UND92,96

I agree, although they were in foul trouble in the first half. On a related note, I couldn't believe the Montana State coach played Mercer in the first half with two fouls and a lead. Of course, she promptly picked up her third.

The salary for a head football coach at UND is already budgeted. I would have absolutely no problem paying Tibesar what Lennon was scheduled to make. FCS football is supposed to be a step up, right? While one could argue that taking a paycut makes little sense, again how do we know that Prince's job isn't in serious jeopardy? Does it make more sense for Tibesar to just wait for the axe to fall? Maybe this would just be an example of being proactive; getting head coaching experience; and going back to his alma mater (and his wife's home town).

A lot of things are easy to say on a message board. But how many of us have actually spoken to Tibesar? How secure is the Kansas State situation? How happy is he there? These are things most of us can't answer. I don't pretend that I can. But some people who are pretty close to the program claim he's interested in the UND job. That alone makes it worth at least talking to him if I'm Steve Brekke. If money is always the be all/end all in the world of college coaching, how does one explain why Bohl is still in Fargo? Don't you suppose he made a heck of a lot more at Nebraska before he was fired? Conventional wisdom might suggest he'd be anxious to get back to that level (or preferably above) as soon as possible.

A lot more than he'd make as the head coach at UND. But some decisions are not just money-driven.

Ironically enough, I believe Jerry Kill also endorsed the SIU offensive coordinator to be his successor.

As I was watching the game, I knew the Sioux were shooting a very high second-half percentage, but I didn't realize until I saw the box score that they were 21-25! Unbelievable!

I look at this situation somewhat similarly to what we saw after RT took the UND a.d. job in 1999. You had the in-house candidate (offensive coordinator Randy Hedberg), and the popular ex-defensive coordinator (Lennon). Now, we have the in-house candidate (Mussman), and potentially the popular ex-defensive coordinator (Tim Tibesar). I'd like to see history repeat itself with this hire. I believe this is too important of a decision not to open things up to outside candidates. Yes, that may have an adverse effect on this year's recruiting class, but that's a small price to pay in the long run. I mean no disrespect to Mussman, but he's apparently been trying for several years to land a head coaching job, and he's not been able to do so. If that's true, it concerns me.

Per today's Herald, Kyle Cavil has committed to UND. Also, the Haugeberg commitment is confirmed. [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=62097

I think some legitimate questions can be asked about Ralston's ability to work well with people and make good decisions. Her supposed expertise is volleyball, and how has that hire worked out so far? I believe she was also responsible for a very poor finalist for the men's basketball job (the fired Eastern Illinois assistant who was coaching in high school when he applied for the UND job).

I've heard the same. No offense to Mussman, but I think it would be a big mistake not to talk to Tibesar. He seems like the ideal candidate.

I really liked what Bledsoe showed late last year. He was hurt to start the season, which I think has really affected him. Anyway, it's true that the Sioux haven't proven anything yet, but by the same token, they haven't proven they can't contend for a playoff spot, either.

Let's say for the sake of argument that Mussman does go with Lennon to SIU, along with Bubba. Let's also assume Tibesar says thanks, but no thanks. Then where does UND look? Tesch? Sawyer from Winona? Some recently-fired I-A coordinator who has had success in the past, a la what NDSU did when they hired Bohl?

I wonder what a coordinator at Southern Illinois will make? In the neighborhood of $100k?

I'm listening to KNOX right now, and thank God we're getting advice from the infamous "Gary the Bison fan". What a tool.

If I understood Brekke correctly, "internal candidates" will start being interviewed early next week.

That seems to have been all-but-confirmed with the statement in Wayne Nelson's Herald article today to the effect that multiple sources have said that Lennon's replacement would be hired from within.

It's all relative. Southern Illinois is a good job, but it certainly takes a backseat to multiple other schools in Illinois. I just didn't see this coming at all. I don't think many did outside of the Lennon household.

I believe he was making just over $100,000 at UND, so his salary is nearly doubling. That's pretty substantial.

Frankly, with the goings-on in the football program, I've lost most of my interest in arguing about the state of the men's basketball program, but a couple of points: 1. I don't know how you can say UND has "questionable shooters" when they're shooting 51% from the field, and 40% from behind the 3-point line; 2. I don't believe UND has a short bench. Bledsoe and Koenig are among the leading scorers on the team, plus Harrison, who has a lot ability (although he hasn't produced like I thought he would) and a nice role player in Porter. I agree that the post defense will likely be the team's achilles heel, but aside from USD and perhaps Mankato so long as Santos is in the game, I don't know that there are too many teams in the NCC in a position to really exploit that weakness.

Just a hunch, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Bubba is the defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois next year.

I suspect we'll find out pretty soon.

I suspect Harmeson will be largely responsible for hiring the new coach. I tend to think Mussman is probably going to get the job because he's been assistant head coach for a few years, and it would provide for some continuity. The wild card is Tibesar. He'd be taking a paycut, but he'd have better job security and with a young child, it may be attractive to get out of the high pressure, big business world of I-A major conference football. Also, his brother is on the team right now for whatever that's worth. I definitely think Harmeson should be on the phone with him today to gauge whether he would have any interest.

Mussman? Bubba? RT? Tibesar? (a longshot) Who are some other obvious candidates?

I'm speechless. I absolutely never expected Lennon to leave for another FCS job. I guess there was more to his flirtation with the Montana State job than just a strained relationship with Buning. Now I'm not sure there's any realistic alternative but to promote Mussman. If not, we could be looking at having to hire an entirely new staff.

Can we at least wait until UND has played some NCC games before we proclaim them no better than a fourth-place NSIC team? You can't just look at one game in isolation--in this case the UND vs. Northern game--and draw definitive conclusions about how good or bad teams are. I think Jones more or less has the UND program on the right track. I would have liked to have added a bit more immediate help in the off-season, but in general the team has been playing pretty well since the awful 0-3 start. I have no problem criticizing the scheduling, but I think you're off-base if you think the team is under-achieving right now. BTW, excuse me if I'm not super impressed with Southwest. They won at home vs. Augie and a suddenly struggling SCSU team (who lost by nearly 30 at Mary), and won on the road vs. a pretty bad UMD squad. I think UND can and will do the same. As for Northern, I will give them credit for having won at Augie and at Southwest. Of course, they also got smoked by 27 on their home court by Winona, so who knows how good they really are? Not sure how you can "guarantee" that they're better than last year at this point. That seems as premature as saying UND is no better than a fourth-place NSIC team.