Poll: Should Mark Coyle give Ben Johnson a 5th year?

[tjgopher]

I'm not that bothered by Tom Crean's stint at Indiana for those reasons. But his stint at Georgia? Woof. And that's a very similar job to this. Hard pass.

Crean was a great recruiter, had great connections with the top AAU programs, the shoe companies, etc. Just check out the number of guys he has put into the NBA. Because of that, he has had success as a coach. Won Big Ten titles, been to multiple Sweet 16s, been to a Final Four. Has major Big Ten and Midwest ties.

His time at Georgia is a red flag to be certain. For whatever reason, Georgia has been even worse than Minnesota in basketball. Only 3 NCAAs in the past 22 years.

That said, I believe Crean would be great in the new era of NIL. He's a grinder who would not take no for an answer when meeting with companies and boosters. He'd be all over the Twin Cities finding money and deals. I think he'd raise money better than any mid major guy we bring in. He gets that part of it. Quite frankly, we need a guy like that.

Lots of posters saying we need a guy who has been a head coach. There is almost certainly no available candidate who would absolutely take the job who will have more experience at this high of a level. For a guy with 20+ years of high level head coaching experience, he's still relatively young at 58 years old.

Not saying I'd hire him, but I would not be disappointed if he was the guy and definitely would not say "hard pass" on a dude with his resume, work ethic and likely motivation to show he can still coach.

 

[WindyCityGopher]

Crean was a great recruiter, had great connections with the top AAU programs, the shoe companies, etc. Just check out the number of guys he has put into the NBA. Because of that, he has had success as a coach. Won Big Ten titles, been to multiple Sweet 16s, been to a Final Four. Has major Big Ten and Midwest ties.

His time at Georgia is a red flag to be certain. For whatever reason, Georgia has been even worse than Minnesota in basketball. Only 3 NCAAs in the past 22 years.

That said, I believe Crean would be great in the new era of NIL. He's a grinder who would not take no for an answer when meeting with companies and boosters. He'd be all over the Twin Cities finding money and deals. I think he'd raise money better than any mid major guy we bring in. He gets that part of it. Quite frankly, we need a guy like that.

Lots of posters saying we need a guy who has been a head coach. There is almost certainly no available candidate who would absolutely take the job who will have more experience at this high of a level. For a guy with 20+ years of high level head coaching experience, he's still relatively young at 58 years old.

Not saying I'd hire him, but I would not be disappointed if he was the guy and definitely would not say "hard pass" on a dude with his resume, work ethic and likely motivation to show he can still coach.

Plus, Crean’s brothers-in-law are Jim and John Harbaugh, so maybe he would bring Jim in for some of that patented weirdness (and winning). Our program could probably use both.

 

[USAF]

Lou Holtz. It is only way over the top if you never lived the experience. If you did live the experience and came to this sad conclusion, you might need to read Plato's Republic. I highly recommend it just so we might come to a common definition of what is justice and what is virtue signaling.

Can you even read? The post you quoted literally referenced Holtz.

 

[howeda7]

Crean was a great recruiter, had great connections with the top AAU programs, the shoe companies, etc. Just check out the number of guys he has put into the NBA. Because of that, he has had success as a coach. Won Big Ten titles, been to multiple Sweet 16s, been to a Final Four. Has major Big Ten and Midwest ties.

His time at Georgia is a red flag to be certain. For whatever reason, Georgia has been even worse than Minnesota in basketball. Only 3 NCAAs in the past 22 years.

That said, I believe Crean would be great in the new era of NIL. He's a grinder who would not take no for an answer when meeting with companies and boosters. He'd be all over the Twin Cities finding money and deals. I think he'd raise money better than any mid major guy we bring in. He gets that part of it. Quite frankly, we need a guy like that.

Lots of posters saying we need a guy who has been a head coach. There is almost certainly no available candidate who would absolutely take the job who will have more experience at this high of a level. For a guy with 20+ years of high level head coaching experience, he's still relatively young at 58 years old.

Not saying I'd hire him, but I would not be disappointed if he was the guy and definitely would not say "hard pass" on a dude with his resume, work ethic and likely motivation to show he can still coach.

Will he get each brother in law to donate $3 million /year to NIL?

 

[MilosRevenge]

Crean was a great recruiter, had great connections with the top AAU programs, the shoe companies, etc. Just check out the number of guys he has put into the NBA. Because of that, he has had success as a coach. Won Big Ten titles, been to multiple Sweet 16s, been to a Final Four. Has major Big Ten and Midwest ties.

His time at Georgia is a red flag to be certain. For whatever reason, Georgia has been even worse than Minnesota in basketball. Only 3 NCAAs in the past 22 years.

That said, I believe Crean would be great in the new era of NIL. He's a grinder who would not take no for an answer when meeting with companies and boosters. He'd be all over the Twin Cities finding money and deals. I think he'd raise money better than any mid major guy we bring in. He gets that part of it. Quite frankly, we need a guy like that.

Lots of posters saying we need a guy who has been a head coach. There is almost certainly no available candidate who would absolutely take the job who will have more experience at this high of a level. For a guy with 20+ years of high level head coaching experience, he's still relatively young at 58 years old.

Not saying I'd hire him, but I would not be disappointed if he was the guy and definitely would not say "hard pass" on a dude with his resume, work ethic and likely motivation to show he can still coach.

We've had three presidential inaugurations since he last saw the NCAA Tournament.

 

[jovs]

There is zero chance of that happening with Ben. There is no scenario where sticking with Ben is the better option, even if we don't know what's behind door #2. It can't be worse.

Recruits like Johnson and coaches like Pitino could be worse.

 

[ShushPush]

Yes, but it is a hybrid variant of the mentalities in this state. "We're victims", "We don't deserve nice things", "Money is the root of all evil", etc.

What? Do you think we still use dial-up internet, listen to 8-track tapes, flog ourselves before church and snap a rubber band on our wrist if we think about buying a beer? No. I think our state therapist said we were cured like a ham if not in mind.

 

[tjgopher]

We've had three presidential inaugurations since he last saw the NCAA Tournament.

You could have just said nine years.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

What? Do you think we still use dial-up internet, listen to 8-track tapes, flog ourselves before church and snap a rubber band on our wrist if we think about buying a beer? No. I think our state therapist said we were cured like a ham if not in mind.

8 tracks came up again in this thread. Gettin close to a record

 

[howeda7]

Recruits like Johnson and coaches like Pitino could be worse.

22-57 is hard to beat.

 

[Ope3]

Lou Holtz. It is only way over the top if you never lived the experience. If you did live the experience and came to this sad conclusion, you might need to read Plato's Republic. I highly recommend it just so we might come to a common definition of what is justice and what is virtue signaling.

I would absolutely LOVE to have a coach that had a high level of success so he took a different job. Sign me up.

Much better than having searching a coach who was fired because they could not win enough, cheated/scandal or had to step away due to health issues.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I would absolutely LOVE to have a coach that had a high level of success so he took a different job. Sign me up.

Much better than having searching a coach who was fired because they could not win enough, cheated/scandal or had to step away due to health issues.

Holtz absolutely used us as a stepping stone but he didn't leave after some high level of success here. He was a big upgrade over the 2 years directly before his arrival but he went 7-10 in conference over his 2 years here before he jumped ship.

The reality is that we rarely have head coaches stolen away from us by other schools.

But I do agree that if you are going to lose a coach it would be much better to lose a coach because they were having a ton of success vs. having to fire a coach for poor performance.

 

[ShushPush]

I would absolutely LOVE to have a coach that had a high level of success so he took a different job. Sign me up.

Much better than having searching a coach who was fired because they could not win enough, cheated/scandal or had to step away due to health issues.

A record of 7-5 is not something to crow about.

 

[Ope3]

I am going to register an opinion on behalf of a great many Gopher basketball followers past and even present: I'm too emotionally detached to care one way or another.

Bring him back for Year 5? Fine. Terminate him? Fine.

I won't deny that the Minnesota's lack of success has a role in my mindset, but it's not even in the Top 3 of the reasons why I just do not really care much anymore about NCAA D1 basketball in general and not nearly as much about the Gophers specifically. Top 5, maybe.

I still watch the Gophers games (at least the ones not on Peacock) usually on DVR, but once they are done, I ramble on.

Those that are passionate and do care, good on ya. Knock yourselves out.

 

[Ope3]

Holtz absolutely used us as a stepping stone but he didn't leave after some high level of success here. He was a big upgrade over the 2 years directly before his arrival but he went 7-10 in conference over his 2 years here before he jumped ship.

The reality is that we rarely have head coaches stolen away from us by other schools.

But I do agree that if you are going to lose a coach it would be much better to lose a coach because they were having a ton of success vs. having to fire a coach for poor performance.

In the 2 seasons under Holtz the Gophers beat Wisconsin twice (who were decent) and also upset Iowa in his first year.

While it was not a "high" level of success, it was quite advanced from when he took over both on the field and at the gate.

A record of 7-5 is not something to crow about.

He was actually only 6-5, but that included a non-conference 13-7 loss to Oklahoma, eventual National Champions.

6 wins (on the way to 7) just two seasons removed from 1-10 as well as winless in the Big 10, 1st Bowl in nearly a decade when there fewer Bowls than currently and filling up the HHH Dome indeed was something to crow about.

 

[Ewert86PC]

What? Do you think we still use dial-up internet, listen to 8-track tapes, flog ourselves before church and snap a rubber band on our wrist if we think about buying a beer? No. I think our state therapist said we were cured like a ham if not in mind.

Yeah, that's why we can't have a functioning cannabis marketplace nor sports betting. We're cured of everything but co-dependency.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Dispensary licenses first rolled out to those who previously broke the law. This will be abysmal. The solution is city/county stores but here we go.

 

[STPGopher]

Very good coach, very good recruiter, very good at selling the program and bringing in NIL dollars and Ben's tenure as HC has demonstrated that he is NONE of them. Seems like a nice guy but not what this program needs if they want to improve.

If that is what we are getting then I am on board. We need someone who will take a wholistic approach. Much like coach Fleck. That and support/ infrastructure.

Maybe I am just tired of an endless merry-go-round of coaches and expecting different results.

 

[Some guy]

You could have just said nine years.

No because he wanted it to sound like 12

 

[ShushPush]

In the 2 seasons under Holtz the Gophers beat Wisconsin twice (who were decent) and also upset Iowa in his first year.

While it was not a "high" level of success, it was quite advanced from when he took over both on the field and at the gate.



He was actually only 6-5, but that included a non-conference 13-7 loss to Oklahoma, eventual National Champions.

6 wins (on the way to 7) just two seasons removed from 1-10 as well as winless in the Big 10, 1st Bowl in nearly a decade when there fewer Bowls than currently and filling up the HHH Dome indeed was something to crow about.

We don't crow over losing a coach of that caliber. I don't live in the world of justification between visits to the men's room.

 

[ShushPush]

Yeah, that's why we can't have a functioning cannabis marketplace nor sports betting. We're cured of everything but co-dependency.

If you can point to the way to the dispensary and pour me a MacMillan M.

 

[MilosRevenge]

A record of 7-5 is not something to crow about.

If you were in the dome in 83 and then were in the dome in 84 and 85, Holtz was a monumental success and had the biggest immediate impact on this program in the last half century.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

If that is what we are getting then I am on board. We need someone who will take a wholistic approach. Much like coach Fleck. That and support/ infrastructure.

Maybe I am just tired of an endless merry-go-round of coaches and expecting different results.

We've seen different results. Tubby's years we're not amazing nor where I wanted/hoped them to be, but they were not close to the same ballpark as Johnson's. Even Pitino saw a level of success appreciably better than Johnson's. It's not like Johnson is just the most recent in a long line of coaches who had the same results. That is why firing him should be such an easy call. Against a backdrop of a lot of bad results, he stands alone with the level of ineptitude we saw in the last four seasons.

 

[ShushPush]

If you were in the dome in 83 and then were in the dome in 84 and 85, Holtz was a monumental success and had the biggest immediate impact on this program in the last half century.

Thanks for adding that pointless piece of information to the pile of irrelevant nothings. He left as quickly as he arrived. Notre Dame can grant him sainthood. Minnesota cannot.

 

[Ope3]

We don't crow over losing a coach of that caliber. I don't live in the world of justification between visits to the men's room.

He went on to win a National Championship at his next stop.

 

[ShushPush]

He went on to win a National Championship at his next stop.

The man didn't do that at Minnesota. There the comparison ends. Two very different worlds at the time.

 

[WoodburyTim]

I would absolutely LOVE to have a coach that had a high level of success so he took a different job. Sign me up.

Much better than having searching a coach who was fired because they could not win enough, cheated/scandal or had to step away due to health issues.

I personally think we as fans have taken it for granted that we haven’t had to have 1 thread about Ben possibly leaving for a better job. The handwringing on the Football board in some years can be exhausting.

In fact, I might change my vote to Yes for that reason alone.