Strib: For Piper Ritter Time was Right

[Ignatius L Hoops]

For new Gophers softball coach Piper Ritter, time was right

Longtime pitching coach talks stability in taking U head coaching position.

www.startribune.com

Megan Ryan:

For Piper Ritter, the Gophers were always it.

From playing on the softball team from 2001-04 to joining the coaching staff as an assistant in 2008, Ritter never had fantasies of leaving, sporting different colors. She always knew her place was here. Home.

Through three coaching changes, Ritter has been the constant. And now she’s planning on bringing that same stability to the head coach position.

“It’s not a great feeling for [the players] or me as assistant coach, being somewhere that you love [and having coaches leave],” Ritter said. “And I was just like, I’m kind of tired. I really want to go for this.”

The Gophers named Ritter as the next head coach Sunday, replacing Jamie Trachsel, who left April 25 for the Mississippi job. Trachsel will make $245,000 per year at Ole Miss, compared to $140,000 at Minnesota.

With the University of Minnesota under a hiring freeze because of COVID-19, the Gophers structured Ritter’s three-year contract so she’ll make a base salary of $81,600 during the freeze and $150,000 after it’s lifted.

 

[GringaGopher]

I really like that we have hired another MN. ex-player as the new coach. The revolving door of coaches has been difficult for this program and hopefully this will provide stability. I was surprised to see the salary difference but hopefully Ritter will excel and the raises will follow. Go Gophers !

 

[goherfan48]

I really like that we have hired another MN. ex-player as the new coach. The revolving door of coaches has been difficult for this program and hopefully this will provide stability. I was surprised to see the salary difference but hopefully Ritter will excel and the raises will follow. Go Gophers !

I think what you are seeing is that the U is under a hiring freeze, they are furloughing employees and others taking pay cuts, bringing Piper in I think at her current salary, during the freeze and raising her salary to $150 after the freeze is the U trying to be consistent. I just hope this does not effect her hiring assistant coaches. She will need them

 

[EdinaSBfan]

I don't get some peoples "revolving door of coaches" comments. Lisa B was here forever. Coach Al was here for 7 years. She left the program in great shape. I can't think of any program that was left in better shape for a new coach than JA left for JT. Maybe Oregon was equal. Obviously JT just used this program. At least Coach Al went back to her alma mater. Understandable. Now Piper is in charge and she has been here for a long time. With the exception of JT this has been a very stable coaching situation. We just had a little hiccup there for three years.

 

[AZGopher8]

I don't get some peoples "revolving door of coaches" comments. Lisa B was here forever. Coach Al was here for 7 years. She left the program in great shape. I can't think of any program that was left in better shape for a new coach than JA left for JT. Maybe Oregon was equal. Obviously JT just used this program. At least Coach Al went back to her alma mater. Understandable. Now Piper is in charge and she has been here for a long time. With the exception of JT this has been a very stable coaching situation. We just had a little hiccup there for three years.

Agreed!!

 

[MRJ]

I don't get some peoples "revolving door of coaches" comments. Lisa B was here forever. Coach Al was here for 7 years. She left the program in great shape. I can't think of any program that was left in better shape for a new coach than JA left for JT. Maybe Oregon was equal. Obviously JT just used this program. At least Coach Al went back to her alma mater. Understandable. Now Piper is in charge and she has been here for a long time. With the exception of JT this has been a very stable coaching situation. We just had a little hiccup there for three years.

I just think it's more of a feeling than a fact.

You make good points regarding the longevity of previous coaches before Trachsel came along.

But with the program having now become a consistent winner, a yearly NCAA Tournament team and considered by many the premier program in the upper Midwest, people look at the situation after three coaches in four years and think to themselves "what the heck is going on here?"

I'm more upset that this group of seniors (who have done nothing but win since they got here) has been subjected to such coaching turmoil in their careers. Allister is definitely more understandable and I truly think if Stanford had not come calling, she'd likely still be coaching here.

Trachsel is definitely a different story. It's becoming pretty clear what her true motivations were and I'm more than happy she's gone. Good riddance.

