Aside from Indiana is there another coaching job more attractive than Gophers?

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Other than pay, is Indiana really that attractive of a job?.
 

It's a good question. Given the conference and the lack of national exposure/attention, I don't think one can consider Utah more attractive.

I was waiting to see if Marquette opened up, but I am guessing at this point, they will stick with Wojo for another year. Marquette *could* potentially be considered more attractive by some folks.
 

CentralGopher said:
Other than pay, is Indiana really that attractive of a job?.
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Indiana has several advantages over Minny:

Booster support: try raising $10M to fire a coach here!
Stadium: Assembly Hall is voted the best in the conference. (I hate it)
Support: The College loves B-ball!
Recruiting: although it's national footing is slipping, it is in a good location and has the name factor.
Money: They will pay.
 



Indiana is still potentially an attractive job. Better than Nebraska football. While a demanding fan base, the potential for a recruting advantage is always there. It is a little dated, but I remember Jim dutcher circa 1979 or 1980 ruefully saying "At Minnesota, we recruit. Indiana *selects*"
 

restovich said:
Indiana is still potentially an attractive job. Better than Nebraska football. While a demanding fan base, the potential for a recruting advantage is always there. It is a little dated, but I remember Jim dutcher circa 1979 or 1980 ruefully saying "At Minnesota, we recruit. Indiana *selects*"
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A little dated? that is 40 years ago. Our most recent coach wasn't even alive.

Yale football use to be like that too.
 

I think it’s kind of silly to talk about ranking coaching jobs. Outside of Duke/UNC/Kentucky and maybe a handful of other programs there would be some pretty different looking rankings of the top 50 jobs depending on who you ask. And even then, when it comes to hiring one person the consensus doesn’t matter. All that matters is what that one person thinks. Some candidates might care a lot about the local recruiting scene while others will think that doesn’t matter as long as they have the best facilities. Some may value working for an established AD who will be at the school for a long time where others will care about the tradition of the program much more. For some the weather might be a dealbreaker. Or for others (Blake Anderson - Utah State football) it might have very little to do with the school itself and be about life circumstances calling for a change or fresh start.

My point is that you can play the game of ranking best jobs and whatnot, but it’s going to look very different depending on who you ask (especially outside the top 5-10) and it really only matters what one specific person thinks.
 
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CentralGopher said:
Other than pay, is Indiana really that attractive of a job?.
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As a life long Gopher fan and an IU grad, definitely more attractive than Minnesota.

I was there when Crean finally turned them around, the whole of Bloomington erupted when Watford hit that buzzer beater vs #1 Kentucky. I've been in Assembly Hall when IU was a top 5 team...when that stadium is rocking, the Barn doesn't even compare. The word in Bloomington right now is that between the $10m buyout for Archie and a buyout for a new coach...they are being funded by 2 total donors. I don't foresee that being the case for Minnesota, unless someone wants to correct me on that.

So yes, Indiana is still a very attractive job.
 




mplarson7 said:
As a life long Gopher fan and an IU grad, definitely more attractive than Minnesota.

I was there when Crean finally turned them around, the whole of Bloomington erupted when Watford hit that buzzer beater vs #1 Kentucky. I've been in Assembly Hall when IU was a top 5 team...when that stadium is rocking, the Barn doesn't even compare. The word in Bloomington right now is that between the $10m buyout for Archie and a buyout for a new coach...they are being funded by 2 total donors. I don't foresee that being the case for Minnesota, unless someone wants to correct me on that.

So yes, Indiana is still a very attractive job.
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Yet, Crean still was fired. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like the guy but after his first three probation era seasons he didn't have a losing record, had 4 NCAA tournaments, and 3 final 16 finishes. Mike Davis took them to 4 NCAA tournaments in 6 years including a national final game and he was forced out.

"Very attractive" depends on the eye of the beholder. That's a very high pressure job and the fact that they have a small number of willing deep pocket donors for buyouts makes it even more so. I respect their desire and willingness to spend what it takes to be among the very best but they could churn through a lot of coaches before they ever find another one who will perform at a level close to Bobby Knight. Hell, a coach like Branch McCracken wouldn't last there more than four or five years these days.
 

Otis said:
Indiana has several advantages over Minny:

Booster support: try raising $10M to fire a coach here!
Stadium: Assembly Hall is voted the best in the conference. (I hate it)
Support: The College loves B-ball!
Recruiting: although it's national footing is slipping, it is in a good location and has the name factor.
Money: They will pay.
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I would argue boosters willing to open the pocketbook to get rid of you is not a plus.
Agree on stadium completely. Assembly hall appears to be an awful place.
Recruiting is not what it used to be or anywhere near and on par with MN
That leaves pay.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yet, Crean still was fired. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like the guy but after his first three probation era seasons he didn't have a losing record, had 4 NCAA tournaments, and 3 final 16 finishes. Mike Davis took them to 4 NCAA tournaments in 6 years including a national final game and he was forced out.

