Bob Nielson?

[year of the gopher]

I have met Nielson and I like him. I think he could be a good coach at the D1 level. I've come around to the opinion that he would not be a good hire right now. He needs one more stop at either the I-AA level or mid-major I level to be considered. Unfortunately he's probably too far along in his career to do that and will likely finish with an impressive record at UMD and other stops along the way.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Notre Dame hired Gerry Faust (HS coach only) before the 1981 season.

I'm sure there are others.

North Texas hired Todd Dodge from Southlake Carroll High School in 2007. Dodge was 79-1 his last 80 games at Southlake. He won 4 state titles in 5 years with the only loss coming by 1 point in the state championship game.

He was fired this year from North Texas after going 6-37.

He was a position coach at North Texas for 3 years in the late 80's. Not sure if that counts as "experience above the DII level," because I did not know if you were looking for HC experience or any experience.

 

[dpodoll68]

North Texas hired Todd Dodge from Southlake Carroll High School in 2007. Dodge was 79-1 his last 80 games at Southlake. He won 4 state titles in 5 years with the only loss coming by 1 point in the state championship game.

He was fired this year from North Texas after going 6-37.

Yes, but he said BCS conference.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

My Bad.

North Texas isn't joing the Big 12 anytime soon....

 

[RodentRampage]

North Texas hired Todd Dodge from Southlake Carroll High School in 2007. Dodge was 79-1 his last 80 games at Southlake. He won 4 state titles in 5 years with the only loss coming by 1 point in the state championship game.

He was fired this year from North Texas after going 6-37.

A pretty strong counter-argument against the position that a good coach can do well at any level. The game gets more complicated as you move up levels. If you try to jump too many levels too fast, you're probably going to fail.

 

[Silvio]

I have met Nielson and I like him. I think he could be a good coach at the D1 level. I've come around to the opinion that he would not be a good hire right now. He needs one more stop at either the I-AA level or mid-major I level to be considered. Unfortunately he's probably too far along in his career to do that and will likely finish with an impressive record at UMD and other stops along the way.

I don't think he will leave UMD. He is also the AD and their Athletics are pretty strong right now under his watch (Football, Volleyball, Mens & Womens Hockey).

 

[gopher the gold]

I think Nielsen is a good coach but the U needs to make a big name hire given the state of the program. That being said I think he would be a great hire either as a position coach or coordinator but those hires will likely be made by the new coach.

 

[AhliBobwa]

Why is it that this guy is not given a legitimate chance? He currently has the #1 D2 team and is an athletic director on top of that. I'm pretty sure he would know how to run a program. Plus moving down to the cities within the same system couldn't be that hard financially for the U. Does the D2 angle scare people that much??

Is it really this thread again? How is this possible? NO. The Gophers are going for a proven coach from a BCS conference. They are not settling for a D2 coach who has no idea how to run a big time program.

I know Amanda and she's a nice girl. But how many monikers does Amanda N. have?

 

[go4fan]

I am a UMD alum., and although I believe he would do very well here, I believe it is the wrong hire at this time. We need to make a splash and Bob wouldn't be that. Maybe we can hire him as AD!! His programs are doing fairly well!!