Twelve Years Later - Was firing Glen Mason the right call?

Was firing Glen Mason the right call 12 years ago?

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MennoSota said:
Gopher sports has been one big knee jerk reaction, both positive and negative. Can there be a bigger fan-base than Minnesota that reacts in such epic knee jerk fashion?
No, Mason should not have been fired. Hind sight tells us the firing was disastrous for the program. We still haven't recovered. This is because...we are still a knee jerk reaction program. Perhaps it's just the Minnesota way...
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You are very naive to think just one incident (knee jerk) is the sole source for all of these coaching changes. All of the changes were building over time and many of the "one off" incidents just marked the point when the changes were made. And yes, it was time for Mason to go and we are both better off for it.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I said I thought yes then but I was wrong. Brewster was definitely a step backward. One refrain I have often heard was "firing Mason was the right move, hiring Brewster was the mistake." I dont think it is fair to separate the two. You fire a coach to replace them with someone better. If you are unable to either identify someone who actually is better or convince that person to come, then it was a failed firing/hiring. You dont fire a coach to go backwards, or even to stay where you are. You fire a coach because you think you can go up. If the new coach isn't better than the fired coach, then it was a bad decision.
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It is fare to separate the two. You do fire the coach with the expectations of making it better, but you don't always know who the replacement will be. I think PJ was the target before Claeys was fired, but with Mason they intended to hire a coach with more upside. Unfortunately it didn't work out.
 


alchemy2u said:
It is fare to separate the two. You do fire the coach with the expectations of making it better, but you don't always know who the replacement will be. I think PJ was the target before Claeys was fired, but with Mason they intended to hire a coach with more upside. Unfortunately it didn't work out.
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It's two sides of the same coin. If you get rid of coach A to get coach B, and coach B is an upgrade, you made a good move. If coach B is a downgrade, you made a bad move, even if you hoped you could get Nick Saban.
 

Mason had worn out his welcome, he had a bad relationship with media, athletic department, local coaches....it was time for him to go. They wanted to do it at the end of the season and then the team rallied over the final 3 weeks to make a bowl.

The Glen Mason of today would have been an awesome coach to have around but the guy who we fired was ready to go.
 


Mason is the best coach we’ve had in my lifetime, but the answer is yes. The epic meltdowns and subsequent apathetic response were too much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Mason should’ve been fired before the bowl game.
If NDSU would’ve made a field goal the whole course of gopher football would be different. We would have fired mason in mid November and actually had time to make a decent hire.


Once they chose not to fire at the end of the regular season, they shouldn’t have.



So my answer is:
He should’ve been fired earlier.
But once he didn’t, they should’ve waited another year.
 

Just gonna re-post a comment I made in an earlier thread:

When Mason took over the program, the Gophers hadn't won more than 4 games in a season for six straight years. They hadn't been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 11 years, and hadn't been to a bowl game in 10 years.

Under Mason, they cracked the Top 25 six out of seven years from (1999 to 2005), reaching as high as 12th. He had 'em in bowl games seven out of eight years (1999 to 2006). Yes, bowl games got easier to come by ... but Top 25 rankings didn't.

In the 12 years since he was fired, the Gophers have been ranked in the Top 25 just twice -- in 2008 (under Brewster, and probably utilizing a lot of the talent Mason attracted) and in 2014 under Kill.

You need to go back to the 1950s and '60s to find a sustained run of success at Minnesota like Mason had. So yeah, for anybody who wasn't born yesterday, the Mason era is the closest thing to the "good old days" for the last two generations of Gopher fans.

Yes, the meltdowns were a thing. Yes, many people found Coach Mason as annoying as he found them (completely different personality today). Yes, the recruiting classes were nothing to brag about. Other than that, he won ... when that was much, much more of a rare occurrence than it has been lately.

You can tell me you didn't/don't like him, but don't try to tell me he was unsuccessful as a U of M football coach. And before you even try, go back and read the first two paragraphs in bold. When he got here, the cupboard wasn't just empty. It had fallen off the wall. And in a short time he had the team popping into the Top 25 on an annual basis.

