Reusse: it appears Teague lucked out with his first important hire for Minnesota.

[BleedGopher]

per Reusse:

In the early spring of 2013, there's reason to suspect that Teague was so anxious to fire Tubby because he felt there was a chance to get a yes from VCU's Shaka Smart. And if not a yes from him, from Alabama's Anthony Grant, the coach he had hired off Donovan's Florida staff to be VCU's coach in 2006.

No and no. Once he got those rejections, Teague took a run at Fred Hoiberg, earning "The Mayor'' a lucrative contract extension at Iowa State. He offered the job to Flip Saunders, but the pull of his alma mater wasn't as strong as the hint from Glen Taylor that there soon could be a big job for Flip back with the Timberwolves.

We know how that worked out for Saunders.

And then Enfield chose Southern Cal, and Norwood was asking, "Who do you got for me, Billy?'', and it's way early, but so far the Williams Arena faithful couldn't be happier with Rich Pitino, the boy coach Billy had for him.

Everything considered, it appears Teague lucked out with his first important hire for Minnesota.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/PJR_Sometimes_an_AD_is_better_off_lucky_than_looking_good120413

Go Gophers!!

 

[MadtownGopher]

Lucked out? GTFO.

 

[MRJ]

To early to make any pronouncements one way or the other. But if it does indeed work out with Pitino, I'm not going to simply chalk it up to "luck" like Reusse apparently is.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Reusse is the guy who called Monson "a remarkable, demanding coach" in his first season here. So let's consider the source and not get mental here.

That said, this has the look of a good hire and a guy that knows what he's doing out there. Besides the obvious, I'm impressed with how composed, refined and emotionally intelligent he is at a relatively young age.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Its competitive sports, no luck involved. When you win, you deserve it. When you lose, you deserve that too.

 

[howeda7]

Calm down. The 'luck' is not so much in choosing Pitino, that still takes skill. The luck is in avoiding Enfield and Edsall. Though it's too early to call either of them busts, I wouldn't want either of them at the moment.

 

[BarnBoy]

Has the checklist and progression of choices that Reusse mentions ever really been confirmed? Or is it just sort of "rumor-becoming-fact"?

 

[Gopherguy0723]

Calm down guys. He's not bashing Pitino with a backhanded compliment. He's saying Teague got lucky that he found a good coach after Plan Z fell through.

 

[positively4thstreet]

Has the checklist and progression of choices that Reusse mentions ever really been confirmed? Or is it just sort of "rumor-becoming-fact"?

I'm wondering the same. The offer to Enfield seems surprising, but maybe my memory of the coaching search is foggy.

 

[Dr.Don]

" Reusse: it appears Teague lucked out..."

Dr.Don: It appears that Reusse lucked out living as long as he has.

 

[Dr.Don]

I'm wondering the same. The offer to Enfield seems surprising, but maybe my memory of the coaching search is foggy.

My memory of all things relative is foggy.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

How can Ruesse say that we lucked out with Pitino? We're 7-2 with a loss to Arkansas. We have absolutely no idea if we lucked out.

 

[bemidjigopher]

I never believed a word of that Hoiberg ****, I think that was drummed up by his agent to get more money in Ames. I also think at best the Flip offer was a token one, so Norwood could get a certain segment of the boosters off his back. I think the top choice was Shaka, that he went for Stevens. Than Grant, than Flip's token offer and Pitino. The search only took nine days, I would agree with it being luck, had it took two months. An example of luck is Maturi finding Kill as late as he did in the process

 

[joshvanklomp]

Is this like how we lucked out with that football hire?

 

[60's Guy]

How can Ruesse say that we lucked out with Pitino? We're 7-2 with a loss to Arkansas. We have absolutely no idea if we lucked out.

Maybe Patrick watches the games and forms an opinion? If you are basing your evaluation in large part on the loss to Arkansas then maybe your evaluation skills need boosting? It is clearly obvious to me that Pitinio can coach and evaluate talent. He scrounged 4 of his top 7 players out of
the leftover pile in April on a moments notice. We don't have any players! Look at the bodies FSU put on the floor and tell me you can't see Pitino
can coach? It's obvious to me he can coach and evaluate talent. He just needs the 2015 recruiting class...his first one in reality. Patience.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Maybe Patrick watches the games and forms an opinion? If you are basing your evaluation in large part on the loss to Arkansas then maybe your evaluation skills need boosting? It is clearly obvious to me that Pitinio can coach and evaluate talent. He scrounged 4 of his top 7 players out of
the leftover pile in April on a moments notice. We don't have any players! Look at the bodies FSU put on the floor and tell me you can't see Pitino
can coach? It's obvious to me he can coach and evaluate talent. He just needs the 2015 recruiting class...his first one in reality. Patience.

I just think he made the statement two years to early. He didn't say we lucked into coach Kill after losing to North Dakota State.

 

[Maximus]

An example of luck is Maturi finding Kill as late as he did in the process

Kill was on a plane to Minny the day after his regular season ended. Has a coach left his team for another job before his team's regular season ended or before his conference's title game?

