STrib: With all-white leadership, Gophers athletic department under fresh scrutiny to improve diversity; Coyle has hired 11 white head coaches

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I'll be pretty surprised if Coyle doesn't hire a well qualified black coach. It's not alright to be all white, especially when there are talented, capable non white coaches out there. Too often the statement "just hire the best coach" really means "just hire the white coach" because the pipeline is full of white coaches and it's less work and more comfortable to sign up a known commodity.
 

Moonlight said:
It’s a pretty limited perspective that would see this Strib article as making things harder for the U of M to hire an excellent head coach for the basketball program.

If we accept the reality that black professionals receive less opportunity and more scrutiny, there’s an equal or greater likelihood that seeking to hire a black coach would result in a hire where the individual is MORE qualified and competent than a 'comparable' white counterpart. Most of my friends of color are in a less challenging position than the one they could handle. Making the U job desirable to a candidate of color could be a great opportunity.
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Of course making the UMN job desirable to the best candidate (regardless of color) would be a great opportunity.
As to whether a black coach would receive less opportunity and more scrutiny from Mark Coyle and the University President is the question.
In general, many people face less opportunity and more scrutiny. If you're a person over 50 looking for a job, you probably won't get the same opportunities a person in their 20s would get. Ageism in the workplace is a huge issue. You may have much more experience and higher skills, but a company may want someone they can mold over decades rather than a person who is potentially gone in a decade or less. People get opportunities via cronyism all the time, regardless of their skin color. "You're the friend of so-and-so, we'll give you a shot." The job market playing field is never a level playing field. It's always slanted in a certain direction. That being said, I would venture to guess that the UMN HR department has some extensive protocols in place to try make the field as level as possible. Mark Coyle will have to work within those hiring protocols and provide a lot of documentation as to the process that took place. This hire isn't some back alley, under the table deal being made. It is much more transparent than people seem to think.
 

Oh man, imagine the day certain big ten men’s basketball teams select an HC who is a POC. Gramps is gonna fall out his chair in downtown Monroe.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
because of this type of BS from the Strib it would make hiring Gates look like a token brought on to meet a quota, no matter his qualifications, which would be incredibly unfair to him. The unintended consequences of stirring the pot.
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Passing on Musselman and Dutcher will undoubtingly set them up as benchmarks for Gates' success and/or failure... if he's the coice for the position. It applies a great deal of unwarranted pressure to the situation.
 

BigGopher69 said:
Dennis gates is 30-28 career head coaching record, Dutcher is 93-30 with much more experience, mussleman 41-17 with Arkansas and lots of experience. If Gates was white we wouldn't be having the discussion. Its not about race its about hiring the best candidate, hiring off race is racist in itself especially when other candidates are more qualified and have Minnesota connections.
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He has double the experience of our current HC and many more years as an assistant at jobs that were not handed to him by his dad or friend of his dad’s. He also played at a high level, though it isn’t a top priority, it does make him qualified to empathize with what the players are going through in the collegiate lives. I’m guessing he’s also a pretty bright guy, having graduated from Cal-Berkeley in 3 years. As I said in another thread, Roy Williams had zero head coaching experience before taking over one of the top four programs in all of college basketball and doing a pretty decent job.
 


Wisconsin has white men leading their Football, Basketball, and Women's Basketball teams.

Iowa State has white men leading their Football, Basketball, and Women's Basketball teams.

Nebraska has white men leading their Football and Basketball teams and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.

Iowa has white men leading their Football and Basketball teams and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.

Marquette has a white man leading their Basketball team and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.

Creighton has white men leading both their Basketball and Women's Basketball teams.

Minnesota is surrounded by schools in similar situations. I stated in a previous post about his subject that the lack of diverse hires, espeically in the revenue sports, is as much about opportunity at the mid majors as it is about anything at the high major level. Look at the top coaches (or just the coaches in general) in the Mountain West, Missouri Valley, or Atlantic 10 who would be candidates to move up to a high major job. With the exception of Anthony Grant, they are all white men. Minnesota can't make this issue go away with one hire and can't make it worse with one hire either.
 

jamiche said:
I'll be pretty surprised if Coyle doesn't hire a well qualified black coach. It's not alright to be all white, especially when there are talented, capable non white coaches out there. Too often the statement "just hire the best coach" really means "just hire the white coach" because the pipeline is full of white coaches and it's less work and more comfortable to sign up a known commodity.
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The issue in bold needs to be addressed by the NCAA and the major conferences. That is what is leading to the shortages we have. It also shouldn’t be Coyles burden when he cannot miss on this hire due to where the program currently is.

