BREAKING: Mark Coyle and Lindsay Whalen announced today that Whalen will step down as head coach, effective immediately.

Donate To GopherHole
new coach will be announced within a week to 10 days. Coyle doesn't make this announcement unless he was already lining up interviews with candidates and doing back-channel discussions with agents.

But - even if the on-floor results were less than hoped for, Lindsey Whalen is still a HOF player - one of the greatest women's players in MN history. She had her fans and supporters.

So Coyle had better get this one right - especially considering the status of the Men's program.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
new coach will be announced within a week to 10 days. Coyle doesn't make this announcement unless he was already lining up interviews with candidates and doing back-channel discussions with agents.

But - even if the on-floor results were less than hoped for, Lindsey Whalen is still a HOF player - one of the greatest women's players in MN history. She had her fans and supporters.

So Coyle had better get this one right - especially considering the status of the Men's program.
Click to expand...
At least you know he's alive and his bunker didn't cave in on him....
 

I hope Coyle goes big, being cheap failed! Pay a sitting head coach, we are in the center of a basketball hotbed!! Spend money to make money!
 






gwbbfan82 said:
I hope they stay....seems like they want the program at the U to return to greatness.
Click to expand...
Holy Man said:
Not so sure. I think we’re in the heart of your sunk cost fallacy. Lindsay proved this year that she is not a good coach. Amazing at a lot of other things but not coaching. She has talent that not only didn’t improve but seems to have regressed through the season.

Lindsay was worth a shot, but the experiment failed. Hopefully Coyle has his choice in place within a week or two because there is important retention recruiting to get done quickly.
Click to expand...
I'm torn. I'm so used to seeing roster instability, I've got PTSD about other shoes dropping. This felt like the one time we were going to have stability, keep the current talent, and add more. I hope and pray that everything comes together optimally, but...even the volleyball coaching change--which one would think could have been stable--caused the loss of valued athletes.
 



bigticket1 said:
Isn't it surprising that they are doing this now and not waiting until next week after the tournament has left town ? Kind of takes attention away from the event.
Click to expand...
I agree. They have been planning this event to be a culmination of a year long celebration of women's basketball in general, Minnesota women's and girl's basketball in particular, and the conclusion of the Title IX anniversary recognition started last year and featured at the Final Four. When they started planning this years ago they envisioned this as being an opportunity to showcase the re-emergence of Gopher basketball lead by the local hero. It didn't pan out that way, but I find it hard to believe that Coyle would have opted for this timing, even if he initiated this separation.
 

Gotta think it was Whalen's choice and she has decided it's not a good decision to stay on the job. Probably been in the works for a bit with her and the AD. Hope she can help sell the position to a great hire.
 


Bad Gopher said:
I'm torn. I'm so used to seeing roster instability, I've got PTSD about other shoes dropping. This felt like the one time we were going to have stability, keep the current talent, and add more. I hope and pray that everything comes together optimally, but...even the volleyball coaching change--which one would think could have been stable--caused the loss of valued athletes.
Click to expand...
There is little to no stability anywhere now. Keeping or jettisoning coaches, always a high risk in losing players. I think the key is really getting good coaches who can work with a variety of players. This is a move forward even if some players choose to move on.
 



Holy Man said:
There is little to no stability anywhere now. Keeping or jettisoning coaches, always a high risk in losing players. I think the key is really getting good coaches who can work with a variety of players. This is a move forward even if some players choose to move on.
Click to expand...
As always, you're right.
 


Lindsay would have been a better assistant rather than head coach. Minnesota isn't a bad job but another person said within 10 days a hire will be made, not sure that's a good thing as most good teams will still be playing.

Whether or not the FR signed a lease, leases can be broken easily. Give them time to process all of this, let a new coach be hired, then they'll decide what's best for each of them.
 


Holy Man said:
I don’t know much about the women’s game but it strikes me that this is a pretty good job. Excellent talent on the roster now. Great local talent and in a league seemingly on the rise. Administratraion committed to womens sports. Hopefully good candidates are available and willing.
Click to expand...
Kinda hoping it'll be a repeat of Lindsay's college career. Awful freshman year, Littlejohn canned, Brenda (Oldfield) Freese comes in, turns it around, unfortunately leaves but then Final Four in 2004. I think this team has that potential.
 

MennoSota said:
If Coyle was telling us the truth, he has a list of candidates right now and he's setting up interviews. Based upon the agreement, it seems like this was something in the works for awhile now.
Click to expand...
I bet you are correct. Coyle seems to delibrated before making any move.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Gotta think it was Whalen's choice and she has decided it's not a good decision to stay on the job. Probably been in the works for a bit with her and the AD. Hope she can help sell the position to a great hire.
Click to expand...
While we may never know the full story, she has a contract and some of the details will come out. (I haven't seen the contract.) If they wanted to fire her (without cause), she'd be entitled to whatever the buyout in her contract says. If she quit, she probably doesn't get anything or a significantly reduced amount. They are keeping her on for two years in a "special assistant to the AD" role that seems like a way to keep her involved without having to do much work. If she quit and that's really a new job, it won't pay anywhere close to what she was making as head coach and she won't be getting her full buyout. If she's keeping her big salary, that would tell me that the U initiated the change and let her resign and stay in the department to save face (and keep Coyle from having to fire a coach who is far more beloved than he is) while they pay her what they would have owed her anyway.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Gotta think it was Whalen's choice and she has decided it's not a good decision to stay on the job. Probably been in the works for a bit with her and the AD. Hope she can help sell the position to a great hire.
Click to expand...
Totally agree.
 

