Many people seem to assign NT as the egomaniac in this situation and perhaps he is; but I haven't seen this question asked very often-what about Flip's ego? Do we know how he approached the interview with NT & Ellis? Did he assume that NT would genuflect and beg him to take the helm of the Gophers' ship and when that didn't occur, Flip balked at the offer?
Put yourself in NT's shoes-you're making a huge hire for the program (hopefully, the biggest hire during his time at the "U") and you have a local favorite son who has a great deal of support from the masses. Despite that support, there are legitimate questions that exist-age, adjustment to the college game, who will comprise the coaching staff, long-term energy and devotion to the job. While you are ostensibly the boss, you are aware that amongst the boosters of the program, this favored son will garner a great deal of loyalty and could very well compromise your abilities to manage this employee. When you meet with this person for the job, your concerns are not assuaged-perhaps it's the attitude the favored son brings to the interview, perhaps it's the cast of characters posited for the coaching staff (frankly, all the local legends that several GH posters were tossing around as possibilities to join the staff had me concerned), perhaps it's an unwillingness to work together on building a coaching staff-whatever the situation may have been, the hiring boss was left uneasy. And if the rumors are true, that it leaked the reason that favored son wasn't hired because he wasn't able to place his own son on the coaching staff (which frankly, I think doesn't put Flip in a very favorable light), the hiring boss's decision was likely reaffirmed, in realizing that the candidate's relations with the local media are well-connected and smoothly operated.
So I ask you, would you want to be in this position as NT? What if things don't pan out accordingly with Flip-what if whatever concerns NT may have had about hiring him come to roost? What if every closed door meeting with Flip somehow gets leaked to the press, and the scribes paint NT as the nincompoop? What if mediocre results occur on the court, the energy of the Flip hire wans and you are left back where you started-perhaps with the practice facility built or in the process of being built, but with a formerly successful NBA coach not succeeding after following a former NCAA championship winning coach who couldn't succeed at the "U"? What is the national perception of the program then? What is the perception of you? Has your career been sunk?
And all of this would be okay, if you were truly sold on Flip and Flip was your guy; but if not, if you had misgivings about hiring Saunders for any myriad of reasons, why would you choose to step into this situation, especially if the terms you would have been comfortable with were not well received?
Listen, I was on board with Flip as coach and think he could have been a very good hire here, but I also understand the reservations, and I could see NT gauging the public sentiment both through the media and message boards as this and being quite relieved that it didn't work out with Flip. If things didn't go ideally with Flip (practice facility, ace recruiting, upper half Big 10 division finishes, regular appearances in the second weekend of the NCAA tourney), NT would have been in a really difficult position. There's no guarantee that the next coach of the Gophers will be successful, but if you're NT, don't you want that to occur on your terms rather than compromising your position and going down in flames regardless?
