STrib: With all-white leadership, Gophers athletic department under fresh scrutiny to improve diversity; Coyle has hired 11 white head coaches

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GopherPlaya said:
I just want a coach with a clear system offensively that will help players develop because they understand what the coach wants from them and what reads they should be making within their structure. If he has great assistants who can recruit and teach defense then that's the right man for the job. When I say recruit, I mean recruit players who can fit within his structure and who can develop long term. It doesn't have to be a Minnesota guy or a traditional guy. The U isn't a job where the traditional guy always works. We need a high-energy guy that can develop 2 & 3 stars until we can consistently get 4 star guys.
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I agree with the majority of your post.

I have to disagree relative to your comment in bold. MN must recruit at a higher level, right away. That is something Coyle needs to value in this hire. I get that some kids will want to get out of their hometown to goto school, however MN must get some of the top notch players from this state.
 

BarnBurner said:
I agree with the majority of your post.

I have to disagree relative to your comment in bold. MN must recruit at a higher level, right away. That is something Coyle needs to value in this hire. I get that some kids will want to get out of their hometown to goto school, however MN must get some of the top notch players from this state.
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If Nebraska can sign 4-stars, I think Minnesota can.
 

GoodasGold said:
Do not despair. All this is simply white noise. Think of it like Christmas. You need only wait for the B1G Day and hope that ornate package has in it what you were wishing for.
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Yeah it was more of a comment on the lack of critical thinking on this subject than it was despair.
 


bga1 said:
Equity- per the dictionary- "the quality of being fair and impartial". Equity per the woke crowd- let's hire a coach according to the color of skin. Preference: Black.

Fair an impartial means that we take the best qualified regardless of color. This article and many here are asking for the best qualified if black. That's stupid.
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Correct, so Bob didn't know the definition.
 


BarnBurner said:
I agree with the majority of your post.

I have to disagree relative to your comment in bold. MN must recruit at a higher level, right away. That is something Coyle needs to value in this hire. I get that some kids will want to get out of their hometown to goto school, however MN must get some of the top notch players from this state.
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They do get some and they left early for the NBA. They need zero MN kids if they win.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
How much can we spend and whom could we hire for that sum - that's your starting point for your candidate pool - I'm sure Coyle knows which coaches would meet those criteria.
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Actually, I was talking more about time. If this thing goes on until May, that's going to give the new coach a real disadvantage in spring recruiting. One thing that would help immensely is if they can arrange all these interviews remotely. That way they could interview five candidates in a week.

One advantage Pitino had when he came here is that he was announced as head coach within the first few days of April. He was able to land 3 important players (1 junior college and 2 transfers from 4 year schools) who definitely contributed to his relative first year success.
 

PhiloVance said:
Question as a 4 star athlete looking to play at the next level how do they evaluating their college options?
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Kids sign with certain schools for sometimes mysterious reasons, but a few are probably 1.) affinity/connections for or to the staff including both the assistant who led the recruiting effort along with the head coach; 2.) preference for the system the coach runs (offense) and I'd imagine if an athlete really thinks they are next level, then absolute/immediate fit eg. this really good school happens to need a point guard that can immediately step in and start from day one, etc. It's why one can say: either the head coach must be a great recruiter, or have a stud recruiter on staff. In coaching circles, I believe it's fairly widely known who the top 10 or 20 or so recruiting assistants are (I cannot name them).
 

Otis said:
NBA assistants with Minnesota ties? Hmm,

Sam Cassell
Bobby Jackson
Sam Mitchell - not an assistant mind you but a former HC
JB Bickerstaff - like he's giving up his current gig.