Hopefully she left on as good of a note as possible and talks to the freshman and assures them this is the place for them.

Caitlin Clark just said she might play 2 more years in college, can we just hire her parents if they bring her?? 🤣
 

The minimum requirements for the new head coach should be:

1. Has coached some level of organized basketball before.

That is it.
Thanks. That would be a step above what happened here during the last 5 years.
 

I was at the game yesterday and like most was so disappointed in our start and the endless amount of turnovers. I enjoyed the comeback and can see the potential in the current players. This News makes me sad, I wish coach Whalen would have one more year, unless these players made it known they were leaving if the coach stayed. I believe this state/team can be successful and can draw fans. I hope Coyle throws big money to the new coach, someone with experience in Power 5 conference and NCCA Playoffs. These players deserve that as well as the fans. I hope he makes a bold move.
 

LM21 said:

Tweet from Nia Holloway's mom
Click to expand...

I don't know any of them. I have seen them.


Heyer has said she us dedicated to her state school and seems passionate about turning it around, in her words. Getting other recruits to stay. I do not know her or the family but interpret that to be a mission at Minnesota

I have no read on Battle but thought she said something similar to to Heyer but not as much enthusiasm as Heyer.

Braun, frankly, I don't think she was handled the best and could have had a better freshman year with a better coach. I do not know her or the family so I could be off.

And then this tweet from Holloway. Curious what other information comes out.

I think the outlook has improved.
 

GopherGal_ said:
As a player under Coach Whay, this makes me sad. I know the “experiment” didn’t pan out the way we all wanted, but she is by far the best coach I ever had in terms of how she treated her players. As someone who saw the aftershock of the Pitts fiasco (which *finally* ended with last season’s mass exodus), I was hoping she’d get a little more time to mold this new team - the hardworking, bought-in one that the U deserves!

If any current players are reading this: I hope you stay and continues to represent the U - the future could be SO bright!
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing. The Pitts fiasco clearly had more going on behind the scenes than bad body language during one game. I'm not asking that you elaborate - quite frankly it is none of my business. I've been on teams, both athletically and professionally, where you have a toxic personality in the ranks, be it a manager or a colleague. It takes a toll on everyone involved and it drains the life out of you.

I, too, hope this core of young talent sees what they have in each other, because really, it is in their very capable hands. They were close in so many games, playing against women 2 to 4 years their senior. As I'm sure you are very well aware, nothing duplicates the growth that takes place by experiencing live game action. This could be a very special squad in the coming years. I really, really hope they recognize that in themselves. They have the power, regardless of who is helping them to realize it.
 

Another thought, if she resigned on her own, you'd think she will be at the press conference. If it's only Coyle, I'll be more convinced it was his decision.
 

Not sure how to feel. Disappointed? Relieved? In my opinion, hiring Whalen was a no-brainer. But didn't work out as well as we all hoped it would. My biggest concern now is whether we'll be able to retain the players, who, in my opinion, are talented enough to provide the foundation to make this program relevant again. I'd really hate to have to start over again, as we did a couple times in Whalen's time here. I disagree with those who say that they should have not made the announcement with the BIG tourney in town. Time is of the essence. I also disagree with those who say that the signing of a lease will mean that all the freshman will be back. I'm not saying that they won't be back, but the fact that they have a lease for next year won't be a deterrent to leaving.

And I do think that the Gopher job is a good job. There's a lot of interest in basketball here and Minnesotans will certainly support the team if they can become relevant again. Also, doesn't hurt to know that you should be able to win here if you can recruit well locally. Another selling point is the BIG, arguably the best women's basketball conference in the country. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing, as it won't be all the easy to raise the program to the top.

I look for a quick hire, although it's possible we may have to wait until other programs are done playing.

Will be interested to see what transpires.
 

howeda7 said:
I would think Minnesota is a bit different than UWGB, which is arguably a lateral move with SDSU. Not saying he'd take it, but not sure I'd make the assumption he won't based on that.
Click to expand...
In WBB, the Horizon League is ranked higher than the Summit. The opposite is true for the men's game.
 

LM21 said:
I think it's a big assumption to think they'll all stick around to see who that coach is.

With the transfer portal bursting at the seams, I would imagine time is of the essence for getting your name out there.
Click to expand...
Bursting?

The conference tournaments just started this week, right?
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom