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Iceland12

Iceland12

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The cliche is that this is the only place in the country where there is a strong desire to hire "one of us". That only "small" Metropolitan areas have this desire in the first place. If you've ever spent time in, read or listened to media outlets in New York, Philly, Chicago or L.A. you'd know it isn't a local or "small town" phenomena. Gees, in those cities everybody who went to High School nearby is just WAITING for the chance to play or coach for the Knicks, Nets, Phillies, 76ers, Bulls, Cubs, Dodgers, Lakers etc. Even the Sox and Clippers the "oh yeah, they play here too" teams are suppose to be havens for anybody who grew-up in Evanston or Palos Verde High. Going way back when we lived out there every time Tom Brunansky was mentioned in the LA Times or Daily Breeze he was referred to as West Covina's Tom Brunansky. :clap:

The constant barrage of "we NEED someone from here" and the counter "who the hell cares" gets pretty tiresome. The later is usually accompanied by some impossible comparison of who they should get instead. "Why get Flip instead of Coach K?" Many radio and TV types drone on and on about what a bad idea it is and how it just hasn't worked, or how it is the only way to get a guy to stay long term. Based on what though?

This Coaching search begs the question, what Gopher Football or Basketball Coach was from here anyway?
 



Flip's not really one of us, so it's a moot point. He's from Cleveland.

Hoiberg would be an example of a true native where he is. I don't read their papers or listen to their radio, so I don't know how badly ISU and their fans get ripped for being provincial in hiring Fred and complacent in keeping him.

I don't even know why we're having this conversation.
 




Schools hiring an alumnus isn't a new phenomenon or unique to MN or smaller cities. It is pretty common.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Flip's not really one of us, so it's a moot point. He's from Cleveland.

Hoiberg would be an example of a true native where he is. I don't read their papers or listen to their radio, so I don't know how badly ISU and their fans get ripped for being provincial in hiring Fred and complacent in keeping him.

I don't even know why we're having this conversation.
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He's lived here for 40 plus years, went to the U, worked for the local basketball team, his kids were born here etc. Yeah, he's "one of us". As for your other point don't know why you're participating in the discussion.
 





Good point. I remember the Michigan football coach search and all the boosters were adamant it had to be "an M man"
 

When Fischer was hired to coach scUM's basketball team I do believe Bo said " A Michigan man shall lead Michigan" or something along those lines. Worked out pretty well, national title, two national runners up, the Fab 5
 

sorry, but whenever i hear the phrase "he's one of us" uttered, this creepy scene from an old 1930's movie called "freaks" is often one of the first things that crosses my mind.

gooble gobble.....we accept her.......one of us......gooble gobble.......one of us. are you "one of us" flip? ;)

 



bemidjigopher said:
When Fischer was hired to coach scUM's basketball team I do believe Bo said " A Michigan man shall lead Michigan" or something along those lines. Worked out pretty well, national title, two national runners up, the Fab 5
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Well, that case was a little different. Bill Frieder accepted the Arizona State job, but intended to coach Michigan through the NCAA tournament. Bo was basically saying "you're an ASU guy now, so go ahead and leave now." Fisher took over for the rest of the season and kept the job, but not because he graduated from Michigan.
 

Football - Bierman, Hauser, Salem, Stoll
Baseball - Anderson
Basketball - Cowles(Mn boy), Kundla, Flip(if we hire him)
Hockey - Pond, Mariucci, Brooks, Buetow, Woog, (Lucia's a Mn boy who WANTED to play for the Gophers but wasn't good enough)
Wrestling - Wally Johnson

Vikings - Bud Grant
Twins - Kelly(was a Mn boy I believe)
T-Pups - Flip, McHale, Bob Stein(as Pres), Musselman(only because he coached the Gophers)
N Stars - Lou Nanne(coach & GM), Herb Brooks
Wild - Todd Richards


All in all, we've had a mixed bag of results with hiring either former Gophers or native Minnesotans.

Some were the best EVER, like Bernie Bierman & Herb Brooks.

Some were one of the best ever, like John Kundla(as far as his NBA coaching stint went)

Some were pretty good, but were outdone by some outsider, like Wally Johnson.

Some were just pretty good, like John Anderson, Doug Woog and Brad Buetow.

And finally, and for some reason SOME people think these FEW examples are proof we should NEVER go with an alum, some didn't do very good at all, like Joe Salem and Cal Stoll.




But I would think that in all fairness, it should be remembered that guys like Salem and Stoll did well at other schools, and probably were not given a lot of support from the UMn administration. They were brought in, much like Tubby Smith was, and were expected to just perform miracles. Tubby had a Natl Title under his belt that could have helped him perform a miracle, had injuries(not his fault) and transfers(probably his fault) and bad coaching(def his fault) not prevented it. Salem and Stoll did not have Natl Titles on their resumes. Their doing badly at Minnesota should almost have been expected. But that's just my opinion.


But ever since Stoll, its like MANY Gopher fans cringe at the idea of ever having another alum as a fb or bb coach.
 

#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat said:
Football - Bierman, Hauser, Salem, Stoll
Baseball - Anderson
Basketball - Cowles(Mn boy), Kundla, Flip(if we hire him)
Hockey - Pond, Mariucci, Brooks, Buetow, Woog, (Lucia's a Mn boy who WANTED to play for the Gophers but wasn't good enough)
Wrestling - Wally Johnson

Vikings - Bud Grant
Twins - Kelly(was a Mn boy I believe)
T-Pups - Flip, McHale, Bob Stein(as Pres), Musselman(only because he coached the Gophers)
N Stars - Lou Nanne(coach & GM), Herb Brooks
Wild - Todd Richards


All in all, we've had a mixed bag of results with hiring either former Gophers or native Minnesotans.

Some were the best EVER, like Bernie Bierman & Herb Brooks.

Some were one of the best ever, like John Kundla(as far as his NBA coaching stint went)

Some were pretty good, but were outdone by some outsider, like Wally Johnson.

Some were just pretty good, like John Anderson, Doug Woog and Brad Buetow.

And finally, and for some reason SOME people think these FEW examples are proof we should NEVER go with an alum, some didn't do very good at all, like Joe Salem and Cal Stoll.




But I would think that in all fairness, it should be remembered that guys like Salem and Stoll did well at other schools, and probably were not given a lot of support from the UMn administration. They were brought in, much like Tubby Smith was, and were expected to just perform miracles. Tubby had a Natl Title under his belt that could have helped him perform a miracle, had injuries(not his fault) and transfers(probably his fault) and bad coaching(def his fault) not prevented it. Salem and Stoll did not have Natl Titles on their resumes. Their doing badly at Minnesota should almost have been expected. But that's just my opinion.


But ever since Salem, its like MANY Gopher fans cringe at the idea of ever having another alum as a fb or bb coach.
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Salem. Stoll did just fine until the boosters wanted to replace him with Salem.
 



Tom Kelly is from New Jersey, so hardly one of us.

EDIT: Tom Kelly was born in Graceville, MN, but grew up in New Jersey. I still don't think it necessarily qualifies as being "one of us."
 

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