Dennis Gates turnaround was remarkable, he’s coached at a city with pro sports, and is from a Chicago. This will give him a unique edge over his white counterparts. His white counterparts in this race have longer history’s of winning, in Smiths case winning at equally tough jobs twice where Gates has done it once. Dutchers won at the highest level and coached the longest. Those twos resume make them more hirable on paper to no fault of any of the 3. Gates can win the job in the interview, which he will have a chance to do. I actually think listening to him in a podcast that he will kill the interview process. He’s going to get a P6 job this year. It’s really a pick of which one he’ll want and he’s earned that. It doesn’t mean he is or isn’t the best coach for MN though. That’s on Coyle to decide and given his hiring history, he will/should do just that.
 

gregbrady said:
He has double the experience of our current HC and many more years as an assistant at jobs that were not handed to him by his dad or friend of his dad’s. He also played at a high level, though it isn’t a top priority, it does make him qualified to empathize with what the players are going through in the collegiate lives. I’m guessing he’s also a pretty bright guy, having graduated from Cal-Berkeley in 3 years. As I said in another thread, Roy Williams had zero head coaching experience before taking over one of the top four programs in all of college basketball and doing a pretty decent job.
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We cannot compare this hiring cycle to the last one. We have a competent AD, better interested candidates, and better funded/resources. Not fair to Gates to compare him to a coach who was known to be unqualified when hired and was a flop. Compare Gates to top candidates currently for this job. He stands up in most areas. His one area is minimal HC experience. That’s ok too. Hiring the right person will take some vision from Coyle as there is no sure fire option for this job.
 
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EG#9 said:
Wisconsin has white men leading their Football, Basketball, and Women's Basketball teams.

Iowa State has white men leading their Football, Basketball, and Women's Basketball teams.

Nebraska has white men leading their Football and Basketball teams and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.

Iowa has white men leading their Football and Basketball teams and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.

Marquette has a white man leading their Basketball team and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.

Creighton has white men leading both their Basketball and Women's Basketball teams.

Minnesota is surrounded by schools in similar situations. I stated in a previous post about his subject that the lack of diverse hires, espeically in the revenue sports, is as much about opportunity at the mid majors as it is about anything at the high major level. Look at the top coaches (or just the coaches in general) in the Mountain West, Missouri Valley, or Atlantic 10 who would be candidates to move up to a high major job. With the exception of Anthony Grant, they are all white men. Minnesota can't make this issue go away with one hire and can't make it worse with one hire either.
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Let's try not to group ourselves with those colleges shall we.

Minneapolis is an incredibly diverse town and if you are like me and have walked through the city, has a "Black Lives Matter" sign in front of about 2 out of every 3 houses.

Here, where I live in Maryland, our house and another are the only houses in our 350 house development with that sign.

Minnesota, I assume, looks at coaches with racial blinders on. they will hire the best coach period!

Just because at this point in time there are no people of color coaching at the U, by no means does it mean the university excludes any races from consideration.
 



manderson1984 said:
We cannot compare this hiring cycle to the last one. We have a competent AD, better interested candidates, and better funded/resources. Not fair to Gates to compare him to a coach who was known to be unqualified when hired and was a flop. Compare Gates to top candidates currently for this job. He stands up in most areas. His one area is minimal HC experience. That’s ok too. Hiring the right person will take some vision from Coyle as there is no sure fire option for this job.
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While nothing is "sure fire", there are certainly hires that stand far above others.
 

BarnBurner said:
While nothing is "sure fire", there are certainly hires that stand far above others.
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Sure fire coaches aren't considering Minnesota:
Brad Stephens
Jay Wright
Bennet

These are guys you hire on the spot. Barnburner, who among the list currently talked about is closest to being a "hire on the spot" coach.

Musselman?
Dutcher?

Everyone else mentioned, including these two have some deficiencies. Is lack of experience the worst? That is what makes people like Gates so intriguing. He has no other drawbacks from what I've heard.
 

BarnBurner said:
While nothing is "sure fire", there are certainly hires that stand far above others.
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Exactly, so you need to accumulate all the data you can and make what you find to be the best decision. Listening to Gates on the Chris Oliver podcast was fun. I won't be mad if he's the hire at all. He's coached at a city with pro teams, he is a defense oriented guy, and he's vision oriented, and him being black and from Chicago will allow him to relate to kids and families differently than others that haven't been there. I'm more than ok saying that's a positive that I think could help him recruit and be successful here. His only knock so far is he hasn't coached as a HC more than 2 years. It's on Coyle to decide how much that matters.
 

jamiche said:
I'll be pretty surprised if Coyle doesn't hire a well qualified black coach. It's not alright to be all white, especially when there are talented, capable non white coaches out there. Too often the statement "just hire the best coach" really means "just hire the white coach" because the pipeline is full of white coaches and it's less work and more comfortable to sign up a known commodity.
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I think pretty much everyone agrees there is an issue and that there need to be more minority coaches out there across most sports. And if an AD or team is passing on a coach simply based on their skin color that is 1000% wrong.

