Thoughts on Teague/Ellis

[station19]

"Last July 1, Norwood Teague officially took over as athletic director at the University of Minnesota. Three weeks later, he hired basketball specialist Mike Ellis as an associate athletic director.

The tandem was mortified by what they saw from Tubby Smith’s basketball team over the bulk of the Big Ten schedule. The rumblings were strong for several weeks that Teague and Ellis would get rid of Smith. They did so with such rapidity that they forget to tell Tubby before the news leaked.

The turn down from Shaka Smart threw the hiring process out of whack for Teague and Ellis, but the tandem continues the effort to land a prominent name in coaching for the job.

What we have found out is there’s now an AD committed to taking the Gophers out of their second-division comfort zone in the big two sports, men’s basketball and football. Teague wants to compete seriously with the pros in this pro town."


**Note: The above is a Reusse article, mostly about the Twins. This is the only Gopher part. Just a heads up so my buddy Parski doesn't have to give Reusse a click.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/200737521.html?page=1&c=y

 

[scher215]

Not a bad statement. Not sure on the turned down by Shaka part, but overall he's right.

You may disagree with their tactics, but Teague and Ellis have one goal: making Minnesota elite.

If they succeed, great, if not it is goodbye.

I hate to break it to folks though, it sometimes takes more than 5 days for that to happen.

Relax my friends and be calm. Save your outrage for when we have a 5 win season in year 4. Not at the press conference, not after the name leaks, not after the first loss.

Relax and let things play out.

 

[Scoreboard]

Not a bad statement. Not sure on the turned down by Shaka part, but overall he's right.

You may disagree with their tactics, but Teague and Ellis have one goal: making Minnesota elite.

If they succeed, great, if not it is goodbye.

I hate to break it to folks though, it sometimes takes more than 5 days for that to happen.

Relax my friends and be calm. Save your outrage for when we have a 5 win season in year 4. Not at the press conference, not after the name leaks, not after the first loss.

Relax and let things play out.

I'm with you, if anything it is filled with excitement. What else am I supposed to do, I'm surrounded by mounds of snow and its late March in Minnesota. Teague and Ellis are supposed to be basketball experts and able to raise money for facilities, exactly what we need.

 

[minny01]

I'm with you, if anything it is filled with excitement. What else am I supposed to do, I'm surrounded by mounds of snow and its late March in Minnesota. Teague and Ellis are supposed to be basketball experts and able to raise money for facilities, exactly what we need.

I agree with you but Teague and Ellis are going to find out that Minneapolis is not like Richmond. Up here it is what have you done for me lately? If he wants to get the facilities upgraded, which is a priority, they had better get a head coach that will assist them in doing it. They had the candidate to do that but decided that he didn't meet their qualifications. I sure hope that their choice is as accepted as they believe he will be or else the fund raising will suffer and we will be another 5 years behind the rest of the conference.

 

[JohnnyL]

I had high hopes for Teague when he first came here. The payoff to North Carolina so we could drop them from our football schedule was really puzzling. North Carolina is usually pretty good, but they're not Alabama. Tubby's firing being leaked to the press before he knew he was fired and not keeping contact with the signed recruits seems really incompetent. If the reason Flip turned down the Gopher job was because he wouldn't let Flip's son be on the staff that will make things worse in my mind. Teague may yet sign some great coach, but for now I am skeptical.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

On the short term, Teague looks as lost as we thought Maturi was. Very disappointed in Teague so far.

 

[station19]

I had high hopes for Teague when he first came here. The payoff to North Carolina so we could drop them from our football schedule was really puzzling. North Carolina is usually pretty good, but they're not Alabama. Tubby's firing being leaked to the press before he knew he was fired and not keeping contact with the signed recruits seems really incompetent. If the reason Flip turned down the Gopher job was because he wouldn't let Flip's son be on the staff that will make things worse in my mind. Teague may yet sign some great coach, but for now I am skeptical.

If Flip wouldn't take the job because his son couldn't be on the staff that is worse in my mind.

 

[goldengophers]

If Flip wouldn't take the job because his son couldn't be on the staff that is worse in my mind.

Could've been more extensive than that or an omen of things to come for Flip in dealing with Teague.

 

[GopherJake]

Did Teague (and/or Kaler) also give Maturi a giant pile of taxpayer money to take trips to Asia and do pretty much nothing?

 

[station19]

Could've been more extensive than that or an omen of things to come for Flip in dealing with Teague.

