lol you’ve got to be kidding
Lmao fuck my life
Mark must’ve really sold him on the super great resources he was going to provide
I’ll wait until we see more tangible news or get more info from Vegoe on the search. It was stated that Rabs was interviewing for the Gophers job this weekend. Could just be a hopeful post by the Augustana AD rather than a firm commitment or announcement.
side note, I prefer Larson over Potulny. Larson has built strong teams that have gone to the tourney as 1/2 seeds, in 22-23 his Huskies were the only team that managed to post a shutout against us all year. By contrast I don’t think G$ ever had NMU ranked in the polls.
Seems like odd timing for that but maybe that's the case.I’ll wait until we see more tangible news or get more info from Vegoe on the search. It was stated that Rabs was interviewing for the Gophers job this weekend. Could just be a hopeful post by the Augustana AD rather than a firm commitment or announcement.
If he did decline then they better at least interview Barr, the other two Coyle is interested in haven't shown much success and while I'm sure just about any coach could do reasonably well here that's not something I'd be excited about (and ideally would be on a short leash until a better option presents itself).
So let me get this straight Augustana’s head coach turned down the Minnesota job? Augustana?????
How big of a check do you think Sanford wrote?
How is Barr not getting any play right now?
Larson or Potulny with the right assistants would be doable but am I hearing right that one of them would bring in Laylin and Bell? Wtf are we doing? Running this program into the ground?
But hey, thank goodness Bob’s gone. Right?
Aka Rabs already has the job
https://twitter.com/gopherhole/status/2035063343833391582?s=46&t=AvtsG2WfNuGRyXzbYJqB7g
What happened here?
But hey, thank goodness Bob’s gone. Right?
I could’ve never imagined Coyle screwing the pooch this bad. Not even interviewing one of the top available candidates and missing on another. What the f*** is he doing? Watching meaningless basketball in Missouri?
Shit now we have to fire Coyle! Get Ross Bjork on the phone!
I’m no expert in these things but isn’t that pretty quick to have posted the job opening yesterday and have already interviewed all their candidates and extend an offer in 24 hours? Not saying it’s not possible Raboin has or won’t decline but why even interview just to instantly decline? Going to wait for more than an ambiguous tweet from the Auggie AD.
I’m no expert in these things but isn’t that pretty quick to have posted the job opening yesterday and have already interviewed all their candidates and extend an offer in 24 hours? Not saying it’s not possible Raboin has or won’t decline but why even interview just to instantly decline? Going to wait for more than an ambiguous tweet from the Auggie AD.
That’s my thought process too but Jup has multiple sources confirming Rabs turned it down which is just… wow.
I’m no expert in these things but isn’t that pretty quick to have posted the job opening yesterday and have already interviewed all their candidates and extend an offer in 24 hours? Not saying it’s not possible Raboin has or won’t decline but why even interview just to instantly decline? Going to wait for more than an ambiguous tweet from the Auggie AD.
https://twitter.com/gopherpucklive/status/2035123454467362985?s=46&t=UtlPiq7Vt1Te97QT76L7LQ
https://twitter.com/gopherpucklive/status/2035127797316722806?s=46&t=UtlPiq7Vt1Te97QT76L7LQ
If Rabs turned it down, I gotta hear the reason. The way this is playing out is just brutal.
Coyle knows the hockey program is a blue blood in the sport, right? He’s half assing this thing from another freaking state. Fly your ass back and actually sit down with the candidates you giant fucking loser.
This is a nightmare
Coyle knows the hockey program is a blue blood in the sport, right? He’s half assing this thing from another freaking state. Fly your ass back and actually sit down with the candidates you giant fucking loser.
If it comes out that Bob was pushed out and this guy didn't have someone lined up, I am going to freak out
How does Coyle keep his job after this
How does Coyle keep his job after this
but look how good he’s made the *checks notes*
women’s basketball team?
How does Coyle keep his job after this
Because no one cares about us lmao. I hate that I love this niche sport so fucking much
A Potulny hire could be salvaged with the right GM and assistants. It’s the rumors of Bell and Laylin being the assistants that’s my tipping point.
How does Coyle keep his job after this
Because no one cares about us lmao. I hate that I love this niche sport so fucking much
not yelling at you but rather at Coyle: MINNESOTA GOPHERS HOCKEY IS NOT A NICHE SPORT IT’S LITERALLY THE HIGHEST MONEY MAKING POWER 5 TEAM THATS NOT BASKETBALL OR FOOTBALL
Wasn’t the rumor that those would be Larson’s assistants, not Potulny’s?
