10 most interesting options to replace Richard Pitino

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Go Gophs said:
I just want a coach that teaches defense, rebounding, ball movement, toughness and team play.

I don't care who they are. The only way to win here is to play above your talent level. Be honest with yourself, Minnesota will never recruit higher than 5-7th in the conference and it won't matter what coach they have. It's just the truth.

That could change with a good run of success, but expecting to get anyone to come in here and get top recruits is a pipe dream. Whoever takes this job has to know that they must win with less talent than half of the teams in the conference.
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If they never will recruit higher than that, it must mean they never have in the past either. Is that what you're claiming?
 

cjbfbp said:
Sounds like my comment about Pitino hit a little too close to home for you. Not surprising.
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Probably more likely the fact you just are uninformed. For example: Pitino got the job at FIU after Isaiah Thomas trashed the program. The program was trashed. Left for dead. Bad PR. The school hadn’t had a winning season in a dozen years. All but like one scholarship player had departed. Pitino pieced things together, had a winning season and missed the NCAA tournament by a couple points in the championship game. That’s not nuthin’
 

MplsGopher said:
You're not wrong. If they're interested in us. Just saying, it is valid to speculate that someone from here may actually have more interest.
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What was Musselman's connection to Arkansas? Oats' to Alabama? Serious question. People do move to unfamiliar areas to take promotions.
 




Does anybody actually think Musselman would leave Arkansas? He's been there two years and seems to have a ton of positive momentum already. The only advantage Minnesota might have over Arkansas is conference affiliation and its not like the SEC is some mid-major league.

I'm intrigued by Dutcher (partly because it feels as though he may be gettable) because of what he's done with SDSU since taking over for Fisher. His teams have been maleable, they play good defense, and guys actually get better while there. Is it easier to recruit to San Diego than Minneapolis? Probably. But I'm sure he'd be a better coach than the one we've had.

Are there any coaches at high major levels that would make sense who are potentially looking to get out before getting fired that might be better fits here? Not that I'd love it, but a guy like Crean has been a good coach at multiple schools in the midwest (yeah he's a goof but his teams are usually decent). Just spitballing on that name but are there guys that fit that type of mold that would make sense? Will be curious to see the direction Coyle takes this because I don't know what basketball coaches he's connected to (aside from Leon Rice at Boise).
 

Biggsohnasty said:
Does anybody actually think Musselman would leave Arkansas? He's been there two years and seems to have a ton of positive momentum already. The only advantage Minnesota might have over Arkansas is conference affiliation and its not like the SEC is some mid-major league.

I'm intrigued by Dutcher (partly because it feels as though he may be gettable) because of what he's done with SDSU since taking over for Fisher. His teams have been maleable, they play good defense, and guys actually get better while there. Is it easier to recruit to San Diego than Minneapolis? Probably. But I'm sure he'd be a better coach than the one we've had.

Are there any coaches at high major levels that would make sense who are potentially looking to get out before getting fired that might be better fits here? Not that I'd love it, but a guy like Crean has been a good coach at multiple schools in the midwest (yeah he's a goof but his teams are usually decent). Just spitballing on that name but are there guys that fit that type of mold that would make sense? Will be curious to see the direction Coyle takes this because I don't know what basketball coaches he's connected to (aside from Leon Rice at Boise).
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I don't think we have a chance, I think it'll come down to one of the following:

Gates
Medved
Ben Jacobson - I've seen a few people talk like that ship has sailed. It's an odd stance to me. He's been consistently good for years. They won the Missouri Valley in 2020. He has connections in MN (they recruit MN well). People talk about him like he's ancient and he's 3 years older than Medved.
Craig Smith

Any chance the U considers Gregg Marshall?
 

