Hole Poll: What grade would you give Mark Coyle in his decision to hire Ben Johnson as the Gophers coach?

Hole Poll: What grade would you give Mark Coyle in his decision to hire Ben Johnson as the Gophers c

  • A

    Votes: 29 10.4%

  • B

    Votes: 53 18.9%

  • C

    Votes: 57 20.4%

  • D

    Votes: 79 28.2%

  • F

    Votes: 62 22.1%
  • Total voters
    280
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Feeling charitable, so I give it a solid D. Anything higher is unwarranted.
 


I give it a "D" with a hopes that it turns out fantastically. I was hoping for someone who is nationally recognized. We need a coach and staff that can recruit nation-wide and land blue chip recruits. The poor reputation of the Minnesota basketball program and the poor showing of the Big Ten in the NCAA tournament may have made it impossible to get a top-level coach. I am hoping that Johnson will be another Chris Beard, who came out of no where, inherited little at UA Little Rock, and in one year won 30 games and upset Purdue in the NCAA tournament. Then, we keep him and the program humming for many years.
 

Lotta hate here for a guy many were disappointed to see leave previously.
 

I Didn't vote because I dont know much about basketball. I did click "View Results". Less than 30% of you picked F grade. Reading these comments I would have thought a majority picked fail. Alot of A, B, and C votes aren't commenting.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
Gopher Fans: Gophers can't recruit the in-state kids!!!

Coyle: Here's a guy who has been able to recruit the in-state kids!

Gopher Fans: forget recruiting in-state kids.....we wanted a big name!
Click to expand...
There are a few problems with this. First, it assumes that Johnson can, indeed, recruit Minnesota successfully. We'll see. Second, I'm not sure everyone was clamoring for a big name. Are Smith, Medved and Gates big names? If so, who are the small names?
 






Coyle was always going to hire a black head coach because some things are bigger than basketball. Nobody complained about Whalen not having head coaching experience. In fact, nobody complained about Whalen not having one day of coaching experience.
Pitino’s coaching experience consisted of family connections. Johnson is better prepared than Pitino was. His first challenge will be to get Tre Hollman to stick around.
 

I voted D because of Coyle. On paper, it’s a terrible hire for a B1G school, a conference that is supposed to be a premier basketball league. Ben has almost zero qualifications for the job. No head coaching experience, so no experience handling the numerous decisions and leadership aspects of the job.

I have nothing against Ben, and will support him. I just hope he makes Coyle look like a genius.
 

MennoSota said:
I can't give a grade. Coyle just turned in an unexpected essay and I will have to read it over and over again due to its existentialist content.
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Of all the comments I've read on this thread, I think this one comes closest to my feeling about this.

I really don't know what to say or think - it's so unexpected that I can't give it a grade.

What's striking, in retrospect, is the two different treatments given by Coyle to the football and basketball hires.

Coyle fired a coach from a football regime that wasn't great but was modestly successful and the fired coach just came off a prestigious bowl win and a 9-4 season. Then, he hired a name rising star for a pretty fair starting salary. The program wasn't in such bad shape when the former coach was fired.

Coyle left Pitino in the job for sustained mediocrity. At the time of this firing, the basketball program needs a real pick-me-up. Then we get this decidedly underwhelming hire, at least on the surface.

Was it the interview? Is Coyle just more of a football than basketball guy?

I can't say it's a terrible hire because I just don't have the data yet but I wish I had some data to say it was a good hire.
 

jamiche said:
Coyle was always going to hire a black head coach because some things are bigger than basketball. Nobody complained about Whalen not having head coaching experience. In fact, nobody complained about Whalen not having one day of coaching experience.
Pitino’s coaching experience consisted of family connections. Johnson is better prepared than Pitino was. His first challenge will be to get Tre Hollman to stick around.
Click to expand...
Really great logic...he’s better prepared than Richard because the bulk of his experience is under him? Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino taught Richard nothing?
Richard’s one successful year as a head
coach in Florida penalizes his tally of qualifications compared to Ben? Please ask for help in any logical decisions you make.
 



I went with a C. Who you have in your team is pretty important. OK St. isn't a NIT team this year without Cunningham. I think Johnson has as of a chance as anyone of getting top tier players to come here. If he does, what he does with them will determine if he's an A/B or a D/F. If he doesn't, I fear it's a D/F regardless.
 

GopherGangsta said:
With zero experience as a HC at any level and we all know it took years for Pitino to learn on the job...look how that turned out.
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Maybe Pitino’s issue wasn’t the time it took him to “learn the job.” Maybe he just isn’t a great coach. I’m not nearly as negative as most folks on here. I‘m giving Coyle the benefit of the doubt on this hire. If we weren’t getting a Bielien or Matta, I‘m good going this route and seeing what happens.
 

I gave the Pitino hire an F, so the recruiter that he ignored gets a C.
 

jamiche said:
Coyle was always going to hire a black head coach because some things are bigger than basketball. Nobody complained about Whalen not having head coaching experience. In fact, nobody complained about Whalen not having one day of coaching experience.
Pitino’s coaching experience consisted of family connections. Johnson is better prepared than Pitino was. His first challenge will be to get Tre Hollman to stick around.
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure many were nervous about Whalen’s lack of experience. But I think many were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, as she has been successful in just about every aspect of her basketball career. Going to the final four, having numerous professional championship rings on your fingers as you go out and recruit helps a ton. She brought excitement because the state pretty much thinks she walks on water (for good reason). Plus, like it or lump it, she is the head coach of a non-revenue sport. Frankly, the program is going to lose money whether she is wildly successful, or average, or terrible. So the risk is not nearly the same as appointing an unsuccessful coach to a revenue sport. You can thus give her more time to learn on the job. Johnson doesn’t have that luxury. At the end of the day, Whalen’s record will determine her fate, just like Johnson’s.

Pitino learned under Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan. Ben Johnson learned under Richard Pitino and Travis Steele.
 

jamiche said:
Coyle was always going to hire a black head coach because some things are bigger than basketball. Nobody complained about Whalen not having head coaching experience. In fact, nobody complained about Whalen not having one day of coaching experience.
Pitino’s coaching experience consisted of family connections. Johnson is better prepared than Pitino was. His first challenge will be to get Tre Hollman to stick around.
Click to expand...

Whalens career as a player in college and WNBA were night and day compared to Johnson. On to of the fact Whalen came here first, unlike Johnson who picked NW over MN.

Johnson gets canned year 3.
 


forever a gopher said:
I’m pretty sure many were nervous about Whalen’s lack of experience. But I think many were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, as she has been successful in just about every aspect of her basketball career. Going to the final four, having numerous professional championship rings on your fingers as you go out and recruit helps a ton. She brought excitement because the state pretty much thinks she walks on water (for good reason). Plus, like it or lump it, she is the head coach of a non-revenue sport. Frankly, the program is going to lose money whether she is wildly successful, or average, or terrible. So the risk is not nearly the same as appointing an unsuccessful coach to a revenue sport. You can thus give her more time to learn on the job. Johnson doesn’t have that luxury. At the end of the day, Whalen’s record will determine her fate, just like Johnson’s.

Pitino learned under Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan. Ben Johnson learned under Richard Pitino and Travis Steele.
Click to expand...
Ben learned under Dave Thorson. Pitino was handed work by his two favorite people. Ben is much brighter than Richard Pitino. Parents and friends will not be calling Ben "Pee Wee " .
 


Goldboy said:
Can you give an example of a hiring like that at another program?
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No. But it’s clear that local connections were a higher priority than actual experience coaching. All I suggested was that a similar resume without local connections would be obviously worse. He has a chance to bring in local talent. Nothing else publicly available suggests high major coach.
 