A Potulny hire could be salvaged with the right GM and assistants. It’s the rumors of Bell and Laylin being the assistants that’s my tipping point.
https://twitter.com/gopherpucklive/status/2035130345192866140?s=46&t=Eng8voSPBd8fS83D7FvpsQ
If Potulny means Martin sticks around then I think that would be better than Larson and his proposed assistants.
How does Coyle keep his job after this
Because no one cares about us lmao. I hate that I love this niche sport so fucking much
not yelling at you but rather at Coyle: MINNESOTA GOPHERS HOCKEY IS NOT A NICHE SPORT IT’S LITERALLY THE HIGHEST MONEY MAKING POWER 5 TEAM THATS NOT BASKETBALL OR FOOTBALL
hell it’s 10x more profitable than our perennial laughingstock MBB program. that alone should make this search his immediate first second and third priority
If this is all true, it’s awfully difficult to imagine those great commits NOT instructing their advisors to hit the phones.
If this is all true, it’s awfully difficult to imagine those great commits NOT instructing their advisors to hit the phones.
Don't worry, they have been getting calls since the news of Bob's departure dropped
https://twitter.com/mariuccimaniacs/status/2035147453075226867?s=46&t=Eng8voSPBd8fS83D7FvpsQ
Many grains of salt, but I’m an anxious person.
We seem to forget that Potulny was a MN assistant for about 8 years, where he reportedly had a big role in multiple banner winning seasons. The he went to NMU and many thought that was a grooming job but then Bob got hired which was the right choice at the time. At NMU he was several games over 0.500 (the most recent coach has won 7 games in two years), and he has now spent 2 years in the AHL whose main role is to develop players, not to win. He can honestly tell guys what it takes to be an NHL player vs AHL-lifer. His teams play hard and physical. He is certainly a top candidate except for a couple whose teams are still playing (and apparently not on the short list).
Nice marketing for Grant. I don’t see how he built a successful program at North Mich after his recruits hit the transfer portal and fled and he quit. Keeping recruits here would be top priority. Or how the program was declining like it was before Motzko came? Those were the years Potulny was an assistant. I don’t know how great his AHL team is doing but another stint working to build a better team as an assistant or head coach at the college level would help his resume.
Possible he’s grown and learned from past mistakes too.
whoever is hired will have my full support and should be given a fair chance. I wanted Rabs, but if it’s not him then bring on whoever it is.
I’ve read every word of this thread and I literally do not understand what is going on.
Why on earth would coaches at Augustana and St. Cloud turn down the head-coaching job here? How can this not be one of the top coach gigs in the country?
If it’s not one of the top-coaching jobs in the country, what the hell has happened to make that the case?
FWIW, I was completely on the fence about firing Bob. But it never occurred to me that the result would be we had to go with our 3rd or 4th choice to replace him? If you had told me beforehand that we would be unable to recruit a top candidate to fill the vacancy, I would have been off that fence hastily, arguing to keep Bob.
The guy was gonna be gone in 2 years regardless and there needed to be some serious roster turnover regardless of who was coaching here. Having (mostly) Ben Gordon try and do that vs getting a new younger coach/assistants with some fire in their belly made perfect sense and it's not like there were better options guaranteed to be around in 2 years with Bob on a lame duck contract.I’ve read every word of this thread and I literally do not understand what is going on.
Why on earth would coaches at Augustana and St. Cloud turn down the head-coaching job here? How can this not be one of the top coach gigs in the country?
If it’s not one of the top-coaching jobs in the country, what the hell has happened to make that the case?
FWIW, I was completely on the fence about firing Bob. But it never occurred to me that the result would be we had to go with our 3rd or 4th choice to replace him? If you had told me beforehand that we would be unable to recruit a top candidate to fill the vacancy, I would have been off that fence hastily, arguing to keep Bob.
That said IDK what Coyle is doing and how competently the process is going but if Barr isn't at least getting a call then that definitely answers that question.
Why on earth would coaches at Augustana and St. Cloud turn down the head-coaching job here?
I don’t believe we know this for sure. Whether Augustana makes the tourney after tonight’s results will reveal a lot more I think
Rank these coaches, who would you put 1, 2, 3?
Motzko, Larson, and Potulny
Someone help me off the ledge….
Rank these coaches, who would you put 1, 2, 3?
Motzko, Larson, and Potulny
Someone help me off the ledge….
All things being equal, Motzko above the other two, but Motzko at 65 with 2 years left on his contract and a roster he has to overhaul is a different story.
I just don’t know why we pigeonholed ourselves into Larson or Potulny so early in the “search” (not even sure you can call this half-assed thing a search). So many worthy candidates not even attempted. Not a good look for Coyle at all.