With that said, this group of players deserved and deserves better.

We as fans of the program have watched them play for years and have gotten to know them a little bit. And by all accounts, they're a tremendous group of young women who have not only excelled on the field, but are also outstanding citizens off it. I think that's where a lot of the "revolving door of coaches" sentiment comes from. Just frustration for these players who have represented the U so well.

Thankfully, we're now blessed with a coach who not only says Minnesota is her dream job, but actually has proven it with her actions rather than paying lip-service to it for the players, fans and media.

 

[EdinaSBfan]

Come on. Let's get over it. There's been no coaching turmoil. We had one bad coach who had us on a slippery slope to disaster. Thankfully Mississippi State saved us and she is gone. Lisa Bernstein was here from 1992 to 2010. That's amazing. Allister took over for 7 years. Those years were mind boggling. The alumni were back. We were a class program. We were a national power. Allister told all the players to stay and they listened. Those players allowed us to sustain our success despite JT. We still had great moments despite the obvious warning signs we see now. Now we have Piper. People are saying Katie Rich is coming back. The players are fine. Shoot we're in the best situation we can be in since Allister left. Let's party! Minnesota softball is back.

 

[MRJ]

Come on. Let's get over it. There's been no coaching turmoil. We had one bad coach who had us on a slippery slope to disaster. Thankfully Mississippi State saved us and she is gone. Lisa Bernstein was here from 1992 to 2010. That's amazing. Allister took over for 7 years. Those years were mind boggling. The alumni were back. We were a class program. We were a national power. Allister told all the players to stay and they listened. Those players allowed us to sustain our success despite JT. We still had great moments despite the obvious warning signs we see now. Now we have Piper. People are saying Katie Rich is coming back. The players are fine. Shoot we're in the best situation we can be in since Allister left. Let's party! Minnesota softball is back.

I'd call three coaches in four years turmoil (not to the overall longevity of the program, but in the short-term absolutely). Maybe you don't, but for players that only have four years to make their mark, three coaches in that short a space of time is hardly the picture of stability. The most stable presence through all of it has been Piper, so I'm thrilled that she's the new coach.

With all of that said, I'm more than ready for the page to turn and get the team back on the field in 2020.

 

[Hrothgar]

"Trachsel is definitely a different story. It's becoming pretty clear what her true motivations were," quoting MRJ. I have no disagreement with your comment. I'd just be curious to know what specifically you judge her true motivations to have been.

 

[MRJ]

"Trachsel is definitely a different story. It's becoming pretty clear what her true motivations were," quoting MRJ. I have no disagreement with your comment. I'd just be curious to know what specifically you judge her true motivations to have been.

Not going to go down Trachsel rabbit-hole in depth here, but based on what I've read about what went down behind the scenes, there wasn't much investment (if any) in her players. I get the impression they felt she was simply using them to further her career and that's all.

Again, I'm not an insider. But that's the impression I get.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

“There's been no coaching turmoil. We had one bad coach who had us on a slippery slope to disaster. Thankfully Mississippi State saved us and she is gone.” -

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

“That’s bait!”

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Despite me running an errand to cool down and identifying bait when I see it (although that funny “that’s bait!” image from Mad Max didn’t work) I still will take the bait despite my better judgement.

I just don’t understand this vitriol towards Coach Trachsel.

Let me remind you that in her two full years we went to the Big Ten Championship game twice, winning one and to the NCAA tournament twice, going to the Women’s College World Series once. She had the highest winning percentage in Minnesota coaching history, by significant numbers, and has recorded the top team GPA in team history.

This doesn’t just happen. It is not easy. There are 13 other teams in the Big Ten that want to win too. They are not led by a bunch of incompetents. They have just as much to offer as Minnesota. You know we could easily go ten years without getting to a Big Ten championship game again. Easily. There are 300 other softball teams in the NCAA that want to get to the WCWS too. They are not led by dummies. We could easily go my lifetime (I am 43) without making the WCWS again. Very Easily.