JTG
 
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I don’t think we ever saw what Mason could’ve been with the on campus stadium and with the appropriate financial support. That said, it felt like a marriage where the couple was sleeping in separate bedrooms.
 



My thoughts exactly. I would have liked to see Mason's team at TCF, and then then let him retire and then hire Kill. Gopher
Football would have been a lot more successful over the years.
 

rockford said:
Just gonna re-post a comment I made in an earlier thread:

When Mason took over the program, the Gophers hadn't won more than 4 games in a season for six straight years. They hadn't been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 11 years, and hadn't been to a bowl game in 10 years.

Under Mason, they cracked the Top 25 six out of seven years from (1999 to 2005), reaching as high as 12th. He had 'em in bowl games seven out of eight years (1999 to 2006). Yes, bowl games got easier to come by ... but Top 25 rankings didn't.

In the 12 years since he was fired, the Gophers have been ranked in the Top 25 just twice -- in 2008 (under Brewster, and probably utilizing a lot of the talent Mason attracted) and in 2014 under Kill.

You need to go back to the 1950s and '60s to find a sustained run of success at Minnesota like Mason had. So yeah, for anybody who wasn't born yesterday, the Mason era is the closest thing to the "good old days" for the last two generations of Gopher fans.

Yes, the meltdowns were a thing. Yes, many people found Coach Mason as annoying as he found them (completely different personality today). Yes, the recruiting classes were nothing to brag about. Other than that, he won ... when that was much, much more of a rare occurrence than it has been lately.

You can tell me you didn't/don't like him, but don't try to tell me he was unsuccessful as a U of M football coach. And before you even try, go back and read the first two paragraphs in bold. When he got here, the cupboard wasn't just empty. It had fallen off the wall. And in a short time he had the team popping into the Top 25 on an annual basis.

JTG
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Well stated. I get a kick out of the “firing Mason was the right thing to do, it’s just the hiring of Brewster that was the problem” crowd. It’s like saying “selling Apple wasn’t wrong, it’s just that we should have bought Amazon instead of Circuit City with the proceeds”.
 

badgergopher said:
Well stated. I get a kick out of the “firing Mason was the right thing to do, it’s just the hiring of Brewster that was the problem” crowd. It’s like saying “selling Apple wasn’t wrong, it’s just that we should have bought Amazon instead of Circuit City with the proceeds”.
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We did not have Amazon money.... or leadership.....
 

I didn't vote, because the correct option isn't listed among the choices. The correct answer is simply "Yes" with no qualifiers.
 




rockford said:
Just gonna re-post a comment I made in an earlier thread:

When Mason took over the program, the Gophers hadn't won more than 4 games in a season for six straight years. They hadn't been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 11 years, and hadn't been to a bowl game in 10 years.

Under Mason, they cracked the Top 25 six out of seven years from (1999 to 2005), reaching as high as 12th. He had 'em in bowl games seven out of eight years (1999 to 2006). Yes, bowl games got easier to come by ... but Top 25 rankings didn't.

In the 12 years since he was fired, the Gophers have been ranked in the Top 25 just twice -- in 2008 (under Brewster, and probably utilizing a lot of the talent Mason attracted) and in 2014 under Kill.

You need to go back to the 1950s and '60s to find a sustained run of success at Minnesota like Mason had. So yeah, for anybody who wasn't born yesterday, the Mason era is the closest thing to the "good old days" for the last two generations of Gopher fans.

Yes, the meltdowns were a thing. Yes, many people found Coach Mason as annoying as he found them (completely different personality today). Yes, the recruiting classes were nothing to brag about. Other than that, he won ... when that was much, much more of a rare occurrence than it has been lately.

You can tell me you didn't/don't like him, but don't try to tell me he was unsuccessful as a U of M football coach. And before you even try, go back and read the first two paragraphs in bold. When he got here, the cupboard wasn't just empty. It had fallen off the wall. And in a short time he had the team popping into the Top 25 on an annual basis.