That's just off the top of my head and I don't spend any time looking at who's coaching in the NBA.
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No to Mitchell, but I've heard Cassell could be looking at a head coach in the NBA next few years. I'd give him or Bobby a shot. JB is staying where he's at
 




It's not the Strib's job to help Gopher Athletics. I don't really think it's their job to hurt the department either, but they seem to have other ideas. Maybe they should have sat on this until things played itself out. Now, if Gates (or another minority candidate) does get the job, it looks like they didn't get it on their own merit. And that's really, really unfair to the likely new head coach.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
It's not the Strib's job to help Gopher Athletics. I don't really think it's their job to hurt the department either, but they seem to have other ideas. Maybe they should have sat on this until things played itself out. Now, if Gates (or another minority candidate) does get the job, it looks like they didn't get it on their own merit. And that's really, really unfair to the likely new head coach.
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Are you really worried about the general public holding on to negative views about Dennis Gates because of one newspaper article? For Christ sakes, 74 million people in this country voted for Trump despite continuous negative coverage with the majority of it self-initiated.
 

manderson1984 said:
Last year the hiring cycle was very dry. Smith has followed the path of many/most high major coaches. If he wants a P6 job he’ll get offers. Dutch has made it pretty well known with his buyout he isn’t leaving SDSU unless it’s for the U apparently. I like Gates a lot. He’s good and learned from Hamilton and Tom Crean. He’s got some Midwest roots and coaches in a town with other pro teams. That being said, it’s not as safe as Dutch or Smith. The question will be if you think his ceiling is higher?
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Bad Gopher said:
This might be accused of being oversimplistic, but to me this has always been the best way to explain the concept of equity, as opposed to equality.

View attachment 12012
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It's really the exact opposite.

Equity would be holes for the taller two folks to stand in and none of them would see over the fence.
 



GopherPlaya said:
Lionel Hollins, Becky Hammon, Mike D'Antoni
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Are you wanting Mark Coyle to interview these three for the Gophers men's basketball head coach position? I have no problem with interviewing all qualified candidates and then choosing the best one.
It can be argued that neither Richard Pitino (Norwood Tragus hire) nor Lindsay Whalen were the best candidates.
Would you want only the best black person's to be hired while excluding all other candidates?
 




Face The Facts said:
I'm tired of the same excuses.

Minorities can't get assistant coaching jobs for whatever reason. Very disproportionate.
"There's no systemic racism, they just aren't interested in being an assistant coach I guess".

Minority coach finally gets a job after butting his head against the system.
Finally gets a head coaching job at age 39 or 40.
Coaches 2 years and turns around horrible program.

White people: "But he doesn't have as much experience as my white coaches. These two guys from Minnesota are far more experienced, and they REALLY want the job. We can't be sure this other guy REALLY wants the job and they've been coaching longer!!!."

Then it appears minority coach might get hired. White people on twitter "If Gates is hired, I'm pulling my support from the program as a booster! He's not qualified". (Putting systemic racism back in motion).

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Great post! I'm dubious of anyone threatening Coyle on twitter - if he is a true big wheel, doubt he'd be doing it on online.

It's like a hamster wheel that goes round and round, ad infinitum.
 



Breakin' The Plane said:
It's not the Strib's job to help Gopher Athletics. I don't really think it's their job to hurt the department either, but they seem to have other ideas. Maybe they should have sat on this until things played itself out. Now, if Gates (or another minority candidate) does get the job, it looks like they didn't get it on their own merit. And that's really, really unfair to the likely new head coach.
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So if Gates get it, it will be due to this article? The U is not Gates only option. Also if the minority has the resume of Pitino when he gets hired then you got a fair point but I doubt he will have a resume that isnt good enough for him to be a qualified candidate.
 

MennoSota said:
Are you wanting Mark Coyle to interview these three for the Gophers men's basketball head coach position? I have no problem with interviewing all qualified candidates and then choosing the best one.
It can be argued that neither Richard Pitino (Norwood Tragus hire) nor Lindsay Whalen were the best candidates.
Would you want only the best black person's to be hired while excluding all other candidates?
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So where in the article did it say that? The best candidate should be hired for the job. But Pitino getting a job because of Nepotism isnt a problem but hiring a qualified black candidate is? That happens all team in the coaching hiring process. This article is pointing it out. I dont see whats the problem with this article. Look at all these coaches who sons continue to be part of the inner circle the Wolves and Gophers hired 2 coaches bc of their dads more than their merit.
 