Or things to come for Teague in dealing with Flip.

Notice how pretty much everyone automatically sides with Flip?

Reminds me of the national media saying 'who does Minnesota think they are?'(to fire Tubby).

 

[goldengophers]

Or things to come for Teague in dealing with Flip.

Notice how pretty much everyone automatically sides with Flip?

Reminds me of the national media saying 'who does Minnesota think they are?'(to fire Tubby).

Flip has the power, where do we turn now without an influx of cash? At VCU Teague had the power over young coaches without HC experience, that is not the case in the B1G. Also, we have nearly 20 years of a track record with Flip in which we've never heard of a power struggle being an issue.

 

[scher215]

Flip has the power, where do we turn now without an influx of cash? At VCU Teague had the power over young coaches without HC experience, that is not the case in the B1G. Also, we have nearly 20 years of a track record with Flip in which we've never heard of a power struggle being an issue.

You think Flip should have the power over his boss? Are you kidding?

 

[station19]

You think Flip should have the power over his boss? Are you kidding?

You got there before I did. A power coach that hasn't been in college coaching for 30 years. Just what we need.

 

[stocker08]

Flip has the power, where do we turn now without an influx of cash? At VCU Teague had the power over young coaches without HC experience, that is not the case in the B1G. Also, we have nearly 20 years of a track record with Flip in which we've never heard of a power struggle being an issue.

Ummmm.......flip is now a head coaching candidate. That 20 year track record you mention is completely insignificant now.

 

[scher215]

I laughed

@MattOConnellGI: Norwood Teague is having his best Easter ever. Eating jelly beans with his soon to be head coach, reading twitter, and laughing his ass off

 

[supadupafly]

I laughed

@MattOConnellGI: Norwood Teague is having his best Easter ever. Eating jelly beans with his soon to be head coach, reading twitter, and laughing his ass off

no kidding! if i was norwood teague and/or ellis i would be asking myself right now what in the hell is wrong with the minneapolis/st. paul media and a certain portion of this fan base.

 

[goldengophers]

You got there before I did. A power coach that hasn't been in college coaching for 30 years. Just what we need.

Hiring assistants is in the public job listing.

 

[mkAz]

It seems as though Teague and Ellis may have overestimated their pull within the college basketball community.

 

[Dr.Don]

You think Flip should have the power over his boss? Are you kidding?

This^^^ Absolutely the point of this whole thing. Naturally the common folk will want their choice for Coach, but there are lots of things to consider. This, to me, is the #1 thing.

 

[minny01]

This^^^ Absolutely the point of this whole thing. Naturally the common folk will want their choice for Coach, but there are lots of things to consider. This, to me, is the #1 thing.

If you do not allow your head coach the ability to name his staff, you will not get a name head coach to take the position. You may get a promising assistant, but not anyone that we have ever heard of. Good Luck Norwood in your fund raising efforts on the basketball practice facilities if that occurs.

 

[Iceland12]

So far Mr.Teague has gotten his Alma Mater $800,000 to not play two games. He signed-off on an extension to Tubby so Mr.Smith could get a few hundred thousand dollars more when Norwood left him go. He's brought a number of old cronies in from VCU and gotten them jobs over at the U. He either got turned down by his old buddy Shaka when he offered him the Gopher job or got Shaka an extension to 2023 at $1.5 million per year. Either way at least that one hasn't costed the U any money. The Coaches position here is still open. He may or may not have had other candidates turn him down. It's only been open for a very short time anyway.

He's also promised a major upgrade in donations and facilities and I certainly hope that's true. After all for a guy that's had the job for such a short time he's taken care of a LOT of people already.

 

[ethomasp31]

The main reason Flip would have been a great hire is because he immediately would have help fundraising and brought excitement back to the program. A Villa 7 coach isn't going to do that, and honestly no one outside of Shaka Smart would have done that. It's not that who we pick won't be a great coach long term, but it will be a lot harder for him right away. And for those of you who think next year will be bad...if we lose Ellis, it will be back to back recruiting classes with very little to show for it with little chance at getting any of the Big 3. I'm more optimistic about next year being similar to this year with a NCAA bid being a possibility IF we keep everyone and retain Ellis. The new coach has a lot of work to do and I felt Flip was the best choice, especially for the short term.