walleye said:
I give it a "D" with a hopes that it turns out fantastically. I was hoping for someone who is nationally recognized. We need a coach and staff that can recruit nation-wide and land blue chip recruits. The poor reputation of the Minnesota basketball program and the poor showing of the Big Ten in the NCAA tournament may have made it impossible to get a top-level coach. I am hoping that Johnson will be another Chris Beard, who came out of no where, inherited little at UA Little Rock, and in one year won 30 games and upset Purdue in the NCAA tournament. Then, we keep him and the program humming for many years.
Click to expand...
Chris Beard's first high major head coaching job is his 7th collegiate head coaching position. Ben Johnson's first high major head coaching job is his first head coaching position at any level. Beard also had ten years as an assistant at the very school where he is now the head coach, the majority under one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport. Johnson has far less experience with almost all of it under bad coaches. The two are in no way comparable.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Johnson has far less experience with almost all of it under bad coaches.
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Well, that's an educational experience as well. Perhaps if Johnson realized those coaches performed poorly and thought a great deal about what they could have done to be more successful, then that would have been a valuable learning experience.

Learning what not to do also has value.
 

builtbadgers said:
Ben learned under Dave Thorson. Pitino was handed work by his two favorite people. Ben is much brighter than Richard Pitino. Parents and friends will not be calling Ben "Pee Wee " .
Click to expand...
This would not shock me in the least. Of course, if you're using Richard as the litmus test for any new coach, you're using the wrong measuring stick. The point I was making was that not all assistant coaches are created equal (at least on paper). Johnson has been an assistant under Ben Jacobson (4 years), Tim Miles (1 year), Richard Pitino (5 years), and Travis Steele (3 years). Richard Pitino was an assistant under Ron Everhart (2 years), Rick Pitino (3 years), and Billy Donovan (2 years). One of those years he was an associate head coach at Louisville. Maybe Richard was merely holding a clipboard and Ben was running drills, instituting plays, etc. I have no idea. However, one has to find it somewhat ironic that Ben's longest tenure as an assistant was under a rather unsuccessful coach that was just fired, whereas Richard learned under 2 very successful college coaches. If Ben is that much brighter than Richard, then it probably won't matter, and he will be successful if given time. I hope that is the case.

As another example, look at PSU's new coach. He was an assistant under Brad Stevens (8 years) and Matt Painter (4 years). Those are two highly successful coaches that probably taught Shrewsberry a ton. Again, on paper, Shrewsberry has a better resume because of it.
 


Looks like Coyle is counting on Johnson to keep all the in State kids home by his comments. That's a bold stance considering how you're going to lose out to the blue bloods most of the time if they come calling.
 

This is a huge gamble that a B1G university made by selecting someone without any head coaching experience and very little national exposure or reputation. Huge!

It is obvious that Coyle chose Ben Johnson to establish inroads into the Minnesota AAU and youth basketball community. They are the ones who know Ben Johnson and pushed for him to be hired.

The U could have hired an established coach like Smith and brought in an assistant that has ties to the MN basketball community. That would have been a much more traditional hire with much less risk.

The Minnesota basketball community needs to clearly understand that Coyle put his job on the line, put the basketball program on the line, to give them the coach they wanted. Now, it is up to them to step up and make the program succeed. To represent Minnesota you play for the U! No more of this “want to play for a better coach”, this is your coach. Ben Johnson’s success at the U is directly related to the quality of Minnesota players that stay home. He will need the best of the best Minnesota players.

As for all of the negativity that has been seen right after the announcement. Very little of the negativity is directed to Coach Ben Johnson personally. Most of us know very little about Ben other than he played for the U and has been an assistant. The shock is in it seemed to come out of nowhere and the lack of head coaching experience. Remember that we just fired a coach that had jumped into the fire without any experience. Couple that with the excitement of “watching the coaching candidates compete for the job“ in the tournament.

We all desperately want the U to succeed and we will all support coach Johnson.
 

jamiche said:
Coyle was always going to hire a black head coach because some things are bigger than basketball. Nobody complained about Whalen not having head coaching experience. In fact, nobody complained about Whalen not having one day of coaching experience.
Pitino’s coaching experience consisted of family connections. Johnson is better prepared than Pitino was. His first challenge will be to get Tre Hollman to stick around.
Click to expand...
Hiring a black head coach is more important than hiring the best candidate? fu
 

I voted F only because G wasn’t an option. Another epic fail by the Goofers, a perennial laughingstock. We just hired a guy that didn’t make the cut at Montana St or Northern Illinois.
 

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