RandBall: Are the Gophers hockey jobs as good as fans think?

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BleedGopher

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Per RandBall:
  • But I do think fans are right to ask two questions. The first: Is Coyle putting enough of a priority on hockey if these searches ended with these hires? That’s not the same as saying these are bad coaches, because clearly they are not. But was the process as exhaustive as the ones that yielded P.J. Fleck as football coach, Keegan Cook as volleyball coach, Dawn Plitzuweit as women’s basketball coach or Niko Medved as men’s basketball coach?
  • The second: Are these Minnesota hockey jobs as good as everyone thinks they are? They’re certainly still very good, but do they carry the same premium they once did? While it might just be a one-off based on a personal preference, the fact that Garrett Raboin turned down a chance to be in the mix in order to stay at Augustana was at least eyebrow-raising.

Go Gophers!!
 




On the second question, it may just be the changing landscape of college sports. In basketball, Bryan Hodgson turned down the job at Syracuse for the head coach role at Providence. On ESPN Radio yesterday they were discussing how appealing North Carolina is as a head coaching destination if they move on from Davis.

Of course not a direct comparison to Minnesota, but there's a question of how much Blue Blood status matters in attracting coaches these days.
 


IceBoxGopher said:
On the second question, it may just be the changing landscape of college sports. In basketball, Bryan Hodgson turned down the job at Syracuse for the head coach role at Providence. On ESPN Radio yesterday they were discussing how appealing North Carolina is as a head coaching destination if they move on from Davis.

Of course not a direct comparison to Minnesota, but there's a question of how much Blue Blood status matters in attracting coaches these days.
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it attracts certain coaches at the right time.

There's a reason Saban walked away from the game. Some people don't want to have to deal with the bullshit that comes with some of these jobs.

Hockey is an interesting game given we've seen the last 20 years the playing field is as level as it's ever been with UMass, Providence, Union, Yale, and Quinny all winning titles. Lot of ways to win with how they allow roster structures to go and some guys want to go the relationship route and play guys who will all play 2-3 years of jr before starting college and win you games 3-2, which is an easier recruiting game to play. Think that's a huge reason why you see so many schools going the alum route for their HC in hockey comparatively (and given its already a niche sport)
The dollar amounts to coaches are not so wildly discrepant it makes it worth it to everyone. BB and FB still have that with blue bloods making insane money
 

Glad Rand got that out of his system. Now he can go about his usual business of ignoring college hockey until the next firing/hiring cycle commences.
 

High expectations give pause for some of them.
 

It's a niche sport, and if the money is the same or close, it's a lot less stress to coach somewhere like Augustana (or WMU or any number of places) than it is at Minnesota, with a bunch of entitled boosters trying to tell you what to do.
 



disco said:
It's a niche sport, and if the money is the same or close, it's a lot less stress to coach somewhere like Augustana (or WMU or any number of places) than it is at Minnesota, with a bunch of entitled boosters trying to tell you what to do.
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The money should not be close.
 

I can’t believe this is a conversation right now. No one knows Raboin’s reasoning, sometimes the timing isn’t right. Settle down, just because it was somewhat of a underwhelming hire by Coyle doesn’t mean the job is not super attractive anymore lol
 

cheeseburgerphil26 said:
I can’t believe this is a conversation right now. No one knows Raboin’s reasoning, sometimes the timing isn’t right. Settle down, just because it was somewhat of a underwhelming hire by Coyle doesn’t mean the job is not super attractive anymore lol
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+1

He's got a pretty unique opportunity at Augustana. If he really puts Augustana on the hockey map, he'd be a legend in that programs history. If he is even moderately successful, he can have a long leash and serve a long tenure, which would still make him a notable figure for Augustana.

If he takes the U job, even if he wins a few national titles, he joins Lucia and Brooks as coaches who won a few here. If he falls short of a national title, even if he is good not great (think multiple conference titles and frozen four trips), he will be one bad season away from getting run out of town on a rail like his predecessor.

Plenty of coaches would pick door number 2, but it is not unthinkable that someone would take door number 1 (even if it means less money and less chance of winning a national title).

To be clear, I dont know anything about his reasons for not taking the Gopher job. Just suggesting that it doesn't mean the sky is falling.
 

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