0:00 Speaker 1 Mark, you're up, sir. 0:01 Speaker 1 What's Mark's podium? 0:02 Speaker 1 We're going to take questions about the men's hockey project. 0:05 Speaker 2 Nice shoes. 0:06 Speaker 3 I appreciate that. 0:06 Speaker 3 I like your shoe, Mark. 0:08 Speaker 1 You got shocked at the same time. 0:12 Speaker 2 Mark, can you take us through your decision on why moving on from Bob and what decision there? 0:19 Speaker 1 Yeah, well, obviously, first off, I want to thank Bob, Shelley and his family for what they've done for Gopher Hockey. 0:25 Speaker 1 If you go back, we had seven incredible years. 0:27 Speaker 1 I mean, two frozen four compete for the National Championship game down in Tampa. 0:32 Speaker 1 He was Big Ten coach of the year three times. 0:35 Speaker 1 Randy, as we're going through the season, I'm probably closer to Bob than I am most of our coaches. 0:41 Speaker 1 He and I spent a lot of time together. 0:43 Speaker 1 As we're going through the season, obviously, it wasn't the season we wanted to have this year in terms of the wins and how we're competing. 0:50 Speaker 1 As he and I talked during the season, we probably met a month ago and we talked about, hey, what does it look like a year from now? 0:56 Speaker 1 What do we need to do to compete at that national level? 0:59 Speaker 1 As the season came to a conclusion when we lost out at Penn State, we had a chance to get together last Monday. 1:05 Speaker 1 We kept talking about what is the best long-term decision for Gopher Hockey? 1:10 Speaker 1 We had an open and honest conversation. 1:12 Speaker 1 As that conversation went on, we talked about it for a day or two. 1:16 Speaker 1 I think we both realized that the best long-term decision, and Bob talked about it, was for him to step down and step away from our program and for us to go in a new direction. 1:24 Speaker 1 That's what we did. 1:25 Speaker 1 Again, I'm really grateful for Bob and what he's done for our program, the excitement he's created, but we're really excited about the opportunity we have for a new coach. 1:33 Speaker 1 What are the challenges you two talked about during that meeting? 1:36 Speaker 1 It's been a tumultuous year. 1:39 Speaker 4 What needs to be invested in the program? 1:41 Speaker 1 Yeah. 1:41 Speaker 1 Well, Eric, that's a great question. 1:44 Speaker 1 You can answer on many different levels. 1:46 Speaker 1 I think the first level is, we have seen more changes in college athletics in the last four or five years than you've seen for the last 50 years. 1:56 Speaker 1 What is going on, it impacts hockey. 1:58 Speaker 1 Then the change with Canadian, now them being able to play and you look at some of our peers and what they've done with the new rule change on that side of it. 2:07 Speaker 1 Now you talk about the rev share dollars that you have internally and externally in trying to manage that. 2:14 Speaker 1 College athletics and I would argue college hockey has changed dramatically during that period. 2:20 Speaker 1 Again, when Bob and I sat down and we evaluated everything, I remember when we hired Bob eight years ago, Bob talked about how as a kid he kept clippings of Gopher Hockey from the paper that he still has. 2:32 Speaker 1 I remember he told me a story that when he was a head coach at another institution, he bought a famous Gopher pitcher. 2:39 Speaker 1 He didn't want anybody to know about it like in an auction, so he was hiding in his trunks and nobody would see it. 2:43 Speaker 1 He loves Gopher Hockey and again, when we had those conversations, we talked about what is the best long-term decision for Gopher Hockey in terms of how we take this forward in this new landscape. 2:53 Speaker 1 Again, that's where we both agree that probably changes the best for us. 2:57 Speaker 4 On this new landscape, does the new head coach have to entrench himself into that, or will you have to hire somebody to be a, for lack of a better term, general manager or for somebody to navigate that? 3:12 Speaker 1 Yeah. 3:12 Speaker 1 You see programs do it both ways and I'm going to give you a long answer, so bear with me here on that answer. 3:19 Speaker 1 So when we have head coaches meeting or all coaches meetings or when we interview coaches, I talk about there's four or five things we look at right off the top. 3:27 Speaker 1 The first thing is compliance. 