UND92,96

Herald article on the applicants so far. It's interesting that besides Herbst, none of the coaches whose names have been thrown around both here and in the media (Smith, Olson, Burkett, Billeter) have applied yet. Grant bio; Jones bio; Johnson bio; Kelso bio. Kelso lost his job when Kansas State made a coaching change. McCormick resigned under pressure at Arkansas Tech after this past season. Of the applicants so far, I'd say Johnson would be my top choice. He has a 106-40 record (.726) at Fort Hays, including 27-4 this past year. Of the dI assistants, it looks like Grant has the best resume. I do tend to still lean towards Craig Smith, if he applies. I wonder if any of the candidates applied due to Buning having contacted them?

Or the Peaceful Gardeners. We could "cultivate" a rivalry with the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.

McFeely [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=125501

I did read the article, and yes, it is quite ironic!

I knew a school was under no obligation to release a kid from an LOI, but I thought it was newsworthy due to the fact that Rayfield's father was quoted in the Herald article as saying UND would release his son. Where he got that idea, I don't know.

Apparently UND hasn't granted Rion Rayfield a release from his letter of intent after all. Thanks to wcbsas for finding this article: link

I agree. I think it's common knowledge that Smith won't be at Mayville State much longer, as he's clearly destined for bigger things. Without knowing who else is interested in the UND job, I can't say whether or not Smith should be considered a leading candidate, but on the surface it sure seems like he should get strong consideration. And that's why I am so perplexed if Buning hasn't contacted him already. One thing is certain--Smith doesn't shy away from a challenge. He would not have taken the Mayville position as his first head coaching job if he didn't have a lot of confidence in himself. If one believes the numbers reported to the federal government, Mayville State's total men's basketball budget is less than $45,000, so to win at such a small school in such a small town with such a small budget is incredible.

If it's true that Buning hasn't been in contact with probably the most popular local candidate (at least according to the Herald poll), I find it puzzling, and a bit unsettling. If I were the a.d., I'd have been in contact with Smith and at least a few other candidates immediately upon hearing the news of Rich Glas's resignation, if not sooner. Unless Buning really wants to hire Herbst but didn't think it politically wise to do so without at least going through the motions of a national search, I can't see the logic of not yet having contacted Smith, among others.

Another article referencing Mr. Morrison: link.

I doubt it's true, unless the Mesa State game is off (which wouldn't be a bad thing, IMO).

The job is now posted. I'm curious as to what sort of salary is contemplated, but unfortunately it only indicates that salary will be "commensurate with experience."

For whatever it's worth, with 612 votes, the results of the poll are: 54% Craig Smith 25% somebody else 15% Randall Herbst 6% Terry Olson Also, here's a brief Kevin Fee article on the expected level of interest in the job, and some of the potential candidates.

Somebody started a poll on the Herald site about who the next coach should be. link. Craig Smith is the current leader.

It's very interesting that in one sense, this Glas situation is unsatisfactory to everyone who has any interest in UND men's basketball--those who are staunch Rich Glas backers, and those who want him out. Those who back Rich 100% evidently feel he's being forced out and has no choice but to take another job, and those who want him gone don't appreciate how long it's taking to announce that he's leaving so that the search for a new coach officially begin. I happened to catch part of the Swygman and Hennessy show this morning, and although I didn't hear all of it, it seemed pretty clear that they were of the opinion that Rich didn't deserve the heat he'd been getting from fans in recent years. In so many words, it was equated to the situations of Gino and Gunther. I believe Tim said something to the effect that "this institution will chew you up and spit you out." But is UND any different from other schools that have a passionate fan base? I don't believe so. The bottom line is that if you're a coach, you know that you need to win, or eventually you'll be fired/forced out. And the higher the expectations are--based upon resources and past success--the more you need to win. Rich simply hasn't won enough the past 11 years. Certainly there have been some circumstances beyond his control, but neither can he be considered blameless for all the embarrassing losses to schools like UMC, Minot State, etc., and late-season collapses. This move is good for all involved. I just wish it wouldn't have taken roughly three weeks between the time the rumor first surfaced to the time when Rich announces he's leaving.

I'm glad somebody commented on this, as I saw that Buning was interviewed on the news the other night, but was unable to to hear the report where I was. It certainly is interesting that Groenewold and Buning seem to have very different recollections about their conversations on this matter.

I don't suppose you would care to elaborate?

I was happy to see that besides Oksendahl and Schaley, all the other members of the 2005 recruiting class are still with the team. I didn't notice any defections by players who would have had a good chance to play this fall.

I thought Manke looked very good today. Despite Lennon's comments in the Herald today to the effect that no offensive player has locked up a starting position (not even Dressler? ), I have to think Manke is the guy at quarterback based on his play late last season and in the scrimmage today. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see Chappell, but he looked to have a limp when walking on the sidelines so presumably he was kept out for precautionary reasons. Also, I noticed that Oksendahl is no longer on the roster, nor is Schaley. Overall, I think the Sioux should be very good next year, particularly with the addition of SDSU transfer Murray to further bolster the o-line, getting Strouth back healthy, and hopefully getting ZBJ back.

I definitely think Chappell could be a factor at running back, as he's probably got more big-play ability than any back on the team, but with Strouth and Beatty coming back in the fall, I suspect we won't see him in the backfield all that often until the 2007 season.

You are clearly much more patient than I am. I have a hunch that whomever the next coach is, he'll be somebody who is currently familiar with the fact that the odds of UND going dI within the very near future are good. Ideally, yes, you'd probably like to make the dI announcement first, but unless we're willing to even further damage the recruiting for next year, I'm not sure that's a luxury we have. These potential recruits aren't going to wait around forever.

Kolpack thinks so. [url="http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=124200

Kruse signed with UND. link.

I don't believe Travis Mertens has signed with anybody yet, so there's still possibly one good high school recruit out there for UND once a new coach is hired.

I'm not necessarily advocating anything in particular, but do people think that Buning is doing the right thing by allowing Rich to completely dictate when the announcement is going to be made that he's leaving? It seems to me that it's been more or less common knowledge for at least 15 days now that he's going. Obviously this has had a huge impact on recruiting. While I completely understand the legalities that require UNI to keep the job open for a period of time, I can't help but wonder whether allowing this to drag out for more than two weeks during the late signing period is in UND's best interests.

Here's what I don't understand--Ben was promoted March 22. He hired Kyle Green on March 28. Was there an open spot on the UNI staff even before Mac left, and Green had applied for it? If not, why did that process take such a short time compared to this one? I know Green is a former UNI assistant, but I don't see why that should allow for an expedited process, as it wasn't truly hiring from within.