Fire Motzko

Donate To GopherHole
D

Drew21

Member
Joined
May 7, 2021
Messages
47
Reaction score
68
Points
18
Motzko was one of the worst hires in Mark Coyle's tenure next to Ben Johnson. Two years ago in the National Title game he played what is called now the Motzko Shell. He even admitted they played it safe which should have been an automatic fire at that time. Two years later, same thing in the first round. He will never win a title as coach at any school with his approach. Coyle should fire him today. I will not support or watch Gopher Hockey again (which makes me sad) until Motzko is gone.
 



Drew21 said:
Motzko was one of the worst hires in Mark Coyle's tenure next to Ben Johnson. Two years ago in the National Title game he played what is called now the Motzko Shell. He even admitted they played it safe which should have been an automatic fire at that time. Two years later, same thing in the first round. He will never win a title as coach at any school with his approach. Coyle should fire him today. I will not support or watch Gopher Hockey again (which makes me sad) until Motzko is gone.
Click to expand...
Comparing him to the worst MBB coach in school history as somehow being even remotely equivalent is entertaining. The basketball program could only dream of making Sweet 16's year over year only to have a fan base so spoiled by it that they see it as a failure.

Not defending Motzko here. This was a dud of an ending. Two years ago was a gut punch. Not going to lie.

There is a drawback to bringing in such high-end talent year over year. The one Achilles players of this caliber tend to have is the ability to handle adversity, because most of them were always the best players, playing on the best teams and winning. A lot. Eventually that skill advantage becomes less so the higher up you go. Then they get hit with adversity, an opponent that won't fold, and they crap their pants. Seen it happen over and over again. In theory, the superior talent should win. But they don't. Michigan State soiled themselves last night, too, and that was with an all-world goaltender at the helm.

As a thought exercise, who would you hire, assuming you could pry them from another program and bring them here?
 



DarthGopher said:
Comparing him to the worst MBB coach in school history as somehow being even remotely equivalent is entertaining. The basketball program could only dream of making Sweet 16's year over year only to have a fan base so spoiled by it that they see it as a failure.

Not defending Motzko here. This was a dud of an ending. Two years ago was a gut punch. Not going to lie.

There is a drawback to bringing in such high-end talent year over year. The one Achilles players of this caliber tend to have is the ability to handle adversity, because most of them were always the best players, playing on the best teams and winning. A lot. Eventually that skill advantage becomes less so the higher up you go. Then they get hit with adversity, an opponent that won't fold, and they crap their pants. Seen it happen over and over again. In theory, the superior talent should win. But they don't. Michigan State soiled themselves last night, too, and that was with an all-world goaltender at the helm.

As a thought exercise, who would you hire, assuming you could pry them from another program and bring them here?
Click to expand...
At no point was there a
DarthGopher said:
Comparing him to the worst MBB coach in school history as somehow being even remotely equivalent is entertaining. The basketball program could only dream of making Sweet 16's year over year only to have a fan base so spoiled by it that they see it as a failure.

Not defending Motzko here. This was a dud of an ending. Two years ago was a gut punch. Not going to lie.

There is a drawback to bringing in such high-end talent year over year. The one Achilles players of this caliber tend to have is the ability to handle adversity, because most of them were always the best players, playing on the best teams and winning. A lot. Eventually that skill advantage becomes less so the higher up you go. Then they get hit with adversity, an opponent that won't fold, and they crap their pants. Seen it happen over and over again. In theory, the superior talent should win. But they don't. Michigan State soiled themselves last night, too, and that was with an all-world goaltender at the helm.

As a thought exercise, who would you hire, assuming you could pry them from another program and bring them here?
Click to expand...
Entertaining huh?! Compared to all the coaches in my life time, Brooks, Buetow, Woog and Lucia, they all would have won 2 years ago and would have won last night. That's why he's the worst and thats why I compared it to the Johnson hire....what did he do at St. Cloud?...nothing.

Yes, sometimes talent doesn't win but come on man, that team 2 years ago was the most talent Gopher team ever and his take a knee style cost them that game and other games over and over again. Imagine if Duke decided to just dribble out the shot clock and relied on their defense to win when ahead?

He needs to go period!!
 

What was Thomas doing following Locmelis across the entire zone?

What was Snuggerud doing with his back turned to anything north of the endline?

Who taught them to do that?
 

