STrib: Ben Johnson hopes his Gophers ignore criticism following 0-3 Big Ten start; he has a $2.93 million buyout if fired after this season.

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short ornery norwegian said:
I honestly think there is more nuance here than the "bad hire" - "bad coach" narrative.

Johnson was hired in large part because he was a MN alum with ties to the HS and AAU Coaches - and he would work cheap. One of the main rationales for hiring Johnson was that he would be able to improve in-state HS recruiting.

and then - NCAA approved NIL and unlimited transfers. now HS recruiting has become less important. the whole notion of a developmental program is out the window - it's all about the portal. and like it or not, if you want the top HS recruits or the top portal transfers, you have to have the money to pay them.

in short - a coach like Johnson would not be hired today. the game has changed and a different set of skills are needed. bad timing all around.

and lest we forget - Coyle hired Johnson. Coyle has to share in the responsibility. He's the AD. He cannot just hide in his office and say "they made me hire a black coach. It's not my fault."

If I was a higher-up at MN, I would fire Coyle first. Hire a new AD, and let the new AD hire the new coach.
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Lol you're a fucking dumb ass if you would fire Coyle.
 


Strongazzoffer said:
Lol you're a fucking dumb ass if you would fire Coyle.
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Really? Exactly what exceptionally elite thing has Coyle done? What National Championship do you wish to crown him with as glorious leader?
Fleck is .500 in the Big10. Motzgo has yet to win a Naty. Volleyball has fallen short. The women's hockey team has dropped. Wrestling has dropped off. Baseball is bottom dwelling. What makes you crown Coyle as a glorious leader?
 

FinnGopher said:
Really? Exactly what exceptionally elite thing has Coyle done? What National Championship do you wish to crown him with as glorious leader?
Fleck is .500 in the Big10. Motzgo has yet to win a Naty. Volleyball has fallen short. The women's hockey team has dropped. Wrestling has dropped off. Baseball is bottom dwelling. What makes you crown Coyle as a glorious leader?
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I'm not sure anyone's crowning him. But he's not going to get fired this year or anytime soon so it's a pointless discussion IMO. Fleck and Motzko are good hires. It appears Coach P and the volleyball coach are as well. Ben and Lindsay were flops. Overall it's not a terrible resume. Nobody cares about Gopher baseball. I expect them to drop the sport within 3 years.
 

howeda7 said:
I'm not sure anyone's crowning him. But he's not going to get fired this year or anytime soon so it's a pointless discussion IMO. Fleck and Motzko are good hires. It appears Coach P and the volleyball coach are as well. Ben and Lindsay were flops. Overall it's not a terrible resume. Nobody cares about Gopher baseball. I expect them to drop the sport within 3 years.
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He won't get fired. Yet, my point still stands that he has done nothing to cause any excitement.
 


FinnGopher said:
Really? Exactly what exceptionally elite thing has Coyle done? What National Championship do you wish to crown him with as glorious leader?
Fleck is .500 in the Big10. Motzgo has yet to win a Naty. Volleyball has fallen short. The women's hockey team has dropped. Wrestling has dropped off. Baseball is bottom dwelling. What makes you crown Coyle as a glorious leader?
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That's your standard here? Wow. . .
 

The academia of the U of MN is not shining through. Men’s basketball is a dumpster fire, with all the so called smart people…….maybe a change is in order. Fucking pathetic to say the least of the hierarchy of the UofMN
 


FinnGopher said:
He won't get fired. Yet, my point still stands that he has done nothing to cause any excitement.
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Sure....but there is a ton of space between should be fired and build a statue. Coyle hasn't done anything amazing, but those saying he should be fired are wasting their time as well because he isn't anywhere close to being on the hotseat as an AD.

Same thing happened early in the season on the football board after the NC and Iowa games there were fans calling for Fleck to be fired. It's their right to do that but there was a 0.0% change he was going to get fired so it was completely pointless for any fans to act like it should happen.
 




BleedGopher said:
But with three years left on his contract through 2027, he has a $2.93 million buyout if fired after this season.
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Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Marcus has the facts correct here.

Ben Johnson has two years remaining on his contract after this season (through 2027). Does Marcus realize it is 2025 now?

Originally, Johnson signed a five-year deal, which in 2022 was extended by one year through April of 2027.

Year One: 2021-22 (complete)
Year Two: 2022-23 (complete)
Year Three: 2023-24 (complete)
Year Four: 2024-25 (completing now)
Year Five: 2025-26 (remaining)
Year Six: 2026-27 (remaining)

His contract states that after Year Four the school would owe Ben Johnson 50% of his remaining salary if fired during or at the end of this season. He is paid $1.95 million per year. That means with TWO YEARS (not three) remaining, Ben would be owed $1.95 million x 2 seasons remaining = $3.9m total x 50% = $1.95 million.