Now To be perfectly clear, I am a Piper Ritter fan. I think she is the right coach for us right now. If I had to choose between Ritter and Trachsel and I would choose Ritter. I am excited for the next season. But this incessant need to run down Trachsel, well I just don’t get. Now, if it was just anger that she left us, that I would understand. When Lou Holtz left our football team I was ten years old and I hated that guy for leaving us. But I got over it after 20 years or so. But this Trachsel animus seems to run deeper.

Finally, I will be open and honest with my philosophy on college coaching. I grew up adoring Coach Bobby Knight. He was my very first very favorite coach. I understood he was tough and demanding. I understood he was capable of making mistakes which I do not condone. But I felt he made men of his players and got the best out of them. Maybe you think my philosophy is dead wrong. I assume all the Trachsel haters are intellectually consistent and likewise hold Coach Knight in low regard. I can accept that if true as it would be consistent. But I would be worried if there was a double standard being applied to the respect we as fans give young men as men but then apply a second standard on young women under some assumption that they should be coddled.

 

[rugger14]

Despite me running an errand to cool down and identifying bait when I see it (although that funny “that’s bait!” image from Mad Max didn’t work) I still will take the bait despite my better judgement.

I just don’t understand this vitriol towards Coach Trachsel.

Let me remind you that in her two full years we went to the Big Ten Championship game twice, winning one and to the NCAA tournament twice, going to the Women’s College World Series once. She had the highest winning percentage in Minnesota coaching history, by significant numbers, and has recorded the top team GPA in team history.

This doesn’t just happen. It is not easy. There are 13 other teams in the Big Ten that want to win too. They are not led by a bunch of incompetents. They have just as much to offer as Minnesota. You know we could easily go ten years without getting to a Big Ten championship game again. Easily. There are 300 other softball teams in the NCAA that want to get to the WCWS too. They are not led by dummies. We could easily go my lifetime (I am 43) without making the WCWS again. Very Easily.

Now To be perfectly clear, I am a Piper Ritter fan. I think she is the right coach for us right now. If I had to choose between Ritter and Trachsel and I would choose Ritter. I am excited for the next season. But this incessant need to run down Trachsel, well I just don’t get. Now, if it was just anger that she left us, that I would understand. When Lou Holtz left our football team I was ten years old and I hated that guy for leaving us. But I got over it after 20 years or so. But this Trachsel animus seems to run deeper.

Finally, I will be open and honest with my philosophy on college coaching. I grew up adoring Coach Bobby Knight. He was my very first very favorite coach. I understood he was tough and demanding. I understood he was capable of making mistakes which I do not condone. But I felt he made men of his players and got the best out of them. Maybe you think my philosophy is dead wrong. I assume all the Trachsel haters are intellectually consistent and likewise hold Coach Knight in low regard. I can accept that if true as it would be consistent. But I would be worried if there was a double standard being applied to the respect we as fans give young men as men but then apply a second standard on young women under some assumption that they should be coddled.

Ok.

 

[MRJ]

Despite me running an errand to cool down and identifying bait when I see it (although that funny “that’s bait!” image from Mad Max didn’t work) I still will take the bait despite my better judgement.

I just don’t understand this vitriol towards Coach Trachsel.

Let me remind you that in her two full years we went to the Big Ten Championship game twice, winning one and to the NCAA tournament twice, going to the Women’s College World Series once. She had the highest winning percentage in Minnesota coaching history, by significant numbers, and has recorded the top team GPA in team history.

This doesn’t just happen. It is not easy. There are 13 other teams in the Big Ten that want to win too. They are not led by a bunch of incompetents. They have just as much to offer as Minnesota. You know we could easily go ten years without getting to a Big Ten championship game again. Easily. There are 300 other softball teams in the NCAA that want to get to the WCWS too. They are not led by dummies. We could easily go my lifetime (I am 43) without making the WCWS again. Very Easily.

Now To be perfectly clear, I am a Piper Ritter fan. I think she is the right coach for us right now. If I had to choose between Ritter and Trachsel and I would choose Ritter. I am excited for the next season. But this incessant need to run down Trachsel, well I just don’t get. Now, if it was just anger that she left us, that I would understand. When Lou Holtz left our football team I was ten years old and I hated that guy for leaving us. But I got over it after 20 years or so. But this Trachsel animus seems to run deeper.