GopherPlaya said:
So where in the article did it say that? The best candidate should be hired for the job. But Pitino getting a job because of Nepotism isnt a problem but hiring a qualified black candidate is? That happens all team in the coaching hiring process. This article is pointing it out. I dont see whats the problem with this article. Look at all these coaches who sons continue to be part of the inner circle the Wolves and Gophers hired 2 coaches bc of their dads more than their merit.
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Pitino was hired because nepotism? Where is the evidence? You are projecting your emotions without actual data.
Clearly megatongue had no clue how to hire. He may have hired based on the last name and a smooth interview by Richard, but that isn't nepotism.
 

Horizon League.

That’s not the equivalent of the MAC in football ... that’s the equivalent of DII Northern Sun (Winona, Duluth, etc).


I can’t get past that. Sorry. Not when we have great choices from the Mountain West, and maybe even higher.
 

If in four years Gates has taken BC to the ACC final and Sweet Sixteen, and Dutcher decides to retire, then bring him on.
 

It has been a long time since I've posted here, but I feel like I should weigh in here.

That Coyle has been boxed into a corner here is his own fault. You can't run an athletic department in an urban area - and one that has to recruit outside of its traditional geography in several sports - and not have a single coach of color. That the school hasn't hired a coach of color since Tubby in 2007 is embarrassing.

Now, it's probably pretty easy justifying each of hires since Tubby on their own, but not taking a holistic view at things is an error on Coyle's part. What we don't know is how many coaches of color have been interviewed in this team for head coaching roles or if they were turned down by any coaches of color. If you don't want to get into a spot where you are going to be forced to make a diverse hire when your football or basketball job comes open, then you better make diverse hires for other sports.

Looking at this through the lens of working in corporate America, I know that my diverse colleagues and some of the diverse hires I have made have been great for the organization. When you have a room filled with only white people (or only whatever), I don't think you make the best decisions. Diversity - of race, of gender, of sexual orientation, of background - helps organizations avoid blind spots.

And for those of you who want to blame the Strib, I don't agree (FYI, the top editor is Hispanic). The Gophers got done dirty by 60 Minutes, but this story was self-inflicted.
 

GopherPlaya said:
So if Gates get it, it will be due to this article? The U is not Gates only option. Also if the minority has the resume of Pitino when he gets hired then you got a fair point but I doubt he will have a resume that isnt good enough for him to be a qualified candidate.
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No, not at all. But to people looking at this situation from the outside, it will raise questions. My question is about the timing of the article. What they published today is not new information. They've been sitting on this since the last coach hire. Publishing this today sure looks to me like they are interested in influencing the hiring process.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
No, not at all. But to people looking at this situation from the outside, it will raise questions. My question is about the timing of the article. What they published today is not new information. They've been sitting on this since the last coach hire. Publishing this today sure looks to me like they are interested in influencing the hiring process.
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The star tribune will not influence this decision. We just have witnessed mediocrity for 8 years. Basketball is a revenue generating sport. Coyle will hire the candidate he views as the best option not try to check a box so he has to do this all over again in 4 years. That doesn’t even make sense
 

It’s a pretty limited perspective that would see this Strib article as making things harder for the U of M to hire an excellent head coach for the basketball program.

If we accept the reality that black professionals receive less opportunity and more scrutiny, there’s an equal or greater likelihood that seeking to hire a black coach would result in a hire where the individual is MORE qualified and competent than a 'comparable' white counterpart. Most of my friends of color are in a less challenging position than the one they could handle. Making the U job desirable to a candidate of color could be a great opportunity.
 

Moonlight said:
It’s a pretty limited perspective that would see this Strib article as making things harder for the U of M to hire an excellent head coach for the basketball program.

If we accept the reality that black professionals receive less opportunity and more scrutiny, there’s an equal or greater likelihood that seeking to hire a black coach would result in a hire where the individual is MORE qualified and competent than a 'comparable' white counterpart. Most of my friends of color are in a less challenging position than the one they could handle. Making the U job desirable to a candidate of color could be a great opportunity.
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Thank you
 

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