 

[BleedGopher]

Kill was on a plane to Minny the day after his regular season ended. Has a coach left his team for another job before his team's regular season ended or before his conference's title game?

The only one I can think of is Bobby "I can't get out of my own way" Petrino who left the Atalanta Falcons during the regular season to take the job at Arkansas, before he slept with a softball co-ed and crashed his motorcycle.

Go Gophers!!

 

[bemidjigopher]

Kill was on a plane to Minny the day after his regular season ended. Has a coach left his team for another job before his team's regular season ended or before his conference's title game?

It was two months into the process and Kill was Maturi's 85th choice. I like Kill, I have a friend who played for him at Northern Illinois, but when you get a guy who is way down and I mean wayyyy down on your list and he turns out better than the people at the top of the list it's luck. When Maturi said he wanted a Tubby Smith type hire, Jerry kill was nowhere near his mind at the time.

 

[dpodoll68]

He scrounged 4 of his top 7 players out of the leftover pile in April on a moments notice.

Mathieu
An. Hollins
Au. Hollins
Osenieks
Eliason
King
Smith

Where are you getting 4?

 

[dpodoll68]

when you get a guy who is way down and I mean wayyyy down on your list and he turns out better than the people at the top of the list it's luck

No, it's making who you think is the best selection among the remaining pool of qualified candidates.

 

[WBLGold]

Some times its better to be lucky than good.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Thugunin]

Mathieu
An. Hollins
Au. Hollins
Osenieks
Eliason
King
Smith

Where are you getting 4?

Jasen Baranowski. He saw more time than Buggs in Maui. You heard it here first, next star of the program. He will be a great replacement for Andre!

 

[Maximus]

It was two months into the process and Kill was Maturi's 85th choice. I like Kill, I have a friend who played for him at Northern Illinois, but when you get a guy who is way down and I mean wayyyy down on your list and he turns out better than the people at the top of the list it's luck. When Maturi said he wanted a Tubby Smith type hire, Jerry kill was nowhere near his mind at the time.

He should've had a coach hired by late October? Pretty sure USC fired a coach midseason and hired a coach around two months later. UConn fired its coach midseason, has a game Saturday and doesn't have a head coach hired. It took Miami Ohio nearly two months to announce its head coach. FAU lost its coach at the end of October and hasn't hired a coach yet. In 2011 Arizona took nearly a month and a half to name a coach after firing Mike Stoops. The same year New Mexico fired its coach at the end of September and hired Bob Davies just under two months later.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Has the checklist and progression of choices that Reusse mentions ever really been confirmed? Or is it just sort of "rumor-becoming-fact"?

I would love to see any proof or evidence of any kind that Shaka Smart was ever offered the job at the University of Minnesota. If it ever came out and I missed it, I certainly apologize.

 

[BarnBoy]

I would love to see any proof or evidence of any kind that Shaka Smart was ever offered the job at the University of Minnesota. If it ever came out and I missed it, I certainly apologize.

Exactly. What bothers me is that this article and other characterizations in the press paint a picture that is most likely not accurate. The picture is of a Shaka-Smart-infatuated Norwood firing Tubby, striking out on Smart and then throwing his hands in the air out of desperation.

 

[ofergopher]

Secondary receivers

Everyone is quick to complain about a quarterback who locks in exclusively on his primary receiver. In that spirit, Pat Reusse and the rest of us should be supremely grateful for an athletic director who, when Shaka Smart was covered, checked down through options B, C, D, and E, before finding an open receiver (a true freshman at that) named Pitino. And he did this in the face of a fierce pass rush of blitzing sportswriters and bloggers.

 

[howieramone]

Maybe Patrick watches the games and forms an opinion? If you are basing your evaluation in large part on the loss to Arkansas then maybe your evaluation skills need boosting? It is clearly obvious to me that Pitinio can coach and evaluate talent. He scrounged 4 of his top 7 players out of
the leftover pile in April on a moments notice. We don't have any players! Look at the bodies FSU put on the floor and tell me you can't see Pitino
can coach? It's obvious to me he can coach and evaluate talent. He just needs the 2015 recruiting class...his first one in reality. Patience.

No one gets 19 months to put together their first real recruiting class. Except from the Gopher Faithful, Coach P. will get to experience Tubby love.

 

[60's Guy]

No one gets 19 months to put together their first real recruiting class. Except from the Gopher Faithful, Coach P. will get to experience Tubby love.

So, you are saying 7 months to recruit two classes versus established Big Ten programs is a non factor? My point is at least November to November the starting line is now the same. To me, attempting to recruit two classes in 7 months is a bit of a handicap.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Everyone is quick to complain about a quarterback who locks in exclusively on his primary receiver. In that spirit, Pat Reusse and the rest of us should be supremely grateful for an athletic director who, when Shaka Smart was covered, checked down through options B, C, D, and E, before finding an open receiver (a true freshman at that) named Pitino. And he did this in the face of a fierce pass rush of blitzing sportswriters and bloggers.

Good analogy. I was thinking about saying the same thing on the thread about the Kill hire being luck over on the football board.