3:29 Speaker 1 You've heard me talk about this all the time. 3:31 Speaker 1 At Minnesota, you got to do it the right way. 3:33 Speaker 1 The second thing we talk about is student-athlete experience. 3:37 Speaker 1 Are student-athletes having a good experience? 3:39 Speaker 1 Are they enjoying their time at Minnesota? 3:41 Speaker 1 When we brought you in as a coach, are they going to enjoy their time that time? 3:44 Speaker 1 So we talk about the academics. 3:46 Speaker 1 Obviously, we got to compete in the classroom and do things right way academically. 3:50 Speaker 1 We talk about the vibe around the program, the excitement, the fundraising, all those type of things. 3:55 Speaker 1 And the last thing we talk about is winning. 3:57 Speaker 1 And at this level, the Big Ten, you got to compete at the highest level. 4:01 Speaker 1 And so when you ask about, do you look at GM and how we do things, we've tried to be very proactive. 4:06 Speaker 1 I have been very, very honest with all of you, and I've tried to be very honest with our coaches and our student-athletes. 4:11 Speaker 1 We share revenue with five sports programs. 4:13 Speaker 1 We've added scholarships for a lot of our programs that count against the cap, right? 4:17 Speaker 1 But we share revenue with five programs, and we've had those coaches from football, PGA, DONG basketball, Neuquen men's basketball, Keegan volleyball, and Bob was a part of those conversations where we got those coaches together to talk about lessons learned, what works, what doesn't work, what metrics are we using to evaluate players and those types of things. 4:36 Speaker 1 And some of our programs have a GM type, if you will, where, again, I'm not sure exactly what that title means. 4:42 Speaker 1 We did, when this all changed a year ago, we talked to The Wild, Bill was great at The Wild, we talked to the Vikings, we talked to the Timberwolves, we talked to different organizations, the Twins, how that all is set up and so forth. 4:53 Speaker 1 But I think when we hire a new coach, it's almost that CEO mentality, right? 4:57 Speaker 1 Where obviously, I'm a big believer that you want your coaches to coach. 5:01 Speaker 1 That's what they're really, really good at. 5:03 Speaker 1 And how can we put a support system around them to help them with managing the rev share dollars, the external NIL and those type of things. 5:09 Speaker 1 So my point is with those five sports that we share revenue with, those coaches meet together. 5:15 Speaker 1 Dusty Clements is here, Jeremiah Carter, Kevin Goelmer, Mike Weersbicke, Jenny Yalen, Joy Thomas, Trisha. 5:21 Speaker 1 We have a group that gets together. 5:23 Speaker 1 And so we try to create safety nets for our coaches. 5:25 Speaker 1 We all try to navigate this new world. 5:26 Speaker 1 Because again, you can ask that question to 100 different coaches and athletic directors will get 100 different answers. 5:31 Speaker 1 But we're just trying to create safety nets. 5:33 Speaker 1 But to answer your questions, our goal is we need to find somebody who can manage this program. 5:38 Speaker 1 And trust me, we understand what Gopher Hockey means to the state. 5:41 Speaker 1 It is a big, big deal. 5:43 Speaker 1 We pay attention to it. 5:44 Speaker 1 But we need somebody that can manage this program on and off the ice in the new landscape of college athletics. 5:49 Speaker 1 I hope that answers your question. 5:50 Speaker 5 But is it? 5:51 Speaker 5 I wondered what that, this is going on with Mike saying, if you're looking, you've got to spend a lot of money on these five programs. 6:01 Speaker 5 I'm wondering if you look at your portfolio, so to speak, you're 22, if you're like, which ones of these can start making a little bit of money? 6:08 Speaker 5 Which can make more money? 6:09 Speaker 5 Which can bring more in? 6:10 Speaker 5 And I would think that hockey, my whole hockey programs are the top ones. 6:14 Speaker 5 Is there anything to add? 6:15 Speaker 1 Yeah, it's nice to see you again, John. 6:17 Speaker 1 Yeah, so we have three sports that generate money in Minnesota. 6:21 Speaker 1 Our football, men's basketball, men's hockey. 