U2Bad1 Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/9052429.htm I think it is an outrage that those high up moved so hastily to name a coach because of a recruiting deadline. Now that I have that off my chest, I am sure hakstol will be a capable coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthDakotaHockey Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Yeah!!!! Why would we ever want to have wasted the next eight weeks, putting recruiting on continuity in limbo while we are sitting on a Championship-caliber squad, to do this "national search?" Especially with a capable guy like Hakstol in the fold. I said it here last Friday when the news was fresh. Hakstol was the only candidate for the job, and now it is mine, er I mean, his. There is a certain beauty of not giving Sandy the pleasure of turning us down. There was no one else, if we are truthful with ourselves, for the position. Sioux tradition. Continuity. Familiarity. They all breed success. Why mess with that formula now? Congratulations Dave!! Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmitzzz Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 I think it is an outrage that those high up moved so hastily to name a coach because of a recruiting deadline. I'm with you on that one U2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodakvindy Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 An outside search seemed to work out OK ten years ago. As for recruiting, we've got a ton of guys already locked up for several years out. If I'm a recruit I'd want to know that you will go to every length to find the perfect next coach. That may well be Dave Hakstol or Brad Berry. But to not even look anywhere else seems ridiculous to me. There are also many coaches with UND connections not currently in the program, Steve Johnson and John Marks to name two. Marks is on record as saying he would love the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Guys - we seem to be getting awfully paranoid about this. I care about UND hockey as much as anyone else but ...... Regarding hockey, UND has made tons a correct decisions in recent years. I have no doubt that this was another correct one. With Blais endorsing Hakstol and indicating he felt a fairly quick decision was important, that is good enough for me! I would guess there may have been more reasons for the quick decision than just the recruiting issue. It could have been an effort to assure current recruits as well as Bochenski, Greene, Stafford felt comfortable NOW as to who the coach would be. We certainly wouldn't want any of them jumping ship in the next six weeks while the coaching job was in limbo! If I "waved the wand", Sandy would be our new coach but I have full faith that the right decision was made. Let's stop second-guessing and start talking about who the new assistant will be. My money is on Johnson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 I agree with U2Bad1. When the U of M fired Woog, they did not simply hire Mike Guentzel, even though he was considered a very good candidate by many people. Instead, they opened it up nationally. They targeted Blais, and when they were unable to land him, landed Lucia. UND should not settle for anything less. Even the UND football program did the same thing. When Roger Thomas stepped aside, they did not hire the "internal" candidate, who ended up as coach at St. Cloud. Instead, they went out and got Dale Lennon, the best man for the job. With all due respect to the UND football program, the UND hockey program is much larger scale and depends upon winning, prominence and filling the arena. Dave Hakstol may end up being a good coach. However, there will always be that lingering doubt when you have potential candidates who are also former players with better track records like Sandelin, Steve Johnson and Marks. This "move" frankly makes me very angry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Let's stop second-guessing and start talking about who the new assistant will be. My money is on Johnson. Why would Steve Johnson take an assistant job? He makes in excess of $100,000 per year in Lincoln, and probably closer to $150,000 (he gets a % of the gate). He has also said that he is 75-80% sure that he will be back in Lincoln next year. I hope that you are right, because I think he's the best head coach candidate, but I'm not too optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 This could change any minute, but so far this morning, I have not heard Tim Hennessy confirm that Hakstol will be the next head coach. He did quote the Herald article saying it, but he hasn't said it himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Disgusting. Does Hakstol have dirty pics of RT? Did his father-in-law "give" the job to Hakstol. Anything less than a McNaughton Cup should be grounds for immediate termination for the whole bunch, from Kupchella on down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 I'm with many in that I'm disappointed with the way this was handled. In fact, with the exception of a select few on this board, I'm not aware of anyone who wanted the position to be filled this way. Considering that UND already has a jump start on recruiting for next year anyway, I have a hard time placing the "recruiting delay" issue in the top ten factors influencing the hiring decision. This part cracks me up. From the Herald: "Blais noted that the timing of his replacement was critical in that July 1 is the first date college recruiters can formally contact in person players who'll be entering their senior seasons of high school this fall." Also from the Herald: "Hakstol isn't wasting any time. He's flying from Grand Forks today to Rochester, N.Y., where he'll evaluate players at the USA Hockey Select 16 camp for two days before returning to Grand