I realize it's not hockey, but Coyle made 2 smart hires for M and WBB and imho did the right thing with keeping PJ. Let's hope he'll get it right for the teams on ice.
My $.02 opinion. Next coach is Potulny.
Lucia had a hand in getting Coyle to the U
Coyle asked Lucia who to hire
Lucia likes Grant
pio press article on possible coaches.
That's the one thing that gives me hope that the rumors are wrong or incomplete at best, his previous moves were all good and more or less what we expected.I realize it's not hockey, but Coyle made 2 smart hires for M and WBB and imho did the right thing with keeping PJ. Let's hope he'll get it right for the teams on ice.
My $.02 opinion. Next coach is Potulny.
Lucia had a hand in getting Coyle to the U
Coyle asked Lucia who to hire
Lucia likes Grant
pio press article on possible coaches.
That would be a disaster. He has done nothing at NMU to inspire any confidence that he could handle it here. I have nothing against the guy, but that program is in dire need of help.
Glass half full take: it was obvious Coyle thought he could autopilot this shit with Raboin. Today better have woken him up. You know he’s hearing it from everywhere right now. Maybe the ACTUAL search begins instead of the two token backup names to Raboin being the lame duck search. Who knows maybe Barr actually gets a look. Just being optimistic 🤷♂️
If Raboin turned us down, that's a Coyle problem or a Raboin problem. You don't get into coaching at this level to say "Oh I just want my little corner of the tiny world with less resources and a small arena."
That's just absolute nonsense. Sorry. You get into D1 coaching because you're driven by an ego and you want to win at the highest level possible. Doesn't mean you can't also be a good person, but you're not there to just take it easy and collect a paycheck and maybe win a few games. And especially so if you're in the early or mid career phase.
You'd only decline if you really hate the AD or what he's offering - OR - as someone else mentioned, you're just not qualified for the program. Again, nothing against him if that's his reasoning. But you're also not going to do much at Augustana long term.
Augustana might be private but you're also not going to get Big Ten money there nor are you going to get the tier A1 resources a Big Ten or top flight NACHO or HEA school will have. You just won't.
THis would be like PJ Fleck turning down like, Penn State or Alabama if they called (they won't).
You're just not cut out for the big time or the AD is a colossal farkup. Given that the former option has no evidence either way and the latter has a lot of evidence to the contrary...
Glass half full take: it was obvious Coyle thought he could autopilot this shit with Raboin. Today better have woken him up. You know he’s hearing it from everywhere right now. Maybe the ACTUAL search begins instead of the two token backup names to Raboin being the lame duck search. Who knows maybe Barr actually gets a look. Just being optimistic 🤷♂️
the Muzerall news a day or two ago should’ve made it clear to Coyle that he likely had to refine his pitch for the men’s hire
Glass half full take: it was obvious Coyle thought he could autopilot this shit with Raboin. Today better have woken him up. You know he’s hearing it from everywhere right now. Maybe the ACTUAL search begins instead of the two token backup names to Raboin being the lame duck search. Who knows maybe Barr actually gets a look. Just being optimistic 🤷♂️
the Muzerall news a day or two ago should’ve made it clear to Coyle that he likely had to refine his pitch for the men’s hire
The Muzerall pitch would have had to be straight out of Mad Men for her to take it. The task at Minnesota is absurdly uphill compared to the job she already has. I'm not gonna put that one on Coyle.
If OSU is paying the same and the expectations are mostly non-existent then sure I kinda get it. But it's not as if a school like that can't be even more cut-throat than here, Frost was in the same job forever despite the team declining for like ten years.
The Muzerall pitch would have had to be straight out of Mad Men for her to take it. The task at Minnesota is absurdly uphill compared to the job she already has. I'm not gonna put that one on Coyle.
When an AD sees one of their coaches being targeted there is a rapid call to donors to “get the coach paid” and a new contract. Clearly that is what happened at OSU for the women’s coach and probably what happened with Raboin.