6:24 Speaker 1 Those three programs generate revenue that support all of our other programs. 6:28 Speaker 1 And so obviously, that's why this hire is such an important hire, because this is a revenue generator for us. 6:33 Speaker 1 I give Bob a ton of credit. 6:35 Speaker 1 If you remember when he took over as head coach eight years ago, what the crowds looked like and what the crowds looked like today, we're so grateful for our fans for supporting, coming back to support our programs. 6:45 Speaker 1 So that's a big part of it. 6:46 Speaker 1 But those three programs generate revenue for all of our programs. 6:49 Speaker 1 And obviously, you know, I say this all the time, and I know you all get tired of, you know, money's not the most important thing in college athletics, but it's right up there with oxygen. 6:56 Speaker 1 We need to generate revenue, especially in this new era of rev share and extra NIL. 7:01 Speaker 1 So we're paying attention. 7:02 Speaker 1 But those are the three programs that generate revenue. 7:03 Speaker 5 I mean, I don't know if women's can generate revenue, but they certainly could make more. 7:09 Speaker 5 Is there a feeling that, like if you're, if you bring a title here? 7:13 Speaker 1 Yeah, 100%. 7:14 Speaker 1 I mean, yeah, 100% that, you know, obviously if you just look at this past weekend, what happened with our women's basketball program and what the barn looked like, you know, the revenue generated from that. 7:23 Speaker 1 So obviously if you have success, you compete at a high level, people come back, they want to support that. 7:28 Speaker 1 And again, that revenue is such a critical, critical piece for all 22 of our programs. 7:33 Speaker 4 So Mark, it sounds like you've been there. 7:35 Speaker 1 I'm sorry, Maxie, go ahead. 7:39 Speaker 1 I mean, I pictured these coaches lobbying and all of a sudden they've got some high-end recruit that shows up out of nowhere and they say, Mark, we've already spent our budget, but for $750,000, we can get a first round pick. 7:51 Speaker 1 And the other coaches say, well, we need that, who's the arbitrator? 7:55 Speaker 1 How does that work? 7:56 Speaker 1 You have my office bug, don't you, Maxie? 7:58 Speaker 1 Because that's every conversation, I mean, literally. 8:01 Speaker 1 Again, I have tried so, so hard to be honest and upfront with our coaches. 8:05 Speaker 1 And Maxie, it gets confusing. 8:07 Speaker 1 So when we share that revenue, that $20.5 million, when I talk about sharing with Five Sports, that's revenue going out to the student athletes in terms of payments to the student athletes. 8:18 Speaker 1 When you add scholarships, that also counts towards the cap this first year of Rep Share. 8:23 Speaker 1 And so we've added scholarships that count towards that cap too. 8:26 Speaker 1 So we are sharing revenue, for example, through scholarships with Women's Hockey, with Volleyball, with Soccer, with Volleyball. 8:32 Speaker 1 Some of those programs, we've had some Rep Share. 8:34 Speaker 1 But you're exactly right. 8:35 Speaker 1 You know, we have coaches every day because they're competitive. 8:38 Speaker 1 And whether it's PJ, Dawn, Nico, Bob, whoever it may be, you know, they're coming to our office saying, hey, we can get this top recruit. 8:45 Speaker 1 And so it goes back to your question. 8:46 Speaker 1 That's why, you know, we have this internal NIL group led by Jeremiah Carter, Travis Cameron. 8:51 Speaker 1 It's a big part of that. 8:52 Speaker 1 Well, we try to do the metrics. 8:53 Speaker 1 And so when we look at a student athlete or a potential recruit, we're trying to have the metrics behind it. 8:58 Speaker 1 So we say, hey, we've got to sign Mike Max because this is the best kid in the country and we need to pay him $750. 9:05 Speaker 1 We as the athletic director, I want to make sure I understand why is that kid worth $750. 9:10 Speaker 1 So ultimately, it comes to me working closely with our coaches. 9:13 Speaker 1 But again, we feel like we've done a really good analysis. 9:15 Speaker 1 We put in really good metrics to have safety nets to help all of our programs manage this new area of county employees. 9:21 Speaker 4 It sounds like the last couple of days, you've been really busy between both men and women. 