Shama: Coach Ben Johnson’s Job Safe for Now

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Lion King said:
This discussion is meaningless.
Ben will be the coach for as long as he wants to be, firing him or buying him out is never going to happen.
Let's pray, if that's ok, Ben gets it figured out & we're all happy winning a title now & then.
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Wanna bet?
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
You may be right, but assistant was put in there for a reason. Even if he sat out a year, $2 million is still significantly less than $8 million. With Ben still being somewhat early in his career, sitting out a year may not be his best option long term.

To your latter point, was the U really negotiating with Ben, or were they negotiating against optics?
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I think they negotiated against optics.
 


Dupreefor3 said:
He did but it took him until the last game of that year to win a road game in conference to finish 9-9 in the league. I don't mean to take anything away from the 89 or 90 teams but both were fortunate to play a 14 seed in the round of 32. Comeback to that would be in 89 they knocked off sixth seeded Kansas State and in 90 they did beat second seeded Syracuse in the sweet 16, so they did beat some of the legit teams in front of them
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I know something of those days. The Big Ten was stacked. There were two BT teams in the Final Four. Going 9-9 was an accomplishment, and the Gophers were a very good team. They handled K State with ease in the first round, and I wouldn't have liked Missouri's chances had they advanced to meet us.
 



look - this entire thread is predicated on the notion that what Shama said in the column is accurate.

a notion to which I do not subscribe.

Shama is a glorified fan and wanna-be columnist. it's like a pinball machine - "for amusement value only."
 

short ornery norwegian said:
look - this entire thread is predicated on the notion that what Shama said in the column is accurate.

a notion to which I do not subscribe.

Shama is a glorified fan and wanna-be columnist. it's like a pinball machine - "for amusement value only."
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Thankfully we have antonymous experts on this website to explain where all the local and national media are wrong.
 

Might be first coach I can remember fired here that will be unhirable for head coaching job elsewhere Coyle not only did fans a disservice by hiring Ben but did Johnson one as well putting him a position that was set up for failure particularly for his first head coaching job. Going in this program I believe was in a terrible place.
 

found this in a Strib Article from 2021 - terms of Ben Johnson's contract.

The buyout terms of his contract indicate that if Johnson leaves any time during his first two years, he'd owe the university the remainder of his base salary, so $1.95 million for each remaining year. And if the university fired him after the first or second season, the buyout would also be the remainder of his full base salary.

In the third year, the buyouts for either the school or Johnson leaving would be 75% of his remaining base salary. The buyout amounts decrease to 50% of the remaining base salary after his fourth season and 25% after his fifth season.

Johnson's contract runs through 2027. so, if I am reading this correctly, if the U fired Johnson this year, they would owe him $7.8-Million to buyout the last 4 years of the deal.

If my math is correct, the buyout drops to $4.4-Million if he is fired after next year. (assuming my math and understanding of the contract is correct)
 



#1 on the buyout: my guess is the new salary offsets the buyout. Get fired and have $5 million coming and you take a job for $200, 000 - you get $4.8 from the U to make it whole. Insane agent any other way.
#2 No way Ben gets fired after year three unless he only wins zero, one or two games again in year 3.
Otherwise he’ll get year 4 and if he can point to what he sees as positives and sell it he may be here in year 4 even if he is losing em all in year 3. Better chance he resigns, that would be pretty hard to live through without 6 guys hurt as an excuse. But, for the excuse to be valid the circumstances would need to line up…all hurt in preseason, undefeated until injuries etc etc
Two more years of Ben is pretty likely is what I’m saying.
 

60's Guy said:
#1 on the buyout: my guess is the new salary offsets the buyout. Get fired and have $5 million coming and you take a job for $200, 000 - you get $4.8 from the U to make it whole. Insane agent any other way.
#2 No way Ben gets fired after year three unless he only wins zero, one or two games again in year 3.
Otherwise he’ll get year 4 and if he can point to what he sees as positives and sell it he may be here in year 4 even if he is losing em all in year 3. Better chance he resigns, that would be pretty hard to live through without 6 guys hurt as an excuse. But, for the excuse to be valid the circumstances would need to line up…all hurt in preseason, undefeated until injuries etc etc
Two more years of Ben is pretty likely is what I’m saying.
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I dunno. It'll be hard for Nero to keep fiddling if the Barn is a morgue next year. I hope fans don't bail en masse, but it wouldn't surprise me. (I tend to be a contrarian, so I'm sticking around.)
 