In addition, Raboin also was one of three candidates and the AU offer is certainly a bird in the hand for him. There also can be a dozen other perfectly rationale reasons that impact one's decision making. To say the AD has totally screwed up the potential hiring of a guy who has done a fine job at AU, but it isn’t like he has David Carle, seems a bit of hyperbole.
Also, one of the fun aspects of college hockey is that Union, Providence College, Yale.... can compete and win for a national championship. AU actually has more likely shot at winning it all (someday) than Minnesota has at winning a CFB championship.
Several of the most intriguing candidates are still coaching.
If Raboin turned us down, that's a Coyle problem or a Raboin problem. You don't get into coaching at this level to say "Oh I just want my little corner of the tiny world with less resources and a small arena."
That's just absolute nonsense. Sorry. You get into D1 coaching because you're driven by an ego and you want to win at the highest level possible. Doesn't mean you can't also be a good person, but you're not there to just take it easy and collect a paycheck and maybe win a few games. And especially so if you're in the early or mid career phase.
You'd only decline if you really hate the AD or what he's offering - OR - as someone else mentioned, you're just not qualified for the program. Again, nothing against him if that's his reasoning. But you're also not going to do much at Augustana long term.
Augustana might be private but you're also not going to get Big Ten money there nor are you going to get the tier A1 resources a Big Ten or top flight NACHO or HEA school will have. You just won't.
This tells me 1 of 2 things, or both:
1. Bob was not onboard with leaving, and is being classy about it. Bob gave Rabs a shot at playing big time college hockey as a walk on and he developed to wear a letter. Bob then gave him an opportunity to coach big time college hockey. Has to be like a father figure. I wouldn’t go work for someone who did my dad dirty.
2. Allowing Rabs name to be leaked while his team still has its first chance at the NCAA tourney is a bad look. If tonight goes chalk they are in.
I’m willing to bet it’s more #1.
I’m not getting the vitriol over Potulny. No one wins at NMU and he was able to get some talent up there.
If Raboin turned us down, that's a Coyle problem or a Raboin problem. You don't get into coaching at this level to say "Oh I just want my little corner of the tiny world with less resources and a small arena."
That's just absolute nonsense. Sorry. You get into D1 coaching because you're driven by an ego and you want to win at the highest level possible. Doesn't mean you can't also be a good person, but you're not there to just take it easy and collect a paycheck and maybe win a few games. And especially so if you're in the early or mid career phase.
You'd only decline if you really hate the AD or what he's offering - OR - as someone else mentioned, you're just not qualified for the program. Again, nothing against him if that's his reasoning. But you're also not going to do much at Augustana long term.
Augustana might be private but you're also not going to get Big Ten money there nor are you going to get the tier A1 resources a Big Ten or top flight NACHO or HEA school will have. You just won't.
This tells me 1 of 2 things, or both:
1. Bob was not onboard with leaving, and is being classy about it. Bob gave Rabs a shot at playing big time college hockey as a walk on and he developed to wear a letter. Bob then gave him an opportunity to coach big time college hockey. Has to be like a father figure. I wouldn’t go work for someone who did my dad dirty.
2. Allowing Rabs name to be leaked while his team still has its first chance at the NCAA tourney is a bad look. If tonight goes chalk they are in.
I’m willing to bet it’s more #1.
Good points. Since the situation is still so fluid and recent (and raw, if the dad being treated dirty is festering), then I think both could be relevant.
id be a bit frustrated if I was the AU AD. And what about the players? Coach going to interview while “we’re still alive and in the hunt to make the tourney”. Kind of a bad look all around.
Ive seen this over and over at the mid-major CBB level where I am an alum and several coaches were hired away.
One of the “other duties as assigned" to the AD is to understand if his coaching staff may be a target for an outside hire. And of course AU was well aware that Motzko was on a short timeline and Roboin was a potential heir. Likely, the school leadership and boosters had budgeted for this, so when the day comes, they can move fast. So there does not even need to be a leaking of names. Everyone knows short list names. If he has signed an extension, give AU credit, they were ready and there could be a dozen additional reasons for his decision we are not, nor should be, privy to.