Finally, I will be open and honest with my philosophy on college coaching. I grew up adoring Coach Bobby Knight. He was my very first very favorite coach. I understood he was tough and demanding. I understood he was capable of making mistakes which I do not condone. But I felt he made men of his players and got the best out of them. Maybe you think my philosophy is dead wrong. I assume all the Trachsel haters are intellectually consistent and likewise hold Coach Knight in low regard. I can accept that if true as it would be consistent. But I would be worried if there was a double standard being applied to the respect we as fans give young men as men but then apply a second standard on young women under some assumption that they should be coddled.

Trachsel's winning percentage was .719 in two-plus years, Allister's winning percentage as .712 in seven years. That's not having the highest winning percentage "by significant numbers."

Second, my opinion is based on statements made by former players and the parents of former players. If you don't like the criticism of Trachsel, please realize my opinion is based on accounts of those who were actually close to the program. When Allister left, I was upset that she left. But there was never anything close to the sentiments from those close to the program that there was with Trachsel. Basically everyone wished Allister the best with no questions asked. Speaks volumes about the differences in feeling between the two of them.

Third, the fact that Bobby Knight is your favorite coach tells me everything I need to know in regards to your philosophies on coaching.

Trust me, his tactics would NEVER fly today. In fact, with the way he conducted himself, he wouldn't last more than a year anywhere today.

As long you're okay accepting that, then we can agree to disagree.

edit: My math was wrong in regards to Allister and Trachsel, not sure what I was thinking...

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Third, the fact that Bobby Knight is your favorite coach tells me everything I need to know in regards to your philosophies on coaching.

Trust me, his tactics would NEVER fly today. In fact, with the way he conducted himself, he wouldn't last more than a year anywhere today.

For what it is worth, I find your response to be a very good one. We just have two different views that I believe are within the bounds of rational and civilized disagreement.

And you sure did correct me on my false assumption of the size of the gap between coaches Trachsel and Allister’s winning percentage. I was wrong.

On to what I hope will be a very fun Piper Ritter era of college softball.

 

[MRJ]

For what it is worth, I find your response to be a very good one. We just have two different views that I believe are within the bounds of rational and civilized disagreement.

And you sure did correct me on my false assumption of the size of the gap between coaches Trachsel and Allister’s winning percentage. I was wrong.

On to what I hope will be a very fun Piper Ritter era of college softball.

No worries!

Different philosophies lead to different perceptions and interpretations. After all, variety is the spice of life!

And just so you know, I haven't always been a Trachsel critic. In fact, I defended her approach early on because I wanted to let her run things her way. But when you start reading things from those much closer to the situation than I am, I become suspicious.

With that said, I'm certainly thrilled with Piper's hiring!

She's about as beloved by everybody as is possible and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she can do in coming years!!!

 

[EdinaSBfan]

(JT) had the highest winning percentage in Minnesota coaching history, by significant numbers
What are you talking about? I don't know where you learned math. Allister's career winning percentage is .730. (290-107.) JT's is .718. (102-40. ) Please remember that includes Coach Al taking a program that had won 16 games the year before with an RPI of 197. JT walked into a loaded program. One of the best coaching gigs anyone could ever want. It was set-up for success. She did well to her credit. We can agree or disagree on coaching styles. Know that players say Coach Al was a much tougher and demanding coach than JT. It is said inside that JT was just mean. I don't know if that is true or not. The players always knew Coach Al believed in them. Argue away on those points. But don't misuse the FACTS. FACTS MATTER. JA had a .730 winning percentage. JT had a .718 winning percentage.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

(JT) had the highest winning percentage in Minnesota coaching history, by significant numbers
What are you talking about? I don't know where you learned math. Allister's career winning percentage is .730. (290-107.) JT's is .718. (102-40. ) Please remember that includes Coach Al taking a program that had won 16 games the year before with an RPI of 197. JT walked into a loaded program. One of the best coaching gigs anyone could ever want. It was set-up for success. She did well to her credit. We can agree or disagree on coaching styles. Know that players say Coach Al was a much tougher and demanding coach than JT. It is said inside that JT was just mean. I don't know if that is true or not. The players always knew Coach Al believed in them. Argue away on those points. But don't misuse the FACTS. FACTS MATTER. JA had a .730 winning percentage. JT had a .718 winning percentage.

