Thank you, Ben Johnson

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GopherLady

GopherLady

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If you liked him or not. If you think he should have been fired or not...one thing you cannot disagree with is the fact that he existed the utmost class the entire time he was at the U. People went low, and he always went high. He ran a clean program, I don't think there was one instance of a kid getting into trouble. They got good grades. He gave 100% to this job, and he can walk away with his head high. I'm sure he'll end up with a great opportunity soon and another program will be lucky to have him.
 







Stan said:
Saw this and thought it summed it up well as well.


He didn't win enough, but that doesn't make him a bad person. He did his best, always was a good representative of the U.
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Yep....he wasn't ready to be the head coach in the Big Ten, especially in this current landscape. No question he gave it everything he had and he seems like a good guy.....he just wasn't ready for this opportunity.
 

@GopherLady
Ben gave it his best shot. He missed the mark. Excuses can be made regarding resources, etc, but Ben simply didn't win enough games. Like Lindsey Whalen, Ben seems to be a genuinely nice person. Like Lindsey, he should have had to prove himself as a head coach at a lower level. The hire of both people are on Mark Coyle. Neither should have said no to the offer. But, here we are now and the record shows the time for termination is now.
Best wishes to Ben. He has been better compensated than most humans on the planet and all for just coaching a game. That's insane blessing.
 




WoodburyTim said:
Seemed like a good guy. Regardless of how much money you walk away with, never easy to lose a job.

Wasn’t the right guy for this job, but hopefully finds something if he wants to stay in the game.
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Exactly. I learned that from Coach Monson and Coach Mo - everyone talked about Monson's buyout, but it's terrible being fired, and even worse when it's public. The rest of us can just get fired in peace. But when you do this, it's your life, your passion, your heart...you give everything, and it hurts. I feel like people think because you made good money or have a buyout that you don't feel pain.
 

LesBolstad said:
I don't know anyone who didn't like him. Many felt he was in over his head as a coach. He made over
$8,000,000 in four years so he'll be fine wherever he ends up
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His immediately available "pension" plan affords him a net budget of $8,500.00 per month after taxes over the next 50 years.

I will shed no tears even for arguably one of the nicest guys on the planet. Ben is all class but he simply didn't get the job done.
 

Isn't this like giving out plaques to a fired employee for being "employee of the year" or giving the terminated employee "We'll miss you" cards signed by everyone who called for the termination? Why on earth? Oh, yeah. Right. This is the trophy generation. My bad. Carry on.
 

I'm sure that he'll have no problem finding a soft landing spot. And he's still young. Plenty of time to work his way into some more opportunities.
 



Slim Tubby said:
His immediately available "pension" plan affords him a net budget of $8,500.00 per month after taxes over the next 50 years.

I will shed no tears even for arguably one of the nicest guys on the planet. Ben is all class but he simply didn't get the job done.
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^This. Ben should thank MN. Thank MN for hiring him as a HC when he shouldn't have been hired.
Thanks for paying me more in my first year as a HC then I made in my whole career up to that point. Thanks for keeping me on for at least a year beyond my shelf life.

Pay me over 20X what I was making the year before and then fire me four years later. I'll be fine.

No doubt he is a great guy who tried hard. I don't remember anyone saying anything different. I'm personally not going to thank Ben for being a nice guy or trying hard.

I do wish him well in all future endeavors.
 
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ShushPush said:
Isn't this like giving out plaques to a fired employee for being "employee of the year" or giving the terminated employee "We'll miss you" cards signed by everyone who called for the termination? Why on earth? Oh, yeah. Right. This is the trophy generation. My bad. Carry on.
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It's called compassion for a coach who gave his heart and soul to this program.
 


GopherLady said:
Exactly. I learned that from Coach Monson and Coach Mo - everyone talked about Monson's buyout, but it's terrible being fired, and even worse when it's public. The rest of us can just get fired in peace. But when you do this, it's your life, your passion, your heart...you give everything, and it hurts. I feel like people think because you made good money or have a buyout that you don't feel pain.
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Coaches make great money these days but what I think a lot of fans don't realize is that very few of them are in the profession for the money and would still be coaching even if it paid way less.

