UND92,96

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.

I don't know about the jucos, but UND has lost Rayfield. link. Northern Iowa certainly seems to be taking their sweet time naming Glas to the job. Hindsight is 20/20, but I really wish Buning wouldn't have been so convinced that he needed to wait until the dI decision was made before hiring a new coach. It's come back to bite him in the butt by potentially causing us to lose an entire recruiting period.

One other point about Nelson's article from the Sunday paper: why does he seem to indicate that the reason people are so down on the men's basketball program is because of the lack of national success? I can't speak for anyone else, but my biggest beef isn't the overall winning percentage or the lack of playoff success, it's the mediocrity in NCC play. Here are UND's NCC finishes since the last conference title: 6th 9th 7th 3rd 3rd 5th 3rd 3rd 7th 5th 6th And the finishes probably would have been worse the past few years but for the small number of teams now in the NCC. It's hard to believe we could go this long without even a runner-up finish, let alone a title.

Wayne Nelson article on the state of flux the UND men's basketball program is in: link. IMO, this article is far too pro-Herbst. But then again, Nelson's track record is that he rarely, if ever, writes anything which could be construed as negative about a UND coach, regardless of whether it's the head coach or an assistant. It was mentioned in the article about the need to sign several juco transfers and how that's a key to the fortunes of the team next year. But why is it that we're in that position now? Could it be because of poor recruiting the past 3-4 years?

Here's an article on the development of Ryan Chappell. link. UND should have outstanding running back depth this year, and Chappell's speed should be a big asset on special teams, as well. The article also mentions Branden Dungy (nephew of Tony). I assume he must be a walk-on?

Would Ben have gotten the UNI job had they been coming off several so-so (or worse) seasons in a row? Highly unlikely. I'd like to hear some answers to the questions posed by star2city. Even if somehow a person were going to buy into the whole theory that Herbst should be considered blameless for the team's poor performance the past few years, he shouldn't get a free pass with regard to the sub-par recruiting.

He's not a hockey player, but UND already has at least one pretty good lacrosse player on campus: link.

It sounds like Tim Miles has a very good chance of getting the Wilmington job, as the Kansas assistant who was a finalist has withdrawn. That leaves Miles and an assistant from Texas.