COYLE FIRES BEN JOHNSON!!!!!!

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Bobek said:
I don’t really know if Johnson was a good coach or not because I’m not a coach. But I do know that lack of NIL funds cost them Hawkins and Payne. With those two guys they would be an NCAA tournament team. Seems like they will continue to struggle if they can’t raise more dollars beyond the new agreement allowing them to pay players, since everyone gets to do that.
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Tangential but the assumption is the two key players leaving was only about money, but there was at least conversation late last season that there were other factors as well. I think the “it’s only about the money” argument allows glossing over other failures not connected to money at all.
 

It really is amazing how people can go out of their way to find things to be annoyed about. The press release says he spoke with Ben early this morning when the team got back from the tournament. So he let Johnson know in person and then put out the press release announcing it to the public.

I suppose they could have sat on it for a few hours but this really isn't anything to get bent out of shape about. To each their own I guess.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, Coyle is definitely awkward in front of the cameras but not sure why some were so convinced that he couldn't see the things that were plainly obvious this season. The really funny theories were the ones that said Coyle was the one leading the media blitz the last few days in support of Johnson, or that he was somehow desperate to find a way to keep Ben as the coach inspite of the record and lack of talent coming back.
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Has anyone done a wellness check on @USAF? He had utterly convinced himself he was getting Year 5 and foaming at the mouth, ye of little faith. :p
 




Bobek said:
I don’t really know if Johnson was a good coach or not because I’m not a coach. But I do know that lack of NIL funds cost them Hawkins and Payne. With those two guys they would be an NCAA tournament team. Seems like they will continue to struggle if they can’t raise more dollars beyond the new agreement allowing them to pay players, since everyone gets to do that.
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He had those two guys and was nowhere near an NCAA Tournament.
 


Bobek said:
I don’t really know if Johnson was a good coach or not because I’m not a coach. But I do know that lack of NIL funds cost them Hawkins and Payne. With those two guys they would be an NCAA tournament team. Seems like they will continue to struggle if they can’t raise more dollars beyond the new agreement allowing them to pay players, since everyone gets to do that.
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Reminder...we had those 2. And Garcia. And Christie. And Mitchell AND DID NOT SNIFF THE TOURNAMENT. 🤦‍♂️
 

DarthGopher said:
Has anyone done a wellness check on @USAF? He had utterly convinced himself he was getting Year 5 and foaming at the mouth, ye of little faith. :p
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He's probably looking for more "sure thing" bets in the Conference Tournaments, or sleeping.
 



leib0039 said:
Reminder...we had those 2. And Garcia. And Christie. And Mitchell AND DID NOT SNIFF THE TOURNAMENT. 🤦‍♂️
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It would have been interesting to see how the year 3 team would have done if they came back and Christie wasn't a one and done (I don't think they expected that when they signed him). Add a few guys like Odukale and F. Mitchell to the core of Garcia, Payne, Christie, Fox, M. Mitchell, Hawkins and Asuma and it could have been a very good team.

But it neither here nor there because those guys didn't stick around and things went south leading to the coaching change that has been easy to see coming for a while now.
 

In the movie yesterday, Kate McKinnon plays the character Debra Hammer, an over-the-top LA music exec. Her line on "The lack of an image becomes the image. I don't like what I see," is replaying in my head with the lack of a head coach.
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
Seems pretty simple to hold a meeting at 10 am or whatever and review the season and let him go. Releasing a press release at 1 a.m. is clownish and there's a reason no one does it. It creates another reason for outside people to make fun of the program unnecessarily.
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Maybe 40 years ago, but in today's instant news cycle, the story is always in motion. Nobody cares about the timing, unless you are really old and get upset when people call during supper. :)

There is another way to look at this if I'm the guy making the decision.

Ben forced my hand.

Whether it was a coordinated effort with or without his knowledge, it is clear as day there was a PR campaign being conducted in the local and national press painting Ben as an elite coach who was getting an unfair shake. If I don't address it right away, I run the risk of getting walked in the court of public opinion, further compounding the decision that ultimately had to be made. Maybe I was going to have a 10 am press conference, but that would have left 8 hours and 41 minutes for his defenders to write multiple articles that would inject more confusion and misinformation into a situation that by all rationale criteria should not have been contentious at all. I mean for cripe sakes, Marcus' latest article went damn near full victim mode. On what planet is a sub-.300 winning percentage considered acceptable performance? That article made me mad. If I'm the AD and I read that, I'm pulling the trigger ASAP before anymore oxygen can be pumped into it.
 

ShushPush said:
In the movie yesterday, Kate McKinnon plays the character Debra Hammer, an over-the-top LA music exec. Her line on "The lack of an image becomes the image. I don't like what I see," is replaying in my head with the lack of a head coach.
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That is also applicable to the former HC.
 




DarthGopher said:
Maybe 40 years ago, but in today's instant news cycle, the story is always in motion. Nobody cares about the timing, unless you are really old and get upset when people call during supper. :)

There is another way to look at this if I'm the guy making the decision.

Ben forced my hand.

