New Volleyball Coaching Staff

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Hey, I'm not arguing about whether he won a national championship or not (obviously). What I'm saying is his record -- including 15 win B1G seasons in each year after SSS left -- does not back up the claim his style did not work.

If you believe a national championship is the only measure of success we will never agree about this.
 


NextYear_76 said:
Remember Stanford won the title with only one loss that season. Was the Gophers best shot but not a certainty. Four losses that year were to Stanford, Oregon (twice) and Penn State. Oregon was hard to figure out but sometimes may just be a bad matchup
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I feel there was a wee bit of better coaching that also had a role in those defeats to Oregon. Hugh just didn't sub much. Sometimes he would sub in for SSS at the RS for blocking. Many a team took advantage of our inability to cover the net in that rotation......Oregon was one of them.
 
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(R)uffda! said:
15 win B1G seasons in each year after SSS left -- does not back up the claim his style did not work.
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15 ... OK? That's a neat number from out of a hat?

- didn't win the conference
- didn't get us a regional hosting seed
- we made the final four in 2019 by dumb luck -- would've lost to Texas, but Louisville had their Super Bowl coming out party and were spent, so we took them out easily
- since then: two Sweet Sixteen losses and an Elite Eight embarrassment at the hands of our biggest rival


^^^ not good enough. Full stop.

"Works" means doing better than that.
 





Absurd to not hire Pedro, *If* he wanted to be here.

I hope rather that he was asked and turned it down for whatever reasons.
 

I can honestly say that I am not familiar with our new coaching staff outside of KCook. The next step should be more interesting. We shall soon see, if they can recruit OUR NEEDS at a top level. If not, UGH!!
 



Minnesota lands a head coach from the Pac 12 with a recent Final Four under his belt. An assistant who is incredibly well connected in the midwest and landed a top 15 class at Northwestern as recruiting coordinator. And another assistant who was on the staff at UCLA. Minnesota fans are still bitchy and negative.

Never change, Gophers.
 

NateDawgUM said:
Minnesota lands a head coach from the Pac 12 with a recent Final Four under his belt. An assistant who is incredibly well connected in the midwest and landed a top 15 class at Northwestern as recruiting coordinator. And another assistant who was on the staff at UCLA. Minnesota fans are still bitchy and negative.

Never change, Gophers.
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I have little knowledge about this staff, but reading the different sites I am excited to see where this group will take us
 

I can see the logic of adding Muñoz to the staff. She is a Huskie and it looks like she had one year with Cook as an assistant coach. Clearly, he must think that she will fit in well with the culture he’s trying to build and it doesn’t hurt to have someone with some USA volleyball experience. Volleyball is such a huge sport and that the same time the coaching world is very connected. Having time with USA volleyball widens those connections which in turn opens new recruiting pathways. Munoz also appears to be one of those coaches who is constantly trying to gain new experiences and grow in the craft. That mindset is one that I would want to foster.

Finally, Pedro,Pedro,Pedro…… I appreciate what he has done, but as a new coach trying to build a program, it would be difficult to blend the old with the new. Pedro will land on his feet and I have no doubt that it is the correct decision. Sorry.


Go Gophs!!!
 

NateDawgUM said:
And another assistant who was on the staff at UCLA. Minnesota fans are still bitchy and negative.
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Being on the staff at UCLA is supposed to be a win, or what?

What about a guy who was on the staff ... of Minnesota, and directly resulted in Booth being a NFOY candidate? Meh?
 



All Gophs said:
it would be difficult to blend the old with the new.
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Sorry, I mean absolutely no offense to you personal (I'm serious about that), but this is sheer hand-waiving gobbledygook.

Pedro was brand new to the staff ... last year. He's not "the old". He was a volunteer at that, and directly is responsible for developing Booth into a NFOY candidate.

Just silly to try to hand-waive him off, with this here.


That said, we have no idea if he even wanted to stay here. None in the slightest. Maybe he and his wife (yet?) have other plans, elsewhere?
 

Gophers_4life said:
Being on the staff at UCLA is supposed to be a win, or what?

What about a guy who was on the staff ... of Minnesota, and directly resulted in Booth being a NFOY candidate? Meh?
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Eric Barber did not replace Pedro. Do we even know if Pedro wanted to stick around? He probably took the job to work with Hugh.

It's Keegan Cook's job to staff the bench with who he sees fit, and the entire group looks great on paper. Being on the staff at UCLA is absolutely a win -- even if they had a down year last year. He's coached and coached against some of the best, that experience is important.

Now let's see 3 transfers.
 

NateDawgUM said:
Eric Barber did not replace Pedro. Do we even know if Pedro wanted to stick around?
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That is the $64k question, of course.

NateDawgUM said:
He probably took the job to work with Hugh.
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My guess is he took the job in order to live in Minnesota with his fiance, rather than being head coach of a club in Sweden.

NateDawgUM said:
He's coached and coached against some of the best, that experience is important.
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Uhh yeah, so did Pedro??

I'm only talking about that one specific guy. That's it. As you say, we have no idea if he wanted to stay.

NateDawgUM said:
Now let's see 3 transfers.
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Indeed
 

Gophers_4life said:
My guess is he took the job in order to live in Minnesota with his fiance, rather than being head coach of a club in Sweden.
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There are a zillion jobs in Minneapolis that aren't volunteer. Maybe he has offers to work for one of the smaller programs in a paid role, maybe he's going to work for a club, maybe he's going to get out of volleyball and sell insurance.

I like the coaching staff that has been assembled.
 

