Scoggins talks to four coaches anonymously about the Gophers job

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bumped. yeah, that's why a refresh would be big for the basketball program. It needs new life. We have to take our homer glasses off or start winning at the level of blue bloods.
 

I think this is completely fair other than the fans getting impatient, though I'd say we do expect the worst. People were patient with Monson and Pitino to a fault. The coaches seemed to all agree that this was the 6th to 8th best job in the conference. That puts us behind Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, and then somewhere in with Purdue/Wisconsin/Minnesota depending on which of the anonymous coaches voice you choose to hear. I don't think anyone argues that. Consistently finishing behind Wisconsin is a problem and will alway be with the fan base. Now we're finishing behind Iowa, Rutgers, and Penn State the past couple years which is completely unacceptable. To defend the fan base this has been a school that's been in or around the top 25 in average attendance for a lot of these years where the program has been down. I think the support is good for such a poor product, but the average age of those willing to still support is certainly a concern.

The Barn is certainly an issue and the coaches are completely right with how you frame it. If we were winning a lot, there would be a charm to it. Because we've been losing, it's just old. I've heard from multiple people through various coaching staffs that the Barn looks really bad when it's empty (no game going on for a visit from a recruit for a walkthrough or whatever). It doesn't surprise me that it's considered arguably the biggest negative with the job.
 


PJF spoke frequently about the need for MN fans to get past expecting the worst. Some fans were annoyed with his phrases " change your best " . He's not wrong but I disagree that we are impatient. The barn is great when it's packed and we are winning. Otherwise, I can see it being old and boring to recruits.
 

Reading the responses of those coaches reminds me why the basketball team needs a PJ Fleck type coach who won't accept excuses for not winning, but has a plan to win anywhere and believes they can build a culture of winning here at UMN.
 

MennoSota said:
Reading the responses of those coaches reminds me why the basketball team needs a PJ Fleck type coach who won't accept excuses for not winning, but has a plan to win anywhere and believes they can build a culture of winning here at UMN.
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PJ probably wouldn’t have taken the job of the gophers were still playing at the Metrodome (if it still existed). You’re right though that someone with crazy energy is needed to turn it around, but in the meantime something needs to happen. I truly think saving Williams is a lost cause. Need to have something with luxury boxes, nice locker rooms, and those type of amenities.
 

Really interesting column idea by Chip, well done. The coaches make some really interesting and astute observations.

We need a high energy coach, Coyle needs to get this hire right.

Go Gophers!!
 




Spend $100 plus million for some soulless, corporate arena in order to finish 8th. LMAO!

That Athlete's Village sure improved our recruiting! What a con job.

Good lord. These coaches are delusional. It's not and has never been about spending obscene amounts of money to win. It's about having the right coach and a supportive administration.

My god, anyone who thinks building a new arena is the answer is an idiot.
 

TruthSeeker said:
Spend $100 plus million for some soulless, corporate arena in order to finish 8th. LMAO!

That Athlete's Village sure improved our recruiting! What a con job.

Good lord. These coaches are delusional. It's not and has never been about spending obscene amounts of money to win. It's about having the right coach and a supportive administration.

My god, anyone who thinks building a new arena is the answer is an idiot.
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It’s almost as if they’re spending your money the way it has you fired up.

There are ways to build and modernize an arena without making it corporate and stale. They asked anonymous coaches (who are in the industry) and they gave you an honest answer. Recruiting matters. If a coach tells you that’s the biggest blemish or obstacle than I believe them. Have you ever been to The Barn when it’s literally empty? It is old and smells like stale popcorn and urine. I LOVE that place when it’s electric and packed, but let’s be honest those have been few and far between. The last great memory I have is knocking off #1 Indiana when Mbakwe was on the team and we rushed the floor.
 

TruthSeeker said:
Spend $100 plus million for some soulless, corporate arena in order to finish 8th. LMAO!

That Athlete's Village sure improved our recruiting! What a con job.

Good lord. These coaches are delusional. It's not and has never been about spending obscene amounts of money to win. It's about having the right coach and a supportive administration.

My god, anyone who thinks building a new arena is the answer is an idiot.
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The athletes village did improve recruiting. Winning improves it more, which will

The idea of replacing a 93 year old arena isn’t crazy or idiotic however. It won’t be a cure all, but it may help revive the program. Those corporate sponsorships are also valuable revenue that our athletic program and university could utilize.
 



The next coach, hopefully, will be able to connect in a meaningful way with the H.S. and A.A.U. communities. He's also gonna need to get the local media jackals to "buy in." A lot of the negativity that Chip was pointing out really does start with the negative press the program is saddled with... just being able to turn that around will help immensely.
 


#2Gopher said:
I was thinking that the crew here isn't going to like what they say about the fan base here. Very impatient.
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We just gave 8 full seasons to a coach who has 36% winning percentage in the Big 10. That same coach inherited a program that just went the Tournament and could recruit in the state during an historical boom of talent.

You can call the fanbase a lot of things (and I have) but impatient is not one of them.
 


TruthSeeker said:
Spend $100 plus million for some soulless, corporate arena in order to finish 8th. LMAO!

That Athlete's Village sure improved our recruiting! What a con job.