I think Marcus somehow figured it at 3 years x $1.95 million = $5.85m x 50% = $2.925 million.

I don't think that is correct.
 
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tjgopher said:
Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Marcus has the facts correct here.

Ben Johnson has two years remaining on his contract after this season (through 2027). Does Marcus realize it is 2025 now?

Originally, Johnson signed a five-year deal, which in 2022 was extended by one year through April of 2027.

Year One: 2021-22 (complete)
Year Two: 2022-23 (complete)
Year Three: 2023-24 (complete)
Year Four: 2024-25 (completing now)
Year Five: 2025-26 (remaining)
Year Six: 2026-27 (remaining)

His contract states that after Year Four the school would owe Ben Johnson 50% of his remaining salary if fired during or at the end of this season. He is paid $1.95 million per year. That means with TWO YEARS (not three) remaining, Ben would be owed $1.95 million x 2 seasons remaining = $3.9m total x 50% = $1.95 million.

I think Marcus somehow figured it at 3 years x $1.95 million = $5.85m x 50% = $2.925 million. I don't think that is correct.
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Reusee claimed it was $7 million on a podcast today. The local media barely pays attention to Gopher Basketball and still butchers the details.
 

tjgopher said:
Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Marcus has the facts correct here.

Ben Johnson has two years remaining on his contract after this season (through 2027). Does Marcus realize it is 2025 now?

Originally, Johnson signed a five-year deal, which in 2022 was extended by one year through April of 2027.

Year One: 2021-22 (complete)
Year Two: 2022-23 (complete)
Year Three: 2023-24 (complete)
Year Four: 2024-25 (completing now)
Year Five: 2025-26 (remaining)
Year Six: 2026-27 (remaining)

His contract states that after Year Four the school would owe Ben Johnson 50% of his remaining salary if fired during or at the end of this season. He is paid $1.95 million per year. That means with TWO YEARS (not three) remaining, Ben would be owed $1.95 million x 2 seasons remaining = $3.9m total x 50% = $1.95 million.

I think Marcus somehow figured it at 3 years x $1.95 million = $5.85m x 50% = $2.925 million. I don't think that is correct.
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Crafty of them to extend that contract in 2022. In actual real world business a 1.95 million dollar error might get you canned. Here, folks think Coyle is good at this.
 



bga1 said:
Crafty of them to extend that contract in 2022. In actual real world business a 1.95 million dollar error might get you canned. Here, folks think Coyle is good at this.
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In real terms, because of buyout language, the extra year potentially would cost the school an additional $975,000 (50% of $1.95m). Certainly not nothing, but also not $1.95 million.

There is also offset language that if Johnson gets another job in basketball, the school would stop paying him, much like with Pitino.

Bottom line, the cost to fire Johnson during or immediately after this season won't be all that much.
 


howeda7 said:
Reusee claimed it was $7 million on a podcast today.
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Yikes! Not taking into account the 50% buyout......let's says he's owed 100%......Ben Johnson is only owed $3.95 million total after this season. Two seasons at $1.95 million each. Even if Marcus was correct and he had three years left, he would only be owed $5.85 million at 100%.

So, how Pat would suggest $7 million is egregious. But, not shocking as he is completely clueless. He has basically has become a Twitter warrior and not much more.
 
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tjgopher said:
Yikes! Not taking into account the 50% buyout......let's says he's owed 100%......Ben Johnson is only owed $3.95 million total after this season. Two seasons at $1.95 million each. Even if Marcus was correct and he had three years left, he would only be owed $5.85 million.

So, how Pat would suggest $7 million is egregious. But, not shocking as he is completely clueless. He has basically has become a Twitter warrior and not much more.
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He was citing Marcus but clearly misunderstood something. I'll say at least he still bothers to mention Gopher Basketball. If not for him and Doogie Skor North would never mention them at all.
 

tjgopher said:
Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Marcus has the facts correct here.

Ben Johnson has two years remaining on his contract after this season (through 2027). Does Marcus realize it is 2025 now?

Originally, Johnson signed a five-year deal, which in 2022 was extended by one year through April of 2027.

Year One: 2021-22 (complete)
Year Two: 2022-23 (complete)
Year Three: 2023-24 (complete)
Year Four: 2024-25 (completing now)
Year Five: 2025-26 (remaining)
Year Six: 2026-27 (remaining)

His contract states that after Year Four the school would owe Ben Johnson 50% of his remaining salary if fired during or at the end of this season. He is paid $1.95 million per year. That means with TWO YEARS (not three) remaining, Ben would be owed $1.95 million x 2 seasons remaining = $3.9m total x 50% = $1.95 million.