NateDawgUM said:
There are a zillion jobs in Minneapolis that aren't volunteer. Maybe he has offers to work for one of the smaller programs in a paid role, maybe he's going to work for a club, maybe he's going to get out of volleyball and sell insurance.
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Maybe? Just want to know that he was offered the third assistant spot and turned it down, or made it know yo front that he had no interest. That is acceptable. Short of that, is unacceptable.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Maybe? Just want to know that he was offered the third assistant spot and turned it down, or made it know yo front that he had no interest. That is acceptable. Short of that, is unacceptable.
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Well, that's an interesting take. What experience does Pedro have recruiting US HS kids? What connections does he have with HS and club coaches? I think those two things are a primary requirement for an assistant coach. Unfortunately, Pedro does not have that experience. All of the Gopher staff does.
 

Gopher68 said:
Well, that's an interesting take. What experience does Pedro have recruiting US HS kids? What connections does he have with HS and club coaches? I think those two things are a primary requirement for an assistant coach. Unfortunately, Pedro does not have that experience. All of the Gopher staff does.
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I sure as heck hope that recruiting is not more important for an assistant coach than, you know, actually coaching the players and improving their game.

Good grief. You gotta be kidding me
 

Gophers_4life said:
I sure as heck hope that recruiting is not more important for an assistant coach than, you know, actually coaching the players and improving their game.

Good grief. You gotta be kidding me
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No. I'm not. Pedro is not the only person that can coach middle play. But, he has to have talent that he can work to develop. If you think recruiting isn't a key to a team's success, I don't know what to say.
 

Gophers_4life said:
15 ... OK? That's a neat number from out of a hat?

- didn't win the conference
- didn't get us a regional hosting seed
- we made the final four in 2019 by dumb luck -- would've lost to Texas, but Louisville had their Super Bowl coming out party and were spent, so we took them out easily
- since then: two Sweet Sixteen losses and an Elite Eight embarrassment at the hands of our biggest rival


^^^ not good enough. Full stop.

"Works" means doing better than that.
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This!
 

Gophers_4life said:
Maybe? Just want to know that he was offered the third assistant spot and turned it down, or made it know yo front that he had no interest. That is acceptable. Short of that, is unacceptable.
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I'm sure if you email Keegan Cook he'll give you insight into all of his coaching decisions and will adjust if you find them unacceptable.
 


Gopher68 said:
If you think recruiting isn't a key to a team's success, I don't know what to say.
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But then again, that's not at all what you just said in the previous post, that I replied to here.

Of course it's important. And of course, you have no idea how well he would do at that. It's not like he's the head coach or primary assistant. The ones who actually close on recruits.

I imagine the third assistant is allowed to be less experienced in that role and learn on the job from the two main assistants. But that is a wild guess.
 

Gophers_4life said:
But then again, that's not at all what you just said in the previous post, that I replied to here.

Of course it's important. And of course, you have no idea how well he would do at that. It's not like he's the head coach or primary assistant. The ones who actually close on recruits.

I imagine the third assistant is allowed to be less experienced in that role and learn on the job from the two main assistants. But that is a wild guess.
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OK. I was merely trying to point out that a big part of an assistant coach's responsibility is recruiting and that Pedro did not have that experience nor the contacts to facilitate recruiting. The job descriptions for an assistant coach that I have read weighted recruiting and player development equally or close to it.
 

Gopher68 said:
OK. I was merely trying to point out that a big part of an assistant coach's responsibility is recruiting and that Pedro did not have that experience nor the contacts to facilitate recruiting. The job descriptions for an assistant coach that I have read weighted recruiting and player development equally or close to it.
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How do you know that he gained exactly zero experience in the recruiting or contacts departments in his time as the volunteer coach? He gleaned nothing from Hugh or Houk's in that time? That would be pretty incredible, actually.

I understand the point you were making. You are correct. I just think you're casting him aside unfairly.
 

Gophers_4life said:
How do you know that he gained exactly zero experience in the recruiting or contacts departments in his time as the volunteer coach? He gleaned nothing from Hugh or Houk's in that time? That would be pretty incredible, actually.

I understand the point you were making. You are correct. I just think you're casting him aside unfairly.
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Volunteer coaches are not allowed to recruit. He was on staff for less than a year. Maybe he has some experience. But, I don't think it's deep enough to meet the job requirement.
 

Gopher68 said:
Volunteer coaches are not allowed to recruit. He was on staff for less than a year. Maybe he has some experience. But, I don't think it's deep enough to meet the job requirement.
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Maybe he has Minnesota club contacts through his wife (to be still?) and her experiences in the state? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Gibbemeyer

With how good a job he did with Booth, I would've given him the shot to learn the recruiting on the job. I'm sure being a head coach of a club team in Sweden would get him in the door with a lot of families. But, what do I know, I have never coached or recruited jack squat.

I would also say that when you show up to a recruits high school or her club facility, and you're wearing a maroon shirt with a golden M on the front .... well, it sort've recruits itself. Top 10 program in the nation.

I think we can agree to disagree, just fine.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Maybe he has Minnesota club contacts through his wife (to be still?) and her experiences in the state? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Gibbemeyer

With how good a job he did with Booth, I would've given him the shot to learn the recruiting on the job. I'm sure being a head coach of a club team in Sweden would get him in the door with a lot of families. But, what do I know, I have never coached or recruited jack squat.

I think we can agree to disagree, just fine.
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You have no idea the circumstances around Pedro's departure. You can speculate and bemoan it, but it's time to move on. Pedro was great for the one season he was here and now it's time to move on to see what this new crew can do.

It's time to find a new subject Gopher fans. Off-season can be so brutal when there's little going on. 😂
 

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