Seth Davis: Ben Johnson has done an incredible job with this team. One of the elite coaches in one of the toughest jobs in America.

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Johnnyboy18 said:
If you average out the football and basketball teams B1G conference standings the last 2 years they are nearly identical.
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I'd pay to watch Athan Kaliakmanis launch a basketball against the backboard like a missile on an uncontested layup
 

Arealgopherfan said:
About a hundred or more? Please share some names of those that Coyle can consider in the next coach search. I'm sure he will appreciate your help, especially if he is commanded to hire a black coach again, as some here contend, without any evidence, happened with BJ's hiring.

And I'm sure you agree that it would best to only list the names of potential black coaches who are realistic candidates. That way Coyle will consider your list as real legitimate possibilities, and you as a trusted advisor, and not just another blowhard fan who is not living in reality when it comes to potential available replacement coaches.

And if others want to contribute to the candidates list, please do so. And lets not just limit to potential black coaches, but include realistic white coach candidates as well. Who knows, maybe Coyle will be given a free reign in the next coach search.

Look forward to seeing everyone's candidate list. Thanks
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Bolded: his comment was referring to the time when Ben Johnson was hired.

Why did you then switch it to the present?
 



Johnnyboy18 said:
If you average out the football and basketball teams B1G conference standings the last 2 years they are nearly identical.
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Your point is worth considering. Fans of the two sports have a different mind frame for what is baseline success. Over half of the D1 football teams are bowl eligible but only about 19% of the D1 basketball teams make the NCAA tournament. I'm a Fleck fan and I enjoyed the football season a lot but the team finished only one game above .500.
 








disco said:
If that's even true, there had to be about a hundred or more more qualified black candidates to coach this team than CBJ.
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I know from solid sources that at least a couple were invited to interview and didn’t choose to. Lots of qualified candidates of all ethnicities, but none of that means anything if none of them want the job.
 


At this point can we bring back Richard Pitino to coach the home games and have Ben Johnson coach the road games. Start something new, think outside the box. I'm obviously having fun with this. The pain of my favorite team sucking for so long now can only be masked by humor.
 

fmlizard said:
Instead of firing the coach they should look at why Minnesota is considered one of the most difficult jobs. It really shouldn't be as the only major school in a good sized state that produces NBA players and lots of college talent all over the USA in many seasons.

If they pay a buyout and a bunch of money for a different coach, it just persists and perhaps worsens the problems of low NIL money, heavy annual portal turnover, and all the other structural problems the job supposedly has. Having someone else build on a rotten foundation is signing up for more failure.

Though I would be okay with firing the coach too.
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I'm not sure why that's an either/or thing. Ben is part of the reason we have an NIL problem. Will a new coach magically fix it? Probably not. Will a new coach who wins more than 29% of their conference games and has more dynamic personality generate more enthusiasm and NIL $$. Yes, almost certainly.

Will running it back for year 5 with Ben and another gritty 6-14 record fix anything? Absolutely not.
 
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Holy Man said:
I know from solid sources that at least a couple were invited to interview and didn’t choose to. Lots of qualified candidates of all ethnicities, but none of that means anything if none of them want the job.
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And what has Mn leadership and the AD done in the last 4 years to make this an attractive opportunity?
 

howeda7 said:
I'm not sure why that's an either/or thing. Ben is part of the reason we have an NIL problem. Will a new coach magically fix it? Probably not. Will a new coach who wins more than 29% of their conference games and has more dynamic personality generate more enthusiasm and NIL $$. Yes, almost certainly.

Will running it back for year 5 with Ben and another gritty 6-14 record fix anything? Absolutely not.
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It's going to be interesting to see how Coyle handles this program when the season is finished. Of course the big question is the coach but I also want to see their percentages for revenue sharing. A few schools have come out and said what they are going to do, I think Texas Tech for one. Will Coyle and the administration invest in this program for once?
 


bmb5270 said:
It's going to be interesting to see how Coyle handles this program when the season is finished. Of course the big question is the coach but I also want to see their percentages for revenue sharing. A few schools have come out and said what they are going to do, I think Texas Tech for one. Will Coyle and the administration invest in this program for once?
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Unless giving up on football, it ain't gonna be above 15%.
 


For those who go to the games - watch the timeout huddles. Body language is all over the place amongst staff. I have a pic of one the bench players that appears he is checking his phone at the nw game.
 

bmb5270 said:
That's fine, I just hope it's not less.
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Very well could be though. I could see them give up on men's bb and try being good at something else. Especially since that will require investment in a facility as well.
 

mngolf said:
Very well could be though. I could see them give up on men's bb and try being good at something else. Especially since that will require investment in a facility as well.
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Men's basketball has the best chance to return the investment. 10K a game attendance vs 5K a game will return the investment and then some. Dumping more into volleyball/wrestling or something else won't generate the same return.
 


USAF said:
What a crock of shit. Jeebus.
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Not really. Fleck recruits and retains a certain type of player that fits his mindset and system. And generally, it works. And I would suspect that as a result, he's able to get people to donate NIL money. The team wins more than they lose, they don't cause problems, and Gopher football is a fun atmosphere for fans.

The basketball program needs to give fans a reason to believe, support and donate, and they haven't been able to do that under CBJ.
 

mngolf said:
Very well could be though. I could see them give up on men's bb and try being good at something else. Especially since that will require investment in a facility as well.
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From an investment standpoint- basketball is the easiest big revenue sport to make a big leap in.
A one time surge that brings in the right players would eliminate the urgency for a new facility. The Barn is still amazing when it is full. It's a dump when empty.
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
Don't really have a point. Just that perception that fans have of both programs are different than reality
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Probably because the last two seasons weren't PJ's best seasons like they were for BJ. 2023 was PJ's second worst full season here.

You definitely don't have a point trying to make that comparison.
 

bga1 said:
From an investment standpoint- basketball is the easiest big revenue sport to make a big leap in.
A one time surge that brings in the right players would eliminate the urgency for a new facility. The Barn is still amazing when it is full. It's a dump when empty.
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But only if you do better than your competitors. They will have the same investment opportunity. So that lowers the chances of a leap. Spend the money, still finish on or near bottom would be a bad investment. So schools are each going to have to make they're own choices on where to be competitive. They won't all pick the same sports is my guess.
 



TwistingMyMelon said:
So his point remains that you don't really know what happened.
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Me personally? Of course I don't know anything. I'm a nobody.

If your overall point is that it we shouldn't be allowed to draw conclusions (or get close to that) based on reasonable concepts simply because there is no hard proof .... I just don't think that holds water.

Courts convict people all the time with no hard proof. That is a nearly impossible bar.
 

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