jodcon

I see the deadline for that opening is December 30, so it's fairly quick and not really out of line, in fact I think it's pretty smart. You have to think the new coach won't be there much before that between finishing where he is now and factoring in Christmas, my thinking is they put the notice out there to see who is interested in the assistant positions hoping somebody interesting applies, maybe even somebody who was on the HC list looking to make a move. The new coach probably has a short list of guys in mind for his position coaches, maybe even the Asst. HC, but it sure doesn't hurt to throw a line out and see if you can hook a bigger fish before you have to pull the trigger. With the timeline of this, it's not going to really affect the hiring more than a few days it appears, those few days will probably be worth it in the long run.

I guess not...?

No kidding, many Canadians are pretty douchey when it comes to hockey, it's their game and everyone else should suck at it...or not even play it. Maybe if they were good at anything else besides curling it wouldn't be so bad.

The only thing I ever heard, according to Hak, was "restructuring of the coaching staff" without any more details. Maybe there was more said later and I missed it?

Yeah he went 3-8 his first year and then they went 8-3 and got a playoff bid the second year. This year back to 3-7.

I guess Frazier really is being shown the door then...interesting.

They actually made it to the playoffs last year, but usually no...it's Carroll and everybody else.

Glad TSN is covering it too, I always enjoy the meltdown if Canada doesn't win it, which they haven't since 2009.

Does anybody know what the viewing options are going to be this year?

NFC North...the division no one wants to win. Apparently.

I assume you're referencing my comments, I was only trying to say there has never been any problems with Pflugrad's recruits then or in the 2 classes he recruited after that year, and that he put more stock in recruiting character than Hauck did, and that's it. Obviously those incidents did happen on his watch and he is responsible for all his players, I don't think anyone has denied that. I just have a hard time when people keep implying that he sponsored a rape culture on the team, there was the Donaldson incident right after school started and he is currently in prison, and 3 months later the other incident and investigation which Pflugrad cooperated with and disciplined the players for before they were even charged, I don't really know why some people think he didn't do anything about it or wasn't concerned by it...I'm sure the coaching staff was floored by it, especially when it happened a second time. It wasn't like either incident wasn't taken seriously or they tried to hide it, both times the police were involved immediately and were on campus the next day. There's only so much a coach can do regarding off-campus incidents, they're not with them 24/7, talking only does so much. I mean really, how many alcohol problems have there been on the hockey team under Hak's watch, let's say between Frattin and Chyzyk? I don't think anyone is saying Hak is promoting an alcohol culture on his teams, the kids know right and wrong and what is expected but then they end up out drinking with their friends and things happen...some things are beyond the coaches control in the end. I understand if people hold those incidents against him, but saying he didn't do anything or wasn't concerned is really untrue.

Did Caruso apply?

It's up to the football coach to institute campus policy on sexual assault? My question would be why is the campus OPS, which is in charge of trafficking these instances, not reporting them efficiently or why is the University president not doing anything to address them, these were just the tail-end of many assaults which have come to light after the investigation? My feeling on this deal is these kind of things were commonplace on the UM campus and weren't taken seriously at the top...then when the high-profile football team became involved and the media became more enlightened with the sheer numbers it became a high-priority issue and somebody was going to take the fall for it. Dennison was already gone so anybody in administration was off the hook, Engstrom came in and fired the next best option, the AD O'Day who admittedly knew more about the violations than Pflugrad did, but Pflugrad was let go too even though virtually nobody here believes he should have been. I can't say what he did or told his team after the gang rape allegations, UM instituted a sexual awareness program after the assaults which students have to complete before they can register for their next semester, a 7 video series I believe. That probably should have happened a couple years earlier. The only thing I can look at is the only incident involving the football team since Dec. 2010 is the Johnson fiasco which was a joke, and neither Hauck's or Pflu's recruits have been involved in anything since so I have to assume he got it through their heads, really with the exception of one of our DB's knocking down a traffic sign in downtown Missoula after a game this year the team has been model citizens since then. I don't think he's going to get hired at UND, I just feel he should have his side presented in fairness.

Just a few points for clarification on all this. First thing to keep in mind is all of these players involved in the sexual assaults were recruited by Hauck and all these incidents except the Johnson incident happened early in Pflu's first year. 1) Donaldson was arrested and currently in prison. 2) The 4 football players accused in the gang rape were never charged, according to DOJ blaming poor handling by the UM OPS and the police department. Pflugrad is named in the investigation for not reporting it in a timely manner...which seems unusual because the victim reported it to police immediately and they were on campus investigating the next day and interviewing the players. The players were disciplined even though they were never charged, and that effectively became the end of it. He may have made an error in judgement by not contacting Engstrom immediately, but it's not like it was being covered up, everybody knew what was going on. Had they been arrested the situation would have been completely different, at that point it was an investigation with nobody arrested. His quote after the incident: “With the information I had at that particular moment in time – I did the right thing with the information I had,” he said. “And that was told to me by the Missoula Police Department. I was told I did an admirable job not only with my discussion with all those players, but my disciplinary process.” 3) Johnson incident which has been discussed. In the end the two things that are are linked to Pflugrad are failing to report the mother of another player paying to bail two players out of jail which she was reimbursed for from one of the players grandfathers, and not immediately reporting the rape allegation which was already being investigated by Missoula police on-campus and which he had already disciplined the players for even though they were never charged. I realize there are some concerns about these incidents and sexual assault had become an issue both on and off campus at UM (something like 50 rapes in 4 years according to police records), but implying Pflugrad was in any way responsible or tried to cover up anything done by the football team is laughable.

What a turn of fortune there, close game to blowout.

Could take a while if they're going to arrange 9 interviews, would be nice to wrap this up before Christmas and start recruiting.

When you hold Zenner and Co. to -32 yards on 19 carries...it is about the defense. Any offense looks good when they have that defense to hide behind, starting at the 50 every drive and knowing if you don't score you'll get it back 4 plays later makes it pretty easy.

Good point.

Didn't realize that was set in stone, good to know, too bad about the limited seating though, lot of fans are going to be left out unless they pay scalper prices.

Of course the obvious solution for the NCAA is sending UND to South Bend, that would solve the attendance issue at both venues and be another kick in the nuts to our hostile, abusive school.

The bad thing about both these deals is 90% of the people don't care enough about the situations to know the final outcome, to the average person on the street all they hear is Hoffner had child porn and Pflugrad protected a rapist and had violations, and that's what they remember. They won't take the time to follow the story and see where it went, they'll assume they were guilty or got out of it somehow. People take notice of the sensational headline but don't care enough to follow it through to the truth, it's not fair for the accused but that's the way it is in today's world. Honestly I had totally forgot about the Hoffner deal until it was brought up here this week, if someone would have asked me that name I would have said he was the coach who got arrested for child porn, and not knowing how it turned out wouldn't have been able to clear his name, unfair to him but being ignorant of the outcome that's what you remember. Innocent until proven guilty is justice but unfortunately isn't necessarily true on the street.

Notre Dame Comes out Ahead Always

I'm 90% sure Vigen will be the OC, but Feff is right they do have some decent players on offense, even switching schemes they should be pretty decent. Defensively however, they suck.

Going to be tough squeezing 12,000 people into 5,000 seats if UND is there.

They should find a spot for that guy in the PR department, he's got skills.