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

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As a 25 year season ticket holder this makes me sad. I watched Whalen since her HS days. I always say to be a Minnesota sports fan you have to have an abundance of hope. I was still hopeful for next season with this extremely talented class. I do understand why they are making the change and have no doubt Whalen will be a positive sales person for the program. Coyle needs to hit a home run hire to coach up all this talent. Go Gophers !
 

Gophs24 said:
i know somebody else noted it....but the South Dakota State coach should get an interview if he is interested!
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He’s a total asshole. Some of his top former players say they would never encourage their family members or friends to play for that team as long as he is there…
 

I've got a bad feeling about this for a couple of reasons:
1. Lindsey wasn't at the press conference.
2. At the press conference Coyle said it was a "mutual decision".
3. Justin Gard mentioned somewhere that she was making basketball plans for next year up until a couple of days ago.

I sure hope this doesn't mean she was fired but allowed to resign to save face. If there are bad feelings toward the U/Coyle, I can see several players saying screw it, I'm outta here. Hope not.
 

Bfan said:
The freshmen will be back and better than ever. The recent Star Tribune article said the four freshmen had signed a lease. They for sure will be back.

I am guessing this increases the chance Borowicz coming back.

I hope Rose is back. It is her team. I love watching Rose play. I do understand the good vibes with Shimmy.

I still love Whalen.

Time for even better
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I do expect they will be back but just because they signed a lease doesn't mean they can't get out of it or get subleasers. I'm sure they have very nice accomodations that would not be hard to get replacements for.
 

Some people are surprised at the timing, but right now is the perfect time to make a change. As teams are finishing their conference play, coaches are getting recognized for their performance this season. It is a good time for AD’s to look at who’s been successful, who is ripe for a move up to a bigger conference. And you want to start interviewing before other teams jump into the mix.
 


BballMama said:
He’s a total asshole. Some of his top former players say they would never encourage their family members or friends to play for that team as long as he is there…
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interesting....have only known 2 players that have played there.....and 1 currently....never heard a thing about that from either the players or their families
 

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!
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Thank you for your comments and wish we had your perspective. I hope Gopher athletes do not read the Gopher Hole because there is too much negativity. I hope they listen to their coaches and focus on what they have to do on the court and in the classroom.
 

LM21 said:

Tweet from Nia Holloway's mom
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Interesting, negative comments? negative about what? with something like this there are people that are negative about a decision and positive. Is this "negative comments" reference to something else other than the decision?

"You'll never understand the effect this has", that certainly is true. But that includes everyone involved, because we can't predict the future of what would have happened if the opposite decision was made.

Not clear to me what she was trying to communicate.
 

Ragnor said:
Interesting, negative comments? negative about what? with something like this there are people that are negative about a decision and positive. Is this "negative comments" reference to something else other than the decision?

"You'll never understand the effect this has", that certainly is true. But that includes everyone involved, because we can't predict the future of what would have happened if the opposite decision was made.

Not clear to me what she was trying to communicate.
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I have no inside information about the Holloway family . I do closely follow Gopher and some other sports teams. I was again shocked at the level of negativity, vitriol and disrespect I read on FB in the Gopher sports feed after their loss yesterday. There are too many “ fans “ who don’t have a clue the time, energy, passion and dedication that it takes to be a D1 athlete. My issue is with the posters who don’t have tickets, come to any games and don’t care if they are successful but are happy to show up and post negative garbage.
 



Gophs24 said:
interesting....have only known 2 players that have played there.....and 1 currently....never heard a thing about that from either the players or their families
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I know several former players, as well as quite a few parents. Many of them played in the era where you would’ve had to sit a year if you transferred, so most stuck it out, but might not make that decision now. He has no class.
 



I just listened to Scoggins on KFAN. While he’s surprised that this is happening now and thought she’d get another year, he was also disturbed that there didn’t seem to be noticeable improvement at the end of the year. Yes, these kids are freshmen, but they should also be showing improvement in the areas like turnovers.
 



Ragnor said:
Interesting, negative comments? negative about what? with something like this there are people that are negative about a decision and positive. Is this "negative comments" reference to something else other than the decision?

"You'll never understand the effect this has", that certainly is true. But that includes everyone involved, because we can't predict the future of what would have happened if the opposite decision was made.

Not clear to me what she was trying to communicate.
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I think she is saying that her daughter wanted to play for Lindsey and she has had one huge disappointment already from getting hurt, losing her season, and I will bet that she is worried about how long it will take to come back. The last part suggests to me that the players like Lindsey a lot and are shocked and hurt to lose her. The part about negativity--there is so much negativity on Lindsey and players online, in the press, and elsewhere that it has affected the team. Some of the comments on Gopher Hole are not benign observations but border on bashing of players. Criticism of Lindsey goes with the job of being a coach. However, I suspect that some of the criticisms that the players see do not match with their experiences.
 


She didn't quit. She was fired.

She got the "Assistant to the AD" job as a soft landing spot, which allows everyone to save face and provide her compensation that she wouldn't receive by quitting.
 