"Very attractive" depends on the eye of the beholder. That's a very high pressure job and the fact that they have a small number of willing deep pocket donors for buyouts makes it even more so. I respect their desire and willingness to spend what it takes to be among the very best but they could churn through a lot of coaches before they ever find another one who will perform at a level close to Bobby Knight. Hell, a coach like Branch McCracken wouldn't last there more than four or five years these days.
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I forgot that Crean won two Big Ten championships. I had to re-look at his record, as I've also been using him as an example of how you can be a good coach and fail in the Big Ten. He was just super uneven during his tenure. But two conference championships. That's a demanding job. At this point, fair to say maybe an Ohio State has replaced Indiana as one of the consistent top 3 to 5 programs in the Big Ten. I think Ohio State has a fantastic recruiting class coming in next year as well.
 



Minnesota produces more than its share of blue chippers these days. We have a big old arena full of banners, beautiful practice facilities, a huge campus full of beauty spots and monumental buildings, surrounded by quirky stores and restaurants. That campus is in a major metropolitan area. And like every school in the Big Ten, we have B1G Network money to throw around.

Minnesota is an awfully attractive place to go to school, and ought to be easy to recruit to.
 


everybody knows my name said:
Minnesota is an awfully attractive place to go to school, and ought to be easy to recruit to.
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Except that you can have almost two straight weeks of subzero temps in February like we recently had and, in general, the weather would seem pretty inhospitable to most people from December through various points in March. If you have lived here for a long time, you adjust by

1) Adopting the same mind frame as an accountant during busy season (it's rough but you get through it and it's over in a few months); and/or

2) You learn to bundle up well and embrace cold weather activities.

The substantial majority of the US population has never had the perspective of #1 because no place in the nation (other than perhaps upper Maine and Vermont where the population is low anyway) is as cold as the northern midwest. That also extends to Wyoming and Montana but those places don't have much population either.

To the uninitiated the cold weather here is often quite shock the first time. If they haven't been exposed to it, they don't even have a clue how cold it is here. I was in central PA during mid-January a few years back and some people asked me "Is it as cold in Minnesota as it is here?" I answered: "This is like March in Minnesota."
 

CentralGopher said:
I would argue boosters willing to open the pocketbook to get rid of you is not a plus.
Agree on stadium completely. Assembly hall appears to be an awful place.
Recruiting is not what it used to be or anywhere near and on par with MN
That leaves pay.
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I mostly agree with you but I'd say their recruiting is still significantly better. They've had 10 players enter the NBA in about the last seven years or so. Now, Miller's probably hasn't been as good as his predecessor.
 

cjbfbp said:
Except that you can have almost two straight weeks of subzero temps in February like we recently had and, in general, the weather would seem pretty inhospitable to most people from December through various points in March. If you have lived here for a long time, you adjust by

1) Adopting the same mind frame as an accountant during busy season (it's rough but you get through it and it's over in a few months); and/or

2) You learn to bundle up well and embrace cold weather activities.

The substantial majority of the US population has never had the perspective of #1 because no place in the nation (other than perhaps upper Maine and Vermont where the population is low anyway) is as cold as the northern midwest. That also extends to Wyoming and Montana but those places don't have much population either.

To the uninitiated the cold weather here is often quite shock the first time. If they haven't been exposed to it, they don't even have a clue how cold it is here. I was in central PA during mid-January a few years back and some people asked me "Is it as cold in Minnesota as it is here?" I answered: "This is like March in Minnesota."
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As I recall, basketball is an indoor sport. It isn't baseball or softball or beach volleyball. Jessica Allister, who had great success as MN softball coach, said she brought great recruits to the Mpls campus in January on purpose. She showed them how it can be in winter. She said the really talented ones with some good sense went for it. The others were welcome to leave. It worked for her. I'd think a bb coach making a few million a year could rise to the same recruiting heights.
 

People are absolutely delusional if they think the college basketball world considers the Minnesota job on par with the Indiana job. I think an unbiased basketball fan would have Iowa State and Utah in the same tier as Minnesota.
 

matt said:
People are absolutely delusional if they think the college basketball world considers the Minnesota job on par with the Indiana job. I think an unbiased basketball fan would have Iowa State and Utah in the same tier as Minnesota.
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Probably similar to those delusional enough to think Indiana is one of the top destinations in the nation. Indiana isn't UNC or Duke and MN isn't Utah. Both somewhere in the middle with only semantics and personal preferences separating the two.
 

CentralGopher said:
Probably similar to those delusional enough to think Indiana is one of the top destinations in the nation. Indiana isn't UNC or Duke and MN isn't Utah. Both somewhere in the middle with only semantics and personal preferences separating the two.
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Indiana isn't the top job in the country, but it clearly is above Minnesota currently. Decades of mediocrity in Minnesota contributes to the perception. I thought this ranking done by Big Ten coaches a few years ago is pretty informative.

