Is Minnesota a stepping stone job?

Is Minnesota a stepping stone job

  • Yes

    Votes: 52 48.1%

  • No

    Votes: 56 51.9%
  • Total voters
    108
  • Poll closed .
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Just wanted to know what everybody else thought about it. I think this is an overall Top 25 job in the country when comparing the area, conference, facilities, and fan support that Minnesota offers compared to other places. I know some might not see it that way.

If we hired someone like Mullen, would we be able to afford/compete with larger programs to keep him here at Minnesota for the longterm if hes successful? What do you think?
 

For now, I think it is. But so was Wisconsin before Barry showed up. We just need to find the right guy and make it worth his while to stick around and build something.
 

FrothyGopher said:
For now, I think it is. But so was Wisconsin before Barry showed up. We just need to find the right guy and make it worth his while to stick around and build something.
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Thats a good comparison. I'd hope our next coach can match & exceed Alvarez' success there.


Is there a timetable for when Maturi will step aside?
 

Gopher Fan said:
Thats a good comparison. I'd hope our next coach can match & exceed Alvarez' success there.


Is there a timetable for when Maturi will step aside?
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Prexy B has offered a two-year extension. I don't believe Macturi has accepted or decline yet.

Honestly, if we could get get close to Wisky's success since Barry showed up, I'd be thrilled. Three Rose Bowls in ten years is no joke.
 



Historically we are a stepping stone only if you are stepping down. Holtz is the only coach to step up in 40 years.

We need a major change to the pathletic department to go along with the new coach.
 

If we hire a coach who's dream job is somewhere else like Holtz and ND or Mason and OSU then it's a stepping stone. If we don't pay enough or provide facilities or ass't. salaries it's a stepping stone. If we hire a coach with no 'dream job' in mind and give him what he needs to win here it won't be.
 

We (the U) has to support the coach on a level to compete and beat the teams of the BTW. Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, and our designated rival, Wisconsin. This is a tall order. The U has to step it up well beyond the beautiful facility.

This will take a great coach with a great staff. They are going to be playing catch up with everyone else. Otherwise this job isn't even a stepping stone.

We need a Hayden Fry hire. Didn't he pull Alvarez out of Mason City HS?
 




Did Clem garner interest after the Sweet 16/Elite 8 runs with Burton and company? He is the only U coach in a long long time that did enough here to be able to bolt to a better program. Holtz got ND based on his resume. Unless you count Brenda Olfield.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Did Clem garner interest after the Sweet 16/Elite 8 runs with Burton and company? He is the only U coach in a long long time that did enough here to be able to bolt to a better program. Holtz got ND based on his resume. Unless you count Brenda Olfield.
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Do you think the U wants to go "that" route again?
 

It's only been a stepping stone to the Coaching Graveyard for the last 60 years. The most successful coaches during that time were Stoll and Mason. Neither one of them got a sniff of a D1-A/BSC job after getting fired here. Holtz had a losing record, 10-12, while at Minnesota. Even he couldn't use Minnesota as a stepping stone to another job; yep, he had to rely on his past resume to get to Notre Dame. He bailed on the Gophers during a stretch of games where he lost 4 out of 5. :eek:
 

maroon and gold said:
Do you think the U wants to go "that" route again?
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No, no, no. I'd imagine if there was a bigger job open after either one of those deep tourney runs, Clem would have been a hot candidate. I honestly don't remember if there was concern that he would leave.
 



I voted "yes," but want to qualify that by saying it depends on the guy who is hired.
 

A Top 25 list would be nearly impossible for anyone to agree on.

I have noticed some posters seem to claim that the pinnacle of college coaching is a job in the SEC, while they simultaneously claiming that certain Big East jobs would be great because of the easy path to the BCS. Obviously, we can't have it both ways.
 

Goldmember said:
A Top 25 list would be nearly impossible for anyone to agree on.
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Probably true, but anyone who has Minnesota anywhere near a Top 25 list is delusional and/or Sid Hartman.

Goldmember said:
I have noticed some posters seem to claim that the pinnacle of college coaching is a job in the SEC, while they simultaneously claiming that certain Big East jobs would be great because of the easy path to the BCS. Obviously, we can't have it both ways.
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It's not having it both ways. Pittsburgh is without question a better job than Minnesota, because it shares all of the same advantages (minus the on-campus stadium), has easy access to a closer (and more fertile) recruiting ground, and is actually one of the better schools in its own conference. Pittsburgh, as long as Wannstedt is there, has a chance to win the conference every year. Minnesota has absolutely zero chance to win the Big Ten for at least 3 years, and probably longer. I could also argue the case for other schools in the Big East, but Pitt is the only one that is unquestionably better. The ACC is a worse conference than the Big Ten, but there are many schools much better than Minnesota. You don't have to be in a better conference to be a better job. Hell, as of right now, TCU is a better job than Minnesota.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Probably true, but anyone who has Minnesota anywhere near a Top 25 list is delusional and/or Sid Hartman.