Mikie S said:
Am I the only one that wants this ended?
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If you’re talking about the abysmal basketball, then I’m sure the sentiment is universal around here that we all want that to end, and just as quickly as possible. This is wrenching, as a fan. It is really, really tough, and that’s gotta be small potatoes compared to what those players and coaches are feeling. It’s agonizing, and nobody wants this.

If you’re talking about wanting the Ben Johnson experiment ended, then no, that’s not an outcome I’d ever wish, just because of the kind of person that he is, and if that makes me a sappy Midwesterner, then hey. Ben is universally regarded as being a good guy, a nice guy, a tireless worker, teacher, and student of the game. That is exactly the type of person I wish to find have nothing but success, even if that might seem to be a hopeless impossibility at this time. I just hope for that lightbulb moment for Ben and his players, when everything clicks and the game becomes exponentially easier for them. That is my hope, and I am well-aware that given the course of things so far, that hope might be completely unrealistic, but I have to hope nonetheless. That’s not a result of me being a ‘meek’ fan. I just really want to see a fuckin’ good guy win, and we deserve at least that much.

Wrong sport, possibly very tortured analogy, but I always go back to Bill Parcells, as I am just a massive fan and have followed that guy forever. As a head coach, as a very young man he coached one season of college ball back in the ‘70s at the Air Force Academy, and it was a nightmare. They were absolutely terrible, and crippled by feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, Parcells struggled so much mentally and emotionally during that season that he gave serious consideration to leaving the coaching profession altogether. It was that hard on him, but as we know, he went on to the NFL and the rest became history. Anyhow, to make a long (sorry!) story short, he’s maintained ever since, that season of hell and psychological torment was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, as it was indispensable in iinforming who he ultimately became as both a person and a coach, and that he had never in his life learned so much as he learned from losing.

It’s not over for Ben, and it’s okay to hold out hope for him.
 

S
Seany said:
If you’re talking about the abysmal basketball, then I’m sure the sentiment is universal around here that we all want that to end, and just as quickly as possible. This is wrenching, as a fan. It is really, really tough, and that’s gotta be small potatoes compared to what those players and coaches are feeling. It’s agonizing, and nobody wants this.

If you’re talking about wanting the Ben Johnson experiment ended, then no, that’s not an outcome I’d ever wish, just because of the kind of person that he is, and if that makes me a sappy Midwesterner, then hey. Ben is universally regarded as being a good guy, a nice guy, a tireless worker, teacher, and student of the game. That is exactly the type of person I wish to find have nothing but success, even if that might seem to be a hopeless impossibility at this time. I just hope for that lightbulb moment for Ben and his players, when everything clicks and the game becomes exponentially easier for them. That is my hope, and I am well-aware that given the course of things so far, that hope might be completely unrealistic, but I have to hope nonetheless. That’s not a result of me being a ‘meek’ fan. I just really want to see a fuckin’ good guy win, and we deserve at least that much.

Wrong sport, possibly very tortured analogy, but I always go back to Bill Parcells, as I am just a massive fan and have followed that guy forever. As a head coach, as a very young man he coached one season of college ball back in the ‘70s at the Air Force Academy, and it was a nightmare. They were absolutely terrible, and crippled by feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, Parcells struggled so much mentally and emotionally during that season that he gave serious consideration to leaving the coaching profession altogether. It was that hard on him, but as we know, he went on to the NFL and the rest became history. Anyhow, to make a long (sorry!) story short, he’s maintained ever since, that season of hell and psychological torment was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, as it was indispensable in iinforming who he ultimately became as both a person and a coach, and that he had never in his life learned so much as he learned from losing.

It’s not over for Ben, and it’s okay to hold out hope for him.
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So bill left his hard times for the nfl... does this mean Ben needs to go to find sucsess
 



bga1 said:
Who negotiated that contract? Good heavens. An 8 million dollar buyout? CBJ would have signed for the base amount with little or no buyout if it was put to him. That's idiotic.
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Maybe he's trying to get fired with that type of buyout.
 


Off-GridTNgopher said:
S


So bill left his hard times for the nfl... does this mean Ben needs to go to find sucsess
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Belichick, Shanahan...it's a familiar story. But those are guys who'd been top assistants and considered one of the best at what they do. The next logical step was head coach. Johnson's hire was different than that.

I don't disagree that he's a good guy. I know a lot of good guys who I wish the best for. That doesn't mean any of them deserve one of the top 75 jobs in the country in their profession.
 

