In two years or three years we're going to be sick Coyle didn't hire Smith

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MNVCGUY said:
Can anyone say with absolute certainty that Smith was not offered the job and turned it down? I don't have the answer, but so many arm chair QBs on this board seem to think they know exactly how the process played out.
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Minnesota is his dream job, he did not turn down an offer. Maybe if Ben doesn't work out, we can hire him away a few years down the road.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
I don't understand this "Coyle put his job on the line". Coyle is not going to get fired if this hire does not work out.
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And you know that how?....Paying 2 million to a completely unproven coach that fails spectacularly in 3-4 years would certainly be grounds for removal by the board of regents, especially if Fleck plateaus.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Can anyone say with absolute certainty that Smith was not offered the job and turned it down?
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I would say there are posters here who can confirm this was not the case, but I will leave it up to them if they want to speak out or not.
 

GopherGangsta said:
And you know that how?....Paying 2 million to a completely unproven coach that fails spectacularly in 3-4 years would certainly be grounds for removal by the board of regents, especially if Fleck plateaus.
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You don't know Coyle put his job on the line. You're just making that up
 

salzie said:
You don't know Coyle put his job on the line. You're just making that up
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Ever hear of speculation or an educated opinion based on knowledge of how things have happen in the past in similar situations?
 


GopherGangsta said:
Ever hear of speculation or an educated opinion based on knowledge of how things have happen in the past in similar situations?
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And someone offered you different take, which you quickly dismissed. But I stand by my suggestion from yesterday, find new team since you seem be thinking pj will fail, johnson will fail, etc
 

salzie said:
And someone offered you different take, which you quickly dismissed. But I stand by my suggestion from yesterday, find new team since you seem be thinking pj will fail, johnson will fail, etc
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Learn to write and then get back to me.
 

dlnavra said:
Have seen this input a few times. No matter what we think Johnson should be paid, there is a reasonable going rate for a Big Ten coach, and they weren't going to pay him 600-700K, no matter his experience level. Sure he hit some level of the lottery given his experience level, but Coyle chose to hire him. As to assistants, I'll take as common sense that Coyle knows he needs to surround Johnson with strong assistants, and will have to pay for that.
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You could have paid him 1.1-1.2 million though inline with Collins at Northwestern and had another 700-800K available for assistants for what he got paid. He would have gladly accepted that type of offer and still likely tripled his salary from what he was paid at Xavier
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Minnesota is his dream job, he did not turn down an offer. Maybe if Ben doesn't work out, we can hire him away a few years down the road.
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Maybe. I imagine he is not Coyle's biggest fan right now.
 




GopherGod said:
You could have paid him 1.1-1.2 million though inline with Collins at Northwestern and had another 700-800K available for assistants for what he got paid. He would have gladly accepted that type of offer and still likely tripled his salary from what he was paid at Xavier
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But then they would have had to admit that they got a bargain basement hire. Paying him more gives the illusion that they needed to in order to get him.

I am starting to like the hire more by the hour and am now getting excited but the salary is a head scratcher and seems to have been done for optics more than out of need.
 

MplsGopher said:
Until disprove (which likely is impossible), I'm going with Coyle's hand was forced from above.

IE, Gable and/or regents demanded a black coach.

Only thing that makes sense.
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I absolutely believe this. I am convinced that it was strongly suggested to hire a minority candidate that became a dictate after the 8 Asian women were murdered in Atlanta (note the local flags at half mast).

This could have worked out if Dennis Gates had not declined the interview. After that, the fallback was Ben Johnson, when the pick should have gone to the most qualified candidate, Craig Smith.
 

Good to see the frustration that perhaps the hire was made because Johnson was black. And if that's the case, even better. Now you realize what most black coaches have felt for years, when they see their unqualified, mediocre, retreaded white counterparts get similar opportunities. Glad it makes people uncomfortable. Perhaps if lack of diversity wasn't an issue within the athletic department in the past, then you all would've gotten your golden boy Smith.
 



Mikie S said:
I absolutely believe this. I am convinced that it was strongly suggested to hire a minority candidate that became a dictate after the 8 Asian women were murdered in Atlanta (note the local flags at half mast).

This could have worked out if Dennis Gates had not declined the interview. After that, the fallback was Ben Johnson, when the pick should have gone to the most qualified candidate, Craig Smith.
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It's possible, but we're never going to know that one way or another. It goes the same bin as "Randy Edsel agreed to be our coach and then backed out" and we turned to Kill. Hopefully with similar results. Although I wish Craig Smith better luck than Edsel had.
 
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GopherGangsta said:
Coyle put his job on the line with this wild card hire....He is a smart guy and i have no idea why he would do that....Like others have mentioned, there had to have been some outside pressure to hire someone of color.
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Outside pressure? He was part of building the pressure by not having a diversity department. He knew where he needed to go with the hire. He is good at his job. He hired PJ Fleck and unless that blows up, Coyle will be fine and be here as long as he desires. People are a bit knee jerk. MN needs stability and he is bringing it all the time.
 


GopherGod said:
You could have paid him 1.1-1.2 million though inline with Collins at Northwestern and had another 700-800K available for assistants for what he got paid. He would have gladly accepted that type of offer and still likely tripled his salary from what he was paid at Xavier
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Collins makes around $3M a year. I think it’s mostly optics for why Ben is making 1.95. He surely would have accepted much less. I’m really hoping that Coyle is giving him a big salary pool for assistants.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Outside pressure? He was part of building the pressure by not having a diversity department. He knew where he needed to go with the hire. He is good at his job. He hired PJ Fleck and unless that blows up, Coyle will be fine and be here as long as he desires. People are a bit knee jerk. MN needs stability and he is bringing it all the time.
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If Whalen and Johnson are ultimately failures imo he will not survive that.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Can anyone say with absolute certainty that Smith was not offered the job and turned it down? I don't have the answer, but so many arm chair QBs on this board seem to think they know exactly how the process played out.
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Should it be PT rather than QB given the sport...also no one raised the question at the new conference as to how many candidates were considered before settling on Ben...but TC reporters seem never to ask tough questions.
 

PhiloVance said:
Should it be PG rather than QB given the sport...also no one raised the question at the new conference as to how many candidates were considered before settling on Ben...but TC reporters seem never to ask tough questions.
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The "We shoulda hired Craig Smith" fans are going to be tiresome to listen to over the next few years.
 


mnhoopboy said:
Good to see the frustration that perhaps the hire was made because Johnson was black. And if that's the case, even better. Now you realize what most black coaches have felt for years, when they see their unqualified, mediocre, retreaded white counterparts get similar opportunities. Glad it makes people uncomfortable. Perhaps if lack of diversity wasn't an issue within the athletic department in the past, then you all would've gotten your golden boy Smith.
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I don't think I have to tell you this, but affirmative action is about progress and equity, not retribution. I think it was Dr. King who talked about what an eye for an eye ultimately gets you in the end.
 

howeda7 said:
It's possible, but we're never going to know that one way or another. It goes the same bin as "Randy Edsel agreed to be our coach and then backed out" and we turned to Kill. Hopefully with similar results. Although I wish Craig Smith better luck than Edsel had.
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Hope Johnson does a whole lot better than Kill.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I don't think I have to tell you this, but affirmative action is about progress and equity, not retribution. I think it was Dr. King who talked about what an eye for an eye ultimately gets you in the end.
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Society for the Blind?🤔
 

PhiloVance said:
Should it be PT rather than QB given the sport...also no one raised the question at the new conference as to how many candidates were considered before settling on Ben...but TC reporters seem never to ask tough questions.
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Question was asked. Started with 8-10 and got serious about a handful.
 

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