60's Guy said:
Probably more likely the fact you just are uninformed. For example: Pitino got the job at FIU after Isaiah Thomas trashed the program. The program was trashed. Left for dead. Bad PR. The school hadn’t had a winning season in a dozen years. All but like one scholarship player had departed. Pitino pieced things together, had a winning season and missed the NCAA tournament by a couple points in the championship game. That’s not nuthin’
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From what I know of the FIU situation prior to Pitino’s arrival there, his one season stint seems kind of miraculous. It disappoints me to see it so often reduced to “One year of head coaching experience, 18-14 record, meh. He was hired for his name and nothing else.” It was a 10 win improvement over the previous year, and is still like the third best winning percentage FIU basketball has had in their ~35 years of existence.

Dennis Gates seems like a similar hire as far as showing promise and positive momentum in a short time as a head coach, granted he did have the Florida State assistant position for a long time.

Florida State recruits pretty well and seems to get a 5 star or two every few years. Anyone know if Gates was known as a strong recruiter for them?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think we have a chance, I think it'll come down to one of the following:

Gates
Medved
Ben Jacobson - I've seen a few people talk like that ship has sailed. It's an odd stance to me. He's been consistently good for years. They won the Missouri Valley in 2020. He has connections in MN (they recruit MN well). People talk about him like he's ancient and he's 3 years older than Medved.
Craig Smith

Any chance the U considers Gregg Marshall?
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Gregg Marshall? If I were you I’d edit that!

My choice is any coach who can convince Chet to stay for one year.
 



SoMpls said:
Gregg Marshall? If I were you I’d edit that!

My choice is any coach who can convince Chet to stay for one year.
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Get-able or not, Musselman would have the best chance of everyone mentioned to snag someone like Holmgren, just because of his dynamic personality (not to mention his coaching track record).
 

Biggsohnasty said:
Does anybody actually think Musselman would leave Arkansas? He's been there two years and seems to have a ton of positive momentum already. The only advantage Minnesota might have over Arkansas is conference affiliation and its not like the SEC is some mid-major league.

I'm intrigued by Dutcher (partly because it feels as though he may be gettable) because of what he's done with SDSU since taking over for Fisher. His teams have been maleable, they play good defense, and guys actually get better while there. Is it easier to recruit to San Diego than Minneapolis? Probably. But I'm sure he'd be a better coach than the one we've had.

Are there any coaches at high major levels that would make sense who are potentially looking to get out before getting fired that might be better fits here? Not that I'd love it, but a guy like Crean has been a good coach at multiple schools in the midwest (yeah he's a goof but his teams are usually decent). Just spitballing on that name but are there guys that fit that type of mold that would make sense? Will be curious to see the direction Coyle takes this because I don't know what basketball coaches he's connected to (aside from Leon Rice at Boise).
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No doubt that Dutch would be a better coach than what we had. However, I'm not high on him because we don't need a coach that has an old connection to the U. Dutch has also never built a program. I think we need someone that has done that before.
 

Bad Gopher said:
What was Musselman's connection to Arkansas? Oats' to Alabama? Serious question. People do move to unfamiliar areas to take promotions.
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I'm sure it was none, but that isn't relevant because I'm talking about situations where a coach has multiple P5 offers including the Gophers. Neither Muss or Oats had that.

In other words, I disagree these are all equivalent scenarios where you can apply the same rule: i) MM coach with multiple P5 offers, chooses some P5 that he has no ties to, ii) MM coach with multiple P5 offers including the Gophers, when he has ties to the U/Minn such that he might consider us higher than if he didn't have those ties, iii) luring a current P5 coach away.
 
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Bad Gopher said:
Get-able or not, Musselman would have the best chance of everyone mentioned to snag someone like Holmgren, just because of his dynamic personality (not to mention his coaching track record).
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Spot on. Muss is the type of coach that these kids want to play for. Someone who has coaching track record to the NBA, and Muss has proven that he can flat out coach. Doesn't Freddie down in Lincoln have some big 5 star coming next year?
 

bigyetti18 said:
Spot on. Muss is the type of coach that these kids want to play for. Someone who has coaching track record to the NBA, and Muss has proven that he can flat out coach. Doesn't Freddie down in Lincoln have some big 5 star coming next year?
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Yeah, Bryce McGowens, brother of current Husker player Trey McGowens
 

I agree Mussleman is probably the best option but he already has a good job and supposedly he's not crazy about moving back to MN. Craig Smith, Dutcher, and Medved are the next best choices in my mind. I agree about interviewing as many black coaches as possible, though none of the names exactly stick out to me.