Seany said:
If you’re talking about the abysmal basketball, then I’m sure the sentiment is universal around here that we all want that to end, and just as quickly as possible. This is wrenching, as a fan. It is really, really tough, and that’s gotta be small potatoes compared to what those players and coaches are feeling. It’s agonizing, and nobody wants this.

If you’re talking about wanting the Ben Johnson experiment ended, then no, that’s not an outcome I’d ever wish, just because of the kind of person that he is, and if that makes me a sappy Midwesterner, then hey. Ben is universally regarded as being a good guy, a nice guy, a tireless worker, teacher, and student of the game. That is exactly the type of person I wish to find have nothing but success, even if that might seem to be a hopeless impossibility at this time. I just hope for that lightbulb moment for Ben and his players, when everything clicks and the game becomes exponentially easier for them. That is my hope, and I am well-aware that given the course of things so far, that hope might be completely unrealistic, but I have to hope nonetheless. That’s not a result of me being a ‘meek’ fan. I just really want to see a fuckin’ good guy win, and we deserve at least that much.

Wrong sport, possibly very tortured analogy, but I always go back to Bill Parcells, as I am just a massive fan and have followed that guy forever. As a head coach, as a very young man he coached one season of college ball back in the ‘70s at the Air Force Academy, and it was a nightmare. They were absolutely terrible, and crippled by feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, Parcells struggled so much mentally and emotionally during that season that he gave serious consideration to leaving the coaching profession altogether. It was that hard on him, but as we know, he went on to the NFL and the rest became history. Anyhow, to make a long (sorry!) story short, he’s maintained ever since, that season of hell and psychological torment was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, as it was indispensable in iinforming who he ultimately became as both a person and a coach, and that he had never in his life learned so much as he learned from losing.

It’s not over for Ben, and it’s okay to hold out hope for him.
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Well said.

As I left Williams Arena after the Maryland game, as an empathetic human being I couldn’t help but think about how tough this is on Ben. No one wishes to fail at something, and multiply that by 1,000 when you hold a position squarely in the public eye.

The thought crossing my mind as I glumly headed home was, I hope someday (soon) down the road Ben will have the opportunity moments before a game starts at The Barn to stand in front of the Gopher bench in front of a sellout crowd, staring at an arena thick with a “big game” atmosphere with tons at stake, and then think back to that Maryland game. It would give him a fleeting moment to reflect on how far back he had brought the program.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I dunno. It'll be hard for Nero to keep fiddling if the Barn is a morgue next year. I hope fans don't bail en masse, but it wouldn't surprise me. (I tend to be a contrarian, so I'm sticking around.)
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Real fan alert 🚨
 

Seany said:
If you’re talking about the abysmal basketball, then I’m sure the sentiment is universal around here that we all want that to end, and just as quickly as possible. This is wrenching, as a fan. It is really, really tough, and that’s gotta be small potatoes compared to what those players and coaches are feeling. It’s agonizing, and nobody wants this.

If you’re talking about wanting the Ben Johnson experiment ended, then no, that’s not an outcome I’d ever wish, just because of the kind of person that he is, and if that makes me a sappy Midwesterner, then hey. Ben is universally regarded as being a good guy, a nice guy, a tireless worker, teacher, and student of the game. That is exactly the type of person I wish to find have nothing but success, even if that might seem to be a hopeless impossibility at this time. I just hope for that lightbulb moment for Ben and his players, when everything clicks and the game becomes exponentially easier for them. That is my hope, and I am well-aware that given the course of things so far, that hope might be completely unrealistic, but I have to hope nonetheless. That’s not a result of me being a ‘meek’ fan. I just really want to see a fuckin’ good guy win, and we deserve at least that much.

Wrong sport, possibly very tortured analogy, but I always go back to Bill Parcells, as I am just a massive fan and have followed that guy forever. As a head coach, as a very young man he coached one season of college ball back in the ‘70s at the Air Force Academy, and it was a nightmare. They were absolutely terrible, and crippled by feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, Parcells struggled so much mentally and emotionally during that season that he gave serious consideration to leaving the coaching profession altogether. It was that hard on him, but as we know, he went on to the NFL and the rest became history. Anyhow, to make a long (sorry!) story short, he’s maintained ever since, that season of hell and psychological torment was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, as it was indispensable in iinforming who he ultimately became as both a person and a coach, and that he had never in his life learned so much as he learned from losing.

It’s not over for Ben, and it’s okay to hold out hope for him.
Click to expand...
“We gain much more wisdom as adults by our failures than our successes.”
 

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