Forks on Saturday." If it's so important to have a head coach contact players on July 1, why is Hakstol scouting kids that are too young to contact? Anyway, I'm not anti-Hakstol. It's just that this is a huge decision, and they should have taken their time with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Disgusting. Does Hakstol have dirty pics of RT? Did his father-in-law "give" the job to Hakstol. Anything less than a McNaughton Cup should be grounds for immediate termination for the whole bunch, from Kupchella on down. I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only one who is disgusted by how this whole process went down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Did his father-in-law "give" the job to Hakstol. Even with Blais' endorsement, Hakstol will have to fight this perception (and I use that word because I hope it's not reality). Hakstol, because of the internal hire ... : Shortest. Leash. Ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herf Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 I'd have to agree with the sentiment of the majority. This should have been opened up nationaly. That would not mean that Hakstol wouldn't be considered (and possibly even get the job), but why wouldn't you interview interested parties? 1 month of recruting seems to be a pretty weak argument to me and the potential costs of a quick hiring like this seem to outweight the benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVCL Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 knock it off, all of you. What WDAY/Z or other media confirmed was what we already knew. No one said anything. The university is following procedure, period. Hakstol/Berry will be given their in-house opportunity and may or may not be welcomed as the head coach. We'll find out the truth soon enough, but as far as I'm concerned nothing has changed. DH would do a fine job but I have to agree that a national search is appropriate and is probably inevitable. I also reitterate, where do you guys think any of our players are going to go? I doubt they'd take a step sideways/down to another college program, money is nice in the minors but that's where you may stay if they don't position themselves correctly, and finally ottawa and edmonton (bochenski/greene) probably have other things on their minds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 We can gnash our teeth for a little while, but then it's time to look forward. As for the second assistant, I would sure like it if they could find a way to pay Steve Johnson to come in. It would be nice to have a scoring forward's perspective present in the coaching staff. Are there NCAA rules limiting assistant coaching salaries? If not, then perhaps they could put some of the REA windfall towards the assistant coaching spot. Hakstol needs to land a big recruit to signal that he can do it without the Blais selling point. People are going to be hyper-sensitive to next year's results, and the early-season schedule is a bear. Teeth-gnashing will reappear if the team struggles early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 knock it off, all of you. What WDAY/Z or other media confirmed was what we already knew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Ciskie Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 We'll trade him to you for Bochenski, J. Parise, and a recruit to be named later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Well, I'm also on record saying that I would feel better knowing that Hakstol was fairly compared to other interested candidates and hired based on that merit. I've also said it could be possible that Blais and Thomas and the others involved pretty much know the pool of possible candidates and knew Hakstol was the best possible candidate (keeping my assumption that Sandelin truly isn't interested, regardless of his recent non-committal comments) and made the tough decision (publicly unpopular but possibly correct) to name Hak as coach right away to minimize any recruiting impact right now. The decision has been made, and while it wasn't my preference, it's not Hakstol's fault or responsibility. I hope as time goes on that we're not more critical of Hakstol than he deserves because of how he was hired. Here's another possible point of view. WHAT IF Thomas thought Hakstol was the best possible candidate (best qualified of those likely to accept, etc) yet went through a national search and named him permanent coach in a couple of months. WHAT IF because of that delay Hakstol lost a high profile recruit. COULD public opinion turn on Hakstol quickly, saying because Blais isn't around Hakstol can't get the top guys? It's another way in which Hakstol can't win. Losing that recruit may not be his fault, but he would likely be held responsible by us fans. Thomas might have decided that, being Hak is the likely choice anyway, it's best to put him in the best position right out of the gates to recruit players. Yes, Hakstol might suffer our negative perceptions of the hiring process, but his ability to recruit will not be compromised. He'll be on the best footing possible to rebuild our confidence. If he doesn't get the job done, it's not because he was hamstrung to start out with. This seems a plausible scenario to me. The longer I type, the more plausible it seems. I personally don't know how interested Sandelin really was. His recent comments were very non-committal, but Blais turned the MN job into a nice raise. Why couldn't Sandelin do the same thing. I, for one, wasn't counting on him. But I was hoping. I'm with jk, I really hope we can land Johnson as an assistant coach. I'd like to get his offensive perspective on the staff. If not him, another strong offensive minded coach. Hak is our coach, and I'm behind him 100%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 