You are right and I was wrong! Allister’s Gophers softball winning percentage was higher .73048 to .71.831.

Now there is some distorting effects in those percentages. Trachsel never got the benefit of playing the 2020 Big Ten season which historically gets winning percentages very healthy very fast because of the lack of depth in the Big Ten. Also, and you may argue this - but you would be wrong, the pre-conference strength of schedule has been stronger during the Trachsel tenure, especially 2019 and games recorded in 2020 than during the Allister tenure. So, you have to look behind the raw numbers sometimes to get an accurate picture of real results.

But, to be clear, I was wrong on winning percentage FACTS. I assumed those first three Allister years would have pulled her numbers under Trachsel as I was writing and failed to do the work to check my assumption and I was wrong. I admit it.

Finally, I am pro Allister. But I am pro this past decade in its entirety, especially the past 7 years when softball has consumed my sporting attention. That positive, pro-this-time-period attitude is what separates me from some others.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

“JT walked into a loaded program. One of the best coaching gigs anyone could ever want. It was set-up for success.”

And I disagree with this! You just tell this to Melissa Lombardi over at Oregon Softball. Replacing a beloved College Coach can be brutal - especially in the era of easy transferring rules. Yet Trachsel somehow kept a strong team together to the extent that they could entertain us in two Big Ten Championship games and get to our first WCWS ever. But now it is Ritter‘s time to try to keep success and the fan entertainment that goes with it going.

 

[rugger14]

Tubby Smith won a natty with the previous coach's players and has proven that he is not even close to capable of doing it again.

 

[goherfan48]

“JT walked into a loaded program. One of the best coaching gigs anyone could ever want. It was set-up for success.”

And I disagree with this! You just tell this to Melissa Lombardi over at Oregon Softball. Replacing a beloved College Coach can be brutal - especially in the era of easy transferring rules. Yet Trachsel somehow kept a strong team together to the extent that they could entertain us in two Big Ten Championship games and get to our first WCWS ever. But now it is Ritter‘s time to try to keep success and the fan entertainment that goes with it going.

If you look back at all the coaching changes the one that held the team together was Piper. I think we would be surprised how much Jamie relied on piper to kept the team together even after she became coach.

 

[MRJ]

“JT walked into a loaded program. One of the best coaching gigs anyone could ever want. It was set-up for success.”

And I disagree with this! You just tell this to Melissa Lombardi over at Oregon Softball. Replacing a beloved College Coach can be brutal - especially in the era of easy transferring rules. Yet Trachsel somehow kept a strong team together to the extent that they could entertain us in two Big Ten Championship games and get to our first WCWS ever. But now it is Ritter‘s time to try to keep success and the fan entertainment that goes with it going.

Trachsel had the benefit of inheriting a completely intact roster and recruiting class. In fact, not one player who would have returned following 2017 left after Allister took the Stanford job. Lombardi inherited a roster completely decimated by transfers and players leaving the program.

Much different situation imo.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Trachsel had the benefit of inheriting a completely intact roster and recruiting class. In fact, not one player who would have returned following 2017 left after Allister took the Stanford job. Lombardi inherited a roster completely decimated by transfers and players leaving the program.

Much different situation imo.

That’s my whole point! It is amazing how two different people can view the same situation and see two completely different things.

What if I said Trachsel, then head of the softball program, deserves credit for keeping the team in tact despite a very popular coach leaving... for Stanford of all places - not a bad place to be a college athlete? I would have bet big money at that moment that at least Lindaman (flat out Awesome in the true sense of the word) and Partain (an extremely skilled softball player from nearby Oregon) would have went with Allister to Stanford and decimated our in 2018 season; effectively drowning our rising program in the bathtub before we grew to the strength where we are even today as a known softball program.