9:25 Speaker 4 Can you discuss how many candidates you've talked to for the men's program? 9:32 Speaker 4 It really does feel like you usually try to act quick, that this is going to be a quick wrap up here? 9:38 Speaker 1 Yeah. 9:38 Speaker 1 Well, a couple of things. 9:40 Speaker 1 I mean, if you remember, I'm doing the men's search no different than I did when we hired Dawn Plitzelite three years ago. 9:46 Speaker 1 I'm doing it no different than we hired Nico Medved last year. 9:50 Speaker 1 We can get a lot of work done while I'm traveling, while I'm working, those type of things. 9:54 Speaker 1 And, you know, when I had a chance to do a Zoom with the men's team, I had to travel to St. 9:59 Speaker 1 Louis. 10:00 Speaker 1 My days are messed up on Wednesday afternoon. 10:02 Speaker 1 I think I went to St. 10:03 Speaker 1 Louis when we made the announcement. 10:05 Speaker 1 And when I was down in St. 10:06 Speaker 1 Louis, you know, I had a chance to Zoom with the men's team because I was actually in the air when the announcement for coming out and so forth. 10:13 Speaker 1 But when I met with them, I have a great sense of empathy for those student athletes because I am creating anxiety for them, right? 10:19 Speaker 1 There's change with their program. 10:21 Speaker 1 And so we always do try to act very quickly when we go through these coaching searches. 10:25 Speaker 1 We want to be very thorough. 10:26 Speaker 1 I can tell you that we have talked to numerous people across the country. 10:31 Speaker 1 I am so grateful for the people who have taken time to take my phone call, to pick their brains, get their advice, to get their counsel. 10:37 Speaker 1 But we feel like we have a very, very good pool of candidates that we're talking to, that we're still vetting, that we're working our way through. 10:43 Speaker 1 But again, we're optimistic. 10:44 Speaker 1 We have a very desirable job. 10:46 Speaker 1 We have people who want to be here. 10:49 Speaker 1 And it's on us to find the right person that can lead this program in this new age of Gopher Hockey, kind of back to your question in terms of not only managing the program on the ice, but off the ice in terms of the RefShare, NIL and all the new factors that we're doing. 11:01 Speaker 1 The transfer portal, again, that transfer portal opens up after the Frozen 4, I think on April 13th, Monday the 13th, because of the championship games on Saturday night. 11:10 Speaker 1 So again, these are all things we're trying to balance. 11:12 Speaker 1 But we have a good group of people and I promise you, I've been talking to a lot of people and we've got a really good search committee that has talked with people and we'll move as quickly as possible. 11:21 Speaker 1 But ultimately, again, we're doing the same thing we did when we hired Nico, the same thing we did when we hired Dawn. 11:28 Speaker 1 We're going to find a really good coach that can help this program move forward in this new era of Caltech Works. 11:34 Speaker 2 Mark, do you feel you have to wait for the NCAA tournament to play out, to talk to your candidates? 11:39 Speaker 1 Randy, we've been talking to them. 11:46 Speaker 1 You didn't see me Saturday, right? 11:48 Speaker 1 You saw me Friday at games and you saw me yesterday for a little bit at games. 11:51 Speaker 1 But there's a lot of time between it. 11:53 Speaker 1 And like I said, Randy, this is the same way we did when we hired Nico and we hired Dawn. 11:57 Speaker 1 You see the excitement around Nico right now in that program than what Dawn's done in year three here. 12:02 Speaker 1 So again, we feel like we have a good process in place, a thorough process. 12:07 Speaker 1 I talk about we want to move quickly, but you want to be effective, right? 12:10 Speaker 1 You want to make sure we identify the right person that can lead this program. 12:14 Speaker 1 And again, we feel like we're making really good progress. 12:16 Speaker 3 Mark, the conversation that you've had with Bob over the last few months, given all the changes in College Hockey, did you get any sense that he was maybe burned out or worn out by lawless, that maybe he wasn't quite up to doing this anymore? 