You'd think Raboin would have already put out a personal statement about turning down an offer.
Not saying the sources are wrong just saying it seems incongruous.
Agreed. Kind of feels like it could be an over-enthusiastic AD stepping in saying that he wants Raboin around for the long term, just because he knows that Rabs would be high on the list of candidates for MN
(Obviously, Rabs may have told the AD that he wasn't leaving, we just don't know yet)
Honestly he’s mostly nailed his other hires in PJ, Medved, and Motzko (idk as much about women’s basketball but they seem to be improving). With this one it’s tough to tell how this is going to shake out because we’re working with very incomplete info and nobody is really saying anything definitive.
All I can definitively say is that Barr is probably the best candidate out there and if Coyle didn’t/doesn’t at least reach out to him at some point then idk what he’s doing and I’m not sure he does either. I could understand why they might prefer Raboin and would be fine with that hire but Barr is like a more experienced version of him who has head coaching success in a tougher conference. If neither of those two are interested for some reason then Idk maybe you check out Cashman or something. Larson and Potulny are just lazy options though, that’s what scares me more than anything. I guess we can hope the beat reporters are just way off but if that part is accurate then yikes.
Honestly he’s mostly nailed his other hires in PJ, Medved, and Motzko (idk as much about women’s basketball but they seem to be improving). With this one it’s tough to tell how this is going to shake out because we’re working with very incomplete info and nobody is really saying anything definitive.
All I can definitively say is that Barr is probably the best candidate out there and if Coyle didn’t/doesn’t at least reach out to him at some point then idk what he’s doing and I’m not sure he does either. I could understand why they might prefer Raboin and would be fine with that hire but Barr is like a more experienced version of him who has head coaching success in a tougher conference. If neither of those two are interested for some reason then Idk maybe you check out Cashman or something. Larson and Potulny are just lazy options though, that’s what scares me more than anything. I guess we can hope the beat reporters are just way off but if that part is accurate then yikes.
Minnetonka native Andy Jones has turned Bentley into a perennial tourney team. Between Jones, Cashman and Barr that’s three quality candidates not even called. And that’s just guys with MN ties, let alone a full national search. Beyond disappointed in Coyle.
Honestly he’s mostly nailed his other hires in PJ, Medved, and Motzko (idk as much about women’s basketball but they seem to be improving). With this one it’s tough to tell how this is going to shake out because we’re working with very incomplete info and nobody is really saying anything definitive.
All I can definitively say is that Barr is probably the best candidate out there and if Coyle didn’t/doesn’t at least reach out to him at some point then idk what he’s doing and I’m not sure he does either. I could understand why they might prefer Raboin and would be fine with that hire but Barr is like a more experienced version of him who has head coaching success in a tougher conference. If neither of those two are interested for some reason then Idk maybe you check out Cashman or something. Larson and Potulny are just lazy options though, that’s what scares me more than anything. I guess we can hope the beat reporters are just way off but if that part is accurate then yikes.
If this is really how it went down, then let’s just call it what it is, this was never a real search.
You don’t conduct an “exhaustive national search” and, within 48 hours, magically land on the same three regional names everyone on message boards could’ve told you on day one. That’s not exhaustive. That’s pre determined for sure.
And now we’re supposed to believe that guys like Barr, Cashman, Freshwiler, or young hungry assistants at top programs, weren’t even worth a serious look? Come on.
That tells you everything. This wasn’t about identifying the best coach for where college hockey is today. This was about lining up a preferred choice from the start and surrounding it with a couple “acceptable” options to make it look like a process.
Raboin was clearly the target. Larson equals safe, familiar fallback. Potulny equals alumni box checked.
That’s not strategy. That’s just lazy optics.
And now that Raboin is off the board, it feels like the whole thing is exposed. No depth. No real contingency. No evidence that anyone actually did the work of exploring the full landscape.
So yeah, now it looks like scrambling. Because when you don’t run a real search, you don’t have real options when Plan A disappears.
And here’s the part that makes it even worse, who is Coyle actually talking to? Because if you were serious about getting this right in today’s college hockey world, you’d be picking up the phone and talking to younger alumni who just lived it, current NHL players who understand what elite players want, even current players navigating NIL and the portal.
Instead, this feels like it’s being shaped by the same old voices. Older boosters, older alumni, hockey people whose perspective is rooted in a version of the game that doesn’t exist anymore.
