10 most interesting options to replace Richard Pitino

[bigyetti18]

Today is a Gates day. Lot of good candidates my mind continues to sway all over. But today is a Gates day. Feeling a little bit more risky. More unproven. But a high upside. I also like what he preaches. Got to see an interview of his the other day and it was great.

Gates and Devries seem like they'd be the most "exciting" hires in that they are relatively unproven compared to others.

Also the more I think and read, the more I don't believe Medved belongs in the same category as most of these guys. Could also say the same about Gates I guess. It just seems like quite the feat to bring Cleveland State to where they are so quickly. I don't think Medved has any jump that big.

Another name not to forget maybe that Richey from Furman.

Musselmans resume is just so much better than everyones.

End of the day I have no idea I just want to be impressed haha.

Niko brings an element that Gates does not. Niko brings Dave Thorson. Niko and Dave will get Minnesota kids. My only reservation on Niko is that I'm not sure if he is the right personality to sell the program but I could be completely wrong on that.

 

[MplsGopher]

Niko brings an element that Gates does not. Niko brings Dave Thorson. Niko and Dave will get Minnesota kids. My only reservation on Niko is that I'm not sure if he is the right personality to sell the program but I could be completely wrong on that.

Gates of course brings being a Black head coach, and (rightly, if they choose to see it that way) some families will look more favorably on that, while it won't matter to others.

Both have the rest of this season to prove out the trends that appear to be there. Will be interesting to see what they do.

 

[cjbfbp]

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.

I was always impressed by the way his SDSU teams played. I haven't watched his teams at Wright State but, obviously, he's had great success there. I'd be fine with him as coach. Superficially, he'd be a little like a Bo Ryan hire - a mature coach who enjoyed very good success but strictly confined to the minor leagues.

 

[tmvander]

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.

Sorry if you were replying to someone or just in general...haven't followed the thread that closely.

Anyway, coaching MN is a step up for all the guys in pay, prestige, competition, etc. Every single one of them should have gopher interest no matter where they're from.

 

[MplsGopher]

Anyway, coaching MN is a step up for all the guys in pay, prestige, competition, etc. Every single one of them should have gopher interest no matter where they're from.

I think we'd like to think that your first sentence is all that matters. But I think, for some, they'd rather pass for various reasons and wait for a better chance to slide into the P6 elsewhere.

 

[tmvander]

I think we'd like to think that your first sentence is all that matters. But I think, for some, they'd rather pass for various reasons and wait for a better chance to slide into the P6 elsewhere.

Yeah I mean that's certainly possible but all it takes is passing once on the Big Ten followed by a shit season where you're at to start to fall down the ranks. Other coaches will get their names in the hat.

Dream jobs can be attained while also accepting a current promotion offer.

 

[MplsGopher]

Dream jobs can be attained while also accepting a current promotion offer.

Heh. Maybe this is part of Coyle's pitch.

 

[tmvander]

Heh. Maybe this is part of Coyle's pitch.

Haha I hope not.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

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.

Last year did count, but only one good year out of the last 5 in the Missouri Valley conference for Jacobson? That's not good enough for me.

Medved is actually .506 (127-124) for his career, barely over .500. I don't think he's a bad coach, but he hasn't proven close to enough yet. Gates has only been a HC for 2 years, Medved has been for 8, and Gates is only 1 game below .500.

When compared to Craig Smith, Darian DeVries, or even Scott Nagy, he appears to take a much longer time to build a team.

Of all the candidates mentioned, Medved has by far the worst resume. Every other coach has walked into just as difficult programs, and accelerated their teams to a higher level faster.

 

[MplsGopher]

When compared to Craig Smith, Darian DeVries, or even Scott Nagy, he appears to take a much longer time to build a team.

Not at all true. Third year at Colo St.

Every other coach has walked into just as difficult programs, and accelerated their teams to a higher level faster.

Not at all true.

Nagy - two years in Horizon League (lower level)
Gates - two years in Horizon League (lower level)
DeVries - took the program over from Niko, with his players and did well first year in Missouri Valley (maybe similar level to MWC, but not sure)


Smith is the only one, did very well his first year at USU after the previous coach was middling the three years prior. So obviously he didn't come in, clean house, and recruit all new players in one year.


Quite obvious you'll do anything to get Smith, including faking crap up about who you see as far and away his biggest competition for the spot.


Smith is an excellent candidate, and if we get him it will be a great hire.

