrees from Dowling, Niagara and Salt Lake’s Westminster College.
After Layden retired from the Jazz, he and Barbara bought a condominium at Zion Summit north of the Latter-day Saints Conference Center and never left, making Utah their permanent home. “This is a great place to live,” he said. “There are good people here, and they have been good to me. We have fun here.”
His lifelong friend Hubie Brown, who went from a successful coaching career to a successful career as a TV analyst, said of Layden, “In my lifetime, I’ve met a lot of funny people. Frank Layden is still the funniest human being I have ever been around. He was on stage 24 hours a day, and he never looked at a piece of paper. It just flows. He was ‘Saturday Night Live’ seven days a week.”
As a speaker and entertainer, he was in great demand. “I was asked to appear at a comedy club in an NBA city on a rare Saturday night off during the regular season,” Layden once related. “I declined. After all, I don’t want any comedians coming into the NBA to coach.”
As a humanitarian, Layden generously donated his time and money. He was notorious for being unable to say “no” to any worthy charitable cause, giving way to his oft-repeated line as an emcee as he tapped the microphone: “Is this thing on? I’ve been in front of more dead mikes than an Irish undertaker.”
He indulged a passion for the theater in his senior years, taking acting lessons with Barbara and traveling to London and New York to study and watch plays.
Frank Layden reads at his home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2014.| Ravell Call, Deseret News