And that’s why this entire thing feels so stale. No edge. No urgency. No forward thinking. Minnesota should be acting like a top tier program with some serious pull.Instead this feels like a rushed, small circle decision dressed up as something bigger.
Stale process. Predictable names. Zero juice and that’s a problem.
Honestly he’s mostly nailed his other hires in PJ, Medved, and Motzko (idk as much about women’s basketball but they seem to be improving). With this one it’s tough to tell how this is going to shake out because we’re working with very incomplete info and nobody is really saying anything definitive.
All I can definitively say is that Barr is probably the best candidate out there and if Coyle didn’t/doesn’t at least reach out to him at some point then idk what he’s doing and I’m not sure he does either. I could understand why they might prefer Raboin and would be fine with that hire but Barr is like a more experienced version of him who has head coaching success in a tougher conference. If neither of those two are interested for some reason then Idk maybe you check out Cashman or something. Larson and Potulny are just lazy options though, that’s what scares me more than anything. I guess we can hope the beat reporters are just way off but if that part is accurate then yikes.
If this is really how it went down, then let’s just call it what it is, this was never a real search.
You don’t conduct an “exhaustive national search” and, within 48 hours, magically land on the same three regional names everyone on message boards could’ve told you on day one. That’s not exhaustive. That’s pre determined for sure.
And now we’re supposed to believe that guys like Barr, Cashman, Freshwiler, or young hungry assistants at top programs, weren’t even worth a serious look? Come on.
That tells you everything. This wasn’t about identifying the best coach for where college hockey is today. This was about lining up a preferred choice from the start and surrounding it with a couple “acceptable” options to make it look like a process.
Raboin was clearly the target. Larson equals safe, familiar fallback. Potulny equals alumni box checked.
That’s not strategy. That’s just lazy optics.
And now that Raboin is off the board, it feels like the whole thing is exposed. No depth. No real contingency. No evidence that anyone actually did the work of exploring the full landscape.
So yeah, now it looks like scrambling. Because when you don’t run a real search, you don’t have real options when Plan A disappears.
And here’s the part that makes it even worse, who is Coyle actually talking to? Because if you were serious about getting this right in today’s college hockey world, you’d be picking up the phone and talking to younger alumni who just lived it, current NHL players who understand what elite players want, even current players navigating NIL and the portal.
Instead, this feels like it’s being shaped by the same old voices. Older boosters, older alumni, hockey people whose perspective is rooted in a version of the game that doesn’t exist anymore.
And that’s why this entire thing feels so stale. No edge. No urgency. No forward thinking. Minnesota should be acting like a top tier program with some serious pull.Instead this feels like a rushed, small circle decision dressed up as something bigger.
Stale process. Predictable names. Zero juice and that’s a problem.
type your own thoughts instead of having chatGPT ramble on and on about a niche sport it knows nothing about
He built Augie from the ground up. He hired the staff, helped design the building. It is his baby. Maybe he feels he has unfinished business. Maybe he has a sense of loyalty to the school that gave him a shot at being a head coach. Sioux Falls as a city has pretty much everything a big city has, minus the pro sports teams. He is only 40 years old. He could stay another 5-10 years and then easily move on. He also knows what pressure being the HC at MN is and maybe he thinks he doesn't want to be in that bubble. He was my 1st choice, but don't blame him if he stays.
Looking down from my High Horse
Morality Police
Not very objective
@wish-i-were-fishinalker-barely-know-her just cause somebody uses a program to correct spelling and grammar, doesn’t mean the message isn’t spot on.
This “search” has been a little stale and a blind man could see that Coyle was stacking the deck and it was set up for Raboin to win, which is fine cause Raboin would have done an incredible job here. But now that he is out, Coyle is in a tight spot.
He built Augie from the ground up. He hired the staff, helped design the building. It is his baby. Maybe he feels he has unfinished business. Maybe he has a sense of loyalty to the school that gave him a shot at being a head coach. Sioux Falls as a city has pretty much everything a big city has, minus the pro sports teams. He is only 40 years old. He could stay another 5-10 years and then easily move on. He also knows what pressure being the HC at MN is and maybe he thinks he doesn't want to be in that bubble. He was my 1st choice, but don't blame him if he stays.
my concern is if he did in fact decline the job, was it because he feels that Coyle is devoting insufficient resources given the high pressure to win because that will handcuff whoever is the coach ultimately; I somewhat doubt that’s the case since we’ve committed to revenue sharing for men’s hockey, but we don’t know what’s being said and asked in these conversations
So who here has a direct line to Coyle to verify who has been approached and who has not? Maybe he already approached Barr, maybe one of the other top end coaches? It’s just rumors and speculation for clicks. The sad fact is the people on all the Social Media sites know Gopher Hockey fans are passionate and will eat any type of speculation up with a knife and fork.