Motzko was one of the worst hires in Mark Coyle's tenure next to Ben Johnson. Two years ago in the National Title game he played what is called now the Motzko Shell. He even admitted they played it safe which should have been an automatic fire at that time. Two years later, same thing in the first round. He will never win a title as coach at any school with his approach. Coyle should fire him today. I will not support or watch Gopher Hockey again (which makes me sad) until Motzko is gone.
Click to expand...
Comparing him to the worst MBB coach in school history as somehow being even remotely equivalent is entertaining. The basketball program could only dream of making Sweet 16's year over year only to have a fan base so spoiled by it that they see it as a failure.

Not defending Motzko here. This was a dud of an ending. Two years ago was a gut punch. Not going to lie.
Click to expand...
Drew21 said:
At no point was there a

Entertaining huh?! Compared to all the coaches in my life time, Brooks, Buetow, Woog and Lucia, they all would have won 2 years ago and would have won last night. That's why he's the worst and thats why I compared it to the Johnson hire....what did he do at St. Cloud?...nothing.

Yes, sometimes talent doesn't win but come on man, that team 2 years ago was the most talent Gopher team ever and his take a knee style cost them that game and other games over and over again. Imagine if Duke decided to just dribble out the shot clock and relied on their defense to win when ahead?

He needs to go period!!
Click to expand...
Yeah I have to push back a bit on this. Woog had no college head coaching experience when he was hired. Lucia meanwhile had built up a good run at Colorado College, a smaller school, same way Motzko did at St. Cloud State, winning conference titles and reaching the Frozen Four.

It's not an awful resume for a head coaching hire at Minnesota. I think for me the bigger factor was his age, with him at 63 now, older than Lucia was when he retired as another poster mentioned.

Ben Johnson, meanwhile, had no other resume other than helping to recruit Amir Coffey. He had no head coaching experience. He hadn't been an assistant under some current great program or a Blue Blood or a Hall of Fame head coach.

Then you look at the results, Ben Johnson has one of the worst records in Minnesota basketball history, he never beat Wisconsin and defeated Iowa just once. Motzko has won three conference titles, a conference tournament title and reached two Frozen Fours, going to the final in one of them.

I agree with you that Motzko's tenure has been disappointing and I don't see him leading this team to a title at this point. He had his shot in 2023 and blew it. Minnesota should move on if not this year, then the next.

However, the only way I could compare him to the Johnson hire is if Coyle had employed a coach from a smaller school with no conference titles who had never reached the Frozen Four and caused the Gopher program to regress in his tenure.
 




IceBoxGopher said:
Yeah I have to push back a bit on this. Woog had no college head coaching experience when he was hired. Lucia meanwhile had built up a good run at Colorado College, a smaller school, same way Motzko did at St. Cloud State, winning conference titles and reaching the Frozen Four.

It's not an awful resume for a head coaching hire at Minnesota. I think for me the bigger factor was his age, with him at 63 now, older than Lucia was when he retired as another poster mentioned.

Ben Johnson, meanwhile, had no other resume other than helping to recruit Amir Coffey. He had no head coaching experience. He hadn't been an assistant under some current great program or a Blue Blood or a Hall of Fame head coach.

Then you look at the results, Ben Johnson has one of the worst records in Minnesota basketball history, he never beat Wisconsin and defeated Iowa just once. Motzko has won three conference titles, a conference tournament title and reached two Frozen Fours, going to the final in one of them.

I agree with you that Motzko's tenure has been disappointing and I don't see him leading this team to a title at this point. He had his shot in 2023 and blew it. Minnesota should move on if not this year, then the next.

However, the only way I could compare him to the Johnson hire is if Coyle had employed a coach from a smaller school with no conference titles who had never reached the Frozen Four and caused the Gopher program to regress in his tenure.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I'm just sick of his excuses and lack of situation awareness and toughness.
 

Drew21 said:
Motzko was one of the worst hires in Mark Coyle's tenure next to Ben Johnson. Two years ago in the National Title game he played what is called now the Motzko Shell. He even admitted they played it safe which should have been an automatic fire at that time. Two years later, same thing in the first round. He will never win a title as coach at any school with his approach. Coyle should fire him today. I will not support or watch Gopher Hockey again (which makes me sad) until Motzko is gone.
Click to expand...
Good points. Five times as many schools play basketball. Minnesota is typically a perennial middle to bottom of the conference basketball team. IIRC the basketball team has NEVER won a national title (came close when they cheated). Is a difficult place to recruit top talent.

Gopher Hockey is in a state that produces more D1 talent than any other state. Are ranked in the top 5 most every season. Has 5 national titles. Is tied with Michigan with the most NHL players. Currently has 16 NHL draft picks on the rouster. A very large following. Minnesota can select which players they want.