Criticizing the AD with pure speculation as evidence does not help him make the best decision. We want his motivation to make the best decision, not a quick one to get the fans off his back.
I’m not getting the vitriol over Potulny. No one wins at NMU and he was able to get some talent up there.
If Potulny commits to the new era of college hockey with a GM, NIL, and CHL players he could work out.
If Raboin wouldn't cut off his left arm to get this job, then you don't want him here to begin with.
If Coyle didn't know who was getting the job before he fired Motzko, then you don't want him here either.
Why did I see somewhere that Raboin will be interviewed this weekend? Maybe they got that wrong...
Why did I see somewhere that Raboin will be interviewed this weekend? Maybe they got that wrong...
that came from Russo. He doesn’t share info like that unless 100% certain of its accuracy. As others have stated, maybe we just need to give it a few days and let the process play out.
Raboin could definitely be playing coy while his team is still gearing up for a potential NCAA tournament game.
https://twitter.com/schlossmangf/status/2035184428197036101?s=46&t=UtlPiq7Vt1Te97QT76L7LQ
That’s my hope at least.
If Raboin wouldn't cut off his left arm to get this job, then you don't want him here to begin with.
If Coyle didn't know who was getting the job before he fired Motzko, then you don't want him here either.
yeah a change is one thing and an upgrade is another. We need both and if not the case Bob should’ve been left on to play out his contract/career because just a change is settling and doesn’t make the most sense in my opinion.
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
I guess anything is possible, but why would Raboin remove himself from consideration?
more pressure to win here is my first thought.
I'm an old man now, but when we hired Bob didn't Raboin turn down SCSU as well and that's where Bob hired him as an assistant at that time? My memory could be foggy though. *IF* Raboin turned down his alma mater then it shouldn't come as a shock he turned this down. I get that the Gopher job is more prestigious than SCSU (imho), but he (Raboin) clearly values other things as well when looking at jobs. Must be something about Augustana that drew him in. What the hell do I know though 
@viking did ask Don Brose last night if him and tDon would take the coaching job...Brose said no. 🤣
I am the official Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
I guess anything is possible, but why would Raboin remove himself from consideration?
more pressure to win here is my first thought.
I'm an old man now, but when we hired Bob didn't Raboin turn down SCSU as well and that's where Bob hired him as an assistant at that time? My memory could be foggy though. *IF* Raboin turned down his alma mater then it shouldn't come as a shock he turned this down. I get that the Gopher job is more prestigious than SCSU (imho), but he (Raboin) clearly values other things as well when looking at jobs. Must be something about Augustana that drew him in. What the hell do I know though
he turned down applying to come with Bob. Not the job offer
If Raboin wouldn't cut off his left arm to get this job, then you don't want him here to begin with.
If Coyle didn't know who was getting the job before he fired Motzko, then you don't want him here either.
yeah a change is one thing and an upgrade is another. We need both and if not the case Bob should’ve been left on to play out his contract/career because just a change is settling and doesn’t make the most sense in my opinion.
While I agree about upgrading, my question was always who is sure fire upgrade over Bob?
Looking at college hockey:
Carle, Nightengale, Herschfeld - I think no-brainers
Naurato, Hastings - don't want either
Dane Jackson - yeah, right
Sandelin - was previously approached and turned down the job
Pandalfo, Greg Brown, Pecknold - Easties with strong ties to their universities who aren't coming
Barr / Raboin - good potential upside, but neither a lock
Seems like everyone else in the college realm comes with more than a little risk and / or unknowns
I don't know the juniors well enough to comment; likewise the NFL or minor league.
Would like to have the juice and energy of a younger coach whose had real success, but I'm just not sure where you find that person.
I’m not getting the vitriol over Potulny. No one wins at NMU and he was able to get some talent up there.
If Potulny commits to the new era of college hockey with a GM, NIL, and CHL players he could work out.
Ive seen several posts citing "things fell apart at the end" an NM, are there any more details on this?
