In the summer of 2000, Stevens was offered the opportunity to volunteer in the
Butler basketball office. He ran the idea of quitting his job at
Eli Lilly by then-longtime girlfriend (and now wife) Tracy Wilhelmy. She thought about it for two hours before telling him to go for it. Stevens later remarked, "Now, it looks like a great idea. At the time, I thought it was something I really wanted to try."
Named head coach On April 2, 2007, Lickliter resigned in order to take the head-coaching position at the
University of Iowa. He got off to a fast start, winning his first eight games before narrowly falling to
Wright State 43–42. Legendary coach
Bob Knight, whose
Texas Tech team was an early victim, said: "I wish we played as smart as they do."
Virginia Tech coach
Seth Greenberg added: "they've got toughness about them and they expect to win."
The Times went on to state that Stevens had the calm and composure of a seasoned veteran. In doing so, he became the third-youngest head coach in NCAA Division I history to lead a team to 30 wins in a season and became the fourth-winningest first-year coach. and a finalist for the
Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award, losing to
Bo Ryan. At the end of the season, Butler signed Stevens to a seven-year contract. "We are extremely excited to reach this long-term agreement to have Brad continue to lead our program," Collier remarked.
2008–09 season Butler lost four starters after the
2007–08 season, and was picked to finish fifth in the Horizon league during the 2008–09 season. On February 5, Stevens notched his 50th win as Butler beat
Detroit 66–61. In so doing, Stevens became the sixth head coach in NCAA history to reach 50 wins in 56 games or fewer. Butler finished first in the Horizon League with a 15–3 in conference record, defying preseason expectations. Butler lost the Horizon League tournament final 57–54 to
Cleveland State, but made the
NCAA tournament as an at-large selection. He was also named as a finalist for the
Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award. Stevens was given a one-year contract extension at the conclusion of the season.
2009–10 season Fueled in large part by
Gordon Hayward's and
Shelvin Mack's roles in leading Team USA to the gold medal in the
FIBA Under-19 World Championship during the off-season, Butler began the season ranked 10th in the
Coaches' Poll and 11th in the
AP Poll. A few commentators picked the Bulldogs as a possible "sleeper team" to make the Final Four. Stevens was not so sure, privately telling his father, "We have a really good team, and I'm not sure how far we can go this year, but
next year, we ought to go really far." After the tournament Butler's record stood at 4–2 and the team dropped to #23 in the AP Poll and #20 in the Coaches' Poll. Butler won its next two games before falling to 13th-ranked
Georgetown 72–65 in the
Jimmy V Classic. The team won its next two games beating #15
Ohio State 74–66 and narrowly edging out former conference rival
Xavier 69–68, both at home. Stevens rallied the team, and they proceeded to win 16 straight games before facing
Siena in a
BracketBusters game. On February 26, 2010, Butler traveled to
Valparaiso for their regular-season finale. Leading scorer
Gordon Hayward was sidelined with lower back pain, but the team still won 74–69. In doing so, Stevens broke the coaching record he had tied the prior week and Butler completed an 18–0 undefeated conference schedule. It was Butler's first undefeated conference record since joining the Horizon League, and first since
Joe Sexson led the 1978 team to a 6–0 record in the now-defunct
Indiana Collegiate Conference. Stevens earned his third straight regular-season conference championship. In the Horizon league tournament, Stevens' Bulldogs used their
home-court advantage to beat
Milwaukee 68–59 in the semifinals and to beat
Wright State 70–45 in the finals. The win earned the team an automatic bid into the
2010 NCAA tournament, and completed a 20–0 run through league play. Stevens became the first coach to lead a Horizon League team to both an undefeated regular season and conference tournament since the league was formed in 1979. He was also the only coach in Division I to lead his team to an undefeated conference schedule during the 2009–10 season. On
Selection Sunday, the Bulldogs were seeded fifth in the West regional of the NCAA tournament and given a first-round match-up with twelfth-seeded
UTEP on March 18. Many basketball commentators picked UTEP to pull the upset, and at halftime it looked like they might be right, as UTEP led 33–27. Stevens made a number of halftime adjustments, and the Bulldogs came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. The team dominated the second half and won the game 77–59. Butler next faced off with 13th-seeded
Murray State. The game was close throughout, but Butler emerged victorious 54–52 when Hayward deflected a Murray State pass into the back court with less than five seconds on the clock. The win gave Stevens the first Sweet Sixteen appearance of his career. On March 25, 2010, Butler faced top-seeded
Syracuse. The Bulldogs got off to a good start, jumping out to a 12–1 lead and a 35–25 halftime advantage. Syracuse rallied in the second half, taking its first lead of the game, 40–39, off a
Wes Johnson three-pointer. Stevens called timeout and Butler regained the lead on its next possession, stopping the run. At the 5:32 mark, Syracuse got a rare fast-break opportunity that ended with a dunk and 54–50 lead. Stevens again called time out and re-focused the team. Butler responded by holding Syracuse scoreless for the next five minutes, taking a 60–54 lead with 0:59 to go. Butler held on to win 63–59, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Two days later, Stevens' Bulldogs met second-seeded
Kansas State in the regional finals. Perhaps feeling the effects of their 101–96 double-overtime win two days prior, Kansas State got off to a slow start, scoring just 20 points in the first half to trail 27–20. Butler kept the lead in the upper single digits for most of the second half, before Kansas State went on a 13–2 run and took a 52–51 lead. Stevens immediately called time out and re-focused the team. "Play your game. Just play your game," he told them. In the postgame celebration, Stevens and walk-on forward Emerson Kampen connected on a flying back-bump that became one of the iconic images of the tournament.
