 Collier began his coaching career in 1976 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and then went to the Pacific Northwest, at Seattle Central Community College for a season.He joined the staff of first-year head coach Don Monson at the University of Idaho in 1978, and they transformed a cellar program in the Big Sky Conference into a top ten team in 1982; the Vandals were a in the and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, falling to #2 seed Oregon State.Following the 1983 season and a hundred wins in Moscow, Collier went with Monson to the University of Oregon in the Pac-10.