It seems like he had some relative success there during the middle of his tenure.
I’m not getting the vitriol over Potulny. No one wins at NMU and he was able to get some talent up there.
If Potulny commits to the new era of college hockey with a GM, NIL, and CHL players he could work out.
Ive seen several posts citing "things fell apart at the end" an NM, are there any more details on this?
It seems like he had some relative success there during the middle of his tenure.
his entire roster went into the transfer portal, he made some mealy statements about how it wasn’t as bad as it looked and that incoming recruits and portal gets would stop the bleeding, then a week later he left for the AHL. He was still there when the team imploded, he just made a quick exit.
Someone said Coyle wouldn’t fire Motzko without knowing who he would hire. He already has Potulny confirmed. He’s conducting his mandatory search and will announce Grant sometime during ncaa’s. It’s easy and he thinks it’s a good fit. Time will tell if it’s a bad decision. Finding a good coach is hard. Like others on here I don’t think he built a winning program and he quit after his best recruits fled. Not a good sign for a program where he needs to show he can lead and keep the best recruits.
I’m not getting the vitriol over Potulny. No one wins at NMU and he was able to get some talent up there.
It’s not that they don’t win*, it’s that they’re one of the worst teams in the country
*It really doesn’t matter if they never win with anyone. It just shows you’re about as good as anyone else who has landed there. Pass.
If Raboin wouldn't cut off his left arm to get this job, then you don't want him here to begin with.
If Coyle didn't know who was getting the job before he fired Motzko, then you don't want him here either.
yeah a change is one thing and an upgrade is another. We need both and if not the case Bob should’ve been left on to play out his contract/career because just a change is settling and doesn’t make the most sense in my opinion.
While I agree about upgrading, my question was always who is sure fire upgrade over Bob?
Looking at college hockey:
Carle, Nightengale, Herschfeld - I think no-brainers
Naurato, Hastings - don't want either
Dane Jackson - yeah, right
Sandelin - was previously approached and turned down the job
Pandalfo, Greg Brown, Pecknold - Easties with strong ties to their universities who aren't coming
Barr / Raboin - good potential upside, but neither a lock
Seems like everyone else in the college realm comes with more than a little risk and / or unknowns
I don't know the juniors well enough to comment; likewise the NFL or minor league.
Would like to have the juice and energy of a younger coach whose had real success, but I'm just not sure where you find that person.
Im going to assume you’re not saying Hastings, Carle, and Sandelin were serious options here. Because Carle is never leaving Denver except for the NHL. Hastings fucking hates this school. And Sandelin is a former Hawk who coached at Duluth for 26 years.
If Raboin wouldn't cut off his left arm to get this job, then you don't want him here to begin with.
If Coyle didn't know who was getting the job before he fired Motzko, then you don't want him here either.
yeah a change is one thing and an upgrade is another. We need both and if not the case Bob should’ve been left on to play out his contract/career because just a change is settling and doesn’t make the most sense in my opinion.
While I agree about upgrading, my question was always who is sure fire upgrade over Bob?
Looking at college hockey:
Carle, Nightengale, Herschfeld - I think no-brainers
Naurato, Hastings - don't want either
Dane Jackson - yeah, right
Sandelin - was previously approached and turned down the job
Pandalfo, Greg Brown, Pecknold - Easties with strong ties to their universities who aren't coming
Barr / Raboin - good potential upside, but neither a lock
Seems like everyone else in the college realm comes with more than a little risk and / or unknowns
I don't know the juniors well enough to comment; likewise the NFL or minor league.
Would like to have the juice and energy of a younger coach whose had real success, but I'm just not sure where you find that person.
Im going to assume you’re not saying Hastings, Carle, and Sandelin were serious options here. Because Carle is never leaving Denver except for the NHL. Hastings fucking hates this school. And Sandelin is a former Hawk who coached at Duluth for 26 years.
Not for a second --- I was surveying entire landscape of all college coaches.
The intended point was: Even if you could get those guys, would they be an upgrade.
