Do you want Ben back for a fourth year?

[Bob_Loblaw]

I voted yes, I think he deserves the chance with the improvements this year. I said if he won 8 games in the Big 10, he deserved another year.

That said, if there is an exodus of our good players and a home run hire becomes available, I think you probably have to make the move.

 

[FinnGopher]

If Garcia, Christie, Hawkins, Payne, and Carrington come back, then I want Coach Johnson. If any of those guys leaves, then we need a coach who can build quicker than Coach Johnson has been able to build.

 

[Ski-U-Ham]

If Garcia, Christie, Hawkins, Payne, and Carrington come back, then I want Coach Johnson. If any of those guys leaves, then we need a coach who can build quicker than Coach Johnson has been able to build.

So if Payne, Garcia, Hawkins, and Payne return but Carrington leaves that's not good enough for you?

 

[howeda7]

If Garcia, Christie, Hawkins, Payne, and Carrington come back, then I want Coach Johnson. If any of those guys leaves, then we need a coach who can build quicker than Coach Johnson has been able to build.

The odds of all of them returning are low.

 

[GFBfan]

I voted No. I definitely think he will be back, and I absolutely can understand Coyle bringing him back for another season, but at this point I just don't think he is the guy. Hope he proves me wrong next season.

I voted yes and feel he will prove you and the rest who voted or will vote No, wrong

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Badgers won. Crowl played well. We didn’t want him but we wanted Jack Wilson

 

[MNVCGUY]

Badgers won. Crowl played well. We didn’t want him but we wanted Jack Wilson

Even by your standards that is a pretty dumb comment. Pitino was the coach when Crowl committed to Wisconsin.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Even by your standards that is a pretty dumb comment. Pitino was the coach when Crowl committed to Wisconsin.

If you don’t have anything nice to say…. You are better than this.

 

[Go4POV]

If Ben gets fired, multiple players leave, perhaps nearly the entire roster. These players are committed to him and have been vocal about liking him. Do y’all want to start from scratch again? I am tired of the revolving door. He has a foundation. Let him build it. Asuma wants to play for him. Let’s see what plays out with who stays/leaves and portal.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Do y’all want to start from scratch again?

Yes, some of them do as long as that start doesn't involve Ben Johnson.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Remember, I left it so your vote can be changed

 

[howeda7]

If Ben gets fired, multiple players leave, perhaps nearly the entire roster. These players are committed to him and have been vocal about liking him. Do y’all want to start from scratch again? I am tired of the revolving door. He has a foundation. Let him build it. Asuma wants to play for him. Let’s see what plays out with who stays/leaves and portal.

Fear of players transferring is an awful reason to keep the coach. So is fear the way that "we can't do any better."

 

[Gophers7633]

If Ben gets fired, multiple players leave, perhaps nearly the entire roster. These players are committed to him and have been vocal about liking him. Do y’all want to start from scratch again? I am tired of the revolving door. He has a foundation. Let him build it. Asuma wants to play for him. Let’s see what plays out with who stays/leaves and portal.

You're under the assumption starting from scratch would be a bad thing. We bring in a competent HC, no reason to think we can't be better than we were even this year.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Yes, some of them do as long as that start doesn't involve Ben Johnson.

I'd rather be coming off three solid seasons and be excited about the future than starting over from scratch. But, instead we are coming off three bad years, and the best we can say is that the third wasn't as bad as the first two (which were historically awful).

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

I'd rather be coming off three solid seasons and be excited about the future than starting over from scratch. But, instead we are coming off three bad years, and the best we can say is that the third wasn't as bad as the first two (which were historically awful).

I wouldn't call this a "bad" year in comparison to the last 10, just a bad finish. The regular season record actually was the 4th best of the combined 11 years of the Pitino/Johnson period and had the same conference season finish as the 2nd best. We lost multiple games we shouldn't have but we also won more games that the substantial majority of people thought we would. We didn't have two losing seasons prior to this one, we had four. Ben Johnson doesn't get 100% credit for that streak.