 

[station19]

The main reason Flip would have been a great hire is because he immediately would have help fundraising and brought excitement back to the program. A Villa 7 coach isn't going to do that, and honestly no one outside of Shaka Smart would have done that. It's not that who we pick won't be a great coach long term, but it will be a lot harder for him right away. And for those of you who think next year will be bad...if we lose Ellis, it will be back to back recruiting classes with very little to show for it with little chance at getting any of the Big 3. I'm more optimistic about next year being similar to this year with a NCAA bid being a possibility IF we keep everyone and retain Ellis. The new coach has a lot of work to do and I felt Flip was the best choice, especially for the short term.

Need to hire for the long term.

 

[ethomasp31]

Need to hire for the long term.

Someone who immediately brings excitement to the program and is a huge fundraising asset is the best thing for the long term success of the program. We have no idea if Flip will be more or less successful on the court at the U then any of these guys.

 

[minny01]

Need to hire for the long term.

The long term plan is to get a practice facility built. If you are not going to get a name coach or the person who the boosters would get behind, a shovel is not going in the ground for 3-5 years, and that is if the hire is successful. We will fall further and further behind the rest of the conference teams. With the absence of a big name hire, Flip was the best option to get the shovel in the ground and the fund raising in high gear. Now, we are in a wait and see situation which is not good.

 

[stocker08]

If you do not allow your head coach the ability to name his staff, you will not get a name head coach to take the position. You may get a promising assistant, but not anyone that we have ever heard of. Good Luck Norwood in your fund raising efforts on the basketball practice facilities if that occurs.

The reason fund raising is slow is due to the fact that Norwood is demanding donations in certain denominations.

 

[scher215]

The long term plan is to get a practice facility built. If you are not going to get a name coach or the person who the boosters would get behind, a shovel is not going in the ground for 3-5 years, and that is if the hire is successful. We will fall further and further behind the rest of the conference teams. With the absence of a big name hire, Flip was the best option to get the shovel in the ground and the fund raising in high gear. Now, we are in a wait and see situation which is not good.

So everyone spent the whole season complaining about Tubby. He was a terrible awful coach. We wanted him gone.

No practice facility? Just another lame excuse from Tubby. No excuses. No accepting mediocrity.

Now, we all just want a practice facility with no care over who the coach is. Heck, hire Clem back if he can raise the funds.

I don't get it.

(And FYI, I do actually get it. This has nothing to do with winning or losing or facilities. It is about everyone's love affair with Flip and nothing else)

 

[howieramone]

The long term plan is to get a practice facility built. If you are not going to get a name coach or the person who the boosters would get behind, a shovel is not going in the ground for 3-5 years, and that is if the hire is successful. We will fall further and further behind the rest of the conference teams. With the absence of a big name hire, Flip was the best option to get the shovel in the ground and the fund raising in high gear. Now, we are in a wait and see situation which is not good.

+1 I'm not looking for a long term solution. Get the shovel in the ground so we can at least show recruits the hole and pictures. The first step was well-timed, now we need to enter the arms race in a big way. I still believe we will get the neighborhood kid and the one from Grand Rapids the year after.

 

[CDH27]

I was impressed that Teague made the tough decision to release Tubby as he was not the long term solution. I have not been impressed at all with the search process. I will wait for the coach to be named before forming a final conclusion, but at this point I am not expecting the type of hire I thought we would be getting with Teague's supposed basketball connections.

 

[minny01]

So everyone spent the whole season complaining about Tubby. He was a terrible awful coach. We wanted him gone.

No practice facility? Just another lame excuse from Tubby. No excuses. No accepting mediocrity.

Now, we all just want a practice facility with no care over who the coach is. Heck, hire Clem back if he can raise the funds.

I don't get it.

(And FYI, I do actually get it. This has nothing to do with winning or losing or facilities. It is about everyone's love affair with Flip and nothing else)

No - you're wrong with that bold statement. It is not about a love affair with Flip. It is about what is doing what is best for the program. If we could have got Shaka, or Stevens, or some other big name coach, the fund raising would have picked up immediately and we could have started on the practice facility. It is now a given that a big name coach is not coming our way. We now have to fall back to plan B and that is a man who will bleed maroon and gold and do everything that he can to put the program back where it belongs. He can still coach, no one can question that. He still has a love for the game and could energize the boosters. He would give us a fighting chance at getting some portion of the big 3. I just hope that Norwood hasn't completely cut ties with him or it is going to be a long 2-3 years before we will know if he made a successful hire or if we are in this spot again, with no shovel in the ground.