Collection of local, national articles on Teague/Gophers/Tubby

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Pat Forde of Yahoo: Losing, off-court issues justifiably lead to firings of Ben Howland, Tubby Smith

For Smith at Minnesota, the constant roster churn and melodrama inhibited the program. There are several former Golden Gophers who transferred away and thrived: Royce White at Iowa State; Colton Iverson at Colorado State; Justin Cobbs at California; Devoe Joseph at Oregon. White was in and out of legal trouble at Minnesota, as was current big man Trevor Mbakwe. Assistant coach Saul Smith, Tubby's son, was placed on administrative leave earlier this season after being arrested for driving under the influence.

In addition to those issues, Tubby Smith was continually campaigning for a basketball practice facility and never got the desired results. Second-year athletic director Norwood Teague has that on his to-do list, but Tubby won't be the beneficiary if it gets built.

That might be part of the reason why Smith put out feelers for several other jobs during his six years at Minnesota. He never left of his own accord, but that's not because he never looked. Most recently, sources said Smith had his eye on Auburn should the school choose to let go of Tony Barbee after three struggling seasons. That would have been akin to the exit Smith orchestrated at Kentucky – beating the posse out of town to Minnesota and then hearing outsiders pile on the school for running off a good coach.

So Tubby Smith was willing to entertain the idea of jumping, but he got pushed first. And now that makes Minnesota the bad guy in the Cult of the Coach worldview.

I'm not buying the outrage. Not for Tubby Smith and not for Ben Howland.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaab-...gs-of-ben-howland--tubby-smith-000403175.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Yahoo: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith, gambling that it can find someone better

For the past few years, Tubby Smith's Minnesota tenure has inspired two schools of thought.

Some have argued the Gophers can do better than a coach whose teams consistently start strong only to fade to the NCAA tournament bubble or off it every February. Others have insisted a program with modest tradition like Minnesota is lucky to have a coach who is annually in NCAA tournament contention at all.

We'll soon find out who's right because Minnesota has apparently decided to part ways with Smith and go in a new direction. First-year athletic director Norwood Teague fired Smith on Monday afternoon in the wake of the Gophers' second-round NCAA tournament loss to Florida the previous day.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...gambling-someone-better-185932181--ncaab.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Marcus Fuller: Tubby Smith's assistant/son: 'We hope to move on to bigger and better things'

"We had a great shot at it here at the University of Minnesota," Saul Smith said. "We appreciate everything we had. We hope to move on to bigger and better things. As a staff, we felt like we did things the right way. We graduated players, we won 20 games and we competed in this league."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 

Chip Scoggins: It was time to pull the plug on Tubby

In the end, Norwood Teague made the right call. The only call, truthfully.

He had to swallow hard and pay Tubby Smith his $2.5 million buyout. He had to fire his first coach as Gophers athletic director. The men’s basketball program couldn’t move forward with status quo.

A change in leadership seemed inevitable as this season fell apart. Fan criticism became too loud and the program too lifeless for Teague to sit idle. His basketball program desperately needs some energy and a new direction.

This is Teague’s first real opportunity to make his mark at Minnesota. Why not think big?

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/199959481.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 

Gophers basketball: Tubby Smith's firing leaves Jay Bilas 'sick'

"Tubby Smith fired and bought out at Minnesota," Bilas tweeted (@JayBilas). "Wow. Just, wow. Clearly, these schools have PLENTY of money laying around."

"I'm sick at the firing of Tubby Smith," Bilas tweeted. "This is the business we've chosen, but that doesn't make it right. Not a better man in the game."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 



Herald Leader: Mark Story: Tubby Smith is too decent, too 'normal' for what major-college hoops coaching is now

For those of us who would like to think there is still a place for decency in the highest ranks of college basketball coaching, March 25 was a dark day. After six seasons that included five 20-win teams and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, the University of Minnesota fired ex-Kentucky head man Tubby Smith.

Of all the major basketball coaches I've covered, Smith is the most "normal," the personality that seemed the most balanced. In a profession now rife with cutthroat workaholics and deal-cutting confidence men, I wonder whether that normalcy has become an insurmountable weakness.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/03/25/2573802/mark-story-tubby-smith-is-too.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Post-Bulletin: Maturi saddened by the firing of Smith

"That is the part of the (athletic director) job that I don't miss — dismissing coaches," said Maturi, in Rochester on Monday as a featured speaker at the YMCA's annual business and recognition meeting. "But it's part of the job.

"Neither Tubby nor anybody else was happy about the situation that the program was in right now. So that he got fired doesn't surprise me. Nothing surprises me anymore. College athletics is big-time business, and coaches make a lot of money, and fans become impatient.

"But I will say this about Tubby: He's left the men's basketball program in a lot better shape than it was before he got here."

http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/...cle_f41895fc-86d8-5d10-8695-1924f46f89f0.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Sid Hartman: U hasn't had much success hiring big-time coaches

It was sad the way Tubby Smith was notified of his firing Monday.

Smith’s office phone had rung off the hook around noon Monday with calls that CBSSports.com was reporting he was fired. Smith thought it was just a false report.

