Why all the disappointment?

[Some guy]

I preface this by saying I will support Ben and hope he proves me wrong. If he is able to land some great transfers this offseason, and start off by recruiting our loaded MN class well next year, then I will become much more optimistic.

But to question why people are disappointed? Ben has one of the worst resume's to ever be hired by a Big Ten school, at least in the modern era.

Where has he been a part of a winning culture?

As a player, he was a part of historically bad Northwestern teams, and the Minnesota teams he played on were not much better.

As an assistant, he's been a part of mostly losing programs
Dayton: Was 14-17 the one season he was there.
Texas Pan- AM: 33-28 - Head coach was fired the year after he left.
UNI: 93-44 - This is the one winning program he was a part of. Made the NCAA his first 2 seasons, then regressed his other two.
Nebraska: 15-18 - Tim Miles first season.
Minnesota: 90-78 - Under Pitino, overall record was ok, conference record was 31-59.
Xavier: 51-37 overall, 23-27 in conference. No NCAA tournament appearances in 3 seasons. The last time Xavier went 3 seasons in a row without making the tournament: 1979-1982, nearly 40 years ago.

So how is he going to bring a winning culture here, when he rarely has been a part of one himself? He has been a part of more historically bad teams than winning teams.

If he had worked for Chris Mack at Xavier, or a Scott Drew, or a Tony Bennett, or a Jay Wright, then I feel much better about this hire. But he hasn't, and this is why it's so hard to be optimistic.

You don’t have to be a part of a winning culture to know what one looks like. Sometimes seeing a culture that produces mediocrity can be just as good of a teacher

 

[Gopher Teeth]

I have no idea if Ben Johnson will be successful or not, but in about 30 minutes of scanning this board, I didn't see mention of a fairly obvious upside - if this does work out, he will be harder to poach by another school because of his maroon-and-gold circulatory system. In this league you've got lifers for their school at MSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Purdue off the top of my head, and those fanbases do not worry much about their coach leaving.

How do you see him as a lifer? He didn’t come to Minnesota as a player originally and he left as a coach. If he were to be massively successful are you really sure he wouldn’t leave for an additional million?

 

[formerlybis]

How do you see him as a lifer? He didn’t come to Minnesota as a player originally and he left as a coach. If he were to be massively successful are you really sure he wouldn’t leave for an additional million?

Short answer to last question, yes, relatively sure.

You go away to get experience, both professionally and for personal growth. You come back home when you get the permanent job you want. If he's eventually able to recruit 4 and 5 stars nationally, then maybe he'd get a look from the blue bloods, but if his success comes with more local-ish talent (which seems the more likely scenario), that's going to be less attractive to those schools with the deep pockets. Plus, at that point, he would've become a valuable asset and the AD would give him a raise.

Never say never, though, and even MSU fans have to worry about Izzo fending off the NBA.