Whalen was a bad hire to begin with.

Both Coyle and Whalen get to save face by calling it “stepping down”.
 

I couldn’t believe
walleye said:
I think she is saying that her daughter wanted to play for Lindsey and she has had one huge disappointment already from getting hurt, losing her season, and I will bet that she is worried about how long it will take to come back. The last part suggests to me that the players like Lindsey a lot and are shocked and hurt to lose her. The part about negativity--there is so much negativity on Lindsey and players online, in the press, and elsewhere that it has affected the team. Some of the comments on Gopher Hole are not benign observations but border on bashing of players. Criticism of Lindsey goes with the job of being a coach. However, I suspect that some of the criticisms that the players see do not match with their experiences.
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I couldn’t believe how many comments were on the tribune article…..:by people who I’m sure have never watched a game. There was a lot of improvement this year. I was so confident in everyone returning for something special. Now I’m sad.
 

Will be interesting to read this board if the freshman leave and Braun is dumping 25 on teams night after night for someone else. Whether Whalen is a good coach or not is still an open question. There were players the last few years who just had to go. As for this year anyone who thought this was going to be a big year with 4 freshman getting that many minutes hasn’t watched much major college BB. Just keeping those players here should have been worth another year. There was nothing to be gained by this happening now, that was any better than waiting a year.
 

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.
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Week to 10 days? So you're predicting the Gophers hire someone who didn't make the tournament?
 

thatjanelpick said:
Week to 10 days? So you're predicting the Gophers hire someone who didn't make the tournament?
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just saying that in his other major coaching decisions, a new coach has always been announced quickly. When Pitino was fired as men's coach, Johnson was announced a week later.

That seems to be Coyle's MO. he doesn't like to have these things drag on.

Could this be different? Sure, it could.

But - FWIW - Tracy Claeys' firing as FB coach was announced publicly on Jan 3. Fleck's hiring was announced on Jan 6. 3 days later.
 

Gopheritnow said:
Will be interesting to read this board if the freshman leave and Braun is dumping 25 on teams night after night for someone else. Whether Whalen is a good coach or not is still an open question. There were players the last few years who just had to go. As for this year anyone who thought this was going to be a big year with 4 freshman getting that many minutes hasn’t watched much major college BB. Just keeping those players here should have been worth another year. There was nothing to be gained by this happening now, that was any better than waiting a year.
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Comical… don’t watch games try and see the game… it was obvious if you see the game Whalen struggled..
 

BTW - the video of Coyle's press conference is on YouTube. Whalen did not appear - Coyle said she was still talking to her staff.

Coyle did not say whether Whalen was fired or resigned. he said that "after many conversations, it was a mutual decision." he kept referring back to a discussion that took place about a month ago - probably mentioned that discussion at least a half-dozen times.

Coyle did say that he had a 'short list' of candidates because "you always keep that file updated."

anyway, the presser is on YouTube. runs about 20 minutes.
 


Roland Brooks said:
Comical… don’t watch games try and see the game… it was obvious if you see the game Whalen struggled..
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I saw her change point guards about 6 times, but couldn’t find one who would not throw the ball away. A problem all season. One which can’t be resolved with in season personnel acquisitions in college. Also a nice game for Mischeaux (sp) to disappear. They had a tendency to make mistakes, but as a rule never seemed to give in. I am sure this will all be repaired next year though?
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
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.
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The official story is that it was mutually agreed upon after a number of conversations. That rings true to me, and I believe it.

Problem is if I believe that, then I probably have to believe Coyle when he said that Ben Johnson blew him away in his interview. 😬
 

cheeseheadgophfan said:
I've got a bad feeling about this for a couple of reasons:
1. Lindsey wasn't at the press conference.
2. At the press conference Coyle said it was a "mutual decision".
3. Justin Gard mentioned somewhere that she was making basketball plans for next year up until a couple of days ago.

I sure hope this doesn't mean she was fired but allowed to resign to save face. If there are bad feelings toward the U/Coyle, I can see several players saying screw it, I'm outta here. Hope not.
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If all true, then maybe Coyle CAN'T be believed.
 

Gopheritnow said:
I saw her change point guards about 6 times, but couldn’t find one who would not throw the ball away. A problem all season. One which can’t be resolved with in season personnel acquisitions in college. Also a nice game for Mischeaux (sp) to disappear. They had a tendency to make mistakes, but as a rule never seemed to give in. I am sure this will all be repaired next year though?
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Turnovers were an entire team problem. The two starting forwards combined for 113 turnovers and 48 assists.. yes they played hard and yes they deserve better coaching
 

Turnovers are a culture thing. Good coaches establish a culture that stresses minimizing turnovers with accountability and a good system. The Kenisha Bell and Pitts teamed turned it over this has been ongoing
 

Gophs24 said:
interesting....have only known 2 players that have played there.....and 1 currently....never heard a thing about that from either the players or their families
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Take it with a grain of salt. It's butt hurt from the mother of a former USD player. She's put that kind of stuff on here before.
 

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