Whether it was a coordinated effort with or without his knowledge, it is clear as day there was a PR campaign being conducted in the local and national press painting Ben as an elite coach who was getting an unfair shake. If I don't address it right away, I run the risk of getting walked in the court of public opinion, further compounding the decision that ultimately had to be made. Maybe I was going to have a 10 am press conference, but that would have left 8 hours and 41 minutes for his defenders to write multiple articles that would inject more confusion and misinformation into a situation that by all rationale criteria should not have been contentious at all. I mean for cripe sakes, Marcus' latest article went damn near full victim mode. On what planet is a sub-.300 winning percentage considered acceptable performance? That article made me mad. If I'm the AD and I read that, I'm pulling the trigger ASAP before anymore oxygen can be pumped into it.
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I personally don't care but there's a lot of comment on X/Twitter/Facebook about the timing of it and it's not from local media. I don't think waiting 8 hours or whatever would have generated anymore articles defending him.
 


Johnnyboy18 said:
I personally don't care but there's a lot of comment on X/Twitter/Facebook about the timing of it and it's not from local media. I don't think waiting 8 hours or whatever would have generated anymore articles defending him.
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i was curious about the timing for another reason. I thought the buy out reduced every april 1
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
I personally don't care but there's a lot of comment on X/Twitter/Facebook about the timing of it and it's not from local media. I don't think waiting 8 hours or whatever would have generated anymore articles defending him.
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Then I'm assuming national media, and they are probably just pissed they didn't get to break the story first, would be my guess. Those little bitches love to be the center of attention. :cool:
 

GopherOhana said:
i was curious about the timing for another reason. I thought the buy out reduced every april 1
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Based on the firing of Whalen, Claeys and Pitino I don't think there's anyway they're paying the full buyout either way.
 

Ewert86PC said:
Well, we are now at an inflection point where that can change.
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I have seen too many Looney Tunes cartoons in my lifetime to not think of the inflection point as Ben bouncing off pavement. Childish, I know.

I knew the inflection point had arrived when the game was broadcast on Peacock.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Is anyone concerned with the early morning timing of the announcement that Coyle may have actually gotten drunk, went to Whiteys for some sliders, then drunk dialed Ben and ended up firing him, but that when he wakes up this morning he’ll be all full of regret because he didn’t really mean to breakup and they end up getting back together?
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The first breakup never takes....
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
I personally don't care but there's a lot of comment on X/Twitter/Facebook about the timing of it and it's not from local media. I don't think waiting 8 hours or whatever would have generated anymore articles defending him.
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There’s plenty of local media complaining about it too.

But the media is made up of a bunch of mindless hacks who know very little about Gopher basketball anyways.
 

Some guy said:
Should be expected
He never does it until after the season
He always wants a meeting

This was the earliest it could be announced
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Probably could have held hitting send on the press release until 8 AM though.
 

ShushPush said:
I have seen too many Looney Tunes cartoons in my lifetime to not think of the inflection point as Ben bouncing off pavement. Childish, I know.

I knew the inflection point had arrived when the game was broadcast on Peacock.
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Then the inflection point was for all the teams in the BTT because that was a Conference/League decision.
 


NateDawgUM said:
Why is he doing this at 1 in the morning?

In the attention economy your goal is to get maximum press, this should have dropped around tip-off of the BTT today.

Everyone is going to wake up, see the news on their own schedule, then go on with their day.

Consistently feels like Coyle has zero understanding of the media landscape in 2025.
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What's the upside of making a big splash with a firing?

I would think that Johnson got the axe when the team returned last night and the release issues immediately.

You can quibble whether Johnson should have been canned earlier in the season but he wasn't. It's not unusual for a coach to get canned after the last game upon returning home.
 

Only 3 pages on this thread tells you all you need to know about the state of MBB in MN and in general. Tubby Smith was the most successful Gophers coach in the last 25 years. And run out of town. Good luck to Coyle.
 

At least when he does it in a middle of the night press release, the communication leaves the public actually knowing whether he was fired. If he does it live in front of cameras, we don't know if it was a mutual decision or if he is going to honor the full contract (props to Johnny for reminding me of that last gem a week or so ago).
 

howeda7 said:
Probably could have held hitting send on the press release until 8 AM though.
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But then Ben leaks it and starts shaping the narrative with his friendly local and national media guys. It’s PR 101 to control the message, and if that means the news is released at 1 am, then that’s what you do (I’m a longtime PR guy, with a local professional team, with agencies and large global corporations).
 

DarthGopher said:
Maybe 40 years ago, but in today's instant news cycle, the story is always in motion. Nobody cares about the timing, unless you are really old and get upset when people call during supper. :)

There is another way to look at this if I'm the guy making the decision.

Ben forced my hand.

Whether it was a coordinated effort with or without his knowledge, it is clear as day there was a PR campaign being conducted in the local and national press painting Ben as an elite coach who was getting an unfair shake. If I don't address it right away, I run the risk of getting walked in the court of public opinion, further compounding the decision that ultimately had to be made. Maybe I was going to have a 10 am press conference, but that would have left 8 hours and 41 minutes for his defenders to write multiple articles that would inject more confusion and misinformation into a situation that by all rationale criteria should not have been contentious at all. I mean for cripe sakes, Marcus' latest article went damn near full victim mode. On what planet is a sub-.300 winning percentage considered acceptable performance? That article made me mad. If I'm the AD and I read that, I'm pulling the trigger ASAP before anymore oxygen can be pumped into it.
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Fair point.
 

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