It's not having it both ways. Pittsburgh is without question a better job than Minnesota, because it shares all of the same advantages (minus the on-campus stadium), has easy access to a closer (and more fertile) recruiting ground, and is actually one of the better schools in its own conference. Pittsburgh, as long as Wannstedt is there, has a chance to win the conference every year. Minnesota has absolutely zero chance to win the Big Ten for at least 3 years, and probably longer. I could also argue the case for other schools in the Big East, but Pitt is the only one that is unquestionably better. The ACC is a worse conference than the Big Ten, but there are many schools much better than Minnesota. You don't have to be in a better conference to be a better job. Hell, as of right now, TCU is a better job than Minnesota.
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Which, in my view, is why we have to get a younger coach and then have a two-way commitment to make this program a Top 25 program. This can be a job where the right coach (and I prefer a younger coach) can make the program "his." But we are going to have to cough up money and institutional support, both with the long-term in mind.
 

Who cares as long as the coach "leaving" leaves us in better shape than when he came. We are in no position to worry about that right now. Get the best coach for right now.
 

I don't believe MN needs to be a stepping stone school. There is no reason the right coach could not turn the program around and make it a national power, at least to the level of Wisconsin or Iowa. Though the record is bad, there is talent there with the right coaching staff and MN is a BCS school. Arguably that coach might have to work a little harder, but righting the Gopher program and making it a national power is not out of the question.

MN for some reason seems to have inherited an inferiority complex that does not belong there.
 

On paper you would think this is a stepping stone job, but historically it hasn't been. It could be argued that it was a stepping stone for Holtz, but I think he just had a dream job offer at our expense. He wasn't using it to get a better job. Mason tried to get a better job at Ohio State and it didn't work out for him. Wacker & Gutekunst didn't get better head coaching jobs after coaching the Gophers.
 

tikited said:
Who cares as long as the coach "leaving" leaves us in better shape than when he came. We are in no position to worry about that right now. Get the best coach for right now.
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I agree Completely. I want wins now.
 

If a coach wins, and is adequately compensated, as are his assistants then we would not be a stepping stone. If we dont reward success we will be a step.
 

Thought about this a while - even changed my mind.

I've landed on "No" -

A "stepping stone" is a job where success opens up opportunities for the "best" jobs. There's too much risk at Minnesota - the type of "success" required would mean elevating the program to parity with Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan (when they get better again), etc. Most "up & coming" coaches who have a different final destination in mind aren't going to take that kind of risk.

Right now, the guy Minnesota wants will plan on seeing an upper deck at the Bank before he retires.
 

Gopher Fan said:
I think this is an overall Top 25 job in the country when comparing the area, conference, facilities, and fan support that Minnesota offers compared to other places. I know some might not see it that way.
QUOTE]

You really think that? Top 25? I would say to 50 maybe.
Just in the B10 -the MN job is better than what jobs, NW and Indiana?

I respect yout opinion, but this statement seems delusional to me.
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Minnesota is definitely a stepping stone job to the elite 10-12 jobs in the country. Anything beyond that and Minnesota is not a stepping stone job. If a coach is having the type of success at Minnesota that makes him attractive to the USC's, Texas', and Florida's of the world, there's nothing that can be done to keep him if he wants to leave. As a top 20 media market and one of the largest schools in the country, this job has a lot of potential. If a coach is winning at a level that makes him attractive to a school outside of the truly elite, Minnesota can (and would) offer a contract extension that would keep that coach from leaving. You are not going to see a coach leave Minnesota for a job outside of the elite, unless he's looking to preserve his own employment.
 

Is the "assistan athletic director" position that was handed to Dave Mona just a...

xyz
 

Is the "assistant athletic director" position that was handed to Dave Mona just a...

"stepping stone job" for him? Will Dave dump maturi and head off to assist another, higher profile AD with pr at the first opportunity? Don't worry about who Dave helps maturi hire...all fans will be monaized and totally happy with the hire. Dave has become the difference maker and the key player during this most recent football coach search process conducted by maturi. Don't worry though, as maturi clearly indicated to Mona, "...I'm not your stepping stone..." So, I doubt if we will lose Mona to a higher bidder.

Having a p.r. guy on his staff was a pure act of genius and will make all the difference in the world with this new football coaching search adventure...I am sure.
 

In my opinion it's only a 'stepping stone' job if a coach wants to treat it as such. We are a BCS school in one of the most prestigious conferences there is, so if he's committed to staying here and building a winner, then there's no reason why he couldn't and shouldn't be able to do that, just like they did at Iowa and Wisconsin. We are Big Ten no matter what, and that is totally in our favor.

To me the real stepping stone schools are the mid-majors and the lower level FBS schools like Wyoming or San Diego State, because at those schools it's expected and accepted that an ambitious coach wanting to move up the food chain and up the college football ranks to BCS land is going to do so
 

If Minnesota's a "Stepping Stone Job", why is it that the last UM head coach other than Lou Holtz to upgrade was Fritz Crisler to Michigan in 1932?
 

Seems like the question should be asked differently. Some said yes, it is a stepping stone job. Most of the ones that said no, seem to indicate we are not even a good enough to be a stepping stone. Currently, we are not a 'final destination' or 'dream job' for anyone.
 

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