Zulgad: On the way out? Gophers’ latest meltdown could cost Richard Pitino his job

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Judd:

The Gophers are 13-14 overall and 7-10 in the conference and one has to wonder if Pitino is running out of time as well. That’s a question only Coyle knows the answer to at this point. Pitino agreed to a two-year contract extension last April after guiding the Gophers to an NCAA tournament win over Louisville in the first round.

His annual salary was increased to $2 million, up from about $1.7 million in 2018-19, and his contract now runs through the 2023-24 season. The buyout on Pitino’s contract after this season would be $2 million. That figure decreases to $1.75 million before April 30, 2021, and $1.5 million before April 30, 2022.

Pitino, 37, is in his seventh season as the Gophers coach and has been to the NCAA tournament twice. But he also is 47-80 in Big Ten games and the past three conference losses have been difficult for everyone, including Coyle, to take.

“When you’re in this profession, you think about your team, you think about your family, you try to stay confident,” Pitino said when asked whether he was concerned about his job. “Any time you lose close games, you’ve got to evaluate every single game. But I’m very, very confident what we’re doing here. I think our guys are really good kids and getting better. We can’t worry about that. We’ve got to move onto the next one.”

But how many more “next ones” Pitino has left as the Gophers coach has to be in serious question.

www.skornorth.com

Zulgad: On the way out? Gophers’ latest meltdown could cost Richard Pitino his job

MINNEAPOLIS -- One had to wonder what was going through the mind of Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle on Wednesday night as he listened to his men's basketball coach, Richard Pitino, try to explain his team's latest devastating defeat at Williams Arena. The Gophers had somehow managed to turn...
www.skornorth.com www.skornorth.com

Go Gophers!!
 


He’s been paid an extraordinary amount per conference win.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I hope the AD is less reactionary than gopher hole and the local media. This loss should not be why he is fired and winning should not have saved his job. His entire body of work should be looked at and then he should be fired.
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Is anyone here really arguing otherwise?
 



I think you have to look at his body of work, look at where the team is today and where it will be next year. Then look at the attendance - how is that doing? This team lacks talent and it has no bench. It has two good players, one of which will undoubtedly leave at the end of the year. Attendance has sagged under 10K - are you going to let it fall down to the hockey team levels before you make a move? I don't think the team has a true direction and it continually fails in the clutch. This is after seven years of mediocrity this program has not seen in over 50 years. This would be an excellent time to bring in some new blood as I think if you let Pitino stay another year the team goes nowhere and it's just wasted time.
 

As long as Pitino is the coach I will continue to support him and the team. If the AD makes a change that is his decision. My position is I would see what he can do next year since we are a young team this year and it seems like we have some nice recruits coming in. I have no desire to see a change at this point.
 

jblass said:
As long as Pitino is the coach I will continue to support him and the team. If the AD makes a change that is his decision. My position is I would see what he can do next year since we are a young team this year and it seems like we have some nice recruits coming in. I have no desire to see a change at this point.
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If you give him next year, you almost have to give him the following year. We're going to be really bad next year when Oturu leaves. Bringing him back and then firing him because we're bad next year seems disingenuous and a waste of time.

We need to make the move this offseason.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
If you give him next year, you almost have to give him the following year. We're going to be really bad next year when Oturu leaves. Bringing him back and then firing him because we're bad next year seems disingenuous and a waste of time.

We need to make the move this offseason.
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They should have made the move a year ago, at least. Waiting is a monumental waste of time.
 



USAF said:
They should have made the move a year ago, at least. Waiting is a monumental waste of time.
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It's hard to fire a coach who just made the 2nd round of the tournament. Especially twice in a row. I was on board with it when we were 7-10 last year, but we rallied and we pretty much had to keep him. I guess that could still happen again, but it's not likely at this point.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
The headline literally says the latest meltdown could cost him his job. The latest meltdown is not the issue.
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No matter how broad your decision, there's always a tipping point. And no AD wants to admit they base a decision on one game, but if Tubby makes the Sweet 16 in 2013, do we still fire him anyway? I doubt it. I'm sure Norwood decided early in the season he wanted to make a change. But you can't control the other circumstances. Coyle might really like Richard and want to give him more time, but he can't afford 6,000 average attendance next yaer.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I hope the AD is less reactionary than gopher hole and the local media. This loss should not be why he is fired and winning should not have saved his job. His entire body of work should be looked at and then he should be fired.
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Did you read the article, it lays out Pitino’s body of work and gives the rational for firing him. Everybody seems to think we all are mad at one game. Most of us who want him gone site the same rational. He’s had 7 years it’s time.
 

THe headline is meant to grab your attention. Most writers don’t even write their own.
 





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