Was firing Johnson the right decision by Coyle?

[ShushPush]

What Coyle will do is keep turning a stripped screw so unless some real changes are made to increase a new coach's chances, no need to fire anyone.

I like this analogy because it is useful.

 

[DarthGopher]

Holy fuck this is a bad take.

At least get your facts straight.

Coyle flew back to Indy early this morning, you dolt.

I may not always agree with your posts, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't sometimes enjoy these blunt fastballs.

 

[MilosRevenge]

That Seth Davis article was written before the Gophers completely took a dive at the end of the season. In the end, they finished just like the perennial bottom feeder that the media thinks they are.

The Davis article was March 1. The home loss to Penn State was Feb. 22 and the home loss to Northwestern was Feb. 25.

 

[MilosRevenge]

How would I have done it?

The easiest way would have been to tell Ben I want to meet with you in the morning, give him what he'd already know was about to happen—his termination, and then send out an invitation for the local press to a press conference at 10 AM, where the firing would be announced and questions answered (even though not much would be said).

But if it couldn't wait, after the conversation last night, send out a notice for a press conference at 8 AM to the local press, alerting Ben it was going out and letting him see it first so he had full visibility into what was happening. By all accounts that would have been before midnight.

It still would have been late, but there would have been enough time for the press to be on campus at 8AM for the formal announcement. Yes, everyone would have known EXACTLY what this morning's press conference was about. No, it wouldn't have been an obvious attempt to sidestep standing in front of the press and handling questions, which an AD should have done in this case.

Joel Maturi did exactly that with Dan Monson. Waited until the morning to let the world know he was coming back. In between the loss to Cincinnati and that announcement, the Star Tribune put "Monson expected to be let go" A1 above the fold.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

The Davis article was March 1. The home loss to Penn State was Feb. 22 and the home loss to Northwestern was Feb. 25.

He could have written it before March 1st. In any event, they could have recovered somewhat by winning at Rutgers and at least winning the first game in the Big Ten Tournament but they failed.

 

[Go Gophs]

Of course it was the right choice. The only mistake in this was not firing him last year after all the player defections. The program lost an entire year by not moving on sooner.

I like Ben enough he seems like a good guy, but that week he had 3/4 of his players that got many minutes move on, it was over with for him.