And please don’t tell me that Lindaman and Partain “couldn’t have got into Stanford” or some bunk like that! You can be assumed that the Stanford athletic program gets into their school the athletes they need in order to be by far the most successful total athletic department in the country for the last 30 years straight.

Our in tact 2018 roster, in and of itself, was the most impressive and important outcome that I believe Trachsel provided to us as Gopher fans, even more than the WCWS and the Big Ten championship performances. That 2018 roster allowed is to avoid a huge step backward in the wake of Allister’s leaving and was the necessary bridge to where we are today.

 

[goherfan48]

That’s my whole point! It is amazing how two different people can view the same situation and see two completely different things.

What if I said Trachsel, then head of the softball program, deserves credit for keeping the team in tact despite a very popular coach leaving... for Stanford of all places - not a bad place to be a college athlete? I would have bet big money at that moment that at least Lindaman (flat out Awesome in the true sense of the word) and Partain (an extremely skilled softball player from nearby Oregon) would have went with Allister to Stanford and decimated our in 2018 season; effectively drowning our rising program in the bathtub before we grew to the strength where we are even today as a known softball program.

And please don’t tell me that Lindaman and Partain “couldn’t have got into Stanford” or some bunk like that! You can be assumed that the Stanford athletic program gets into their school the athletes they need in order to be by far the most successful total athletic department in the country for the last 30 years straight.

Our in tact 2018 roster, in and of itself, was the most impressive and important outcome that I believe Trachsel provided to us as Gopher fans, even more than the WCWS and the Big Ten championship performances. That 2018 roster allowed is to avoid a huge step backward in the wake of Allister’s leaving and was the necessary bridge to where we are today.

I am sorry you giving Jamie way to much credit for keeping the team together

 

[goherfan48]

That’s my whole point! It is amazing how two different people can view the same situation and see two completely different things.

What if I said Trachsel, then head of the softball program, deserves credit for keeping the team in tact despite a very popular coach leaving... for Stanford of all places - not a bad place to be a college athlete? I would have bet big money at that moment that at least Lindaman (flat out Awesome in the true sense of the word) and Partain (an extremely skilled softball player from nearby Oregon) would have went with Allister to Stanford and decimated our in 2018 season; effectively drowning our rising program in the bathtub before we grew to the strength where we are even today as a known softball program.

And please don’t tell me that Lindaman and Partain “couldn’t have got into Stanford” or some bunk like that! You can be assumed that the Stanford athletic program gets into their school the athletes they need in order to be by far the most successful total athletic department in the country for the last 30 years straight.

Our in tact 2018 roster, in and of itself, was the most impressive and important outcome that I believe Trachsel provided to us as Gopher fans, even more than the WCWS and the Big Ten championship performances. That 2018 roster allowed is to avoid a huge step backward in the wake of Allister’s leaving and was the necessary bridge to where we are today.

To add to my last posting, Partain is coming back, I do not feel she would have come back if Piper was not the head coach. Enough about Jamie getting any credit for keeping the team together.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Uff-da. I am about to cry uncle on this topic. So who does deserve credit? Ah, Whatever. Honestly, if you want to know the truth, I think it is possible you view it this way simply because you don’t like Coach Trachsel. I honestly think it may be your dislike for her as a coach effecting your analysis of my opinion.

I am sorry that you don’t see that as we sit here today our softball program is viewed nationally as the “Minnesota Gophers Softball program” and by that we should have some durability. I had a legitimate fear the day after beloved coach Allister left, our program would have been viewed nationally as “Jess Allister’s Minnesota Softball program“, and that is not durable and that would fizzle out.

Programs not named UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, Washington, and Florida do fizzle our you know. Just consider Iowa, a peer of ours. They used to be very good 20 years ago.

 

[MRJ]

Uff-da. I am about to cry uncle on this topic. So who does deserve credit? Ah, Whatever. Honestly, if you want to know the truth, I think it is possible you view it this way simply because you don’t like Coach Trachsel. I honestly think it may be your dislike for her as a coach effecting your analysis of my opinion.

