GOPHERS HIRING BEN JOHNSON

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salzie said:
As we're on page 28 you may have missed my take

Coyle knows there's pressure to win and get more minnesota kids stay home. Tyus/Suggs/Chet probably not, garcia/wright/etc you need to keep more of. He went with obtainable guy with local recruiting connections and respected by local community

No buyout to school, minority, were bonuses but not reason.


And with that I'm out of the thread, nothing left to say.
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You came around towards the truth at the end- it wasn't easy but good for you. Too bad you had to call the race card for something you eventually admitted was true. No one said race was the only reason.
 

Coyle knew what he was doing.

Craig Smith, Brian Dutcher, Niko Medved, the guy from Cleveland State--none of them moved the needle, and the Musselman obsession is just bizarre.

Ben is a low floor/high ceiling hire and, for a perennially mediocre program, the right choice at this point in time.
 

Pitino did not build relationships with the AAU programs with the best talent. No better with high school coaches. From that perspective, he left an absolute mess.

Ben can fix that day 1.

Now for the X’s and O’s ... Ben really can not be worse. Build the Defense first and we can be competitive in a lot of games.

Win the conference? That’s going to take time.
 

bga1 said:
You came around towards the truth at the end- it wasn't easy but good for you. Too bad you had to call the race card for something you eventually admitted was true. No one said race was the only reason.
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SanDiegoGopherFan said:
If he was white, he would not have even been interviewed.

Find any other college where he was a head coach candidate.

He was hired because he's black. Facts
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Just one example
 



A hyped Ben Johnson coming to his old Gopher Hole forum stomping grounds to see the fans happy he's back to take the Gophers to the next level.
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Bob_Loblaw said:
#1: He doesn't have the resume for this job. That's crystal clear to everyone (except you). Even his biggest supporters are saying he is hired despite not having a resume for the job.

#2: I never said that and I've told you multiple times I've never said. You know I didn't say that. You've made my point. You're afraid of reality so you make stuff up to try to guilt people into agreeing with you.

I never said he was ONLY hired because he was black. I am saying he wouldn't have been hired if he wasn't black. There is a difference there. I hope you're pretending to be too stupid to see the difference. Lets try one that won't send you into an hysteria. He also would not have been hired if he wasn't local. That does not mean he was ONLY hired because he was local.

Then again, you know all of this. You're just running from reality and pretending to not follow. It's okay, you can always fall back on guilt-tripping people.
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Dean Smith's first head coaching job was at North Carolina....

Roy Williams first head coaching job was at Kansas....

Jim Boeheim's first head coaching job was at Syracuse....

John Thompson's first college head coaching experience was at Georgetown....

Tom Izzo's first head coaching experience was at Michigan State....

Mark Few's first head coaching job was at Gonzaga....

Juwan Howards first head coaching job was at Michigan....

Phil Jackson's first head coaching experience was for the Chicago Bulls....

Steve Kerr's first head coaching experience was for the Warriors....

Tubby Smith had 14 straight NCAA Tournament Appearances....14 straight 20 win seasons........one national championship....3 more Elite 8's....5 more Sweet 16's....and 4 more round of 32 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

I don't know if Ben Johnson will homerun hire or a bust....and neither does anyone else. But I'm over the resume talk. We weren't in the interview room. We don't know what his players have said about him (other than the glowing reports and congratulations for him that he has gotten today). The negativity in this room sucks and I'm just so over it.
 



2 mill. Oh well, st Thomas will make a better choice and Pay less and scoop up the city talent that wi and ia don’t want.
 

Pitino was somehow given 8 long years to get his legs under him, 5 of which were under Coyle. How many does he give Johnson? Has to give him at least 5 years, right, especially for a first-time coach with the excuse of "bringing in his own guys" for a full cycle? So we could go at least 13 consecutive years with coaches who are learning on the job. And we're somehow a Big Ten program.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
the KFAN comment about being excited to have a black coach is funny. Its like we've never had one before.
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Well I am glad they are happy about the social statement that we made, but dollars to donuts says Barreiro still rips us relentlessly and the other shows pretty much just ignore us.

They will make sure they go on record to show their progressive chops and then spend the next few years poking fun at us if they talk about the Gophers at all.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Pitino was somehow given 8 long years to get his legs under him, 5 of which were under Coyle. How many does he give Johnson? Has to give him at least 5 years, right, especially for a first-time coach with the excuse of "bringing in his own guys" for a full cycle? So we could go at least 13 consecutive years with coaches who are learning on the job. And we're somehow a Big Ten program.
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Diversity Fucking U. This is why we are always an afterthought and never good. And never will be. Administrators would rather check a box than hire a proven winner. Ben Johnson wouldn’t have even been considered for a head coaching position at South Dakota. Let that sink in.
 



ethomasp31 said:
Dean Smith's first head coaching job was at North Carolina....

Roy Williams first head coaching job was at Kansas....

Jim Boeheim's first head coaching job was at Syracuse....

John Thompson's first college head coaching experience was at Georgetown....

Tom Izzo's first head coaching experience was at Michigan State....

Mark Few's first head coaching job was at Gonzaga....

Juwan Howards first head coaching job was at Michigan....

Phil Jackson's first head coaching experience was for the Chicago Bulls....

Steve Kerr's first head coaching experience was for the Warriors....

Tubby Smith had 14 straight NCAA Tournament Appearances....14 straight 20 win seasons........one national championship....3 more Elite 8's....5 more Sweet 16's....and 4 more round of 32 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

I don't know if Ben Johnson will homerun hire or a bust....and neither does anyone else. But I'm over the resume talk. We weren't in the interview room. We don't know what his players have said about him (other than the glowing reports and congratulations for him that he has gotten today). The negativity in this room sucks and I'm just so over it.
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Remember if you use Wikipedia a lot you should donate to the site. It isn't free to maintain.
 