But it also isn't fair to tell an AD that they can't hire a coach who would be a perfect fit for their program simply because that coach is white. The ADs job is tied in large part to the hires they make at the major sports like football and basketball.

Coyle is going to be evaluated on the success of the next coach he hires for basketball and how Fleck does in football. Is if fair too Coyle to say he has to pick his basketball coach based on his skin color?

I'm just not ok personally with sorting the candidate pool by skin color. It truly should be about hiring the best coach for the team regardless of what his or her skin color is.

The hard part is determining which places are doing just that vs. the ones that are excluding minority candidates intentionally.
 



MNVCGUY said:
I think pretty much everyone agrees there is an issue and that there need to be more minority coaches out there across most sports. And if an AD or team is passing on a coach simply based on their skin color that is 1000% wrong.

But it also isn't fair to tell an AD that they can't hire a coach who would be a perfect fit for their program simply because that coach is white. The ADs job is tied in large part to the hires they make at the major sports like football and basketball.

Coyle is going to be evaluated on the success of the next coach he hires for basketball and how Fleck does in football. Is if fair too Coyle to say he has to pick his basketball coach based on his skin color?

I'm just not ok personally with sorting the candidate pool by skin color. It truly should be about hiring the best coach for the team regardless of what his or her skin color is.

The hard part is determining which places are doing just that vs. the ones that are excluding minority candidates intentionally.
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No one is telling Coyle that though. If any thing it is like the coaches who are from here. They have a solid resume and are legit candidates and having ties here is a bonus. If a black coach has the credentials to be in the conversation, being black just is a bonus. It doesn't mean the next coach has to be black. Personally, I think Medved is the guy for the job. Smith or Gates are the other 2 I like in his tier. I think we can strike gold with Gates. He is from a major city, first head coaching job is in a major city, solid recruiter while at a power 5, coached in multiple regions, and is a former player. Also, the kids on his team are looking like they are having fun. At a program like ours, that is huge. We aren't a school where we can try the traditional way. I think this hire needs to be with a guy who is similar to Fleck where he will bring in energy and a vision.
 

manderson1984 said:
Exactly, so you need to accumulate all the data you can and make what you find to be the best decision. Listening to Gates on the Chris Oliver podcast was fun. I won't be mad if he's the hire at all. He's coached at a city with pro teams, he is a defense oriented guy, and he's vision oriented, and him being black and from Chicago will allow him to relate to kids and families differently than others that haven't been there. I'm more than ok saying that's a positive that I think could help him recruit and be successful here. His only knock so far is he hasn't coached as a HC more than 2 years. It's on Coyle to decide how much that matters.
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I could not agree more with what you are saying here. Being African American matters and it would be an advantage in recruiting. Gates sure seems like a class act and I think our state would hit the jackpot with him as our coach.
 

GopherPlaya said:
No one is telling Coyle that though. If any thing it is like the coaches who are from here. They have a solid resume and are legit candidates and having ties here is a bonus. If a black coach has the credentials to be in the conversation, being black just is a bonus. It doesn't mean the next coach has to be black. Personally, I think Medved is the guy for the job. Smith or Gates are the other 2 I like in his tier. I think we can strike gold with Gates. He is from a major city, first head coaching job is in a major city, solid recruiter while at a power 5, coached in multiple regions, and is a former player. Also, the kids on his team are looking like they are having fun. At a program like ours, that is huge. We aren't a school where we can try the traditional way. I think this hire needs to be with a guy who is similar to Fleck where he will bring in energy and a vision.
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Great post. The part in bold is where I agree the most. It's why Smith is my number 1. The more research on Gates I am doing however is starting to bring him in the same level. I just feel like if we legitimately have 4-5 guys (depending on whether you think Dutcher would come here) that seem to have interest in the job that would be great hires. Such a different feel from our last hiring cycle.
 

manderson1984 said:
Exactly, so you need to accumulate all the data you can and make what you find to be the best decision. Listening to Gates on the Chris Oliver podcast was fun. I won't be mad if he's the hire at all. He's coached at a city with pro teams, he is a defense oriented guy, and he's vision oriented, and him being black and from Chicago will allow him to relate to kids and families differently than others that haven't been there. I'm more than ok saying that's a positive that I think could help him recruit and be successful here. His only knock so far is he hasn't coached as a HC more than 2 years. It's on Coyle to decide how much that matters.
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I would add make the best decision based on the qualifications. Anyone paying attention knows qualifications can be and many, many times are massaged to fit a certain candidate.