12:32 Speaker 1 Not at all. 12:33 Speaker 1 Not at all. 12:34 Speaker 1 Bob, you know Bob, I mean, he is such a good, good person. 12:40 Speaker 1 And again, I am probably closer to him than I am most of our coaches. 12:46 Speaker 1 And again, Bob and I have had really good, open and honest conversations. 12:50 Speaker 1 And it's one of those conversations where you have it, you both learn more about each other, and you learn more about yourself, if that makes any sense at all. 12:58 Speaker 1 And not for a second do I feel like Bob wasn't up to the task or any of that type of thing. 13:03 Speaker 1 I just think he felt, when we look at Gopher Hockey, and we're not talking about the next best decision for the next 12 months, we're talking about the next best decision for the next several years for Gopher Hockey. 13:14 Speaker 1 And I think when we start to have that conversation, I give Bob a lot of credit because we both came to the same landing point. 13:20 Speaker 1 So, but to answer your question, no, I did not see that. 13:22 Speaker 4 Mark Coyle, where did you see things slip this season for the men's team? 13:27 Speaker 4 And you were real candid about what you were looking for in a coach for the women's team. 13:30 Speaker 4 What are you looking for in a coach for the men's team? 13:32 Speaker 1 Well, again, I'm a big believer you're a product of your past, if that makes any sense at all. 13:38 Speaker 1 And I remember when Chris Pierce was a football coach at Boise State, I had the best AD job in America. 13:43 Speaker 1 Chris Pierce was a football coach, their top ten, life was great. 13:46 Speaker 1 When Coach Pearson left and I had to hire a football coach, the first time I had to hire a coach on my own at Boise State, I was the athletic director back there. 13:53 Speaker 1 I remember telling myself, I have to find somebody whose knees aren't going to buckle, because these aren't easy jobs. 14:00 Speaker 1 And Gopher Hockey, I mean, it is a job, right? 14:03 Speaker 1 There's a lot that comes with this job. 14:05 Speaker 1 So, our goal is when we start this process, when we start to have conversations with people is, we need to make sure, and the people we've talked with, the people we will talk to, they understand what this program means. 14:16 Speaker 1 They clearly understand what this program means in the state of Minnesota, but nationally what it means with the hockey world and that side of it. 14:22 Speaker 1 So, again, we'll just continue to be very methodical in our process, but we do have that time sensitivity to move quickly, efficiently, to get the best person in the program. 14:31 Speaker 1 But my number one thing is, we need to find somebody like, when they get here, they can step in, they understand the expectations. 14:37 Speaker 1 In terms of what we did this year on the ice, Bob would be the first to tell you. 14:41 Speaker 1 I mean, again, when Bob and I were talking last week, his birthday is coming up later in the week, he said, this is the first time I've ever played on my birthday, right? 14:48 Speaker 1 Bob didn't like it. 14:50 Speaker 1 Nobody liked what happened this year. 14:52 Speaker 1 And so, again, we need to find somebody that can get this program back to where we want it to be. 14:56 Speaker 2 How do you evaluate that in a candidate? 14:58 Speaker 2 What do you ask them? 14:58 Speaker 2 What do you ask people around them in their circles who work with them? 15:02 Speaker 2 How do you find that guy? 15:03 Speaker 1 Yeah, well, you know, Eric, I've been really blessed. 15:06 Speaker 1 You know, I've had a chance to work all over the country, and I've had a chance to develop a lot of really cool relationships with people, and I'm not doing a self-promotion for our staff. 15:18 Speaker 1 I am blessed every day to work with unbelievable people in our department. 15:23 Speaker 1 I am so fortunate, and Peyton Owens, Tricia Budgey, Paul Rodnack, I can name the people who I have a chance to talk to every day, and it is amazing to me. 15:34 Speaker 1 I think you and I were talking late last night as I was driving back from St. 15:37 Speaker 1 Louis, and he pops a couple of names my way, right? 15:40 Speaker 1 And then, oh, okay, and you start to do that stuff. 