It is pretty clear Lucia senses that he is in over his head and his actions seem to confirm this. He is very insecure and I really believe this played into the level of opposition shown by umtc towards the sioux moniker. I think um was more interested in hurting ND recruiting than protecting native american feelings. Add in the sioux tendency to, at times, embarrass the ground squirrels in high profile games as well as the superior facilities in nodak and you start to see what motivates Donald Lucia. And lets not forget the painful and public call-out of his ability as a coach:
"New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow on Thursday criticized Don Lucia's coaching, saying that was the reason sophomore Kyle Okposo is leaving the Gophers hockey program and negotiating a contract with the Islanders."Quite frankly, we weren't happy with the program there," Snow said in a telephone interview. "They have a responsibility to coach, to make Kyle a better player, and they were not doing that."