Mark Coyle just divided the fan base

[PMWinSTP]

Tubby Smith wasn't on anyone's radar.
Richard Pitino wasn't on anyone's radar.

Where did anyone get the impression that the random internet people who make coaching lists have any information whatsoever?

Same for the handful of GHers claiming to have "inside" information.

 

[Bad Gopher]

One way or another, I'd be surprised if attendance isn't down significantly from last year. Maybe he'll unite Gopher fans in the belief that it's not worth paying this much to watch a foresaken basketball program.

 

[TheBarnyard]

In an odd sort of way, it may be that Johnson has a better chance than Smith would have because of the basketball community support he has at the AAU level.

I wanted Musselman ( who was gettable if the program was thinking big) but I am moving on to support Ben and the Gophers as I always have. This 6 months will be exciting! Let's see if the local gurus come through and give Ben a pipeline.

I think if Ben gets talent, he will coach well enough to succeed. Smart guy who connects. I'm a Ben Johnson guy now!

After sleeping on it, I am in the same mindset as you. If he can really create a local desire to stay home and play for the Gophers, I think we can build something here. He seems like a guy that players would really want to play for. I’m still a little worried about the Xs and Os but I guess we will just have to wait and see.

That being said, it will be very important to see him land some nice transfers and recruits in the near future. I think that can offset the negativity and create a little buzz.

I think the upside here is that if this works out, I think we may have something special. I’m also in the camp that thinks this could be 2 years and move on if he’s not actually landing any recruits of significance and the product on the floor is on par with what we are used to.

 

[TheBarnyard]

This is spot on.

for myself I would add....


Would’ve hiring a coach like Craig Smith, Niko Medved, or Tim Miles moved the needle much more than Ben Johnson for me? No

And you make a fair point here. I would have been excited with Craig Smith but even Smith wouldn’t be considered a home run hire or someone who would sell tickets immediately. I think his resume was exciting though. Miles and Medved don’t do much for me at all.

 

[Chico Gopher]

this board was going to be divided regardless of who was hired.....thats how the world works now....with everything....you either hate it or love it.....you cant be anywhere in between

Yep, seems you're either 100% in or 100% out on whatever is being discussed, and generally a little galled at anybody who doesn't feel the same way. Life in America.

Speaking of X's and O's, has anybody watched the stuff he runs with his high school teams? Assuming he keeps it a little simpler for the high school kids, it would be interesting to know what his style has been at that level, or if he changes things based on personnel/talent. I'm assuming he's been part of the same coaching clinics that almost all coaches from high school to college have been exposed to, so I would assume he's picked up and discussed a lot of different schemes.

 

[Goldboy]

Well, if you're going to piss off people with a hiring decision, then you might as well not hire anyone's favorite and piss off everyone equally.

You know, Johnson's background isn't substantially different than Matt Painter's. Like Painter, Johnson played at the school he coached, a real rarity in the Big Ten. Like Painter, Johnson played high school basketball in the same state as his university. Johnson was a better player than Painter.

Painter spent his first two years at small, lower division schools. Then, he spent a combined 7 years as an assistant at two mid-major D1 schools: Eastern and Southern Illinois, the latter as Bruce Webber's assistant. When Webber left for Illinois, Painter was named the head coach but he only spent a year in that job before moving to his alma mater to be Keady's Associate Head Coach (obviously, he was being groomed for the HC job). Keady retired a year later and Painter was named HC.

Johnson has spent about 15 years as an assistant coach (Texas Pan American, Northern Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Marquette). That's a longer assistant coaching record than Painter and Painter had only one year of HC experience prior to be named as Purdue's HC.

They are similar hires Painter was definitely a risk and a hometown guy that stuck around with the program instead of jumping to a bigger one. But he was also was a superior hire without hindsight. The biggest being he actually was a head coach for a year and made the tournament. Actually showing off your ability to be a head coach is massive. The other is that he came from a much more prestigious line of coaching. Instead of being an assistant behind 2 disappointing coaches with disappointing squads. Johnsons only real advantage is that he had a better recruiting reputation but he doesn't have close to the X and Os reputation.