Final Four On April 3, Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs faced off with
Michigan State in the national semi-finals. Michigan State took an early 14–7 lead, and
Matt Howard got in early foul trouble, sitting most of the first half. Stevens kept the team focused with a "next man up" attitude and the game was tied at 28 at halftime. The second half was dominated by tight defense for both sides. With 2:45 to go in the game, the score was 47–44 Butler. Michigan State called a time out to set up a play. Stevens correctly anticipated the play call and had
Ronald Nored, the team's best defender, switch onto
Korie Lucious off a screen. Nored stole the ball and Shawn Vanzant got fouled on the resulting run out, hitting 1 of 2. Trailing 50–49 with under 30 seconds remaining, Michigan State came up empty and was forced to foul. Nored hit both foul shots, giving Butler a 52–49 lead. After a Michigan State time-out, Stevens had his team foul Lucious with two seconds remaining to prevent a potentially game tying three-pointer. After making the first, Lucious intentionally missed the second free throw. Hayward came down with the rebound to seal the victory. On April 5, 2010, Butler and
Duke faced off in what
The New York Times called "the most eagerly awaited championship game in years." Late in the first half, Duke went on an 8–0 run to take a 26–20 lead. Stevens called a timeout, and with starters Matt Howard and Ronald Nored on the bench in foul trouble, Stevens was forced to call on backup center Avery Jukes who came up big for Butler. Jukes scored 10 first half points, tying his season high. At half time, Duke's lead stood at 33–32. The second half was played very closely, with neither team taking a substantial lead. With 3:16 to play, Duke took a 60–55 lead on two made free throws by
Nolan Smith. Butler cut the lead to one point in the final minute and, after a missed
Kyle Singler jump shot with 36 seconds remaining, got a chance to retake the lead. Butler was unable to initiate their offense, and Stevens called a timeout to set up a play. A failed inbounds attempt and a timeout later, Hayward missed a baseline fade-away jumper and
Brian Zoubek came down with the rebound for Duke. He was quickly fouled with less than four seconds remaining. Hayward narrowly missed a desperation half-court shot as time expired, making the final margin 61–59. Stevens was named as both a Hugh Durham and Jim Phelan Award finalist for the third consecutive year, losing to
Mike Young and
Jamie Dixon, respectively. He was also a finalist for the
Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, which was won by
Bob Marlin. Butler finished the year ranked #2 in the Coaches' Poll, the highest ranking in school history. The school was ranked for 19 consecutive weeks, tying the school record. Stevens was even invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch before the
Chicago Cubs versus
Florida Marlins game in
Chicago on May 10. "It's all been very surreal," Stevens said. "If you are the runner-up, you don't expect to talk to the president." Asked if the increased fame would change things, Stevens said it better not spoil him or the university. Stevens stated: "I look at this new challenge of not changing and sticking to your core values and making sure you remain humble as a great coaching opportunity." Duke coach
Mike Krzyzewski agreed, saying Butler would be "right up there, No. 1 or No. 2... They'll be a favorite next year." Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed; however, Butler president
Bobby Fong had publicly stated that the university could afford to increase Stevens' base salary to approximately US $1 million a few days prior. He had previously made US$395,000 plus benefits in base salary, a relatively low figure for a successful
Division I head basketball coach. Stevens' total compensation for 2009–10 was estimated at US$750,000. He had received a raise after each of his three seasons at Butler and his contract contains a buyout clause estimated in the high-six or low-seven figures. By re-signing with Butler, Stevens temporarily ended speculation that he would leave the university for a higher paying job. In March 2013,
UCLA reportedly offered Stevens between $2.5 and $3 million a year to leave Butler. Rumors circulated that he was in contract negotiations with UCLA, but ultimately the rumors proved false and Stevens stayed at Butler. A few days later, Stevens reiterated that he was very happy at Butler and had no intentions to leave as long as he had the support of the university to continue running the program the "right way." ==NBA coaching career==