I am sorry that you don’t see that as we sit here today our softball program is viewed nationally as the “Minnesota Gophers Softball program” and by that we should have some durability. I had a legitimate fear the day after beloved coach Allister left, our program would have been viewed nationally as “Jess Allister’s Minnesota Softball program“, and that is not durable and that would fizzle out.

Programs not named UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, Washington, and Florida do fizzle our you know. Just consider Iowa, a peer of ours. They used to be very good 20 years ago.

First off, please calm down. There's a lot of ranting going here and honestly, I'm not sure where the message is going with a lot of it.

Second, I think that entire team returned because they felt they had unfinished business as a group, not because of something Trachsel did or said. I could be completely wrong about that, but that's the impression I got at the time, especially since Maddie Houlihan (who was already a leader on the team), tweeted almost immediately after Allister left, something to the effect (paraphrasing), "we're going to be back and kick ass next year."

At that point, I was pretty sure the vast majority of the team would return regardless of who was coaching. Again, I could be wrong, but that's just the feeling I get.

You maybe right, but that's just the impression I get. Again, just my opinion.

As to Oregon, a bunch of players announced their intentions to transfer almost immediately after Mike White left. A few more left after Lombardi became coach, but the trend was already established when she took over. And it remains to be seen how it works out there.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

First off, please calm down. There's a lot of ranting going here and honestly, I'm not sure where the message is going with a lot of it.

Second, I think that entire team returned because they felt they had unfinished business as a group, not because of something Trachsel did or said. I could be completely wrong about that, but that's the impression I got at the time, especially since Maddie Houlihan (who was already a leader on the team), tweeted almost immediately after Allister left, something to the effect (paraphrasing), "we're going to be back and kick ass next year."

At that point, I was pretty sure the vast majority of the team would return regardless of who was coaching. Again, I could be wrong, but that's just the feeling I get.

You maybe right, but that's just the impression I get. Again, just my opinion.

As to Oregon, a bunch of players announced their intentions to transfer almost immediately after Mike White left. A few more left after Lombardi became coach, but the trend was already established when she took over. And it remains to be seen how it works out there.

All I am saying is the person in the big desk in any organization gets some credit for the good things and some blame for the bad things that happen to the organization. And I don’t see how it can be any other way.

When Lindaman left, that was tough, and I was frustrated that Trachsel couldn’t keep her. When the 2018 Sophomores came back, Trachsel, in my opinion, deserved credit. That seems logically consistent.

It just seems to me that you want to avoid giving her any credit for all of the good things that happened since Allister’s departure while assigning blame upon her for all the bad things that happened. To me that just strikes me as logically inconsistent. To me it seems like that view is emotional and that it is that emotionalism that needs calming.

 

[MRJ]

All I am saying is the person in the big desk in any organization gets some credit for the good things and some blame for the bad things that happen to the organization. And I don’t see how it can be any other way.

When Lindaman left, that was tough, and I was frustrated that Trachsel couldn’t keep her. When the 2018 Sophomores came back, Trachsel, in my opinion, deserved credit. That seems logically consistent.

It just seems to me that you want to avoid giving her any credit for all of the good things that happened since Allister’s departure while assigning blame upon her for all the bad things that happened. To me that just strikes me as logically inconsistent. To me it seems like that view is emotional and that it is that emotionalism that needs calming.

Trachsel undoubtedly did some really good things coaching wise.

First, she allowed DenHartog to flourish after initially not being sure about her abilities. Second, bringing in Hope Brandner and Sydney Smith were really good moves that helped the team immensely. And regardless of her relationships with the players individually, they did advance to the WCWS under her watch. She gets (and the players) full credit for that.

It stands as the greatest achievement in program history and both she and players should take immense pride in all of it.

But there were also major issues as we now know.

I'm not even sure if your posts are directed at me (I'm hoping not). But if they are, let me just say there is a lot of gray area here and you're more than free to your opinion as I am with mine.