Everybody above Barr / Raboin was not an option --- provided only for comparison purposes.
The more I think about it, the more I would be furious if they gave Potulny the job.
if you want to coach at a helmet school, you need to have success. Not just middling around. Actual success.
PJ taking WMU to their highest point in program history, for example (even though we’re not a helmet school). If he got Minnesota to the best place in modern history, he would absolutely be a candidate for a helmet school. Which, he’s awful close to already. Just not quite.
Bob was hired because he had success at St. Cloud. Don was hired because he had success at two schools, great success at CC. Hastings was hired at Wisconsin because he had success at MSU. etc.
If you can’t have success elsewhere, you’re not a candidate in my mind.
If Raboin wouldn't cut off his left arm to get this job, then you don't want him here to begin with.
If Coyle didn't know who was getting the job before he fired Motzko, then you don't want him here either.
yeah a change is one thing and an upgrade is another. We need both and if not the case Bob should’ve been left on to play out his contract/career because just a change is settling and doesn’t make the most sense in my opinion.
While I agree about upgrading, my question was always who is sure fire upgrade over Bob?
Looking at college hockey:
Carle, Nightengale, Herschfeld - I think no-brainers
Naurato, Hastings - don't want either
Dane Jackson - yeah, right
Sandelin - was previously approached and turned down the job
Pandalfo, Greg Brown, Pecknold - Easties with strong ties to their universities who aren't coming
Barr / Raboin - good potential upside, but neither a lock
Seems like everyone else in the college realm comes with more than a little risk and / or unknowns
I don't know the juniors well enough to comment; likewise the NFL or minor league.
Would like to have the juice and energy of a younger coach whose had real success, but I'm just not sure where you find that person.
Im going to assume you’re not saying Hastings, Carle, and Sandelin were serious options here. Because Carle is never leaving Denver except for the NHL. Hastings fucking hates this school. And Sandelin is a former Hawk who coached at Duluth for 26 years.
Not for a second --- I was surveying entire landscape of all college coaches.
The intended point was: Even if you could get those guys, would they be an upgrade.
Everybody above Barr / Raboin was not an option --- provided only for comparison purposes.
that’s what I thought lol
I realize it's not hockey, but Coyle made 2 smart hires for M and WBB and imho did the right thing with keeping PJ. Let's hope he'll get it right for the teams on ice.
He also has brought in two alums that did not pan out. I am hoping he keeps that in mind when weighing the “alum” factor. I am not wild about Potulney. Loved him as a player, but he was good not great at NMU and hopefully Coyle determines if the reality of how he left matched the horrid optics
Stupid old man bias, if you are making over 100k a year and are going to wear a suit at games buy a couple that fit. Otherwise go with a Russian track suit or oversized Ben Johnson wear.
Unless I missed something it appears that everybody is convinced Raboin has been offered the job and turned it down because of the post below. It doesn't prove that Raboin was offered the job and/or turned it down. It is the Augustana's AD staking claim to his coach. There is a lot of speculation going on right now that may or may not be accurate.
https://twitter.com/JoshJMorton/status/2035127773895770228
If Potulny gets the job it clearly means that Coyle isn't worried about how things ended at Northern Michigan. That there is more to the story that we are unaware that better explains what happened (that Grant wasn't the main problem) and/or that Grant in talking to Coyle has shown him how he has learned from the experience.
We all make mistakes and the important part is did we learn from it.
We know a lot less then we think we do about the current situation of this hiring.
It shouldn't be surprising if there is another interesting twist or turn that we weren't expecting.
Bottom line in the era of social media that we live in speculation runs wild and way too many people believe things that may or may not be true just because somebody says something and people run with it.
Here is an article that talks about the large roster change at Northern Michigan that people are referring to it sounds like what a lot of Gopher fans want to happen to our current roster.