Muss would be great. What he did at Nevada was amazing. He can recruit diamonds in the rough and that's exactly what we have to do at MN to scratch and claw our way out of mediocrity.

We really just need some good luck though. Tubby had an amazing class that fell apart (Royce White), Pitino has had injury problems at crucial streches of the season for years (Curry, Coffey) plus sexual assault incidents (Lynch), Gangbang incidents (mason, dorsey, dupree)

Maybe we can have a season or two without such problems and we might actually get a winning record in the B1G
 


Cayman said:
Yeah, Bryce McGowens, brother of current Husker player Trey McGowens
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Tubby, Pitino tried and failed with the Ellensons and the Hurt brothers. Did Pitino ever off Konate's brother?
 

bigyetti18 said:
Spot on. Muss is the type of coach that these kids want to play for. Someone who has coaching track record to the NBA, and Muss has proven that he can flat out coach. Doesn't Freddie down in Lincoln have some big 5 star coming next year?
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On the broadcast last night they said he'll be the first 5-star recruit in program history.
 


60's Guy said:
Probably more likely the fact you just are uninformed. For example: Pitino got the job at FIU after Isaiah Thomas trashed the program. The program was trashed. Left for dead. Bad PR. The school hadn’t had a winning season in a dozen years. All but like one scholarship player had departed. Pitino pieced things together, had a winning season and missed the NCAA tournament by a couple points in the championship game. That’s not nuthin’
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Well, he did a pretty good job his first year here as well (including a few key things he did before the season started) but the following year was a huge disappointment. Sometimes a change in leadership just creates a certain goodwill and energy in players, workers, students, etc. but he never could sustain it.

I'm not sure why you chose to intervene in response to an insult targeted at Barn Burner. He deserves every ounce of verbal abuse he gets and then some.
 

TurfGopher said:
I agree Mussleman is probably the best option but he already has a good job and supposedly he's not crazy about moving back to MN. Craig Smith, Dutcher, and Medved are the next best choices in my mind. I agree about interviewing as many black coaches as possible, though none of the names exactly stick out to me.

Muss would be great. What he did at Nevada was amazing. He can recruit diamonds in the rough and that's exactly what we have to do at MN to scratch and claw our way out of mediocrity.

We really just need some good luck though. Tubby had an amazing class that fell apart (Royce White), Pitino has had injury problems at crucial streches of the season for years (Curry, Coffey) plus sexual assault incidents (Lynch), Gangbang incidents (mason, dorsey, dupree)

Maybe we can have a season or two without such problems and we might actually get a winning record in the B1G
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Why is Dutcher a good choice in your mind?
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think we have a chance, I think it'll come down to one of the following:

Gates
Medved
Ben Jacobson - I've seen a few people talk like that ship has sailed. It's an odd stance to me. He's been consistently good for years. They won the Missouri Valley in 2020. He has connections in MN (they recruit MN well). People talk about him like he's ancient and he's 3 years older than Medved.
Craig Smith

Any chance the U considers Gregg Marshall?
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Ben Jacobson is 9-15 this year, has zero NCAA appearances over the last 5 years, and is 80-71 over that period. They won the regular season title last year, then lost to Drake in the first round of the MVC tournament. They weren't a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Hard pass for me.

Zero chance the U will consider Gregg Marshall with his issues.

I just don't get the love for Medved other than he's a homer Minnesota pick. He's a .500 coach for his career.

I think it will come down to Craig Smith, Brian Dutcher, Dennis Gates, and Darian DeVries.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Ben Jacobson is 9-15 this year, has zero NCAA appearances over the last 5 years, and is 80-71 over that period. They won the regular season title last year, then lost to Drake in the first round of the MVC tournament. They weren't a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Hard pass for me.

Zero chance the U will consider Gregg Marshall with his issues.

I just don't get the love for Medved other than he's a homer Minnesota pick. He's a .500 coach for his career.

