Hallman: Minnesota AD checked our box—he hired a Black coach. Now the question we ask is will Johnson be given the time and support to succeed

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UpAndUnder43 said:
I would rank many university issues above your perceived lack of interest in the athletics department.

The biggest issue with the athletic department isn’t even the lack of interest in the teams. The biggest issue is the lack of understanding what fans want when it’s things they control: game day experience, parking, getting into the game in a timely manner, etc. The people in charge of anything in that department are awful.
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People would honestly be shocked if they knew just how many people in academia think that sports/athletics have absolutely no place on a college campus. I have no doubt there are many at the University of Minnesota who share this belief. It's always going to be somewhat of an uphill battle
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
People would honestly be shocked if they knew just how many people in academia think that sports/athletics have absolutely no place on a college campus. I have no doubt there are many at the University of Minnesota who share this belief. It's always going to be somewhat of an uphill battle
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I feel like higher education to many is the sports teams that represent the university. It’s much easier to digest, follow and root for than research projects you have never heard of in a department you didn’t know existed.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
People would honestly be shocked if they knew just how many people in academia think that sports/athletics have absolutely no place on a college campus. I have no doubt there are many at the University of Minnesota who share this belief. It's always going to be somewhat of an uphill battle
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Not that you're wrong, but "I have no doubt" is usually code for, "I don't really know, but I can assume real hard."
 

Bad Gopher said:
No matter what your viewpoint is, calling the hiring of a person checking a box because of their skin color couldn't be more insulting to Ben and offensive. That anyone would say that really steams my cachongas.
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I have a ton of respect for your posts on the basketball board, Bad Gopher. You have also made a bunch of good posts in the last 24 hours. But I was a little surprised to read this one. I don't necessarily disagree that it is insulting to him but I personally believe there is some truth in it.

Why do you think the Gophers hired Ben Johnson with a wide array of candidates to pick from and presumably interested in the job?
 


golfing18now said:
I have a ton of respect for your posts on the basketball board, Bad Gopher. You have also made a bunch of good posts in the last 24 hours. But I was a little surprised to read this one. I don't necessarily disagree that it is insulting to him but I personally believe there is some truth in it.

Why do you think the Gophers hired Ben Johnson with a wide array of candidates to pick from and presumably interested in the job?
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That's a thoughtful question and a very good one. It's just the way it struck me: it feels like a Black leader calling the hire of an African American coach 'checking a box' minimizes the achievement and undermines him to a degree. There are a number of other ways he could have put it. That's the case whether or not it was a box-checking exercise. Whether it was or not is a question without a known answer but with a great deal of circumstantial evidence. That tends to invite unsupported conclusions. There's a reason you can't convict someone in court solely on circumstantial evidence.
 

Bad Gopher said:
That's a thoughtful question and a very good one. It's just the way it struck me: it feels like a Black leader calling the hire of an African American coach 'checking a box' minimizes the achievement and undermines him to a degree. There are a number of other ways he could have put it. That's the case whether or not it was a box-checking exercise. Whether it was or not is a question without a known answer but with a great deal of circumstantial evidence. That tends to invite unsupported conclusions. There's a reason you can't convict someone in court solely on circumstantial evidence.
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I agree it would be a considerable insult to make that declaration if the gig was down to a pair of relatively evenly qualified candidates, one white and one black. But they literally hired someone completely unqualified and unprepared for the job. This was a debacle
 

Interesting old thread that got pulled up here.

The original post is what has me concerned Coyle won’t fire him until after at least next year. He and Gable will be scared this author- or others in the media (cough Souhan cough)- will write a follow up saying “they didn’t support CBJ and give him enough time. Look how much time they gave the white coach, Pitino!”

Coyle needs to grow a pair and look at this situation honestly: where are we at now (dead last two years in a row) and what’s the probable trajectory (not good…)
 

GopherPharmaBiz said:
Interesting old thread that got pulled up here.