I could understand if this happened in the Frozen four, but the first round? Are we not one of the eight best teams? I agree that if you look at the whole, the results are similar.

Gopher hockey is currently less results with more resources/ talent.
 

I have pondered this all day. I am generally pretty positive but I am stick to my stomach after watching that meltdown last night. Just sick. I'm trying not to be emotional in my thinking. But I also have concluded that it's time for Motzko to go. I won't list all the reasons, as they have been well covered here. I just think we need a shot in the arm. I am hoping that Bob resigns. But whatever the case... it is time for a change.
 

Drew21 said:
At no point was there a

Entertaining huh?! Compared to all the coaches in my life time, Brooks, Buetow, Woog and Lucia, they all would have won 2 years ago and would have won last night. That's why he's the worst and thats why I compared it to the Johnson hire....what did he do at St. Cloud?...nothing.

Yes, sometimes talent doesn't win but come on man, that team 2 years ago was the most talent Gopher team ever and his take a knee style cost them that game and other games over and over again. Imagine if Duke decided to just dribble out the shot clock and relied on their defense to win when ahead?

He needs to go period!!
Click to expand...
Woog failed to get it done. On multiple occasions, with as talented teams. He had Brian Bonin FFS who would have been somewhere north of 95% on shootouts if they were held then. I was in class with and knew Dan Trebil well enough. Who can forget the lacrosse goal?

So, settle down. Who would you hire? "He needs to go!" is easy. Armchair AD. Who you bringing in? Not defending Motzko. I'm genuinely curious.
 



DarthGopher said:
Woog failed to get it done. On multiple occasions, with as talented teams. He had Brian Bonin FFS who would have been somewhere north of 95% on shootouts if they were held then. I was in class with and knew Dan Trebil well enough. Who can forget the lacrosse goal?

So, settle down. Who would you hire? "He needs to go!" is easy. Armchair AD. Who you bringing in?
Click to expand...
Ben. Barr.
 


IceBoxGopher said:
Yeah I have to push back a bit on this. Woog had no college head coaching experience when he was hired. Lucia meanwhile had built up a good run at Colorado College, a smaller school, same way Motzko did at St. Cloud State, winning conference titles and reaching the Frozen Four.

It's not an awful resume for a head coaching hire at Minnesota. I think for me the bigger factor was his age, with him at 63 now, older than Lucia was when he retired as another poster mentioned.

Ben Johnson, meanwhile, had no other resume other than helping to recruit Amir Coffey. He had no head coaching experience. He hadn't been an assistant under some current great program or a Blue Blood or a Hall of Fame head coach.

Then you look at the results, Ben Johnson has one of the worst records in Minnesota basketball history, he never beat Wisconsin and defeated Iowa just once. Motzko has won three conference titles, a conference tournament title and reached two Frozen Fours, going to the final in one of them.

I agree with you that Motzko's tenure has been disappointing and I don't see him leading this team to a title at this point. He had his shot in 2023 and blew it. Minnesota should move on if not this year, then the next.

However, the only way I could compare him to the Johnson hire is if Coyle had employed a coach from a smaller school with no conference titles who had never reached the Frozen Four and caused the Gopher program to regress in his tenure.
Click to expand...
He turned 64 yesterday and the team (and the ref's) gave him a great Birthday present. He needs to resign and if he doesn't, he should be fired. Bonin came up with Ben Barr as our next coach when I brought this topic up after the Notre Dame disaster.

He would be a great hire and I think he'd come here!
 
Last edited:


When is the announcement because this is unacceptable. I knew when he was at St. Cloud and they were the number one overall seed more than once and didn't win a title, I knew he wouldn't win here. Who would want to come here? Anyone would. We are a blue blood.
 

Sadly, when Bob lost his son, I think it really took some spark away from him when it comes to recruiting and his ability to motivate. I don't even want to imagine how terrible that must be for a parent to endure.

Trying my best not to sound coldhearted but the program needs to come first and a change is probably necessary.
 


Still a long way to go, but at this point next year looks like it could be rough. Y'all may get your wish, but a year later. Looking at all the talent that's come through here the last 5 years, with nothing to show for it is frustrating. To be fair, Michigan also had tons of talent with no titles, so it's not just the Gophers. I'll feel better in the fall before the season starts, but it's hard not to be pretty down on the program right now.
 

Is it wrong of me to be somewhat excited every time I log into Gopher Hole and hope I see an announcement on Motzko’s firing?
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom