A different view of Maturi

[Buck the Fadgers]

I am in no way a fan of Maturi, but I get the idea some of you are looking at this search differently than I did. We all think we've pieced together this thing and know what was going on. This is what i thought of the process.

We had to wait all season for these coaches to make their decision? Coaches are suppose to be contacting the team, trying to sell themselves the job. Some even contact the AD before a coach is fired, just to get a head start, so they make sure they are considered. It doesn't sound like that happened at all with Golden, Hoke, or Calhoun. It sounds as if we were waiting on them which shows who had the leverage. Maturi promised a good coach, so he waited on the best possible candidates that were considering the job, because he couldn't afford to not try for the best, which is what he established in his PC. They were all hot names, and are surely going to move up soon, so they had to check to make sure they weren't missing out on a better opportunity before committing to the job. The fact Maturi had to try and sell the program, and then the wait for an answer, showed none of those guys were really that interested in the first place.

Now about the Hoke interview that Maturi supposedly botched. There is no doubt Maturi had talked to Hoke several times before flying to SD. I can't help but question Hoke as much as Maturi if I'm the AD. Not only did Hoke not tell the SDSU AD he was talking to Maturi, he didn't tell him that Maturi was flying in. Sounds like Hoke had no problem talking to Maturi without confirmation, so if anyone is the bad guy in that, they both should be.

 

[Buck the Fadgers]

Nobody has an opinion on this?

 

[Seany]

I do agree that if Maturi was out of line in contacting Hoke without his AD's knowledge or permission, then Hoke surely was equally out of line for not informing his AD of that himself, and so we're probably better off to have not hired a coach who would do something like that.

I don't know. This whole topic about what did and didn't or might and might not have taken place during the coaching search kind of gives me a headache at this point. It's all speculation and second-guessing and beyond that it's in the past and to me secondary to the fact that we got our guy and so now it's time to get on with it and move on and I'd far prefer to look to the present and future than just endlessly rehashing the past.

 

[EG#9]

This is not how it works at all. Coaches don't contact teams, A.D.'s (or search firms) contact agents who then talk to the coaches they represent. Sitting head coaches do not want to be associated with a coaching search in any form or fashion. Golden, Hoke, and Calhoun are not A list guys, they may be very good coaches, but they certainly were not what we were looking for when this process began. The goal was to bring in somebody that said Minnesota is serious about competing for championships. This would be a coach who had done that before at this level (a Tubby Smith type, etc). It is the A.D.'s job to sell the program and the opportunity. Joel Maturi does not come across a big time A.D., someone you'd want to leave your current situation to work for if you are big time yourself. If you're talking to a big time coach about things like "understanding Minnesota" or "not being boastful", you're not going to get very far. The guy who organizes the little league ice cream party does not get Bobby Cox or Joe Torre to coach his team.

 

[GopherinFlorida]

The guy who organizes the little league ice cream party does not get Bobby Cox or Joe Torre to coach his team.

I'm going to email this quote to Maturi...I think it best describes his roll in the coaching search. Thank you.

 

[Buck the Fadgers]

They were all hot names, and are surely going to move up soon, so they had to check to make sure they weren't missing out on a better opportunity before committing to the job. The fact Maturi had to try and sell the program, and then the wait for an answer, showed none of those guys were really that interested in the first place.

Golden gets the Miami job. Hate to say it, but I was right.

 

[GRGOPHER]

This is not how it works at all. Coaches don't contact teams, A.D.'s (or search firms) contact agents who then talk to the coaches they represent. Sitting head coaches do not want to be associated with a coaching search in any form or fashion. Golden, Hoke, and Calhoun are not A list guys, they may be very good coaches, but they certainly were not what we were looking for when this process began. The goal was to bring in somebody that said Minnesota is serious about competing for championships. This would be a coach who had done that before at this level (a Tubby Smith type, etc). It is the A.D.'s job to sell the program and the opportunity. Joel Maturi does not come across a big time A.D., someone you'd want to leave your current situation to work for if you are big time yourself. If you're talking to a big time coach about things like "understanding Minnesota" or "not being boastful", you're not going to get very far. The guy who organizes the little league ice cream party does not get Bobby Cox or Joe Torre to coach his team.

I cannot believe it is remotely possible that a "big time coach" would even consider us. Maturi blurted that out in a moment of exuberance to be convincing. I never believed it then, not for a second. The closest thing I could think of was Fulmer and while I would have supported him, he wasn't a choice of mine.

And is it possible an "A lister" didn't want to work for the U of M, leaving Maturi out of this? I have a hard time believing a coach simply thinks Maturi is not ok and makes this his sole criteria for his judgement. (They might think he's great...hired Tubby, got a new stadium, stuck with Brewster when he shouldn't have!).