The original post is what has me concerned Coyle won’t fire him until after at least next year. He and Gable will be scared this author- or others in the media (cough Souhan cough)- will write a follow up saying “they didn’t support CBJ and give him enough time. Look how much time they gave the white coach, Pitino!”

Coyle needs to grow a pair and look at this situation honestly: where are we at now (dead last two years in a row) and what’s the probable trajectory (not good…)
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I doubt either that author or Jim Souhan can name 3 players on the team or have watched more than 5 minutes of their games. Not that it would stop them from writing said columns.
 




Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
People would honestly be shocked if they knew just how many people in academia think that sports/athletics have absolutely no place on a college campus.
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As much as I enjoy college athletics, on a philosophical level, I'm ambivalent about this myself. The union of athletics and academia is often illogical and sports are a financial loser for most schools. There are countless numbers of international basketball players who developed very well without this system. US professional baseball has never relied on this system.
 


cjbfbp said:
As much as I enjoy college athletics, on a philosophical level, I'm ambivalent about this myself. The union of athletics and academia is often illogical and sports are a financial loser for most schools. There are countless numbers of international basketball players who developed very well without this system. US professional baseball has never relied on this system.
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Yeah it feels like for whatever damn reason that the romanticism involved with sports teams that represent schools, is a uniquely North American thing??
 



He will get another year. But if there is not much improvement and reason for optimism he’s gone . Then the people who never go to Williams arena or encourage local recruits to go to the U will proclaim it racism. I hope he gets this thing turned and frankly I’d rather have Christie than Evans The decommitment hurts as much from a public perception of the state of the program than not getting the player.
 

Blackhammer said:
He will get another year. But if there is not much improvement and reason for optimism he’s gone . Then the people who never go to Williams arena or encourage local recruits to go to the U will proclaim it racism. I hope he gets this thing turned and frankly I’d rather have Christie than Evans The decommitment hurts as much from a public perception of the state of the program than not getting the player.
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Christie will come !!!
He's not very good
 


bga1 said:
I agree.

There is no universe in which race was not a factor in this. It had a big role. There is ZERO chance that Ben gets hired with his resume and even local connections, if he is white.

So am I. Look, we need Ben to make this work. Otherwise the mess just gets bigger....Unless the U is willing to break the bank for a big time guy. Which they are not.
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UOM wouldn't have to break-the-bank today if they'd hired a qualified coach when Pitino was hired.
 

dbmn said:
UOM wouldn't have to break-the-bank today if they'd hired a qualified coach when Pitino was hired.
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CBJ perfectly fit the qualifications they cared about at the time.

Unfortunately for us and for him, the people who hired him don't really care how this stuff will play out. They got the pat on the back and public self-flagellation and they're gone. But he was perfectly qualified for that role.

Basketball? Well, of course not.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
CBJ perfectly fit the qualifications they cared about at the time.

Unfortunately for us and for him, the people who hired him don't really care how this stuff will play out. They got the pat on the back and public self-flagellation and they're gone. But he was perfectly qualified for that role.

Basketball? Well, of course not.
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Bob, Ben gets 8 million bucks - there is no down side for him.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
CBJ perfectly fit the qualifications they cared about at the time.

Unfortunately for us and for him, the people who hired him don't really care how this stuff will play out. They got the pat on the back and public self-flagellation and they're gone. But he was perfectly qualified for that role.

Basketball? Well, of course not.
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Interesting CBJ met the decision makers qualifications at U of M but not Northern Illinois.
 



dbmn said:
UOM wouldn't have to break-the-bank today if they'd hired a qualified coach when Pitino was hired.
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This. Going on the cheap often isn’t the cheapest long-term decision. Make a smart decision, regardless of capital involved, and that will likely ultimately be the most monetarily advantageous long term. Can’t see the Forest for the trees.
 

forever a gopher said:
This. Going on the cheap often isn’t the cheapest long-term decision. Make a smart decision, regardless of capital involved, and that will likely ultimately be the most monetarily advantageous long term. Can’t see the Forest for the trees.
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Bad Gopher has had some cogent responses regarding cheap today expensive tomorrow.
 




Just under 2 years later, Hallman chimes in:

Gopher hoops in crisis​


No school in the veteran-laden Big Ten had as many youngsters playing major minutes. Three first-year players logged over 20 minutes a game, and four freshmen figured prominently in the regular rotation this season.

Furthermore, the high expectations for this year’s Gophers men with such a young group definitely was unrealistic. This isn’t an excuse but a fact.

“This is a big, big job to be a head coach at a university, and it takes time,” said veteran broadcaster Lea B. Olsen, a Gopher alum. “You have to have patience with the coaches, because there’s just a lot to it.”

American University Sports Law Professor N. Jeremi Duru, whose field of interest includes racial and gender dynamics when it comes to Black coaches, told us, “We have often seen in sports unfair double standards that people of color in positions of power have faced.

“I’m not a Minnesotan, but from what I read [Johnson] came into a bad situation in terms of where the program is. So, in my view, you should allow somebody who came into a program like that several years to get it right. It seems premature for him to be terminated,” said Duru.

spokesman-recorder.com

Gopher hoops in crisis | Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

'You have to have patience with the coaches, because there’s just a lot to it.'
spokesman-recorder.com spokesman-recorder.com

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Just under 2 years later, Hallman chimes in:

Gopher hoops in crisis​


No school in the veteran-laden Big Ten had as many youngsters playing major minutes. Three first-year players logged over 20 minutes a game, and four freshmen figured prominently in the regular rotation this season.

Furthermore, the high expectations for this year’s Gophers men with such a young group definitely was unrealistic. This isn’t an excuse but a fact.

“This is a big, big job to be a head coach at a university, and it takes time,” said veteran broadcaster Lea B. Olsen, a Gopher alum. “You have to have patience with the coaches, because there’s just a lot to it.”

American University Sports Law Professor N. Jeremi Duru, whose field of interest includes racial and gender dynamics when it comes to Black coaches, told us, “We have often seen in sports unfair double standards that people of color in positions of power have faced.

“I’m not a Minnesotan, but from what I read [Johnson] came into a bad situation in terms of where the program is. So, in my view, you should allow somebody who came into a program like that several years to get it right. It seems premature for him to be terminated,” said Duru.

spokesman-recorder.com

Gopher hoops in crisis | Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

'You have to have patience with the coaches, because there’s just a lot to it.'
spokesman-recorder.com spokesman-recorder.com

Go Gophers!!
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Firing Ben Johnson no matter how horrible of a job he has done would be racist.

Of course. 🤷‍♂️
 

BleedGopher said:
Just under 2 years later, Hallman chimes in:

Gopher hoops in crisis​


No school in the veteran-laden Big Ten had as many youngsters playing major minutes. Three first-year players logged over 20 minutes a game, and four freshmen figured prominently in the regular rotation this season.

Furthermore, the high expectations for this year’s Gophers men with such a young group definitely was unrealistic. This isn’t an excuse but a fact.

“This is a big, big job to be a head coach at a university, and it takes time,” said veteran broadcaster Lea B. Olsen, a Gopher alum. “You have to have patience with the coaches, because there’s just a lot to it.”

American University Sports Law Professor N. Jeremi Duru, whose field of interest includes racial and gender dynamics when it comes to Black coaches, told us, “We have often seen in sports unfair double standards that people of color in positions of power have faced.

“I’m not a Minnesotan, but from what I read [Johnson] came into a bad situation in terms of where the program is. So, in my view, you should allow somebody who came into a program like that several years to get it right. It seems premature for him to be terminated,” said Duru.

spokesman-recorder.com

Gopher hoops in crisis | Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

'You have to have patience with the coaches, because there’s just a lot to it.'
spokesman-recorder.com spokesman-recorder.com

Go Gophers!!
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"High expectations", American uni guy says give him a break so we should probably listen. Also "not a Minnesotan". Sports law professor sounds like a cool gig though.
 

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