In a Leinenkugel's fueled haze last night, I came up with a couple of good reasons why you should ALWAYS open a position like this externally: What if (and I did say "if") this former UND national champion or this person with ties to the team had shown some interest in the position (for whatever personal or professional reasons that we may have no idea about)? Remember, I did say "if" and a big if at that. Say it's completely impossible? Haven't NBA or NFL coaches made the pro to college move? However, unless you open it up you'll never know. DISCLAIMER: I posted this same thought on USCHO as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Obviously, no one listened to my little lecture of an hour or so ago. Acutally, I don't have a big problem with that - it is cool that so many of us care so much about our hockey program. As a couple of you have noted, this may not be official. We might learn that a national search will still happen - I would endorse that. As I said earlier, I think the best candidate is Sandy. Also, I made the statement I hoped Johnson would be the new assistant. I had no idea he was making that kind of $ in Lincoln. Unless he really wanted to get into college coaching and/or get back to GF, the paycheck probably would be much better in Lincoln. Bottom line - once a decision is made, we should suck it up and support whoever the coach will be. Outspoken fans in GF and around the country badmouthing our decision can only put a negative light on our great program. Enough lecturing..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pentaxman46 Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 As I said on a different thread yesterday, If they hire from within without opening the positon to the outside I believe they are obligated to open the positon within 1 year. Most higher ed positon openings have that obligation. Maybe that doesn't hold true in this case if the salary money doesn't come from state appropriated dollars. If it is true that they have to reopen the position next year that would give RT the luxury of seeing how Hakstol does this season before he entertains outside applications. DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawkota Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Agreed DG; I would say that RT didn't as much make a decision as he put off making one until the end of next season. I have alot of confidence in Hakstol but as others have suggested, this is not the best way for him to get this job. Shortest leash ever is right Sicatoka. In fact, I think we can pretty much call him interim coach for the entire year. That is a disservice to Dave. That being said, best wishes to Hakstol and let's hope that he starts a very successful tenure as coach by hanging #8 next April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shep Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 I don't think of myself as a Hakstol defender, and frankly, when this started, I hoped Sandy would get it. However, there is too much anger today to let go unchallenged. What makes anyone think that by waiting two months in a nationwide search the result would have been any different and part two of the same question is, why would it matter if Hakstol was "tested" by a nationwide search? Don't you think RT et al set down a list of the names of potential replacements just like so many on this board did and don't you think from that he et al decided "We have the best guy already on board? Why waste time pretending?" In the end, this would have been Hak v Sandy right? I don't think we need to speculate about some super-coach being out there that we haven't considered. There is a finite group of potentials and from that the admin chose the one they thought was best and while I agree it shouldn't seem to have been done to accomodate a recruiting schedule, the result would likely have been the same anyway. Good luck, Hakstol; let's go Sioux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 In a Leinenkugel's fueled haze last night, I came up with a couple of good reasons why you should ALWAYS open a position like this externally: What if (and I did say "if") this former UND national champion or this person with ties to the team had shown some interest in the position (for whatever personal or professional reasons that we may have no idea about)? Remember, I did say "if" and a big if at that. Say it's completely impossible? Haven't NBA or NFL coaches made the pro to college move? However, unless you open it up you'll never know. DISCLAIMER: I posted this same thought on USCHO as well. I forgot to mention the name of this approach: Don't ask, don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloos Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Why would Steve Johnson take an assistant job? He makes in excess of $100,000 per year in Lincoln, and probably closer to $150,000 (he gets a % of the gate). He has also said that he is 75-80% sure that he will be back in Lincoln next year. I hope that you are right, because I think he's the best head coach candidate, but I'm not too optimistic. I believe Johnson was offered an assistant coaching job when Sandlin left but turned it down because of the $$. Assistant coaches don't make much, and at the time it looked like Blais wasn't leaving any time soon. The only way I could see him leave is if they offer him the associate head coach position with the idea he would be the frontrunner as the next head coach. It looks to me like Hakstol and Berry will move up one position and Eades will take Berry's spot. Eades didn't have Johnson's numbers at UND, but he was a pretty good scorer I think, I'm sure he's in the century club. He seems like a pretty classy guy, even though he looks like a 70's porn star. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.