If they consider anything, Maturi's short-timer status might mean something to them). Candidates look at a lot of things besides the current AD. I would tend to think they would ask the question: "Is this a move up for me in my career"? Hoke, etc. said no, he could do better.

And do you really think Maturi talked to them about "understanding Minnesota"? Ludicrous!
You use that in evaluating candidates backgrounds and values. Some people just fit in better with us than others. (If "fitting in" doesn't mean anything, why is it being mentioned @ Miami?)

 

[Buck the Fadgers]

^^ good post

 

[1983]

Golden gets the Miami job. Hate to say it, but I was right.

You may be right but he will suck big time in Meeeammeee. Gone in three years.

 

[Uffda]

Specualtion --- All of IT

This is not how it works at all. Coaches don't contact teams, A.D.'s (or search firms) contact agents who then talk to the coaches they represent. Sitting head coaches do not want to be associated with a coaching search in any form or fashion. Golden, Hoke, and Calhoun are not A list guys, they may be very good coaches, but they certainly were not what we were looking for when this process began. The goal was to bring in somebody that said Minnesota is serious about competing for championships. This would be a coach who had done that before at this level (a Tubby Smith type, etc). It is the A.D.'s job to sell the program and the opportunity. Joel Maturi does not come across a big time A.D., someone you'd want to leave your current situation to work for if you are big time yourself. If you're talking to a big time coach about things like "understanding Minnesota" or "not being boastful", you're not going to get very far. The guy who organizes the little league ice cream party does not get Bobby Cox or Joe Torre to coach his team.

As you stated above, " The goal was to bring in somebody" . Was that a promise? Can't a few of you move on and accept reality. You weren't part of the search . You can only guess. I am very happy with the hire Maturi did make. In my opinion, this old,unfounded speculation is really getting old. Sorry

 

[FrothyGopher]

As you stated above, " The goal was to bring in somebody" . Was that a promise? Can't a few of you move on and accept reality. You weren't part of the search . You can only guess. I am very happy with the hire Maturi did make. In my opinion, this old,unfounded speculation is really getting old. Sorry

Yeah, my personal opinion is that Maturi is inept. With that said, I like the hire. And he's done a decent job of directing the rage his way, so Kill was able to get started with a fairly clean slate.

I'm still looking forward to the day when Maturi goes quitsies, though. There has been enough stuff on background from our Gopher bloggers to suggest he was in over his head in this search.

 

[calminnfan]

No coach who may have shown interest in the MN job is going to go outright and say he was interested because of the potential difficulties it might cause in his current position.

I am a little leery of Hoke's handling of this. I do not believe Maturi is totally at fault here. If Hoke met with him, who is to say Hoke is not the one to have initiated it. And maybe SD did give permission, but when it leaked out, they had to cover their own tails.

I just think there is a lot more to this then simply saying it was all Maturi's bungling.

BTW - Look at who Florida signed, and who are the top candidates at Miami, and who Indiana and Colorado hired. None have done better then MN at this point as far as I can tell.

 

[littlebigboy]

To start with I like the Kill hire! The way it was done is idiotic. If you think that the football hiring process by Maturi is an isolated incident then look at the Golf spectacle. He is just totally a ego maniac, he knows all and screw the rest. I do think he fell into Kill, buts should have kept his mouth shut about a Tubby style hire, when he know that would not happen, and that he expected to be in the middle of the BT because of budget. HE IS TOTALLY INEPT!

 

[Handsome Pete]

I'm going to email this quote to Maturi...I think it best describes his roll in the coaching search. Thank you.

What an odd position to take for a loudmouthed, TTT idiot. Just kidding, thanks for living up to yourself!

 

[howeda7]

I'm going to email this quote to Maturi...I think it best describes his roll in the coaching search. Thank you.

I laughed at that too. It seems apt. I'm not sure emailing it to Maturi does any good, but I'd like to see his reply. Probably 'I appreciate your input and support of the Gophers! Happy Holidays!.' But he will reply to every email! Jeremy Foley would never reply to your email. Aren't you glad we have Joel instead?

 

[UpnorthGo4]

You guys are wasting your time. Maturi is going to retire on his own schedule. And if Kill turns out to be the good hire Gopher fans have been hoping and waiting for Maturi will be considered the best AD in Gopher sports history. A quarter century from now he will be in the U Hall of Fame and be remembered as the the AD who brought Gopher football back to campus and revived the losing basketball and football programs with his coaching hires. And most of you guys will be lucky if your grandchildren remember your name.