Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Off-Season Thread 2018
So I have never felt or said that he was owed the job. (My point was that we don't really know how good of a coach he was.) But I am guessing the people who state this are not using his dedication to the program as the only criteria. I think they are probably just not stating the facts about what made him a good coach (coaching, recruiting, talent development), and saying that commitment to the U should have pushed him over the top. I know I didn't feel like Motzko or anyone else was a sure homerun. Motzko was a new direction. Probably as good of a choice as any, but not the same as when it was a two horse race between Lucia and Blais. And I am guessing the people who regularly stated Lucia's more recent performance in the NCAA's weren't pumped about Bob's record. I think the people who felt Guentzel should have gotten the job recognize the affect the change in the recruiting landscape has had on college hockey so don't feel that the program was in the death spiral some felt and therefore a completely new direction wasn't necessary. I agree that dedication shouldn't be the primary factor in promoting a person, but it does have some value at a place like MN where you are recruiting based on the dedication generations of players have to the school and because the job is a grind where you want to be sure the motivation is there to go the extra mile. I am guessing that these people feel that there is enough value in this that it more than balances out his lack of HC experience. And I don't see how this is necessarily completely wrong and a person who says Guentzel wasn't right for the job is completely correct, when none of us are really in a position to accurately gauge this. There were people who know a lot better than us what his abilities area as a coach that were on both sides of the fence on this one.
Originally posted by mnstate0fhockey
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