I think it will come down to Craig Smith, Brian Dutcher, Dennis Gates, and Darian DeVries.
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Jacobson's team went 26-5 and 14-4 last year. The year counted. They very likely would have made the NCAA tournament last year.

I agree on Marshall.

Medved is not a homer pick at all. He is a .561 coach in his career - - stretching three different levels. He was only at Drake a year but both other programs drastically improved while he was there (Furman went from 3-13 (10th in Southern Conference) to 14-4 (winning Southern Conference) in 4 years. The same thing is happening at Colorado State.

To act like his teams have just been floating around .500 is disingenuous. They were horrible and then he turned them around to being good. It's kind of like Dennis Gate's under .500 record. When looking at it in context, it's impressive.
 

I’ve seen this name tossed out there at various points so I know I’m not bringing up anyone new here, but Scott Nagy has a pretty impressive resume. And he wouldn’t be super expensive as he’s making about $500k per year with just a couple years left on his contract so the buyout to leave Wright State couldn’t be too hefty. He’s 54 years old, so not young, but should have plenty of gas left in the tank.

Resume highlights:
- His teams have finished top 2 in their conference in 9 of the last 10 years (only year he didn’t was 1st season at Wright State)
- 4 D1 NCAA tournament appearances
- Led South Dakota State into D1 basketball and gradually improved each year after joining the Summit League (10th, 7th, 4th, 5th, then no worse than 2nd for his last 5 years there)
- 4 conference tournament titles
- 230-98 overall record (70.1 win %) last ten seasons
- 131-41 conference record (76.2 win %) last ten seasons

Assuming Muss is a no-go Nagy might be my first choice. More of a Bob Motzko type hire than a PJ Fleck hire. Not splashy and might not flip things around immediately (not sure if anyone realistic would), but give him 3-4 years to get it going and we could have a sustainable winner.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Ben Jacobson is 9-15 this year, has zero NCAA appearances over the last 5 years, and is 80-71 over that period. They won the regular season title last year, then lost to Drake in the first round of the MVC tournament. They weren't a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Hard pass for me.

Zero chance the U will consider Gregg Marshall with his issues.

I just don't get the love for Medved other than he's a homer Minnesota pick. He's a .500 coach for his career.

I think it will come down to Craig Smith, Brian Dutcher, Dennis Gates, and Darian DeVries.
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Devries comes with a likely package of 6-6 son Tucker. Interesting dynamic with Robbins having left there....
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
He's a .500 coach for his career.
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Yep, good idea to ignore any and all trends over time. :rolleyes:

SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
2013–14Furman9–213–1310th
2014–15Furman11–225–1310th
2015–16Furman19–1611–7T–3rdCIT Second Round
2016–17Furman23–1114–4T–1stCIT Semifinal[note 1]
Furman:62–70 (.470)33–37 (.471)
2017–18Drake17–1710–8T–3rdCIT Second Round
Drake:17–17 (.500)10–8 (.556)
2018–19Colorado State12–207–11T–7th
2019–20Colorado State20–1211–7T–5th
2020–21Colorado State14–411–3
 

Of all the names, Devries seems as unlikely to have any interest in the Gophers as anyone brought up.

So what if he coaches in the next state down? That's a different state.

Honestly same can be said for Jacobsen. From North Dakota. Has only coached in North Dakota and Iowa.


If you really wanna go down this rabbit hole (which I admit, could be very stupid to do), Craig Smith is from Stephen, Minn .... which is like a 5.5hr drive away from the Twin Cities. It's north of Grand Forks, which is where he went to school and where he started coaching. Since then, has never coached in Minnesota.
 


TurfGopher said:
He has ascended to a good job at SDSU and his team is good! He has nine years big 10 experience as an assistant at Michigan He also has name recognition and WANTS to come here.
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He inherited a very good program and he obviously can coach (national coach of the year last year).

However he has never built a program and I don't agree that he has name recognition. Kids don't care that his dad coached here 34 years ago. Also, any coach from the MWC would be interested in this job so the fact that he publicly has stated it is a moot point in my opinion.
 

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