Appears you are set on Gates, based on your writing above. Cant imagine anyone else climbing the ladder to the level of "love" you show here.

You wont be mad? Does that mean you will be happy, or something else?
 

GopherPlaya said:
No one is telling Coyle that though. If any thing it is like the coaches who are from here. They have a solid resume and are legit candidates and having ties here is a bonus. If a black coach has the credentials to be in the conversation, being black just is a bonus. It doesn't mean the next coach has to be black. Personally, I think Medved is the guy for the job. Smith or Gates are the other 2 I like in his tier. I think we can strike gold with Gates. He is from a major city, first head coaching job is in a major city, solid recruiter while at a power 5, coached in multiple regions, and is a former player. Also, the kids on his team are looking like they are having fun. At a program like ours, that is huge. We aren't a school where we can try the traditional way. I think this hire needs to be with a guy who is similar to Fleck where he will bring in energy and a vision.
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Being black is far more than a bonus based on hiring in todays environment.
 

BarnBurner said:
I would add make the best decision based on the qualifications. Anyone paying attention knows qualifications can be and many, many times are massaged to fit a certain candidate.

Appears you are set on Gates, based on your writing above. Cant imagine anyone else climbing the ladder to the level of "love" you show here.

You wont be mad? Does that mean you will be happy, or something else?
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Go see any other thread and my feelings on Craig Smith lol. He's my favorite still. I think we have a couple different guys who could win here. That's what I mean when I say I won't be mad. I'll be happiest with Smith though. I'll be confident with Gates or Dutcher.
 


gregbrady said:
He also played at a high level, though it isn’t a top priority, it does make him qualified to empathize with what the players are going through in the collegiate lives.
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I think Pitino probably had feelings of insecurity in this job because of 1) his youth, 2) his lack of coaching accomplishments, and 3) the fact that he never played the game at a high level (Did he even play in high school? He went to a private school that was mainly known for hockey.). I think when you have feelings of insecurity, you're more easily threatened by the players and the other coaches and may act more defensively as a result.
 

EG#9 said:
Iowa has white men leading their Football and Basketball teams and a white woman leading their Women's Basketball team.
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Well, in the case of Iowa basketball, that might make sense. McCaffrey's Iowa rosters practically have looked like BYU Midwest.
 

GopherPlaya said:
IF that is true then we wouldn't be having this discussion because there would be a lot more black people hired and the data doesn't back that up
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It is true. Hiring today is far, far more focused on diversity than 5 years ago.

I have personally witnessed multiple diverse hires that were hired solely on diversity, nothing to do with qualifications and experience. Pressure is applied to hire in this manner. All in an effort to make the metrics look good.

These hires have not worked out, and have resulted in the rest of the teams picking up slack and having to rehire. At a great cost to the organization and the team members.

Dont read this to mean there are no diverse hires that can do jobs.
 

manderson1984 said:
Go see any other thread and my feelings on Craig Smith lol. He's my favorite still. I think we have a couple different guys who could win here. That's what I mean when I say I won't be mad. I'll be happiest with Smith though. I'll be confident with Gates or Dutcher.
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"The more research on Gates I am doing however is starting to bring him in the same level."
 

Admittedly I had no clue who Dennis Gates was until 3 weeks ago. Everything I have read, saw and heard about him no doubt shows he is an impressive, highly qualified candidate and on track for a P6 job.
 

jamiche said:
I'll be pretty surprised if Coyle doesn't hire a well qualified black coach. It's not alright to be all white, especially when there are talented, capable non white coaches out there. Too often the statement "just hire the best coach" really means "just hire the white coach" because the pipeline is full of white coaches and it's less work and more comfortable to sign up a known commodity.
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I think you make some points that many people who get all bent out of shape about this issue really fail to grasp. It will always be easier to hire a white professional in many fields as there are far more of them to choose from. If one really wants to make an exception to that, one has to work harder to expand the field and that sometimes involves relaxing some criteria.
 

You cannot put down White race to bring Black race up. It is still racism
 

cjbfbp said:
I think you make some points that many people who get all bent out of shape about this issue really fail to grasp. It will always be easier to hire a white professional in many fields as there are far more of them to choose from. If one really wants to make an exception to that, one has to work harder to expand the field and that sometimes involves relaxing some criteria.
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To the detriment of the most qualified.

Perfect, just perfect. EQUITY. INCLUSION.
 


I see way more people of color being over-qualified, or stalled out at a certain level due to lack of opportunity. The standard aren't being relaxed, they're being shifted toward equity.
 

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