JTG
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Lol popping into the top 25 on an annual basis. He finished top 25 twice. Beating 4 patsies and a bottom tier B1G team to sneak into the top 25 for a week doesn't impress me.
 

rockford said:
Just gonna re-post a comment I made in an earlier thread:

When Mason took over the program, the Gophers hadn't won more than 4 games in a season for six straight years. They hadn't been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 11 years, and hadn't been to a bowl game in 10 years.

Under Mason, they cracked the Top 25 six out of seven years from (1999 to 2005), reaching as high as 12th. He had 'em in bowl games seven out of eight years (1999 to 2006). Yes, bowl games got easier to come by ... but Top 25 rankings didn't.

In the 12 years since he was fired, the Gophers have been ranked in the Top 25 just twice -- in 2008 (under Brewster, and probably utilizing a lot of the talent Mason attracted) and in 2014 under Kill.

You need to go back to the 1950s and '60s to find a sustained run of success at Minnesota like Mason had. So yeah, for anybody who wasn't born yesterday, the Mason era is the closest thing to the "good old days" for the last two generations of Gopher fans.

Yes, the meltdowns were a thing. Yes, many people found Coach Mason as annoying as he found them (completely different personality today). Yes, the recruiting classes were nothing to brag about. Other than that, he won ... when that was much, much more of a rare occurrence than it has been lately.

You can tell me you didn't/don't like him, but don't try to tell me he was unsuccessful as a U of M football coach. And before you even try, go back and read the first two paragraphs in bold. When he got here, the cupboard wasn't just empty. It had fallen off the wall. And in a short time he had the team popping into the Top 25 on an annual basis.

JTG
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I think everyone acknowledges the successes of Mason, the pro Mason guys seem to think that Mason was A) Either capable of producing better results or B) Were satisfied with the results he was producing. The anti Mason guys appreciate what Mason did, but A) don't think he was capable of better results and/or B) Were not satisfied with the results he was producing.
 

Mason did improve the program, but he had plateaued. It is funny that you have many of the same people complaining that we fired Mason and then they want to fire the current coaches.


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alchemy2u said:
Mason did improve the program, but he had plateaued. It is funny that you have many of the same people complaining that we fired Mason and then they want to fire the current coaches.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Who wants to fire the current coaches? One or two trolls? Also, I don't think suggesting that it was unwise to fire Mason to get to Brewster is particularly controversial.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
Who wants to fire the current coaches? One or two trolls? Also, I don't think suggesting that it was unwise to fire Mason to get to Brewster is particularly controversial.
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It's not, but the question wasn't was firing Mason and hiring Brewster the right call, it was simply was firing Mason the right call.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
Who wants to fire the current coaches? One or two trolls? Also, I don't think suggesting that it was unwise to fire Mason to get to Brewster is particularly controversial.
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I think there are about 5-6 trolls that turn many threads into a hate fest about the current coaches.


It was not a package deal. They fired the current coach who had peaked and didn't feel he could go higher (unless he changed schools) and then they hired a good "recruiter" and obviously a good talker.

At the time, and in hindsight, I think it was time to move on from Mason. At the time I did buy some of the fish oil and thought is was a good call to hire Brewster, but in hindsight it obviously was not. i would have preferred many others over Brew, but it looked like he had potential which turned into smoke and mirrors.
 

badgergopher said:
Well stated. I get a kick out of the “firing Mason was the right thing to do, it’s just the hiring of Brewster that was the problem” crowd. It’s like saying “selling Apple wasn’t wrong, it’s just that we should have bought Amazon instead of Circuit City with the proceeds”.
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A better comparison is owning a company and having a salesman fall short of their sales goals most years so you replace them with someone who does worse. It's two separate decisions. Because Brewster was a bad hire doesn't mean there weren't good coaches they could have hired. Just means you need to get better at deciding who to hire.

The Gophers win this year over Fresno St will be the first one over a team that finishes in the Top 25 since 1999.
 