I think Marcus somehow figured it at 3 years x $1.95 million = $5.85m x 50% = $2.925 million.

I don't think that is correct.
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Yeah I posted last year about one of the regents suggesting the buyout was "skillfully negotiated" or something to that effect too which seemed to imply the public interpretation of the buyout was not correct. I also don't think it was ever confirmed anywhere that the ridiculous one year extension Ben received after finishing last also is included in the calculation (it could be that year doesn't count in the formula).

The one thing I found was that there's a clause in the contract that says Ben has to seek employment as either a head coach or an assistant coach. I believe when I read it at the time my interpretation was that there is no offset so Ben needs to find a job and when he finds a job the U doesn't owe him anything. I googled the article I found this in and it's from the PostBulletin which is now behind a paywall. The Regent was Steve Sviggum.
 

tjgopher said:
In real terms, because of buyout language, the extra year potentially would cost the school an additional $975,000 (50% of $1.95m). Certainly not nothing, but also not $1.95 million.

There is also offset language that if Johnson gets another job in basketball, the school would stop paying him, much like with Pitino.

Bottom line, the cost to fire Johnson during or immediately after this season won't be all that much.
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In the world of college coaching buyouts $1.95 million is peanuts. It literally doesn't get any cheaper in major college basketball or football. The fact that anyone thinks we might have to keep him for year 5 because that buyout is too high is pathetic. If that's remotely true, just fold up the program and be done with it.
 

howeda7 said:
In the world of college coaching buyouts $1.95 million is peanuts. It literally doesn't get any cheaper in major college basketball or football. The fact that anyone thinks we might have to keep him for year 5 because that buyout is too high is pathetic. If that's remotely true, just fold up the program and be done with it.
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Yeah....to most of us 2 million is a ton of money. But to an athletic department while it certainly isn't something they would take lightly, a buyout of that size also wouldn't stop a team from making a change.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah....to most of us 2 million is a ton of money. But to an athletic department while it certainly isn't something they would take lightly, a buyout of that size also wouldn't stop a team from making a change.
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Right. Especially since it's rare (I believe) for a college coaches contract to simply run its course. Most programs keep coaches extended for multiple years because it's difficult to recruit players if you can't claim you'll be there (in the absence of a firing) for their time with the program. A firing and a buyout is normal practice.
 


stocker08 said:
Most programs keep coaches extended for multiple years because it's difficult to recruit players if you can't claim you'll be there (in the absence of a firing) for their time with the program.
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This was correct. But I think this is another thing that's changing, too. I doubt recruits (at least the ones worth having) worry much about whether the coach is going to be there. If he gets fired, you can easily enter the portal if the new guy isn't a fit for you. The player might be thinking they themselves are not going to be there the entire time, so why worry about the coach's contract length.
 

LMFAO at the thought of the U getting out of paying Ben if he gets hired elsewhere!

Does that include any job?
 

formerlybis said:
This was correct. But I think this is another thing that's changing, too. I doubt recruits (at least the ones worth having) worry much about whether the coach is going to be there. If he gets fired, you can easily enter the portal if the new guy isn't a fit for you. The player might be thinking they themselves are not going to be there the entire time, so why worry about the coach's contract length.
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Most will just follow the coach.
 

Otis said:
LMFAO at the thought of the U getting out of paying Ben if he gets hired elsewhere!

Does that include any job?
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I think it's to pay the balance. He has to get a job and and if it pays $50,000 a year, he will get the buyout minus the $50,000. It would be an offset. Now way they owe him nothing just by getting a job.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah....to most of us 2 million is a ton of money. But to an athletic department while it certainly isn't something they would take lightly, a buyout of that size also wouldn't stop a team from making a change.
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Realistically, if they would keep him :sick:, they probably have to give him another extension. As a practical matter, the buyout will never get any cheaper than it is right now.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I think it's to pay the balance. He has to get a job and and if it pays $50,000 a year, he will get the buyout minus the $50,000. It would be an offset. Now way they owe him nothing just by getting a job.
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It depends how its written. Sometimes if they obtain "substantially similar employment" they get nothing. I believe that was the case with Pitino. There's almost no chance of that happening with Ben though.
 

howeda7 said:
Realistically, if they would keep him :sick:, they probably have to give him another extension. As a practical matter, the buyout will never get any cheaper than it is right now.
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If we don't have a new coach season- I will definitely be relinquishing my (2) season tickets.
 

The idea of Ben getting a buyout number in the millions is absolutely ridiculous. I understand how it works in this industry, but that is freakin' insane.
 

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