Sounds like this hire is based at least partly on the idea that Johnson has a great relationship with AAU coaches, but what top players has he actually ever landed? I surely hope that Coyle at least had conversations to gauge the interest of head coaches like Medved, Smith, Dutcher or agents of Musselman and Moser.
 

WoodburyTim said:
Well I am glad they are happy about the social statement that we made, but dollars to donuts says Barreiro still rips us relentlessly and the other shows pretty much just ignore us.

They will make sure they go on record to show their progressive chops and then spend the next few years poking fun at us if they talk about the Gophers at all.
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Barreiro was actually pretty critical of the hire today
 


What a kick reading this thread.

Minnesota kid.
Played for the Gophers.
By all accounts a great person and very intelligent.
Well liked.

I’m excited. Excited to see what he can do. Coyle obviously does his due diligence and talks to a lot of people and then makes the decision he thinks is best. Don’t for a second think he doesn’t talk to boosters, alumni, and coaches (and in this case probably the AAU community).

Two of the best players the Gophers have had in how long say it’s a great hire. I’m behind him 100%! Hope he turns out to be the best coach we’ve ever had. Go Ben Johnson! Ski U Mah! Shove it up all the naysayers asses.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Pitino was somehow given 8 long years to get his legs under him, 5 of which were under Coyle. How many does he give Johnson? Has to give him at least 5 years, right, especially for a first-time coach with the excuse of "bringing in his own guys" for a full cycle? So we could go at least 13 consecutive years with coaches who are learning on the job. And we're somehow a Big Ten program.
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Coyle will give him time. That's not the concern. Will the fan base and local recruits? Again, if he gets off to a strong recruiting start (which is what he is supposed to be strong at) then the town will give him space to grow. If not..... no.
 


EcgopherFan said:
I was very excited about the new coach. I checked this thread probably 30 or more times a day..... I am extremely disappointed. I thought for sure Coyle had a PJ Flecks-type hire. I have been a Gopher fan for 40 plus years. I might be done caring. If it works out I will be back quicker than you can say “Chet Holmgren is a Gopher”. But man this has the feeling of why should I invest myself to a school that I am not sure invests back.
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There is more to a school than the head coach hire of its basketball team. My loyalty is to the institution first and foremost. I'm part three generations of graduates in my immediate family with seven degrees between four of us.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Pitino was somehow given 8 long years to get his legs under him, 5 of which were under Coyle. How many does he give Johnson? Has to give him at least 5 years, right, especially for a first-time coach with the excuse of "bringing in his own guys" for a full cycle? So we could go at least 13 consecutive years with coaches who are learning on the job. And we're somehow a Big Ten program.
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It's not going to be 5 years. If the program isn't showing signs by year 3, he will be gone. If the program is floundering at year 8 of Coyle's tenure, with nobody at the games, Coyle would be gone in short order with one of the only cash positive sports hemorrhaging money.

That's what people don't get. This was a terrible hire for the situation, there is no OJT in the Big Ten. They did it with Pitino and it was a massive fail, they can't afford to do it again.
 


howeda7 said:
A name to consider for assistant: Saul Phillips. Currently HC at Northern State. Previously of NDSU and Ohio U. Had NSU in the top 5 of DII all year.

Bonus: PF Parker Fox is in the transfer portal and I assume would have two years left.
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Dave Thorson and Phillips would be great assistant hires. I think Damian Johnson would be great as a junior assistant too if he was interested.
 


$2m per year, that's.....a lot. Did he demand that or he was going to stay at X? Feels like well we can offer $1.2m, Johnso "ok" well fine 1.6, Johnson "wow nice!" Coyle, FINE if it's going to take $2m so be it! I've been a big Coyle backer but this hire has left me absolutely stunned
 

#2Gopher said:
I support this hire. Personally I believe he will have much more to offer. An assistant coach does not make the final decisions but rather the head coach does. Therefore you can't blame everything that took place at Xavier on Johnson.

I've had very poor bosses. Does that make me a bad "assistant" as I had a bad boss that wasn't doing his/her job? Of course not. However it did have a reflection on me unfortunately putting me in a poor light. I was supposed to support my lousy boss.

I know that some people won't like this hire due to the color of his skin. There were be those who disagree with me as they don't want to be labeled as racist even though they know they are.

Also we cannot judge Johnson on recruiting in his first year. Did Whalen get the Hopkins girl? Johnson is going to do good in my opinion.
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Please, do not degenerate the discussion into one of race. The ones that use that as a factor are not worth talking too.

The majority of the people that are upset are with the fact that they hired an inexperienced head coach. It has nothing to do with Ben personally. We have just fired an young coach we took a risk on. Not many of us have the stomach to do it again when we should be hiring an established coac.
 


ethomasp31 said:
Sure bud...hope you don't cry for too long tonight....
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"The negativity in this room sucks and I'm just so over it."

Now this would have been my post if I has storming out and ready for a good cry tonight. Hahaha.

My daughters say they are "so over it" too. They are in grade school too.
 

leib0039 said:
$2m per year, that's.....a lot. Did he demand that or he was going to stay at X? Feels like well we can offer $1.2m, Johnso "ok" well fine 1.6, Johnson "wow nice!" Coyle, FINE if it's going to take $2m so be it! I've been a big Coyle backer but this hire has left me absolutely stunned
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Where are you seeing $2 million? I saw $1.2
 

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