Pattern of coach dismissals, Stoll through Brewster

[Navin]

Probably familiar to you all, but I just found it interesting that the cycle is so reliable.

Reasons for Coach Termination at UMN since 1978 =

1. Could not take us to the next level, or
2. Incompetence

The pattern is real:
1. Stoll :: 2. Salem
1. Holtz-Gutekunst* :: 2. Wacker
1. Mason :: 2. Brewster
1. ______?

*Holtz the only one since '78 to not be terminated.

Recently our three "best" coaches all followed 2s, so reason for optimism.

 

[magpie]

Probably familiar to you all, but I just found it interesting that the cycle is so reliable.

Reasons for Coach Termination at UMN since 1978 =

1. Could not take us to the next level, or
2. Incompetence

The pattern is real:
1. Stoll :: 2. Salem
1. Holtz-Gutekunst* :: 2. Wacker
1. Mason :: 2. Brewster
1. ______?

Stoll = mediocre
Salem = incompetent
Holtz = good
Gutie = mediocre
Wacker = incompetent

Mason = mediocre
Brew = incompetent
??? = good?

 

[SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI]

Warmath came before Stoll and he would be (3) national championship. So the pattern is actually 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3.

 

[GoAUpher]

Probably familiar to you all, but I just found it interesting that the cycle is so reliable.

Reasons for Coach Termination at UMN since 1978 =

1. Could not take us to the next level, or
2. Incompetence

The pattern is real:
1. Stoll :: 2. Salem
1. Holtz-Gutekunst* :: 2. Wacker
1. Mason :: 2. Brewster
1. ______?

*Holtz the only one since '78 to not be terminated.

Recently our three "best" coaches all followed 2s, so reason for optimism.

And if you Wiki them you'll see that only Lou Holtz had a D-1 winning % over .500 when arriving at MN. Brew had never been and HC, Mason was sub .500, Wacker was sub .500 (though he had won at lower division levels, just not at TCU), Gutekunst had never been an HC, Salem had a winning record but it was all at non-D1 schools, and Stoll was sub .500 coming from Wake Forest.

Not a hiring record that speaks highly of those making the decisions.

 

[paulsonj72]

What happened to Wacker at TCU was NOT HIS FAULT. In his 3rd year he discovered players including current players were getting illegal payments from boosters. He dismissed all players from the team, then the school turned themselves into the NCAA and the resulting sanctions were among the most severe non death penalty sanctions ever handed out. Instead of being able top hand out 30 scholarships a year(then the limit) TCU was allowed 10, 10 and 15 over the 3 years of sanctions. And this was actually more than the original penalty. The original penalty was to allow NO scholarships over the 3 years. So when you are at a small school that has had struggles trying to recruit against Texas, Etc, are allowed a very small number of scholarships you are going to struggle very very badly in the win loss column. And it takes time to fill the roster back up once off of probation. His last year at TCU when he had a full roster of scholarship players they were 7-4. The year before the scandal broke they were 8-4. So when he had full rosters TCU was actually not that bad.

 

[Handsome Pete]

Probably familiar to you all, but I just found it interesting that the cycle is so reliable.

Reasons for Coach Termination at UMN since 1978 =

1. Could not take us to the next level, or
2. Incompetence

The pattern is real:
1. Stoll :: 2. Salem
1. Holtz-Gutekunst* :: 2. Wacker
1. Mason :: 2. Brewster
1. ______?

*Holtz the only one since '78 to not be terminated.

Recently our three "best" coaches all followed 2s, so reason for optimism.

What's your point? That *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ty coaches shouldn't be fired?

 

[GopherinPhilly]

What happened to Wacker at TCU was NOT HIS FAULT. In his 3rd year he discovered players including current players were getting illegal payments from boosters. He dismissed all players from the team, then the school turned themselves into the NCAA and the resulting sanctions were among the most severe non death penalty sanctions ever handed out. Instead of being able top hand out 30 scholarships a year(then the limit) TCU was allowed 10, 10 and 15 over the 3 years of sanctions. And this was actually more than the original penalty. The original penalty was to allow NO scholarships over the 3 years. So when you are at a small school that has had struggles trying to recruit against Texas, Etc, are allowed a very small number of scholarships you are going to struggle very very badly in the win loss column. And it takes time to fill the roster back up once off of probation. His last year at TCU when he had a full roster of scholarship players they were 7-4. The year before the scandal broke they were 8-4. So when he had full rosters TCU was actually not that bad.

I think I saw this movie...didn't they end up with a really hot female place kicker and 30 year old quarterback? Lol...TCU got screwed in that deal and I thought Wacker did very well through the turmoil...that said...he didn't get it done in MN.

 

[josh087]

The pattern is that none of the coaches got it done. So they were replaced. Simple as that. It would be more of a crime if the coaches were kept longer than they were.

 

[Khaliq]

Probably familiar to you all, but I just found it interesting that the cycle is so reliable.

Reasons for Coach Termination at UMN since 1978 =

1. Could not take us to the next level, or
2. Incompetence

The pattern is real:
1. Stoll :: 2. Salem
1. Holtz-Gutekunst* :: 2. Wacker
1. Mason :: 2. Brewster
1. ______?

*Holtz the only one since '78 to not be terminated.

Recently our three "best" coaches all followed 2s, so reason for optimism.

That is one step from numerology.

 

[RodentRampage]

Stoll may have not been the best hire. Conference championships and national championships were within fairly recent memory, and Stoll's resume was not strong. Still, he was the best coach we have had since Warmath was fired. (I don't count Holtz, because I only base on what the coaches actually did here).

Stoll had .500 or better Big Ten seasons in 5 of his 7 years here. He gave us our best Big Ten record since 1967, a 5-2 record. His Gophers had a .500 record in his final three seasons. Since then, we haven't had three consecutive seasons with a .500 or better Big Ten record. The best we have done is two in a row twice, in 85-86, 89-90, and 99-00.

I think the Stoll firing was the initial mistake, compounded by hiring Salem, who was hired on the basis of being a local guy who would never want to leave.

 

[Navin]

Yeah, I get the numerology knock. There is no predictive power in the cycle. I just thought it was spiffy. Every coach fired because he was good/mediocre -- but not great enough -- was replaced with a train wreck. The firing was fine in those cases, but the hirings were botched, obviously. And a significantly better era has followed immediately after each train wreck. Let's hope we finally nail this next one.

And Beat Penn State tomorrow!

 

[Navin]

The pattern is that none of the coaches got it done. So they were replaced. Simple as that. It would be more of a crime if the coaches were kept longer than they were.

And best part of Brewster experiment was that it was ended after 3.5 seasons, relatively quickly. Wacker was kept too long. At least we've learned that lesson institutionally.