 

[MplsGopher]

I'm not even saying I would take Niko over Smith, right now.

I'm saying: let's see how the MWC tourny plays out and what happens with those top four in March Madness, as they all four could get in.

 

[GopherPlaya]

Last year did count, but only one good year out of the last 5 in the Missouri Valley conference for Jacobson? That's not good enough for me.

Medved is actually .506 (127-124) for his career, barely over .500. I don't think he's a bad coach, but he hasn't proven close to enough yet. Gates has only been a HC for 2 years, Medved has been for 8, and Gates is only 1 game below .500.

When compared to Craig Smith, Darian DeVries, or even Scott Nagy, he appears to take a much longer time to build a team.

Of all the candidates mentioned, Medved has by far the worst resume. Every other coach has walked into just as difficult programs, and accelerated their teams to a higher level faster.

Devries took over for Medved so how is he better at building a team when Drake over achieved the year he coached them. If you take out his first 2 years at Furman his win percentage is .567. His teams have improved each year and the programs that he left have had continued success.

 

[mnvballdad]

I'm not even saying I would take Niko over Smith, right now.

I'm saying: let's see how the MWC tourny plays out and what happens with those top four in March Madness, as they all four could get in.

Making a hire based on the results of one tournament is how programs end up with shitty coaches.

 

[Go Gophs]

If they never will recruit higher than that, it must mean they never have in the past either. Is that what you're claiming?

Yes...

On average, in both football and basketball, we have been middle of the Big Ten pack. This won't change until winning happens for a fairly sustained period. Just the way it is.

Of course there were outlier years. And I am also talking about recently. I think better recruiting classes can happen. But I also think they won't until there is some sustained winning.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Devries took over for Medved so how is he better at building a team when Drake over achieved the year he coached them. If you take out his first 2 years at Furman his win percentage is .567. His teams have improved each year and the programs that he left have had continued success.

DeVries brought in pretty much all of his own players at Drake. Their leading scorer in DeVries first season - Nick McGlynn - was the only player that also contributed significantly during Medved's season, but Niko also inherited him.

DeVries also took a shot with Robbins his first season and developed him. He transfers out and they're still 24-3. DeVries .716 winning percentage at Drake has virtually nothing to do with Medved. He built this team himself.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Yes...

On average, in both football and basketball, we have been middle of the Big Ten pack. This won't change until winning happens for a fairly sustained period. Just the way it is.

Of course there were outlier years. And I am also talking about recently. I think better recruiting classes can happen. But I also think they won't until there is some sustained winning.

Saying the Gophers will never have a top class because they never have before is dishonest. Their last two conference titles (1982 and 1997) were due to nationally highly-ranked classes. Even Monson had a class with a 5-star, a 4-star, and a 3-star in it. It's happened before, and it'll happen again under the right leadership.

 

[Unregistered User]

Sorry if you were replying to someone or just in general...haven't followed the thread that closely.

Anyway, coaching MN is a step up for all the guys in pay, prestige, competition, etc. Every single one of them should have gopher interest no matter where they're from.

Someone wrote (not sure who, or on which of the 3 dozen threads on this) that there is the thought that Devries is happy at Drake with an eye on the Iowa job when/if that becomes available.

Speculation, but reasonable, at least.

 

[TheBarnyard]

Gates is a fantastic recruiter and he has proven that. I think kids really want to play for him and he teaches in a way that provides very valuable lessons for the kids.

Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere but this is a really cool look at ‘Gates Way’

I think he is an excellent candidate regardless of the small sample size being a head coach.

 

[tmvander]

Someone wrote (not sure who, or on which of the 3 dozen threads on this) that there is the thought that Devries is happy at Drake with an eye on the Iowa job when/if that becomes available.

Speculation, but reasonable, at least.

Still he's probably making like 500k right now. How many years before Iowa is open? 5? 7? He could make north of 2 mil a year here. So you're going to leave 10 mil on the table for a CHANCE at being the next Iowa coach? I mean to each their own but seems silly to me.

 

[scools12]

Gates seems impressive but his resume is pretty similar to Pitino’s prior to him landing the Gopher job.

Assume Gates will get a bigger gig at some point but I would think Coyle isn’t looking to hire another coach with only a year or two of head coaching experience.

 

[SelectionSunday]

In alphabetical order, the 7 that interest me the most that I think are "gettable". Niko Medved is at the top of my list. Coyle might surprise us, though. He's had a lot of time to work on his list.