Good lord. These coaches are delusional. It's not and has never been about spending obscene amounts of money to win. It's about having the right coach and a supportive administration.

My god, anyone who thinks building a new arena is the answer is an idiot.
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When your biggest rival all of a sudden becomes a regular conference title contender (and makes a national title game) after moving to a new arena I think it is worth a look. Does Bo Ryan have the same success if he is recruiting to play in the Wisconsin Field House? Seems like Ohio State became good regularly after moving to Value City Arena also.
 


MennoSota said:
Reading the responses of those coaches reminds me why the basketball team needs a PJ Fleck type coach who won't accept excuses for not winning, but has a plan to win anywhere and believes they can build a culture of winning here at UMN.
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Pump the breaks. Fleck needs a couple more very good seasons in the next 3-4 years.
 


Not sure how much I agree with the argument of needing a brand new arena to fix things. For example, Nebraska by all accounts has a really nice arena to play in and they still suck. Once upon a time, Penn State viewed the Bryce Jordan as a game changer for their program and they're still awful.

Bottom line when it comes to facilities is that they don't mean jack if you don't get a coach who can actually coach. Nice and flashy perhaps, but they don't guarantee a damn thing. With that said, the Barn is old and maybe it is time to seriously consider some new alternatives.
 

MRJ said:
Not sure how much I agree with the argument of needing a brand new arena to fix things. For example, Nebraska by all accounts has a really nice arena to play in and they still suck. Once upon a time, Penn State viewed the Bryce Jordan as a game changer for their program and they're still awful.

Bottom line when it comes to facilities is that they don't mean jack if you don't get a coach who can actually coach. Nice and flashy perhaps, but they don't guarantee a damn thing. With that said, the Barn is old and maybe it is time to seriously consider some new alternatives.
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Yep. Complete BS. Plenty of options to renovate and keep the history and charm of one of the best college venues for basketball.
 

manderson1984 said:
PJ probably wouldn’t have taken the job of the gophers were still playing at the Metrodome (if it still existed). You’re right though that someone with crazy energy is needed to turn it around, but in the meantime something needs to happen. I truly think saving Williams is a lost cause. Need to have something with luxury boxes, nice locker rooms, and those type of amenities.
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Yet Cameron Indoor is a bigger dump...
 

Call me cynical, but I bet those other coaches recruit against MN by telling kids, "you don't want to go play in that old gym with the raised floor."

And of course, Justin Gaard immediately started tweeting out that "I told you so. This is a tough job with a lot of disadvantages." Of course, the underlying message is that you can't blame Pitino for not winning.

Shoot, I think the U should just drop basketball, or go down to DII, because clearly nobody can win at MN. It's impossible. (sarcasm).
 

Let’s put it this way, I’d rather overpay for a GREAT coach than stick $100M into a new arena. One for some reason is easier to justify for the public. I wish we’d open up the pocket books and pay for a proven commodity and the revenue and donations and electricity will follow. On the surface, coaching salaries are scary to people and they say “they make what?!” Ask Marquette, what their Final Four run did for them in 2004. Their applications went up 200% alone. People want to be associated with success. You get better applicants. More butts in the seats. Corporations paying for advertising. It’s really worth the investment. I wish we would stop trying to skate by on our loyal ticket holders, because sadly they’re aging out.
 

TruthSeeker said:
Spend $100 plus million for some soulless, corporate arena in order to finish 8th. LMAO!

That Athlete's Village sure improved our recruiting! What a con job.

Good lord. These coaches are delusional. It's not and has never been about spending obscene amounts of money to win. It's about having the right coach and a supportive administration.

My god, anyone who thinks building a new arena is the answer is an idiot.
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Absolutely nailed it. Let's build an arena that looks just like the Kohl Center and watch the recruits flood in. Sure.

Every coach everywhere is conditioned to complain about the facilities. Always ask for bigger and better and complain that what you have is hindering your ability to win.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Call me cynical, but I bet those other coaches recruit against MN by telling kids, "you don't want to go play in that old gym with the raised floor.
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Any Good coach would be convincing kids that playing on a raised floor would elevate their game.
 

howeda7 said:
It's not happening in the next 3-4 years, but the Barn does need to be replaced. It's just a reality.
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If it is a reality as sure as you say it is, you better start rallying your network of donors. Getting buy in for an arena that looks like the Target Center with the promise that we will be competitive in this conference is gonna take some work.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
We just gave 8 full seasons to a coach who has 36% winning percentage in the Big 10. That same coach inherited a program that just went the Tournament and could recruit in the state during an historical boom of talent.

You can call the fanbase a lot of things (and I have) but impatient is not one of them.
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I think this type of feedback has value for sure. But to ask coaches about other coaches (even if anonymous) is silly. Just listen to any color guy on a radio or TV broadcast that was a former coach. They all endlessly gush about “how good of a coaching job” coach X is doing at whatever school they are broadcasting. It’s happened many times this year during Gopher broadcasts, and most here would agree the coaching has been suspect at best. The coaching fraternity is deep and very few speak bad of others, even if anonymous.

There is no way you can claim after giving Pitino 8 years that we are impatient. Most aren’t expecting the world, either. Just competency.
 

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