The Gopher football team has had a record of 68 wins and 82 losses since Mason was fired.

Mason had a record of 62-57 and he still apparently has a lot of energy, and passion for football so I suspect he would have done better than 68-82 had he been kept with the TCF and the Village to recruit to. Mason knew how to to get the running game going an that equated to winning most games where Minnesota had more talent, most by 30-40 points.

If Mason had been given the budgets of Kill and PJ he would have done even better, with the staff on the D side.

The only answer is that the program would have been better off keeping Mason. the results spoke clearly, it does not matter what I think. The intent of Maturi and others have no role in this. (Sh*t in one hand and wish in the other.. .., if wishes and buts were candy and nuts....") results matter

If PJF can blow this out of the water is a different discussion.
 
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GophersInIowa said:
The Gophers win this year over Fresno St will be the first one over a team that finishes in the Top 25 since 1999.
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That is a poor metric for success.

This year’s Gopher team is 6-6 and may finish with a win against a top 25 team.

2006 and 2017 Wisconsin were 12-1 and 13-1 respectively with one win each against a team that finished in the top 25.

Ten seasons in a row of the former empties the stadium and gets you canned.

Ten seasons of the latter fills the stadium and gets you a bronze statue out front.

Wins against season ending top 25 teams is not a good way to measure success.
 

His teams won 5 trophy games in 12 years. As noted elsewhere, 32-48 in league play. Not mentioned yet was that his best conference finish was T-6, and his teams lost the regular season finale every year of his tenure until his last year vs. Iowa. Also, the average score of his games in Madison and Iowa City was something like 17-38 with a bunch of real stinkers. That average includes the one win, at IC in 1999.

His teams had so many horrific collapses that bowl game meltdowns vs NC State and Virginia don't even move the meter.

Yes, his time was up.

It was also pretty obvious that Bob Bruininks ordered the sacking on the way home from Phoenix. Maturi wasn't going to do it himself.

There were many members of this forum who were at Joe Sensor's in Roseville watching the game. After the offense sputtered on the second series of 3Q, at least three of us who were seated together all looked at each other and said at the same time "38 points isn't enough."
 

GopherRock said:
... Yes, his time was up. It was also pretty obvious that Bob Bruininks ordered the sacking on the way home from Phoenix. Maturi wasn't going to do it himself. ...
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This should be stated one more time. The available evidence indicates that President Bruininks ordered Maturi to fire Mason. It was reported by several different media sources that Bruininks went down to the locker room with Maturi after the game and became upset to find Mason laughing and joking around. The reports indicated that Bruinkinks told Maturi to fire Mason after they left the locker room.

That gave Maturi only two or three weeks to hire a new coach and Brewster only two or three weeks to hire a coaching staff and to try to salvage what was left of Mason's recruiting class. At some point during the short hiring process Maturi became convinced he needed to hire the best recruiter he could find and that was Brewster.
 
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GopherRock said:
His teams won 5 trophy games in 12 years. As noted elsewhere, 32-48 in league play. Not mentioned yet was that his best conference finish was T-6, and his teams lost the regular season finale every year of his tenure until his last year vs. Iowa.
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Mason was the Gophers coach 10 years, not 12. We finished tied for 4th in the conference in 1999 and 2003. He won Floyd 4 times, the Axe twice, and the Jug once. He also won the regular season finale each year 1998 through 2001.
 

GopherVotary said:
Mason was the Gophers coach 10 years, not 12. We finished tied for 4th in the conference in 1999 and 2003. He won Floyd 4 times, the Axe twice, and the Jug once. He also won the regular season finale each year 1998 through 2001.
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And how many Governor's Victory Bells?
 

50PoundHead said:
People tend to forget that we were a fingernail away from losing that game. Lose that game and there's no bowl collapse because there's no bowl.
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And NDSU of 2006 wasn't the NDSU of 2018. They were still good, but were playing lower FCS teams in the Great West. In fact, it was only their 3rd or 4th season removed from D2.
 

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