GOPHERS HIRING BEN JOHNSON

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stocker08 said:
Surprised we went with someone with so little experience. But as far as his assistant coaching career...not really fair to heap the results of the teams on him. Have to think that Coyle knows something that we don't. The AAU angle would have to be at least somewhat true.

We'll see what happens. How great would it be to hire a Minnesota guy who ended up being a great coach and a lifer here?
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We can all hope for that and still question Coyle's process at the same time.
 



howeda7 said:
He went to St. Cloud State. He was one of us!

Hopefully we just drafted Adam Theilen in the 1st round. Still a terrible waste of a pick, but it turns out OK.
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Haha I'm with your overall point, but Adam Thielen would no doubt be worthy of a first round pick looking at his career after the fact.
 



Holy Man said:
He’s also recruiting Xavier, a program with an established history of success. I’ll take top 30 too. It will be a lot harder here than at X.
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Also Cincinnati has gone in the dumps since Cronin left. Has to help.
 

howeda7 said:
If PJ Fleck rows us to Pasadena, Coyle can survive this no matter how it turns out.
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Highly unlikely....More like 6-8 wins the next couple years and toilet bowls....We had are best season ever a couple years ago and still played in the outback bowl.
 




stocker08 said:
Why oh why doesn't the brass in the athletic department listen to Gopherhole. Don't they know that everyone here is basically Red Auerbach reincarnated!?
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Yes to what you said. LOL

I've talked to Coyle. He has vision and is driven. He's also not afraid of risk.
 


salzie said:
You don't see how saying johnson only got the job due to being black isn't offensive and a shot at Johnson?
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We can ignore the semantics of you misquoting me. I said that "diversity-based-hiring played a part". I don't really care about the offensive portion of it, people can find offense wherever they'd like. So yeah, I'd guess a lot of people would be offended by that, but that means so little today.

But to answer your main point, no, I don't think what I have said is taking a shot at Ben Johnson. I don't think Ben Johnson has the proven track record (resume) for the job. That's it. I'll support him. I've cheered for him elsewhere and I'll be the first person to say if I think he is doing a good job.

I don't think he is qualified for the job. That isn't his fault. It isn't a rip on him.

You and people like you aren't going to guilt me into saying that he is qualified for the job. He isn't. That doesn't mean I don't like him.
 









Holy Man said:
I’m not sure I see any momentum on this being primarily a diversity hire. The rage seems to be that it was a hire on the cheap that pisses off those of us who have pouring money in the program for decades.

It’s kick in the teeth.
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I posted that after reading the first couple of pages, thankfully that talk has died down since. I get being upset and disappointed. There are plenty of reasons for that, citing "diversity hire" isn't a credible one IMO.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
We can ignore the semantics of you misquoting me. I said that "diversity-based-hiring played a part". I don't really care about the offensive portion of it, people can find offense wherever they'd like. So yeah, I'd guess a lot of people would be offended by that, but that means so little today.

But to answer your main point, no, I don't think what I have said is taking a shot at Ben Johnson. I don't think Ben Johnson has the proven track record (resume) for the job. That's it. I'll support him. I've cheered for him elsewhere and I'll be the first person to say if I think he is doing a good job.

I don't think he is qualified for the job. That isn't his fault. It isn't a rip on him.

You and people like you aren't going to guilt me into saying that he is qualified for the job. He isn't. That doesn't mean I don't like him.
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He has a resume, not as a head coach, but does have resume.


Saying he's a diversity hire to appease liberal media is an insult to Johnson.

I have no patience for it
 

howeda7 said:
How it Started: "We'll conduct a national search!" "We have a B1G level budget for this hire."

How it's going: "We hired an assistant from a school that didn't make the tournament. We didn't bother to interview anyone who did make the tournament. We'll pay him half of what we paid the last coach."
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and Ben Johnson was not a candidate for any other school. Not even D3
 

We have to give Johnson a chance. The fact that Pitino had eight years and wasn't able to build the relationships necessary to get Suggs and Hurt was pretty damning.

If and that's a huge if Johnson can build relationships and get top MN talent to come to the gophers then it will be a good hire. Recruiting is about building relationships first.

You have to give him a chance. If he's willing to drive to Elk River and Hopkins and watch an eighth grader play ball we may be on to something.

If Bueckers wins four titles at UCONN and the Lady Gophers don't at least win a big ten title then we can expect to see a new women's coach soon.
 

We finished 13th. Our conference record has been unacceptable. Everyone is thinking it not only can, but will, get worse. We are sadly in a present position where taking a huge risk is not only more understandable - it is probably the exact time to do it.

There is only one or two notches below on the down side.

I am nervous, true. But I had and have no confidence in the state of the Golden Gopher basketball “union”.

“It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.” David St. Hubbins
 


GopherGod said:
I recall he told him he understood why he would go to MN. Not that he should "move on".
Miles was not happy when Johnson left and it did not end on good terms. When Miles offered Johnson a job on his staff he asked for a 3 year comment from him which Johnson agreed to. He then left for Minnesota after one season.
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Ah. Well cross Miles off the list then. I can't think of another assistant they can hire that will make this any less underwhelming than it already is.
 

Coyle took a big risk with this hire for sure. He will eventually look like a genius or a fool.

Clearly Ben knows how to sell...his first head coaching gig is in the Big Ten. Selling top recruits should be a far easier sell!
 

WoodburyTim said:
They must drive recruiting more than when Johnson was an assistant coach here.
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That's one of my concerns. Johnson was here a few years back and the complaint locally was that we were not in contact soon enough or often enough with the local kids. We hired Monson years ago after he went to the elite eight at Gonzaga. Years later people say it must have been his assistant Mark Few. Who was the Mark Few on Pitino's staff?
 

Holy Man said:
Cut it out. We need to vent. We’re venting. Over and over again the wrath is no about Ben. It’s about the U. We want Ben to succeed. We also generally believe he does not have the experience to give us the confidence he is ready for this job.
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I have no problem with those who vent their frustrations while supporting the program. Johnson’s lack of head coaching experience is a legitimate issue. Those who, on the other hand, claim to know he can only fail, that scads of better candidates were breathlessly awaiting the Gophers’ offer, that Coyle must be shot at dawn, etc., are just way ahead of the evidence. So, vent if you need to (not everyone does), but don’t expect everyone else to refrain from comment. That is kind of the point behind posting.
 

salzie said:
He has a resume, not as a head coach, but does have resume.


Saying he's a diversity hire to appease liberal media is an insult to Johnson.

I have no patience for it
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Well, yeah, I get he technically has a resume. He doesn't have a resume to be a Head Coach of a Big 10 school.

Of course diversity played a large factor. I think that goes without saying. It's not his fault. He got the job for an unimportant reason outside of his control. It's no different than saying Pitino got the job (partially) because of his name recognition.

A white version of Ben Johnson doesn't get this job. As far as your patience for this kind of discussion, I don't really care. Then don't engage with it.

Again, you're not going to guilt people into saying Ben Johnson was qualified for the job.
 


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