"Home Run" or "Tubby Smith" hire

[Wheaton]

As most on these boards are aware by now, the most recent batches of rumors state the Gophers are down to three top candidates. Allegedly, Maturi and Dave Mona were on a plane with a destination of California.

One can only assume that those two are going to interview SDSU coach Brady Hoke. This is just my own speculation with now source, but safe money would say they may stop in Colorado to talk to Troy Calhoun

Several people on these boards are upset because these three names are not the "Home Run" or "Tubby Smith" hire promised to them by Maturi. According to rumor (for the most part) Jim Harbaugh said no, Mike Bellotti said no, Phil Fulmer said no. You are dreaming if you felt Petersen or Patterson was leaving to come here. He contacted the big guys and they said no thank you. I think that sadly shows where are program stands on a national scale.

So my question is, what is Maturi suppose to do? I can understand if you are upset that we are not pursuing Leach, but there is more there than we know I think because many schools have passed on him.

After the big 3 Leach and Bellotti I don't know if there was an HR or TS candidate left.

 

[jovs]

As most on these boards are aware by now, the most recent batches of rumors state the Gophers are down to three top candidates. Allegedly, Maturi and Dave Mona were on a plane with a destination of California.

One can only assume that those two are going to interview SDSU coach Brady Hoke. This is just my own speculation with now source, but safe money would say they may stop in Colorado to talk to Troy Calhoun

Several people on these boards are upset because these three names are not the "Home Run" or "Tubby Smith" hire promised to them by Maturi. According to rumor (for the most part) Jim Harbaugh said no, Mike Bellotti said no, Phil Fulmer said no. You are dreaming if you felt Petersen or Patterson was leaving to come here. He contacted the big guys and they said no thank you. I think that sadly shows where are program stands on a national scale.

So my question is, what is Maturi suppose to do? I can understand if you are upset that we are not pursuing Leach, but there is more there than we know I think because many schools have passed on him.

After the big 3 Leach and Bellotti I don't know if there was an HR or TS candidate left.

I think your are probably right, I also think it might end up being a coordinator when everything is said and done. I hope we can get back to the point the program was at under Mason.

 

[Wheaton]

I think your are probably right, I also think it might end up being a coordinator when everything is said and done. I hope we can get back to the point the program was at under Mason.

I hope we can get back to that point and then some of course.

What I could say against my initial argument is that Maturi should not have gotten everyone's hopes up by talking about the big splash when this whole thing started. However, to defend Maturi again, the program was and still is in a pretty dark place so he needed to keep moral up.

 

[Duluthguy]

Wheaton, I may be being too picky with your use of words, but, just to be clear, Maturi never "promised" a Tubby type of hire. He has always said it could be a lower division coach or even a coordinator.

 

[Seany]

Jeezum. Maturi never should have mentioned Tubby's name in conjunction with the Gophers football hire.

 

[Wheaton]

Wheaton, I may be being too picky with your use of words, but, just to be clear, Maturi never "promised" a Tubby type of hire. He has always said it could be a lower division coach or even a coordinator.

Well then your proving my point even further. Maturi said he would try for the HR/TS hire, there was no promise.

I'm asking these people who are not happy with the apparent top 3 candidates Hoke, Calhoun, and Golden who they expect Maturi to go after since Harbaugh, Fulmer, Bellotti and Sumlin (whose interest in Minnesota has shrunk) have all said no thank you.

 

[Duluthguy]

Your point is well taken. Nobody paid much attention to the second part of Maturi's statement, and if he falls short of a Tubby hire, many will be disappointed - including myself. That said, if the big boys aren't interested or the timing simply isn't right, there's not much Maturi can do. I do think that most everybody will rally around the new guy fairly quickly. At least I hope so. Any of the three you've mentioned could end up being what we need.

 

[Gophers507]

"I can understand if you are upset that we are not pursuing Leach"

Yeah this is my beef. I really feel like we're missing a HUGE opportunity with not getting Leach. But lik ya say maybe there is more to it. It better be a pretty big red flag tho that's all i gotta say! I wish we could know. What did he kill someone in Cali? Did he share military secrets with the soviets?

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

So my question is, what is Maturi suppose to do?

Not tell us we're getting a Tubby Smith like candidate if it's not true? Just a thought.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Well then your proving my point even further. Maturi said he would try for the HR/TS hire, there was no promise.

I'm asking these people who are not happy with the apparent top 3 candidates Hoke, Calhoun, and Golden who they expect Maturi to go after since Harbaugh, Fulmer, Bellotti and Sumlin (whose interest in Minnesota has shrunk) have all said no thank you.

Who says they all said "no"? I've heard "no" from Harbaugh, not heard it from the others. Belotti saying he's interested in coaching again, commented on how nice his trip here was & officially pullied his name from consideration for the Colorado job. Those things all say "there's a chance" to me. When did Fulmer say "no"? From what I'm hearing Sumlin's interest is actually growing, not shrinking. He was not sold on Minnesota. Remember, he's actually coached here under two previous admins & he understands the local media, the non-importance of Gopher football to the state of Minnesota, the relative lack of recruiting prospects & the traditional lack of support from the University itself. From what I understand (Rumor mill), as his stock has fallen somewhat this season he's now more interested in us than he was earlier. What about Terry Bowden? He's gotten it done at a very high level. Much better track record than Golden, Hoke, Mullen, Calhoun, Sumlin, Kill et al.

