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

Was firing Glen Mason the right call 12 years ago?

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Dano564

Dano564

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

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.
 

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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There was no plan. Mother Maturi just terminated and didnt have a list. He then hired a guy with 0 experience. Mind boggling.

Coyle however did the exact opposite. He had a plan, went for his 1st choice, and got him
 

The epic loss to Texas Tech was just too much. It was unfortunate that AD Maturi then epically failed to execute on the subsequent hire.

Although I've come to really enjoy post-coaching Glen Mason on the B1G Network and KFAN with Barreiro...HC Mason did not have an endearing personality, especially in the epic losses. This also contributed to the collapse in donor and and general fan support after THAT game.
 

I was very disappointed at the time... and Brewster obviously didn’t work out... but Kill/Claeys brought us back to decency... but I think Fleck can and will bring this program to new heights that I’m not sure Mason could have.
 


Thomasthetank said:
There was no plan. Mother Maturi just terminated and didnt have a list. He then hired a guy with 0 experience. Mind boggling.

Coyle however did the exact opposite. He had a plan, went for his 1st choice, and got him
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I still can't wrap my head around the Brewster hire and what a disasterous decision that was.
 

Knee jerk reaction to one 52-yard FG. Mason deserved a chance to coach in TCF.
 

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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I voted the same.
I think it was fine to fire, but the lesson learned was don't fire unless you have your guy in mind and there is a very reasonable level to believe he will be better.

Seeing what happened the last 12 years, I feel that if we kept Glen, maybe we would have peaked up another one or two years to win a Big Ten West.
At the time I think Glen had a lower rated class coming in, so it was looking like we might dip down, but I think that was short sighted opinion by me.
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
I was very disappointed at the time... and Brewster obviously didn’t work out... but Kill/Claeys brought us back to decency... but I think Fleck can and will bring this program to new heights that I’m not sure Mason could have.
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I believe Beating sconny the way he did is just the start
 



BilldGopher said:
The epic loss to Texas Tech was just too much. It was unfortunate that AD Maturi then epically failed to execute on the subsequent hire.

Although I've come to really enjoy post-coaching Glen Mason on the B1G Network and KFAN with Barreiro...HC Mason did not have an endearing personality, especially in the epic losses. This also contributed to the collapse in donor and and general fan support after THAT game.
Click to expand...

This criticism of Glen is shared widely.

He actually turned out to be a good guy as most like him on the radio, but as coach, he was more Denny Green like. Combative, defensive, closed off, with a touch of arrogance.
 

Box score:

Quarter 1 2 3 4 OT Total

Texas Tech 0 7 7 24 6 44
Minnesota 14 21 3 0 3 41

I always thought it was the total 24 points in the 4th quarter...the TDs and the FG...that had the greater impact psychologically.

Regardless, agree the Coach Mase deserved a shot at coaching in an on-campus stadium. He started banging on that drum very early in his tenure.
 

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.
Click to expand...

You fire a coach becaus you THINK you can go up. That’s what happened. Nobody knows for certain what will happen.
 

BilldGopher said:
Box score:

Quarter 1 2 3 4 OT Total

Texas Tech 0 7 7 24 6 44
Minnesota 14 21 3 0 3 41

I always thought it was the total 24 points in the 4th quarter...the TDs and the FG...that had the greater impact psychologically.

Regardless, agree the Coach Mase deserved a shot at coaching in an on-campus stadium. He started banging on that drum very early in his tenure.
Click to expand...

Maybe he should’ve taken a job at a place that already had an on campus stadium. Mason had to go if we wanted to take another step. A stadium was not going somehow magically make Mason a better coach.
 



GopherVotary said:
Knee jerk reaction to one 52-yard FG. Mason deserved a chance to coach in TCF.
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A missed field goal is not even close to the reason he was fired. Mason didn't deserve a chance to coach in TCF and here is why:

1. 32 -48 Big Ten record.

2. Sub-standard recruiting classes that were getting worse the longer he was here.

3. Below average game day coaching decisions resulting in too many blown 2nd-half leads.

4. Poor relationship with Minnesota high school coaches.

5. Bad relationship with Gopher fans that reached its low point when Mason called students who were booing him a bunch of drunks.

6. Mason's attitude and demeanor were a clear message to Gopher fans that his teams would never be able to compete for Big 10 championships and go to Rose Bowls.
 
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The epic Texas Tech melt down caused a knee jerk reaction to fire Mason IMHO. Heck, I was calling for his head too after watching that game.

Maturi and the Administration failed to provide money to Mason to hire and retain good coaches. Mason should have fired his DC the year before and he should been given the money to attract a good replacement.