15:42 Speaker 1 But again, I feel like our connections, what Gopher Hockey means to people, obviously people are reaching out to us, which is always nice when people are calling you. 15:53 Speaker 1 And when you start to have those conversations, it leads to other conversations. 15:58 Speaker 1 And I think good, bad, or different, I'm shy. 16:01 Speaker 1 Is that fair? 16:01 Speaker 1 I'm kind of a quiet person. 16:02 Speaker 1 I try to be below the radar screen. 16:04 Speaker 5 Low to high output. 16:05 Speaker 1 Yep, yeah, it drives a lot of you nuts and I apologize, but I try to be underneath the radar screen. 16:10 Speaker 1 People trust me. 16:12 Speaker 1 And again, the calls that I'm getting from people who trust me, who I trust, that helps us find different people on that side too. 16:18 Speaker 1 So again, we're casting a wide net, but again, it's just the relationships we've had over the years. 16:24 Speaker 5 College on both sides, as College Hockey is, there are more teams. 16:29 Speaker 5 Has there been any talk about expanding the NCAA field again for either of those, for the men or the men? 16:36 Speaker 1 For men's and women's hockey? 16:38 Speaker 1 I am not aware of any of those conversations. 16:40 Speaker 1 You know, obviously, I don't want to make Paul nervous. 16:44 Speaker 1 I would be all for expanding the Big Ten Conference. 16:46 Speaker 1 You know, our schedule is kind of clunky on that side, but I'm not aware of any conversations to expand the Men's or Women's Hockey. 16:52 Speaker 5 So, do you feel like the future of the men kind of goes through the Big Ten? 16:57 Speaker 5 Winning the Big Ten, it seems weird to say that. 17:00 Speaker 1 Well, I think, Johnny, I mean, if you, you know, I remember when I got here 10 years ago, to be honest with you, my biggest shock was the arena and how many open seats we had, right? 17:08 Speaker 1 And everybody told me, well, the old WCHA and those days are gone. 17:11 Speaker 1 Well, it's amazing in my 10 years here how the Big Ten has just continued to grow and grow in hockey. 17:16 Speaker 1 And I mean, Eric, I see you every time I come, right? 17:18 Speaker 1 I mean, just what Big Ten hockey is now. 17:21 Speaker 1 I think when the Frozen Four was in Excel a few years ago, we had three Big Ten teams there. 17:26 Speaker 1 So obviously, you need to compete in the Big Ten at a high level. 17:29 Speaker 1 Selfishly, we feel like it's an incredibly competitive conference. 17:32 Speaker 1 And if we compete there, that will give us a good shot to be in the NCAA tournament and compete for those national championships and Frozen Four appearances. 17:38 Speaker 1 Do one or two more for us? 17:40 Speaker 6 Mark, I think about PJ, Don, Niko, they all had previous head coaching experience. 17:45 Speaker 3 How important will that be? 17:47 Speaker 1 I think it helps. 17:48 Speaker 1 You know, it's, I would feel, you know, we just hired Boom. 17:53 Speaker 1 We had a couple of years of the head coach experience. 17:55 Speaker 1 I think that definitely helps if you have that experience because you've been through it before. 17:59 Speaker 1 You know, I knew Will back from my time at Boise, so back in the Boise State, I mean, I'm a lot different AD than I was when I knew you back then and when I know you now. 18:08 Speaker 1 You've been through it, you kind of go over those things. 18:10 Speaker 1 So obviously, somebody who has head coaching experience, that's positive, that helps, but that's not a no starter or anything like that. 18:18 Speaker 1 I think we learn good lessons like if, again, PJ, what he did at Western, Nico, Dawn, Keegan, Aaron Chastain with soccer, those are all really good things. 18:29 Speaker 1 So I think being a head coach helps, but it's not a prerequisite. 18:34 Speaker 1 Michigan State, they hired their new coach in hockey a few years ago. 18:38 Speaker 1 I was an assistant coach, and thank you. 18:41 Speaker 1 And they're doing pretty good right now. 18:44 Speaker 4 How much pressure do you get from the alum to hire an alum? 18:49 Speaker 4 And is it necessary, I guess, at a school like this? 18:53 Speaker 1 The alum has been awesome. 18:54 Speaker 1 I cannot tell you, I've had a chance to talk to a lot of them from many different generations and classes. 