Big Ten Basketball Coaches Rank the Best Jobs in the Conference - Stadium

This is the fourth in Stadium’s “Conference Chain of Command" series in which we polled a handful of veteran coaches in every league to determine the best
watchstadium.com watchstadium.com
 

Hrothgar said:
As I recall, basketball is an indoor sport. It isn't baseball or softball or beach volleyball. Jessica Allister, who had great success as MN softball coach, said she brought great recruits to the Mpls campus in January on purpose. She showed them how it can be in winter. She said the really talented ones with some good sense went for it. The others were welcome to leave. It worked for her. I'd think a bb coach making a few million a year could rise to the same recruiting heights.
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I didn't say that no one would come here. After all, we did get Murphy and Mason from warmer climates. But, many people simply won't live here if they have the choice to live somewhere else.
And that might not be restricted to non-Minnesotans. Did you ever wonder if that might be one of the reasons why many of our good young athletes choose to go elsewhere?
 

CentralGopher said:
Probably similar to those delusional enough to think Indiana is one of the top destinations in the nation. Indiana isn't UNC or Duke and MN isn't Utah. Both somewhere in the middle with only semantics and personal preferences separating the two.
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I would bet a great deal of money that the “personal preference” of over 95% of college basketball fans nationwide places the Indiana job more than a couple spots ahead of the Minnesota job.
 

matt said:
I would bet a great deal of money that the “personal preference” of over 95% of college basketball fans nationwide places the Indiana job more than a couple spots ahead of the Minnesota job.
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I'll admit I am greatly biased, however, just because fans might prefer one location over another doesn't mean it's actually a better job. There are other factors I believe make the two closer than they appear.
 

cjbfbp said:
Except that you can have almost two straight weeks of subzero temps in February like we recently had and, in general, the weather would seem pretty inhospitable to most people from December through various points in March. If you have lived here for a long time, you adjust by

1) Adopting the same mind frame as an accountant during busy season (it's rough but you get through it and it's over in a few months); and/or

2) You learn to bundle up well and embrace cold weather activities.

The substantial majority of the US population has never had the perspective of #1 because no place in the nation (other than perhaps upper Maine and Vermont where the population is low anyway) is as cold as the northern midwest. That also extends to Wyoming and Montana but those places don't have much population either.

To the uninitiated the cold weather here is often quite shock the first time. If they haven't been exposed to it, they don't even have a clue how cold it is here. I was in central PA during mid-January a few years back and some people asked me "Is it as cold in Minnesota as it is here?" I answered: "This is like March in Minnesota."
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few years ago I was waiting for light rail in November, it was probably low 40's

this lady walks up complaining of cold, she's got big jacket on, two pairs of gloves, hitting heat button multiple times in train stop area, was upset she missed train

rest of us are standing there with ligher jackets, barely zipped up, mild november morning

"Umm, you're not from around here are you?"
"No, I moved up here from Georgia (i think) for my job"
"you haven't seen nothing yet"
"You mean it gets worse"
 

matt said:
I would bet a great deal of money that the “personal preference” of over 95% of college basketball fans nationwide places the Indiana job more than a couple spots ahead of the Minnesota job.
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Exactly, nearly everyone agrees that Indiana is a better job than Minnesota.

Utah is very comparable to the Gophers. There are different reasons to rank each one above the other, but still comparable.
 

Not sure why MN isn't on par with Utah. Both are in power conferences. Their relative places in the pecking order among their conferences is pretty similar. Their respective successes in making and advancing in the tournament over the past 15-20 years would skew toward Utah. Minnesota may have a more fertile natural recruiting base, but the PAC is also easier than the B1G.

All that said, MN may be the better job. But it's at least debatable.
 

CentralGopher said:
I'll admit I am greatly biased, however, just because fans might prefer one location over another doesn't mean it's actually a better job. There are other factors I believe make the two closer than they appear.
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Maybe this is a better way to put it: if Indiana and Minnesota both have the same coach as their top target, which school do you think the coach is more likely to pick? Any coach that does not have Minnesota ties is much more likely to sign a contract with Indiana. Pay, which you mentioned above, is likely to be a primary reason. Even for the coaches that do have Minnesota ties (Muss, Dutcher, Medved), I think it’s closer to 50/50 which university they would select.
 

formerlybis said:
Not sure why MN isn't on par with Utah. Both are in power conferences. Their relative places in the pecking order among their conferences is pretty similar. Their respective successes in making and advancing in the tournament over the past 15-20 years would skew toward Utah. Minnesota may have a more fertile natural recruiting base, but the PAC is also easier than the B1G.

All that said, MN may be the better job. But it's at least debatable.
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I don’t see anyone saying that Minnesota is not on par with Utah. I agree they are comparable.
 

everybody knows my name said:
Mina huge campus full of beauty spots and monumental buildings, surrounded by quirky stores and restaurants. That campus is in a major metropolitan area.
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Both of these are negative strikes against the U IMO. Dinkytown is dumpy. Don't lie to yourself. Minneapolis as a whole is also one of the most polarizing cities in America. The University competes with a TON also for coverage being in Minneapolis. It's also cold.

It CAN be done, but make no mistake, we are at a fairly decent sized recruiting disadvantage here compared to almost every other Big Ten University.

Do you know what can change ALL of it???? WINNING
 

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