 

[year of the gopher]

Has anyone actually heard an absolute unequivocal "no" from Harbaugh or any of the others (Bellotti excluded)? Even if Harbaugh issued a public statement that he wasn't interested, was focused on Stanford, blah, blah, blah, that's to be expected. I don't have great hopes that he'll take the job at the end of the day, I'm just saying I don't think we can really know until either an announcement is made or everyone's seasons are over and the coaching carousel starts moving in earnest.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Yikes....

"Home run hire"

"Tubby Smith type hire"

At this point I'm finding myself trying to think of all the things I may have said over a month ago, praying somebody didn't latch on to it with everything they have so they can throw it back in my face another month from now.

 

[EG#9]

I think your are probably right, I also think it might end up being a coordinator when everything is said and done. I hope we can get back to the point the program was at under Mason.

The point we were at in 2008 and 2009? I don't think you have anything to worry about there.

 

[Wheaton]

Who says they all said "no"? I've heard "no" from Harbaugh, not heard it from the others. Belotti saying he's interested in coaching again, commented on how nice his trip here was & officially pullied his name from consideration for the Colorado job. Those things all say "there's a chance" to me. When did Fulmer say "no"? From what I'm hearing Sumlin's interest is actually growing, not shrinking. He was not sold on Minnesota. Remember, he's actually coached here under two previous admins & he understands the local media, the non-importance of Gopher football to the state of Minnesota, the relative lack of recruiting prospects & the traditional lack of support from the University itself. From what I understand (Rumor mill), as his stock has fallen somewhat this season he's now more interested in us than he was earlier. What about Terry Bowden? He's gotten it done at a very high level. Much better track record than Golden, Hoke, Mullen, Calhoun, Sumlin, Kill et al.

Fulmer told CBS sports that Minnesota was "not a good fit"

 

[ruralgopher]

Fulmer told CBS sports that Minnesota was "not a good fit"

This is true, but from the timing of him saying this (days after talking about how MN is a good opportunity and it would be possible to win here) and 'sources' it was us who thought it wasn't a good fit.

 

[year of the gopher]

This is true, but from the timing of him saying this (days after talking about how MN is a good opportunity and it would be possible to win here) and 'sources' it was us who thought it wasn't a good fit.

This. I don't think our AD or President would hire Phil Fulmer, nor would I want them to.

 

[Mulligan]

Who says they all said "no"? I've heard "no" from Harbaugh, not heard it from the others.

Wow! I had no idea you were that tied in. I'm going to really have to take what you say seriously instead of just assuming you're relying on rumors and reading tea leaves like the rest of us.

 

[howeda7]

Not tell us we're getting a Tubby Smith like candidate if it's not true? Just a thought.

This. There simply were not many candidates who would have fit the bill. First the Gopher basketball job is a much better job then the Gopher football job. Second, when Monson left, even had we not stumbled into Tubby, we may well have gotten Rick Majerus (we could have had him if we wanted him), Flip Saunders (might have been tricky to work out the timing) or even Bobby Knight if the Admin was willing to go there, so Joel had about 4 very realistic options that were all 'home runs'.

About the only realistic chances for a 'home run' with the football job were Richt. Bellotti and Leach, but they were far less certain and it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

 

[howeda7]

This. I don't think our AD or President would hire Phil Fulmer, .

What makes you say this? The 'too southern' thing?

 

[The 12th Man]

"Home run hire"

"Tubby Smith type hire"

At this point I'm finding myself trying to think of all the things I may have said over a month ago, praying somebody didn't latch on to it with everything they have so they can throw it back in my face another month from now.

I agree with your sentiments.

In addition, I would love for someone to put the actual statement up on the board. Make it a sticky so everyone can actually read what Maturi said. I seem to remember it being along the lines of "obviously we want to make a hire like Tubby Smith but we recognize the challenges and want to find the best fit for the program." Even more, I think it was in a response to a question about Tubby Smith- Maturi didn't bring him up.

I was under the wrong impression as well until I went back and read the entirety of what was said. I suggest everyone does the same rather than just grabbing a torch and pitchfork because everyone else is doing it.

 

[goldengophers]

Maturi is going to try to hire the best candidate the U can get, a person who can elevate the program, any mid-level hire can be considered a Tubby Smith hire from this standpoint.

 

[howeda7]

"Home run hire"

"Tubby Smith type hire"

At this point I'm finding myself trying to think of all the things I may have said over a month ago, praying somebody didn't latch on to it with everything they have so they can throw it back in my face another month from now.

Have you given a lot of press conferences in the last month? And if so, did you have basically a month to prepare what you would say at it like Maturi? The idea that people shouldn't 'latch on' to it is ridiculous. If he didn't want that comment to come back to bite him, he shouldn't have said it.

 

[ruralgopher]

I agree with your sentiments.

