The Comparable 4: Minnesota (Johnson), Iowa State (Otzelberger), Penn State (Shrewsberry), Utah (Smith)

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Looks like TJ has snagged a couple of good ones in the portal so far.
 


Spaulding!No! said:
You are forgetting that when Ben is fired he will spend his career telling everyone why no one can succeed at MN. All the check cashing clock watchers we fire are immediately victims of a no win sitch. Ben will be no different. ‘Not my fault, man’
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Lol. Well he might be right. No one has really won at MN in 25 years. That’s a lot more than a trend.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Lol. Well he might be right. No one has really won at MN in 25 years. That’s a lot more than a trend.
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I don't buy that it's impossible to win here, we just need the right coach to do it. And no one has won significantly in 25 years, but surely making the tournament 50% of the time is a realistic goal, because that was accomplished by a coach who was so bad we fired him for poor performance.
 



bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I don't buy that it's impossible to win here, we just need the right coach to do it. And no one has won significantly in 25 years, but surely making the tournament 50% of the time is a realistic goal, because that was accomplished by a coach who was so bad we fired him for poor performance.
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Yep. Over a decade and two coaches ago too. I never said it’s impossible, it’s not anywhere. But thinking MN is more than a bottom 4-5 b10 job is a dream.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Yep. Over a decade and two coaches ago too. I never said it’s impossible, it’s not anywhere. But thinking MN is more than a bottom 4-5 b10 job is a dream.
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Correct. But if you get 9th in the big ten every year you make the ncaa tourney 85% of the time lately.
So we should try to make it a bottom 6 job instead of a bottom 5 job
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Yep. Over a decade and two coaches ago too. I never said it’s impossible, it’s not anywhere. But thinking MN is more than a bottom 4-5 b10 job is a dream.
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If you would've told someone in 1995 that Wisconsin would develop into a quasi blue blood in the coming years, they'd have put you in the funny farm. Every job is what you make it.
 

Some guy said:
Correct. But if you get 9th in the big ten every year you make the ncaa tourney 85% of the time lately.
So we should try to make it a bottom 6 job instead of a bottom 5 job
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Bottom 8 not too far in the future.

Unless that means we're getting 10 in the tournament a year.
 



Gophers_4life said:
Bottom 8 not too far in the future.

Unless that means we're getting 10 in the tournament a year.
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When the big ten adds USC and UCLA the big ten will certainly be more likely to send more teams to the tournament. Not sure where the average year will settle out.

5-6 games go differently this year and the big ten could’ve sent 10-11 when the conference was just at 14 teams. Michigan, Rutgers, and Wisconsin all very close to making it


Win your non conference + go 8-10 in the big ten = automatic bubble at worst
 








howeda7 said:
Still can most likely.
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I would be shocked at this point, but also happy if wrong.

Says he likes Utah. Coyle wouldn’t even interview him, is what I understood.

Maybe he won’t consider it unless Coyle’s gone?
 


Caught a little of the start of Oregon at Utah after the Lions Bucs. Checked the score now and Utah won 80-77. Utah is now 14-5, for whatever it is worth.

iDAsL8S.png
 
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skiumah1 said:
I like watching both Smith and Dutcher teams, can’t help but cheer for them.
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Same here. If either team is on, I'm watching them. Smith plays a very watchable style. I'd pay admission just to watch his team rebound.
 

MplsGopher said:
Caught a little of the start of Oregon at Utah after the Lions Bucs. Checked the score now and Utah won 80-77. Utah is now 15-5, for whatever it is worth.

iDAsL8S.png
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The trajectory of his program has been great. Went from 122 in KenPom in 2022, to 75 last year and now they are 23 this year. Took over a program that hadn't made the tournament since 2016 and he'll get them there in year 3 most likely. They also won that game yesterday without 2 of their better players.
 

The problem is that if Ben Johnson fails, then Coyle failed. He will wear that black mark on his resume for the rest of his career. Having to admit he hired the wrong guy, as an AD, that's basically an admission of not being very good at his job. That and fundraising are the two most critical tasks of the AD position.
 

MplsGopher said:
The problem is that if Ben Johnson fails, then Coyle failed. He will wear that black mark on his resume for the rest of his career. Having to admit he hired the wrong guy, as an AD, that's basically an admission of not being very good at his job. That and fundraising are the two most critical tasks of the AD position.
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Hired the wrong guy on the men's side and the wrong women on the ladies side.
 





I'm 100% good with the hires Coyle made and potentially has to cut loose. Whalen was someone you couldn't say no to and he made the hard decision to cut her even though she brought in a really good class.

Johnson is more of a reach, but the team is getting better and we'll see where we are at the end of the year. Coyle will have options if a change is needed. Big opportunity for the Men tomorrow night.
 

MplsGopher said:
The problem is that if Ben Johnson fails, then Coyle failed. He will wear that black mark on his resume for the rest of his career. Having to admit he hired the wrong guy, as an AD, that's basically an admission of not being very good at his job. That and fundraising are the two most critical tasks of the AD position.
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I disagree about the permanent black mark and I would say that fundraising is more important than a spotless coach hiring record. For most universities, ADs are more like business managers than pro sports general managers. Failed coaches happen all over the place and Coyle's responsibilities include the entire athletic department, not just one team.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
I'm 100% good with the hires Coyle made and potentially has to cut loose. Whalen was someone you couldn't say no to and he made the hard decision to cut her even though she brought in a really good class.

Johnson is more of a reach, but the team is getting better and we'll see where we are at the end of the year. Coyle will have options if a change is needed. Big opportunity for the Men tomorrow night.
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With all due respect, how is Johnson more of a reach than Whalen?

Whalen, higher level of play as a player, No coaching background.
Johnson, not the level of play as Whalen does have asst. coaching experience.

Both are on par with one another and that is TERRIBLE reaches for both.
 

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