Since wild speculation is embraced here: Raboin is the guy. Since he is so close to Gordo and being a good friend’s boss can be a minefield, and because he feels obligated to Augustana, Raboin to Minnesota, but not before he announces , Gordon as the new HC of Augustana. Bob’s tree grows and Ben Barr volunteers as associate head coach/gm because he would do anything to get his foot in the door here.
"And here’s the part that makes it even worse, who is Coyle actually talking to? Because if you were serious about getting this right in today’s college hockey world, you’d be picking up the phone and talking to younger alumni who just lived it, current NHL players who understand what elite players want, even current players navigating NIL and the portal."
@old-tape-roll Not especially surprising, but Micheletti mentioned on Beyond the Pond yesterday that he and Lou Nanne were contacted by the University and asked to submit their coaching preferences. He said "they reached out to a couple other people, I don't know how many - Louie for sure, they wanted a list from me...I gave my observations...I laid out what I thought are the key elements to running this program...I gave them my input there."
@trixr4kids nailed is a bit of a stretch. Is PJ decent? Yes. You know year in and year out what you’re getting. He’s never winning a title, and never taking us to a playoff.
Medved is still unknown, can he get us to the tourney? Time will tell.
Bottom line is he runs a dogshit model not wanting to be in debt, doesn’t want to spend. You know why Ohio State made 363 million in revenue last year from football? Because they spend to the max on a roster.
Coyle needs to get this university more resources and more money. He makes budget hires and is afraid to bet on himself.
He built Augie from the ground up. He hired the staff, helped design the building. It is his baby. Maybe he feels he has unfinished business. Maybe he has a sense of loyalty to the school that gave him a shot at being a head coach. Sioux Falls as a city has pretty much everything a big city has, minus the pro sports teams. He is only 40 years old. He could stay another 5-10 years and then easily move on. He also knows what pressure being the HC at MN is and maybe he thinks he doesn't want to be in that bubble. He was my 1st choice, but don't blame him if he stays.
my concern is if he did in fact decline the job, was it because he feels that Coyle is devoting insufficient resources given the high pressure to win because that will handcuff whoever is the coach ultimately; I somewhat doubt that’s the case since we’ve committed to revenue sharing for men’s hockey, but we don’t know what’s being said and asked in these conversations
By all accounts the interviews were still taking place over the weekend so Raboin may have declined an interview but he definitely didn’t decline an actual offer. He was also rumored to have declined an interview with North Dakota last year. If that’s the case and he’s not even interested in seeing what a potential offer would be at UND or Minnesota that’s on him and his reasons and not necessarily reflective of the institutions themselves. I also think like others have mentioned leaking that he was interviewing while his team was still alive puts him in a bad place and wouldn’t surprise me if he still does interview behind the scenes while “leaking” that he declined to save face.
So who here has a direct line to Coyle to verify who has been approached and who has not? Maybe he already approached Barr, maybe one of the other top end coaches? It’s just rumors and speculation for clicks. The sad fact is the people on all the Social Media sites know Gopher Hockey fans are passionate and will eat any type of speculation up with a knife and fork.
Was going to post the same sentiment - how do we know some of the other names thrown out (Barr, Jones, Ferschweiler, etc.) were not contacted? Maybe they were and they declined an interview because they are happy where they are - maybe Raboin is happy where he is. That doesn’t make these guys idiots, the wrong person for the job, etc; it makes them honest, and shows their integrity for not being swayed simply because another program may be bigger and flashier.
As I mentioned earlier, the public that cried for Bob’s head got what they wanted. Since we don’t know what may or may not have already been set in motion behind the scenes before he was let go, we are left having to guess how this movie plays out - and we may not like the ending.
As for speculation, that’s all we’ve got to go on here right now, so can you blame this fan base for going off the rails a little after the season we just went through? 😆
@trixr4kids nailed is a bit of a stretch. Is PJ decent? Yes. You know year in and year out what you’re getting. He’s never winning a title, and never taking us to a playoff.
