Kruger started his career coaching at the University of Texas Pan American. He rescinded an offer made to Mark Calaway while coaching UT Pan America. Mark would become WWE legend The Undertaker.
Kansas State As basketball coach of the Wildcats, Kruger led K-State to the
NCAA tournament in each of his four seasons as head coach and the Elite Eight in 1988 — a team featuring future NBA players
Mitch Richmond and
Steve Henson — before losing to archrival
Kansas Jayhawks, the eventual national champion. From Kansas State, Kruger moved south to the
University of Florida, taking over a program that had limited success not only nationally, but in the Southeastern Conference.
Florida In his six seasons with Florida, Kruger compiled a 104–80 mark. In the process, he led the
University of Florida to its first
Final Four appearance in 1994. He was named SEC coach of the year in 1992 and 1994.
Illinois Kruger accepted the vacant position at Illinois. While there, he became the only
Big Ten coach to successfully sign three consecutive
Illinois Mr. Basketball winners, after inking
Sergio McClain,
Frank Williams, and
Brian Cook between 1997 and 1999. Kruger left the university to accept the head coaching job for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA in 2000.
UNLV Kruger accepted the job at
UNLV in 2004. His son,
Kevin, took advantage of a new NCAA rule, called Proposal 2005–54, before the 2006–2007 season to transfer from
Arizona State and immediately play for his father at UNLV without sitting out one year. The controversial rule was repealed for the following season due to what some claimed were the
unintended consequence of allowing players with undergraduate diplomas to immediately begin playing for another school without sitting out for any time. In 2007, Kruger led the Runnin' Rebels to the
Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, which was the team's first trip there since
Jerry Tarkanian led it in 1991. On February 9, 2008, the
UNLV Runnin' Rebels beat
Colorado State 68–51 at home for Kruger's 400th career win.
Oklahoma On April 1, 2011, Kruger accepted the head coaching position with the
Oklahoma Sooners, replacing the fired
Jeff Capel. Kruger's new compensation package reportedly exceed $2.2 million annually. However, Kruger has generally enjoyed a positive reputation. On November 30, 2012, Kruger earned his 500th career head coaching victory as the Sooners beat Northwestern State 69–65 in Norman. On March 17, 2013, Kruger became the only head coach in Division I history to lead five programs to the NCAA tournament when the Sooners were named a No. 10 seed in the South region. The feat was later matched by
Tubby Smith in 2016 when he took
Texas Tech to the tournament. On March 20, 2015, Kruger became the only head coach in Division I history to win an NCAA tournament game with five programs. He is one of four active coaches who have had three teams in the
Elite Eight. Kruger reached his second career Final Four, this time with Oklahoma, in
2016. On February 25, 2017, Kruger earned his 600th career head coaching victory as the Sooners beat Kansas State 81–51 in Norman. After 10 seasons at OU, it was announced on March 25, 2021, that he planned to retire. ==Professional coaching==