I don’t want to jinx it but lost in the craziness of last week is the fact there hasn’t been any Ziemer to Buffalo chatter. We saw all those BU guys bolt who clearly had deals lined up just like last year’s Gopher team. Doesn’t seem to be the case with Ziemer. It certainly could still happen but it seems to me that he’s waiting for the coaching search to shake out.
I don’t want to jinx it but lost in the craziness of last week is the fact there hasn’t been any Ziemer to Buffalo chatter. We saw all those BU guys bolt who clearly had deals lined up just like last year’s Gopher team. Doesn’t seem to be the case with Ziemer. It certainly could still happen but it seems to me that he’s waiting for the coaching search to shake out.
Some of their beat writers have said as much. He’s 20 and they have his rights plus are set for playoffs. They don’t need to burn a year to bring him in and play AHL when they’ll have him playing 1st line, pp and pk unless they think the coaching will be problematic.
If you’re going to get rid of Motzko, you better have a winner lined up and basically on lock behind the scenes. The fact that Coyle didn’t have someone of Raboin’s caliber with confirmed interest before pulling the trigger on Bob is arrogance at best and malpractice at worst. Larson has missed the NCAA tournament three years in a row. He’s not a winner. Potulny will go down as a gopher great — as a player — but he is also not a winner and has major red flags around him as a HC. Good grief this is absurd that these are the only two people who are contenders right now. Back to the drawing board Coyle.
Brett Larson was an assistant coach when UMD won Nattys in 2010-2011 & 2017-2018, similar to tBob in 2001-2002 & 2002-2003 with the Gophers. He’s just as much a winner as tBob was when he got the Gopher HC job in 2018-2019. And it’s also become tougher the last 8 years to recruit & win at SCSU. Larson has solid HC experience & if he’s hired will do just fine as the Gophers new HC. And all the bitching & whining in the world isn’t going to change what Coyle (ultimately) decides.If you’re going to get rid of Motzko, you better have a winner lined up and basically on lock behind the scenes. The fact that Coyle didn’t have someone of Raboin’s caliber with confirmed interest before pulling the trigger on Bob is arrogance at best and malpractice at worst. Larson has missed the NCAA tournament three years in a row. He’s not a winner. Potulny will go down as a gopher great — as a player — but he is also not a winner and has major red flags around him as a HC. Good grief this is absurd that these are the only two people who are contenders right now. Back to the drawing board Coyle.
College Hockey News says Larson is the leading candidate
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2026/03/22_Larson-Emerges-as-Leading.php
If he is the choice good luck to him!! Go Gophers!
Motzko at least had way more HC experience and made SCSU relevant, the only other name besides him that made sense at the time was Guentzel. Larson has mostly gone backwards without Motzko’s recruits and there’s better options out there.Brett Larson was an assistant coach when UMD won Nattys in 2010-2011 & 2017-2018, similar to tBob in 2001-2002 & 2002-2003 with the Gophers. He’s just as much a winner as tBob was when he got the Gopher HC job in 2018-2019. And it’s also become tougher the last 8 years to recruit & win at SCSU. Larson has solid HC experience & if he’s hired will do just fine as the Gophers new HC. And all the bitching & whining in the world isn’t going to change what Coyle (ultimately) decides.If you’re going to get rid of Motzko, you better have a winner lined up and basically on lock behind the scenes. The fact that Coyle didn’t have someone of Raboin’s caliber with confirmed interest before pulling the trigger on Bob is arrogance at best and malpractice at worst. Larson has missed the NCAA tournament three years in a row. He’s not a winner. Potulny will go down as a gopher great — as a player — but he is also not a winner and has major red flags around him as a HC. Good grief this is absurd that these are the only two people who are contenders right now. Back to the drawing board Coyle.
@trixr4kids There very well may be better options our there (than Brett Larson) but it’s up to Coyle to make that decision. And tBob didn’t light the world on fire at St Cloud, he had some good regular season teams that couldn’t get it done in the NCAA tournament. Funny, the same thing can be said about his 8 years at MN, with vastly superior resources to assemble a championship squad.
Yeah dude nobody is debating who makes the final decision, the point is Motzko was probably the best candidate available at the time and made sense as a hire. Larson doesn’t, he’s missed the tourney for three years straight and before that was a fourth place NCHC finish and one win in the NCAA tourney (they did win the NCHC tourney that year beating some weaker teams after some upsets in the first round). Guys like Lucia and Motzko did more with less before getting the Gopher job, same goes for PJ and Medved.
All I can hope is that Handy is right and the sports writers are just trolling for clicks. Larson would not be an inspired hire or check any box of what most Gopher fans are looking for in a coach. He’d be a step down from the guy we just fired.