Medved is still unknown, can he get us to the tourney? Time will tell.
Bottom line is he runs a dogshit model not wanting to be in debt, doesn’t want to spend. You know why Ohio State made 363 million in revenue last year from football? Because they spend to the max on a roster.
Coyle needs to get this university more resources and more money. He makes budget hires and is afraid to bet on himself.
Garbage.
Blaming that entirely on Coyle is the "Garbage" here.
Is he part of the issue? Certainly. But to pretend that he "runs a dogshit model not wanting to be in debt, doesn’t want to spend." is putting WAY too much blame on the AD, and nowhere near enough blame on the Regents that actually make the budget (plus the legislature for some of the school's funding).
At most, you can complain about what the balance of the sports he does spend the money on, which is something that he has a greater degree of control over (but even there, I doubt very much that he's the sole person making those choices, between Title IX and what the Regents/President/etc want, I'm pretty sure he's being very strongly influenced in those decisions as well).
He built Augie from the ground up. He hired the staff, helped design the building. It is his baby. Maybe he feels he has unfinished business. Maybe he has a sense of loyalty to the school that gave him a shot at being a head coach. Sioux Falls as a city has pretty much everything a big city has, minus the pro sports teams. He is only 40 years old. He could stay another 5-10 years and then easily move on. He also knows what pressure being the HC at MN is and maybe he thinks he doesn't want to be in that bubble. He was my 1st choice, but don't blame him if he stays.
my concern is if he did in fact decline the job, was it because he feels that Coyle is devoting insufficient resources given the high pressure to win because that will handcuff whoever is the coach ultimately; I somewhat doubt that’s the case since we’ve committed to revenue sharing for men’s hockey, but we don’t know what’s being said and asked in these conversations
I’m curious what your arbitrary number is that you feel is needed to compete. BU and BC are missing the tournament also. Maybe getting as many 1st rounders and NTDP guys as possible isn’t the answer.
Outside of maybe NoDak, I’d be willing to bet the NCHC aren’t spending big. Western won it all using $0 NIL dollars.
He built Augie from the ground up. He hired the staff, helped design the building. It is his baby. Maybe he feels he has unfinished business. Maybe he has a sense of loyalty to the school that gave him a shot at being a head coach. Sioux Falls as a city has pretty much everything a big city has, minus the pro sports teams. He is only 40 years old. He could stay another 5-10 years and then easily move on. He also knows what pressure being the HC at MN is and maybe he thinks he doesn't want to be in that bubble. He was my 1st choice, but don't blame him if he stays.
my concern is if he did in fact decline the job, was it because he feels that Coyle is devoting insufficient resources given the high pressure to win because that will handcuff whoever is the coach ultimately; I somewhat doubt that’s the case since we’ve committed to revenue sharing for men’s hockey, but we don’t know what’s being said and asked in these conversations
I’m curious what your arbitrary number is that you feel is needed to compete. BU and BC are missing the tournament also. Maybe getting as many 1st rounders and NTDP guys as possible isn’t the answer.
Outside of maybe NoDak, I’d be willing to bet the NCHC aren’t spending big. Western won it all using $0 NIL dollars.
I don’t know. I’m speculating based on the rumors that are flying around currently, which may end up being totally wrong.
@trixr4kids nailed is a bit of a stretch. Is PJ decent? Yes. You know year in and year out what you’re getting. He’s never winning a title, and never taking us to a playoff.
Medved is still unknown, can he get us to the tourney? Time will tell.
Bottom line is he runs a dogshit model not wanting to be in debt, doesn’t want to spend. You know why Ohio State made 363 million in revenue last year from football? Because they spend to the max on a roster.
Coyle needs to get this university more resources and more money. He makes budget hires and is afraid to bet on himself.
Garbage.
You're not wrong about the $$$ but I think those coaches are all good hires who could do better if the U figured that part out and gave them more to work with.
Good lord...this thread is both pathetic and hilarious. Reading the overreaction to tweets from people who have almost zero insight (or worse Russo who is oblivious on the subject) and jumping off cliffs over it is what I expect on Reddit or Gopherhole...take a pill and touch grass or something people.