The good news is that we have reasons for optimism if the five starters return next season as long as long as Johnson puts in the effort this offseason to provide them with a stronger supporting cast than they had this season.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I give him year 4 no matter what. If guys come back and are upper class, he gets that opportunity. If they fail next season I’m open to change. He deserves to play out his built roster.

 

[Dakota2]

I’m guessind we’ll know right after the NIT announces its teams.

No, that won’t matter. The only thing that matters to Coyle is the GH poll.

 

[leib0039]

I wouldn't call this a "bad" year in comparison to the last 10, just a bad finish. The regular season record actually was the 4th best of the combined 11 years of the Pitino/Johnson period and had the same conference season finish as the 2nd best. We lost multiple games we shouldn't have but we also won more games that the substantial majority of people thought we would. We didn't have two losing seasons prior to this one, we had four. Ben Johnson doesn't get 100% credit for that streak.

The good news is that we have reasons for optimism if the five starters return next season as long as long as Johnson puts in the effort this offseason to provide them with a stronger supporting cast than they had this season.

This to me is a weird season. I think it's logical to say it was a "good" season. Wins improved, missed WW, had some wild comebacks, and have the potential to return a lot of good pieces. So yes, to say this was a good year is defensible.

By the same token I think its easy to say this was a "bad" year. Incredibly weak NC, 1 Q1 win, down at half in I think 18 of 20 conf games, and the last 5 games were an absolute abomination.

I said this prior to the year, the one thing I didn't want was getting to the end of the year and not know. It's not like we went 4-16 in conference, but we also didn't even sniff the NCAA tournament. Yet here we are, that exact scenario.

At this point he's coming back. I've come to terms with that. That said, my expectations for next year are VERY high. I expect an ncaa tournament bid, a good if not great NC schedule, an above average recruiting class signed for 25-26. I could care less if people think that's unfair or want to talk about excuses. CBJ has been given the longest of leashes, time to show true results or see the door.

 

[Dakota2]

I wouldn't call this a "bad" year in comparison to the last 10, just a bad finish. The regular season record actually was the 4th best of the combined 11 years of the Pitino/Johnson period and had the same conference season finish as the 2nd best. We lost multiple games we shouldn't have but we also won more games that the substantial majority of people thought we would. We didn't have two losing seasons prior to this one, we had four. Ben Johnson doesn't get 100% credit for that streak.

The good news is that we have reasons for optimism if the five starters return next season as long as long as Johnson puts in the effort this offseason to provide them with a stronger supporting cast than they had this season.

The success in the portal will have zero to do with the amount of effort Johnson puts in.

 

[goldengophers]

If Ben gets fired, multiple players leave, perhaps nearly the entire roster. These players are committed to him and have been vocal about liking him. Do y’all want to start from scratch again? I am tired of the revolving door. He has a foundation. Let him build it. Asuma wants to play for him. Let’s see what plays out with who stays/leaves and portal.

Yes.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

No, that won’t matter. The only thing that matters to Coyle is the GH poll.

Then I should get some free tickets for my efforts

 

[CentralGopher]

If Ben gets fired, multiple players leave, perhaps nearly the entire roster. These players are committed to him and have been vocal about liking him. Do y’all want to start from scratch again? I am tired of the revolving door. He has a foundation. Let him build it. Asuma wants to play for him. Let’s see what plays out with who stays/leaves and portal.

If we start losing current players to the portal then there is no difference. We would be starting over anyway.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

1) By the same token I think its easy to say this was a "bad" year. Incredibly weak NC, 1 Q1 win, down at half in I think 18 of 20 conf games, and the last 5 games were an absolute abomination.

2) CBJ has been given the longest of leashes, time to show true results or see the door.