I overheard Ted Roof talking to a young man considering getting into coaching and his message to him was roughly

- if you can be happy doing anything else.....do that.....if you have to coach then coach -

Nobody should ever questions a coaches desire to succeed, most are extremely competitive and give everything to the job. I have no doubt Johnson is having a tough time with this and while the money certainly helps cushion the blow it doesn't help with the competitive drive that all coaches have to win and succeed at their job.
 

I can't thank him for doing his job. I can't feel compassion for someone making millions. I've known lots fired while not making but a fraction of what he made. And who cares if his firing/failure is public, he chose a profession that is public. Good guys finish last doesn't apply to someone making millions. And his record is that of the worst in Gopher MBB history.
 

ShushPush said:
Isn't this like giving out plaques to a fired employee for being "employee of the year" or giving the terminated employee "We'll miss you" cards signed by everyone who called for the termination? Why on earth? Oh, yeah. Right. This is the trophy generation. My bad. Carry on.
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I gotta agree with you here, you nailed it.

By far the worst coach we've had and people here want to thank him? I'd have thanked him if he looked in the mirror after year 1 and realized he had no clue and stepped aside for the betterment of the program. That would be worth a thanks.
 


mngolf said:
I can't thank him for doing his job. I can't feel compassion for someone making millions. I've known lots fired while not making but a fraction of what he made. And who cares if his firing/failure is public, he chose a profession that is public. Good guys finish last doesn't apply to someone making millions. And his record is that of the worst in Gopher MBB history.
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Spot on as well.
 

ShushPush said:
Isn't this like giving out plaques to a fired employee for being "employee of the year" or giving the terminated employee "We'll miss you" cards signed by everyone who called for the termination? Why on earth? Oh, yeah. Right. This is the trophy generation. My bad. Carry on.
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"Where is my red stapler?"
 


Not one person with a voice went low. People with a voice are slamming the school.

I’ve really liked the last two coaches and how they ran the program. It didn’t work out so we will try again.
 


Ben really seems like a great guy and he took the opportunity to apply for this job when it was open. Could say it was his dream job. He gave it his all, got some decent recruits and transfers, but came into this job a step or two too early. If he learns from his mistakes, he could pull a lil Richie and win COTY in another conference and get back up to P5/6 again. Really proud of Ben giving it a good shot, could see his passion for this team, school, and his players. He will do just fine wherever he ends up if he learns from his mistakes and adapts. My most frustrating item with Ben, was stagnate offense and not getting the most out of his players.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Not one person with a voice went low. People with a voice are slamming the school.

I’ve really liked the last two coaches and how they ran the program. It didn’t work out so we will try again.
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Yeah, this is similar to the Brewster situation where the fault is more with the school than the coach.
 



GopherLady said:
If you liked him or not. If you think he should have been fired or not...one thing you cannot disagree with is the fact that he existed the utmost class the entire time he was at the U. People went low, and he always went high. He ran a clean program, I don't think there was one instance of a kid getting into trouble. They got good grades. He gave 100% to this job, and he can walk away with his head high. I'm sure he'll end up with a great opportunity soon and another program will be lucky to have him.
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Losing your job, at any level, and in any organization, sucks.

Here is the crazy thing, however. For many of the people I've known who were fired (i.e. layoff), it ended up being one of the best things to happen to them. They often ended up in a better situation they might not otherwise have tried had they stayed in the role/position they were fighting tooth and nail to maintain.

I had a mixture of relief and sadness at the news. Relief that it is over, but sadness that it had to happen this way and to a person of his character. IMHO, he was not ready for that large of a jump into the head coach position at a P4 school. He gave it his best, but this ultimately had to be done. This is a big money business, not a charity, and if you aren't producing, you aren't sticking around. That is how the coaching world works.

Maybe he goes down a rung or two in competition and absolutely kills it coaching. With more seasoning and experience, he could be an even better coach in a future high D1 opportunity.
 

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