I guarantee none of the people you are all taking as the oracles of this search have clue one who Coyle has talked to yet or considered unless it was confirmed by other firsthand sources and they are piggybacking off it. (Christ anyone even mentioning Darby proves that much) We see this crap with every coaching search around here. (Hell basketball fans did it even though everyone knew Niko took the job he was just waiting out the tourny...even had their AD post a tweet similar to the Augie one iirc) Some clown lists off what he "heard" from inside sources in the AD, some randos then push it further, then guys like Russo who have no real clue but want the clicks off the college crowd double down on it causing hysteria and then it snowballs until its proven wrong and all the lemmings somehow still pretend Coyle screwed it up because of "the chaos".
I am no Coyle lover but my lord people in this town having friggin lost the plot. How about he actually hires someone or hell, how about we get official news people turned him down (not vague tweets) by the coaches themselves before we call it a disaster and burn the guy at the stake. Or I dont know...how about we just chill the frick out and let the process play out and hope for the best.
Oh who am I kidding...forget it Jake its Gopherhole.
Good lord...this thread is both pathetic and hilarious. Reading the overreaction to tweets from people who have almost zero insight (or worse Russo who is oblivious on the subject) and jumping off cliffs over it is what I expect on Reddit or Gopherhole...take a pill and touch grass or something people.
I guarantee none of the people you are all taking as the oracles of this search have clue one who Coyle has talked to yet or considered unless it was confirmed by other firsthand sources and they are piggybacking off it. (Christ anyone even mentioning Darby proves that much) We see this crap with every coaching search around here. (Hell basketball fans did it even though everyone knew Niko took the job he was just waiting out the tourny...even had their AD post a tweet similar to the Augie one iirc) Some clown lists off what he "heard" from inside sources in the AD, some randos then push it further, then guys like Russo who have no real clue but want the clicks off the college crowd double down on it causing hysteria and then it snowballs until its proven wrong and all the lemmings somehow still pretend Coyle screwed it up because of "the chaos".
I am no Coyle lover but my lord people in this town having friggin lost the plot. How about he actually hires someone or hell, how about we get official news people turned him down (not vague tweets) by the coaches themselves before we call it a disaster and burn the guy at the stake. Or I dont know...how about we just chill the frick out and let the process play out and hope for the best.
Oh who am I kidding...forget it Jake its Gopherhole.
[fades back into obscurity]
We have official reports that Raboin turned it down and that Potulny and Larson are the only other candidates.
It feels unfortunate that Grant and Larson are the two finalists but if that’s where we are at I’d much rather go with Larson. St. Cloud can’t be an easy place to recruit to now and he still has done a relatively good job of fielding solid teams. I think he could do well here with the added resources.
loved Grant as a player but if he wasn’t an M guy there would be no interest from anyone on hiring him.
sad that these are the “best” options for us, but I could at least see a future that Larson does a great job.
Head coach aside...is keeping Ben Gordon on staff a necessity to keep some continuity for recruits and players? IMO I think so especially if Larson is the coach. Ben checks a lot of boxes that we all want for a coach on staff. He is a long time coach with ties to the U and has been in the trenches with recruiting.
I am theofficial Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
People have been chomping at the bit given the national eyes on the search for a new Gopher head coach. If this were any other job across the nation, you’d be hard pressed to find this much blabber about it from every corner.
Some of those around SCSU were adamant on Friday that Larson had already turned down the job, that’s since been refuted by real reporters, but everyone ran with it for a few hours!
Hell, we were told rounds of interviews had been done, only for them to not have even started by the time Saturday morning rolled around.
There will be more and more garbage out there until the decision is made.
@boosker14 The Gopher Hockey season is over and golf season has not yet begun. Sifting through the garbage and getting mad at ghosts is all I have to get me through this last few weeks of winter!
I’d bet money that Rabs was the mystery college coach and the Augustana AD tweet was just wishcasting. Premature leak last week -> overcorrection to secrecy
I’d bet money that Rabs was the mystery college coach and the Augustana AD tweet was just wishcasting. Premature leak last week -> overcorrection to secrecy
tbh if i was Rabs I'd want it kept on the downlow while i'm still actively alive for an NCAA tourney bid, both out of respect for my current job and players as well as for my future in case it doesn't work out.
Now I have something to think about instead of work for the next 7 hours!
I will now be putting together mental think pieces as to how each of the potential hires, including the mystery 3rd fella, will somehow set Mariucci ablaze leaving us all in a pile of dust and rubble.
Ok this is interesting, particularly the mystery candidates.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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