1) Yes, the end-of-the season was weak. But, the comeback against PSU was among the last 5 games and I don't know how that could be included in the "abomination." I think a large part of the poor finish was due to what seems like a chronic Ben Johnson failure: he always seems to stop one or two quality players short of what he needs to recruit from the portal in the offseason. Most of our late season opponents played more players against us and some of them put 10 or 11 different players in the game. I think that was a deliberate strategy to wear us down while keeping themselves fresh.

I follow the quantitative indexes faithfully and the nonconference schedule hurt us in those (particularly the one that counts most - NET). However, I don't need an index to tell me whether or not I should enjoy a win. I'm always reasonably happy in a season with more wins than fewer and this year featured most wins of the most recent five year period.

2) This statement is simply not true as I've demonstrated multiple times. So far Johnson has not been given a leash any longer than Fred Hoiberg got at Nebraska, Steve Pikiell got at Rutgers, and Pat Chambers got at Penn State during the early years of their tenures. That's only considering the recent history of the Big Ten. If I went outside to other conferences, I'm confident I could find more examples of equally long leashes. I don't know why so many of you insist on repeating fallacies.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

If we start losing current players to the portal then there is no difference. We would be starting over anyway.

It's obvious that some of you are hoping that's exactly what happens. I'm not. I guess we'll see eventually whose wish is granted.

 

[leib0039]

1) Yes, the end-of-the season was weak. But, the comeback against PSU was among the last 5 games and I don't know how that could be included in the "abomination." I think a large part of the poor finish was due to what seems like a chronic Ben Johnson failure: he always seems to stop one or two quality players short of what he needs to recruit from the portal in the offseason. Most of our late season opponents played more players against us and some of them put 10 or 11 different players in the game. I think that was a deliberate strategy to wear us down while keeping themselves fresh.

I follow the quantitative indexes faithfully and the nonconference schedule hurt us in those (particularly the one that counts most - NET). However, I don't need an index to tell me whether or not I should enjoy a win. I'm always reasonably happy in a season with more wins than fewer and this year featured most wins of the most recent five year period.

2) This statement is simply not true as I've demonstrated multiple times. So far Johnson has not been given a leash any longer than Fred Hoiberg got at Nebraska, Steve Pikiell got at Rutgers, and Pat Chambers got at Penn State during the early years of their tenures. That's only considering the recent history of the Big Ten. If I went outside to other conferences, I'm confident I could find more examples of equally long leashes. I don't know why so many of you insist on repeating fallacies.

On 2, I don't know if I explained it well. I would say for a coach with 0 HC experience and his overall record. I'd hazard a guess in more than 50% of schools he'd be fired. Can you find exceptions, sure you can, but that was my point. I think we'd all agree with coaches who have some track record of success it'd be easier to swallow a few lean years.

 

[bga1]

On 2, I don't know if I explained it well. I would say for a coach with 0 HC experience and his overall record. I'd hazard a guess in more than 50% of schools he'd be fired. Can you find exceptions, sure you can, but that was my point. I think we'd all agree with coaches who have some track record of success it'd be easier to swallow a few lean years.

No experience is a two edged sword. On the one hand you could say that he has made good progress for a guy who never has been a head coach- and they did choose to hire him after reading that resume. On the other hand there is no track record to show that he will be a sure winner here.

The problem for Coyle is that he hired him knowing the uphill climb a coach with zero experience would have. To assume that he wasn't going to have a tough time would be crazy. The hire was a bad one. But at this point, considering improvement this year and a team that appears to want to stay the course, you have to give him another year.

 

[salzie]

Yes but his seat should be hot

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Without checking the pu wi score.. if the badgers win the big ten title maybe Coyle flushes the whole thing. I could see it

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Yes but his seat should be hot

Sure. This season's improvement was only good enough to get a 4th year.

 

[bga1]

Yes but his seat should be hot

Agreed- on fire hot. NCAA or fired next year. They need to help him get all the NIL support he can- then Ben needs to get a improve the roster in the portal. Keep the core and get two good transfers, one star and one depth player.