All this insight. The BOR, Maturi, and the Administration became so gullible to a soothsayer in Brewster. He sold the idea that he can recruit. They forgot one thing - he couldn't coach. He never was a head coach or had run a fooseball program. A talker who said all the right things everybody wants to hear like a anti-establishment politician (a demagogue). :blah::blah::blah:
 
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It was the right decision. Mason had lost the fan base, and had a painful history of horrible losses the Texas Tech game was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

The Brewster hire was a tremendous screw up though.
 

BilldGopher said:
The epic loss to Texas Tech was just too much. It was unfortunate that AD Maturi then epically failed to execute on the subsequent hire.

Although I've come to really enjoy post-coaching Glen Mason on the B1G Network and KFAN with Barreiro...HC Mason did not have an endearing personality, especially in the epic losses. This also contributed to the collapse in donor and and general fan support after THAT game.
Click to expand...
+1 basically what I was going to say

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk
 

wdgold said:
I still can't wrap my head around the Brewster hire and what a disasterous decision that was.
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The Brewster hire was nowhere near the disaster that happened when Nortre Dame hired Gerry Faust after Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine, and when Alabama hired Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Shula before Nick Saban.
 

Cruze said:
The Brewster hire was nowhere near the disaster that happened when Nortre Dame hired Gerry Faust after Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine, and when Alabama hired Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Shula before Nick Saban.
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And Minnesota is nowhere near the program either of those two are, they can endure a disaster hire better because of the intense fan support and $$$$$.
 

It was time for Mason to go. Fans in general had become disenchanted, and the students chanted "fire Mason" at every home game. His problem was that he couldn't recruit defense. The spring after he was fired Dominic Jones and other defensive players were suspended and ultimately left the program, hurting the defense even more in 2007. At the same time, the offense was rebuilding. If Mason hadn't been fired after the 2006 season, it would've happened after the 2007 season, which was going to be painful no matter who was the coach.

Part of me wishes he had a chance to coach in and recruit to the new stadium. But he was never going to make it that long.
 

Even with the multiple epic meltdowns that happened in the Mason years that injured my fan psyche permanently (some unlucky, some deserved), I truly respected Mason for returning the team to respectability from the dumpster fire it was. He was an OT loss against WI in 1999 and a close epic loss against MI in 2003 away from tieing for the Big Ten championship. I was hoping he'd get a chance to coach at TCF, which he helped build. That said, after his firing, I was optimistic that the program had improved enough to attract a top coach.....then we all know what happened.
 

Ski U Master said:
And Minnesota is nowhere near the program either of those two are, they can endure a disaster hire better because of the intense fan support and $$$$$.
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Disaster hires happen regularly in all sports and at all levels. Alabama made three bad hires in a row. The Gophers only made one bad hire and two good ones after Mason. Gopher fans need to stop obsessing about Brewster and move on with their lives. The future for Gopher football looks very promising.
 
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After that implosion I did want Mason fired that was the mother of all implosions. Now hiring Brewster was a mistake and a bad one. I’m sure people on this board loved Brewster's line about going to the Rose Bowl cause I did for about a minute. Should have tried to replace Mason with someone who had more of a resume and a winning record.
 

At the time I was in favor of the firing. I thought in 10-years we saw what Mason could deliver and we should want more. I think I might of underestimated what Mase accomplished, but I also think Kill could have and Fleck will be able to surpass Mason - so in the end, after one (major) misstep it was the right thing to do.

On a selfish side, I also love the Mason when on KFAN with DB. It doesn’t get much better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Face The Facts said:
I voted the same.
I think it was fine to fire, but the lesson learned was don't fire unless you have your guy in mind and there is a very reasonable level to believe he will be better.

Seeing what happened the last 12 years, I feel that if we kept Glen, maybe we would have peaked up another one or two years to win a Big Ten West.
At the time I think Glen had a lower rated class coming in, so it was looking like we might dip down, but I think that was short sighted opinion by me.
Click to expand...

Glen did not care about player ratings, he recruited to their needs with players that fit his philosophy then the staff developed and coached them up. I think had he stayed, Gophs win performance would have been somewhere between NW and Wisc over the past 12 years.
 


jdoif0304 said:
After that implosion I did want Mason fired that was the mother of all implosions. Now hiring Brewster was a mistake and a bad one. I’m sure people on this board loved Brewster's line about going to the Rose Bowl cause I did for about a minute.
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Brewster had most Gopher fans believing he was going to take us to the Rose Bowl at least until the 9th game of his second season. The Gophers were 7 -1 at that point with their only loss being Ohio State.
 

Face The Facts said:
This criticism of Glen is shared widely.

He actually turned out to be a good guy as most like him on the radio, but as coach, he was more Denny Green like. Combative, defensive, closed off, with a touch of arrogance.
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I have told this story several times, one of my best friends, a fairly well known restaurant owner in Minneapolis, has only asked one person to leave one of his restaurants because of unruly behavior and that was Glen Mason. He had a really big, do you know who I am attitude.
 

If Mason had lost to NDSU in 2006, would he have been fired after that game?
 

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