19:00 Speaker 1 They have all been so supportive. 19:02 Speaker 1 Again, I'm really, really grateful for them. 19:04 Speaker 1 They take time to take my calls. 19:07 Speaker 1 If they shoot me a text, they'll reach out to me. 19:08 Speaker 1 I follow up with them right away. 19:11 Speaker 1 I don't feel that pressure because, again, they've been so positive with us. 19:14 Speaker 1 They've been, again, open-minded. 19:17 Speaker 1 They want what's best for Gopher Hockey. 19:18 Speaker 1 They all talk about getting back and getting to the frozen floor, winning a championship. 19:21 Speaker 1 And they talk about how close we were in Tampa a few years ago. 19:25 Speaker 1 And again, our alums have been nothing but supportive. 19:27 Speaker 1 And I'm really, really grateful for the conversations I've had with them. 19:30 Speaker 1 I'm grateful for their guidance and counsel because this is a big task. 19:34 Speaker 1 I mean, you're making a major hire. 19:37 Speaker 1 Just like we hired Boo on the women's side, you're making a major hire. 19:40 Speaker 1 People care about it. 19:41 Speaker 1 People pay attention. 19:42 Speaker 1 So we do feel a lot of pressure. 19:43 Speaker 1 But the alums have been absolutely awesome. 19:45 Speaker 1 And again, just really grateful for their their guidance and counsel. 19:48 Speaker 1 We have a final question for Mark. 19:49 Speaker 6 Yeah, kind of on that same note, with students paying the athletic fee to go into the $100 athletic fee first semester, how does that, how do those student voices go into a decision like this? 20:01 Speaker 1 I'm not trying. 20:02 Speaker 1 You mean the students from the student athletes on the team? 20:04 Speaker 6 The students like at the University of Minnesota. 20:06 Speaker 1 Yeah, well obviously every time you go through any type of coaching transition, you want to get as much input as you can. 20:13 Speaker 1 I'm not aware if I've heard from any students. 20:15 Speaker 1 I've gotten a lot of emails, you know, and I don't necessarily know where they all come from. 20:18 Speaker 1 But again, we try to we try to walk with voices from different areas just again, because it gives us insight and gives us guidance and counsels. 20:25 Speaker 1 We ultimately make a decision. 20:26 Speaker 1 And again, you know, with our student fee, as you know, that our students, we talk about every student on this campus comes into an athletic facility, either through graduation, orientation, where they get to school or classes, those types of things. 20:40 Speaker 1 So again, like most of our peers, we have that student fee that goes along with it. 20:43 Speaker 1 But again, if students reach out, we listen to them, we take into account their voice. 20:46 Speaker 1 And again, we want to make the best long term decision for Gopher Athletics, our hockey program. 20:50 Speaker 2 Mark, would you expect the decision within hours or days? 20:54 Speaker 1 I wish I could tell you that, Randy. 20:55 Speaker 1 And if I mislead you, my lip quivers. 20:58 Speaker 1 I wish I could tell you. 20:59 Speaker 1 I mean, again, our goal is we want to get as much information as we can. 21:02 Speaker 1 Again, I'm just so grateful for our search committee who are working very closely with me. 21:07 Speaker 1 And again, we will continue to try to narrow it down to find the right person to lead this hockey program, is quick losing Ken. 21:13 Speaker 1 But again, I don't know an exact time. 21:15 Speaker 4 How many people are on that committee? 21:18 Speaker 1 We have... 21:26 Speaker 1 I want to say six, I'm looking at Dusty. 21:28 Speaker 1 Dusty, who's our executive. 21:29 Speaker 1 I think we have six on that, maybe seven. 21:31 Speaker 4 I like how you're smart enough not to say it out loud. 21:33 Speaker 1 Yeah, well, I wanted to count, yeah. 21:35 Speaker 1 I wanted, yeah, I think, but I don't want to let them asleep again. 21:37 Speaker 1 I'm like a daily mascot. 21:38 Speaker 1 I want to make sure I do the right thing. 21:40 Speaker 1 But I think we have six, maybe seven people. 21:42 Speaker 5 Yeah. 21:42 Speaker 1 All right, thank you, everyone. 21:44 Speaker 1 Thank you, guys. 21:44 Speaker 1 Appreciate you. 21:45 Speaker 1 Please, Mark.