In addition, I would love for someone to put the actual statement up on the board. Make it a sticky so everyone can actually read what Maturi said. I seem to remember it being along the lines of "obviously we want to make a hire like Tubby Smith but we recognize the challenges and want to find the best fit for the program." Even more, I think it was in a response to a question about Tubby Smith- Maturi didn't bring him up.

I was under the wrong impression as well until I went back and read the entirety of what was said. I suggest everyone does the same rather than just grabbing a torch and pitchfork because everyone else is doing it.

Not really true. If I remember correct Maturi tried to make a joke that went something like this: 'I asked Tubby if he had any interest in the job, Tubby said no but we are commited to bringing in a tubby type hire.'

Later someone asked about a committee to which he said they would not have a committee because you can't hire a big time coach that way. He said if you want to hire a lower level coach, and we may, or a coordinator, and we may, then a committee might work, but not when you are trying to get a big time coach.


I don't think it was unfair at all for us to interpret these comments and shift our expectations from 'lower conference coach with a losing record' to 'big conference coach with winning record', especially with a certain big conf coach with a winning record currently unemployed with expressed interest.

 

[The 12th Man]

Just read it again.

He made a joke about Tubby Smith, which might have been a bad choice, but I still think his comments were taken out of context by most who complain about them.

"We're out to find a Tubby Smith" is not the same as a promise, especially when the statement is finished with "Whether there is that interest remains to be seen."

Tubby was a concrete example of a good hire, so Maturi used the example and said he wanted to do the same thing for the football program but still has to determine if it is possible. How is that wrong? I'm not a big Maturi fan, but I just don't find any problem with that statement.

Translation: I want to hire a big name coach. I don't know if a big name coach wants to come here. I will try to get a big name coach. If I cannot get a big name coach I will get the best coach I can.

Seems like a good statement to me.

 

[ruralgopher]

I'm not saying that it is wrong to say that, but I will say this: They obviously knew they were going to fire Brew, as it was leaked to the media. Assuming that they had given some thought to this that means they had at least a week to try to determine interest before that press conference. If there is no interest, don't say anything.

 

[The 12th Man]

I'm not saying that it is wrong to say that, but I will say this: They obviously knew they were going to fire Brew, as it was leaked to the media. Assuming that they had given some thought to this that means they had at least a week to try to determine interest before that press conference. If there is no interest, don't say anything.

You really think they would be able to determine interest in one week in the middle of the season before the coach has been fired? I think you're grasping here.

 

[Maximus]

I'm not saying that it is wrong to say that, but I will say this: They obviously knew they were going to fire Brew, as it was leaked to the media. Assuming that they had given some thought to this that means they had at least a week to try to determine interest before that press conference. If there is no interest, don't say anything.

So while Brew was still the coach, hire a search firm to contact candidates? That would sure inspire confidence in potential hires.

 

[ruralgopher]

You really think they would be able to determine interest in one week in the middle of the season before the coach has been fired? I think you're grasping here.

So while Brew was still the coach, hire a search firm to contact candidates? That would sure inspire confidence in potential hires.

First, is it that unreasonable to think that Maturi has a good enough relationship with the search firm that he had used twice in the last 4 years to think he could contact them to get preliminary interest off the record?? I would expect that.

Second, the point being missed is that Maturi set up the expectations, not posters. I don't think anybody on here would expect a big time coach had Maturi not brought it up himself. Maturi blew the doors off of reasoned expectations voluntarily.

 

[The 12th Man]

First, is it that unreasonable to think that Maturi has a good enough relationship with the search firm that he had used twice in the last 4 years to think he could contact them to get preliminary interest off the record?? I would expect that.

Second, the point being missed is that Maturi set up the expectations, not posters. I don't think anybody on here would expect a big time coach had Maturi not brought it up himself. Maturi blew the doors off of reasoned expectations voluntarily.

I am absolutely shocked that your expectations changed one bit due to what Maturi said. He said he wanted a big name guy but did not know if it would happen. That would be my expectation from day 1. I would argue that it is the posters, not Maturi, who are ignoring reason on this. He wants the big name but understands that it might happen. This is exactly what he said. How anyone reads his entire statement and interprets it as a guarantee of anything is beyond me.

Given his statement, all we should expect is that they go after the big name and get a competent head coach if the big name is not available. It looks to me like that is exactly what they are doing.

 

[ruralgopher]

People can read into this differently, but I don't think it is fair to come down on fans for having high expectations in the wake of this:


Q. You'd mentioned that you were going to start the national search immediately. What can and can't you do in the next five to seven weeks considering that most colleges are still playing their football games for another five to seven weeks?

JOEL MATURI: Well, again, I've been in the business a long time, and you continue to learn. I never dreamt as an athletics director that I would ever dismiss coaches during the course of the year. I did make that decision with Dan Munson, and you know what, I think that the conclusion of who we hired came out pretty well.

I've asked Tubby Smith if he wanted to coach football, but he's declined, but we're out here to find a Tubby Smith. We're out here to find somebody that people can recognize, people have confidence in, and people are going to bring instant credibility and notoriety to the football program.

That is my goal. Whether that is that interest, remains to be seen, but I'm excited about the time line that we have.