His coaching record at Northern Michigan.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Michigan Wildcats (WCHA) (2017–2021) | |||||||||
| 2017–18 | Northern Michigan | 25–15–3 | 19–7–2 | 2nd | WCHA Runner-up | ||||
| 2018–19 | Northern Michigan | 21–16–2 | 18–8–2 | 2nd | WCHA Semifinals | ||||
| 2019–20 | Northern Michigan | 18–16–4 | 16–11–1–1 | 3rd | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2020–21 | Northern Michigan | 11–17–1 | 6–7–1 | T–5th | WCHA Runner-up | ||||
| Northern Michigan: | 75–64–10 | 59–33–6 | |||||||
| Northern Michigan Wildcats (CCHA) (2021–present) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Northern Michigan | 20–16–1 | 12–13–1 | 5th | CCHA Semifinals | ||||
| 2022–23 | Northern Michigan | 21–17–0 | 14–12–0 | T–4th | CCHA Runner-Up | ||||
| 2023–24 | Northern Michigan | 12–16–6 | 10–10–4 | 5th | CCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| Northern Michigan: | 53–49–7 | 36–35–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 128–113–17 | ||||||||
I’m not getting the vitriol over Potulny. No one wins at NMU and he was able to get some talent up there.
It’s not that they don’t win*, it’s that they’re one of the worst teams in the country
*It really doesn’t matter if they never win with anyone. It just shows you’re about as good as anyone else who has landed there. Pass.
Hes not there anymore he’s in the AHL
Didn’t Potulny recruit the Slukinsky brothers who helped Western win the championship last year? They only left after he left? Am I remembering that wrong?
Two players does not mean he’s a good recruiter, I know.
Grant’s problem at Northern is he would get raided in the transfer portal every year. He could recruit, but had a hard time keeping his players away from the big programs. Consider me intrigued as to what he could do at a program like Minnesota.
Didn’t Potulny recruit the Slukinsky brothers who helped Western win the championship last year? They only left after he left? Am I remembering that wrong?
Two players does not mean he’s a good recruiter, I know.
He did. The following two paragraphs (from the article I posted above) mentions it.
As it currently stands, NMU has the third-best 2024 class in the country, according to Neutral Zone's NCAA recruiting rankings. It all starts with one of the nation’s top goalie prospects in Hampton Slukynsky, whose brother, Grant, is among the Wildcats’ 11 returning players next season.
Slukynsky, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, is having a stellar season with the Fargo Force, who clinched the Anderson Cup for the second year in a row just last week. This season, the Warroad native has a 26-3 record in 31 appearances, amassing a 1.91 GAA and .920 save percentage.
Here is an article that talks about the large roster change at Northern Michigan that people are referring to it sounds like what a lot of Gopher fans want to happen to our current roster.
no, I do not hope to get picked apart for scraps and win 4 games the season after
The point was Grant was way more willing to bring in people from the transfer portal including Canadians.
While at Northern Michigan his teams were getting poached by bigger teams, so this forced him to be willing to use the portal to deal with being poached.
If he gets the job here the dynamic is way different because the best players on our team are less likely to transfer and when they leave for the pros he has experience to deal with it from experience gained using the portal during his years at Northern Michigan.
Northern Michigan being horrible after he left shows how well he did the 7 years he was there.
The new Northen Michigan coach (two years since Grant left) is really struggling to deal with the things Grant had to deal with but Grant still led the team to 5 winning seasons out of the 7 years he was there.
@outofstateoutofmind Dean Blais was mentioned but No Dak signed him to an extension.
At this point I'd just like to see Coyle do his due diligence and interview the people you'd expect him to (and maybe some others). In the past it seemed like he had one name in mind and got them quickly, doing the bare minimum to interview a couple other candidates as well. Seems like that's not gonna work here though I suppose technically that isn't official yet.
Northern Michigan's history since 2010
Before Grant 2010/11 season thru 2016/17 season (7 years)
1 winning season, 6 losing seasons
During Grant's time as head coach 2017/18 season thru 2023/2024 season (7 years)
5 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons
After Grant 2023/24 season thru 2024/25 season (2 years)
0 winning seasons, 2 losing seasons