Dane Fife (Michigan State associate head coach)
Dennis Gates (Cleveland State)
Niko Medved (Colorado State)
Porter Moser (Loyola-Chicago)
Scott Nagy (Wright State)
Craig Smith (Utah State)
Dwayne Stephens (Michigan State associate head coach)

 

[tjgopher]

In alphabetical order, the 7 that interest me the most that I think are "gettable". Niko Medved is at the top of my list. Coyle might surprise us, though. He's had a lot of time to work on his list.

Dane Fife (Michigan State associate head coach)
Dennis Gates (Cleveland State)
Niko Medved (Colorado State)
Porter Moser (Loyola-Chicago)
Scott Nagy (Wright State)
Craig Smith (Utah State)
Dwayne Stephens (Michigan State associate head coach)

Good list.

Do you consider Brian Dutcher not "gettable" or you're not interested?

I know you're a Sparty guy, but I'm hesitant on both MSU guys. First, Fife was not very good as a head coach when he got the chance (17 games under .500). Two, outside of Crean, almost all of Izzo's coaching tree has not had great success, just a bunch guys, none have left any kind of a major mark. Failed at places like Minnesota. Most have been fired. And, I like Izzo.

 

[MplsGopher]

DeVries brought in pretty much all of his own players at Drake. Their leading scorer in DeVries first season - Nick McGlynn - was the only player that also contributed significantly during Medved's season, but Niko also inherited him.

DeVries also took a shot with Robbins his first season and developed him. He transfers out and they're still 24-3. DeVries .716 winning percentage at Drake has virtually nothing to do with Medved. He built this team himself.

So you're saying .... the coach who was there, for one season, prior to the current coach, didn't significantly contribute to the current coach's success.

Neat. Keep straining

 

[MplsGopher]

Making a hire based on the results of one tournament is how programs end up with shitty coaches.

Not at all true. How many tournament appearances did Juwan Howard have before Mich hired him? If he was being hired prior to this season, how many would he have had prior to that (one season at Michigan)?

Silly thing to say.

Nothing is ever a hard, fast, deterministic rule for success. There is no such thing. It's all just evidence that helps one maybe lead to a conclusion, or not.

 

[bigyetti18]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or discussed before but does anyone think that demons from Clem are still haunting us? Will they ever bring him back to the arena? Will they ever retire Bobby's number? Our program has been going nowhere for the past 25 years. It's actually really hard to refer to it as a program.

 

[GopherPlaya]

In alphabetical order, the 7 that interest me the most that I think are "gettable". Niko Medved is at the top of my list. Coyle might surprise us, though. He's had a lot of time to work on his list.

Dane Fife (Michigan State associate head coach)
Dennis Gates (Cleveland State)
Niko Medved (Colorado State)
Porter Moser (Loyola-Chicago)
Scott Nagy (Wright State)
Craig Smith (Utah State)
Dwayne Stephens (Michigan State associate head coach)

Someone off this is list will be hired. I think Moser probably is a no-go. Just don't see him leaving for us

 

[SoMpls]

I heard Sam Mitchell on KFAN recently. Would Gophers be interested? Pro player and coach. MN ties. Coached the Adidas Nations team with all the top HS players a couple years ago. Was also an assistant at Memphis.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Not at all true. How many tournament appearances did Juwan Howard have before Mich hired him? If he was being hired prior to this season, how many would he have had prior to that (one season at Michigan)?

Silly thing to say.

Nothing is ever a hard, fast, deterministic rule for success. There is no such thing. It's all just evidence that helps one maybe lead to a conclusion, or not.

Three as a player. In Championship game twice as a player.

 

[GoodasGold]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or discussed before but does anyone think that demons from Clem are still haunting us? Will they ever bring him back to the arena? Will they ever retire Bobby's number? Our program has been going nowhere for the past 25 years. It's actually really hard to refer to it as a program.

U r right. An exorcism is in order.

 

[BarnBurner]

In alphabetical order, the 7 that interest me the most that I think are "gettable". Niko Medved is at the top of my list. Coyle might surprise us, though. He's had a lot of time to work on his list.

Dane Fife (Michigan State associate head coach)
Dennis Gates (Cleveland State)
Niko Medved (Colorado State)
Porter Moser (Loyola-Chicago)
Scott Nagy (Wright State)
Craig Smith (Utah State)
Dwayne Stephens (Michigan State associate head coach)

Why do you think Stephens as never moved to HC?