The athletic department’s Big Three of Teague, Benedict and Mike Ellis all came from Virginia Commonwealth and watched Smith operate one season as Gophers coach before deciding he couldn’t do the job. They must have thought Smith was pretty good when the team started the season 15-1. Had the Gophers defeated Florida in the NCAA tournament on Sunday, no doubt Smith would not have been dismissed.

It was no secret that Ellis, who ran the VCU basketball program, wasn’t a Smith booster.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/199964531.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 




Pat Reusse: Gophers hire and fire 'em, but keep trying to find the right guy

Teague made the correct move Monday, and now he has a chance to hire the right guy. And if this next one isn’t that guy ... the Gophers must try, try again.

There’s no other answer.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/199967221.html

Go Gophers!!
 







Atlanta Journal Constitution: Minnesota Gophers, bless their hearts, think they can do better than Tubby Smith

Among those who say this are presumably anyone who takes a look at the history of the Minnesota program. The Gophers had a good run from 1993-94 to 98-99 with four NCAA tourney appearances and a Final Four run but those records were officially vacated because of an academic cheating scandal under coach Clem Haskins. Throw out those tainted years, and the Gophers have made the tourney eight times in their history.

But the new coach can do better than Smith by mining talent in a state that produces a great player every decade or so and convince those players to stay home. Or the coach can lure top out-of-state talent to Minneapolis by assuring them they will improve their games if only because there won't be many days they will want to leave the gym and venture outside.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/the-hater/2013/mar/25/minnesota-gophers-bless-their-hearts-think-they-ca/

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Minnesota Gophers, bless their hearts, think they can do better than Tubby Smith

Among those who say this are presumably anyone who takes a look at the history of the Minnesota program. The Gophers had a good run from 1993-94 to 98-99 with four NCAA tourney appearances and a Final Four run but those records were officially vacated because of an academic cheating scandal under coach Clem Haskins. Throw out those tainted years, and the Gophers have made the tourney eight times in their history.

But the new coach can do better than Smith by mining talent in a state that produces a great player every decade or so and convince those players to stay home. Or the coach can lure top out-of-state talent to Minneapolis by assuring them they will improve their games if only because there won't be many days they will want to leave the gym and venture outside.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/the-hater/2013/mar/25/minnesota-gophers-bless-their-hearts-think-they-ca/

Go Gophers!!
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This is a blog written by someone called "The Hater". It's essentially the comments section of the Star Tribune.
 

Amelia blog: Tubby Smith is fired: what happened, what's next, reactions and more

National hoops writer Eric Prisbell (USA Today):

On the biggest problem moving forward: “It always comes back to one question for me, no matter what school it is. Can you get a better coach than the one you have right now. And I’m not sure they can. And that’s because Minnesota in my view is maybe the ninth best job in that league. There’s some real concerns there. They don’t have a practice facility right now … I think one of the worst things is if an administration has an inflated view of how good their job is. If they really think they have a good chance to get Shaka Smart or they don’t, or a Brad Stevens or they don’t, and it could be a long drawn out process, and nobody likes that and it plays out publicly in front of everybody.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/199977201.html

Go Gophers!!
 

The firing wouldn't generate as much external heat if it wasn't for that sweet little contract extension we handed him last year, Joel. Or the hush-hush extension for the other hoops coach. Around here, contract extensions appear to be the kiss of death (Brewster, Mason, etc.) with a golden parachute.
 




Star Tribune Editorial Board: Minnesota coach Tubby Smith had his chance

Minnesota yearns to rally behind an inspiring Gophers’ basketball program — one free of scandal (as Smith’s program has been, to his credit), but also one brimming with energy and determination to compete with the best.

By letting Smith go at this juncture, the U has established a demanding definition of success for Gopher basketball. Here’s hoping that challenge attracts a talent equal to the task.

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/199947631.html?refer=y

Go Gophers!!
 

MN Daily: Coach’s supporters struggle with firing

Broeckert likened Smith to former Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi and said both “did it the right way, which could be part of their downfall.”

Maturi and Smith are both in their 60s, and Broeckert said there was a “clash in cultures” between Teague and Smith, who was hired by Maturi.

“It’s a generational thing,” Broeckert said.

Broeckert pointed to Smith’s philanthropy work, including the Tubby Smith Foundation, and said it was overlooked in deciding the coach’s fate.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/mens-...-firing?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
MN Daily: Coach’s supporters struggle with firing

Broeckert likened Smith to former Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi and said both “did it the right way, which could be part of their downfall.”

Maturi and Smith are both in their 60s, and Broeckert said there was a “clash in cultures” between Teague and Smith, who was hired by Maturi.

“It’s a generational thing,” Broeckert said.

Broeckert pointed to Smith’s philanthropy work, including the Tubby Smith Foundation, and said it was overlooked in deciding the coach’s fate.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/mens-...-firing?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
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If philanthropy and national attention alone were good enough, Smith would have a key to the city. While those are both nice qualities, I still think winning basketball games and filling seats are more important. And I don't think it's too much to ask for someone who can deliver all four qualities while running a clean program.
 

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