I'm not looking for the best coaches, only the right ones.
Our athletic director must have a very interesting job. Our sports at the Division II level have great coaches and success (football is pretty solid. men's basketball is generally pretty good, and they seem to be building back up well after two down years. women's basketball is by far the most successful program on campus). We do pretty well with Tech people coaching Tech programs at that level.
But we apparently something happens when you move up to Division I and to the sport that is supposed to be the jewel of the University. Is there something wrong with the way the program is run? I still think being a hard academic school in the middle of nowhere is a hard sell when competing against these other schools. Hell, even Marquette (NMU) has more to offer and an easier degree path, and they have had success there.
Coach Russell makes a base salary of $121,178 from Michigan Tech. This data gets published because we are a public institution. You can find the salary of any full-time employee of Michigan Tech.
We have a 1% chance of a home playoff series YEAH! Moral Victory!
i love our majority 57% to finish last too
Edit 2:
Another update on Schooley, he HAS quit the team, a source says he quit the team about 2 weeks ago, so possibly right when they came back from Thanksgiving break
He is still listed on the roster for now however
Edit 3: (I'm bored and keep looking up stuff)
Has anyone noticed the team picture on the roster page? It is missing, imagine this, Kattelus and Schooley...coincidence or did they retake a picture....i find it hard to believe they'd retake a picture for that...
also with some of the guys that are in the picture are injured...i mean yeah, they could just throw them into the gear and take the picture...but it seems like a lot of work for 2 people
Rolston may have an outside shot at the Michigan job in a few years, but Pearson is likely the first coach in line. Plus, it is rumored that Pearson vowed he would never even consider the Tech job again after they hired Watters.
I heard there were some hard feelings when Mel left but heck, that was 23 years ago and Yeo and Watters are gone. Pres. Mroz needs to pick up the phone and call Mel. Everyone assumes he wants to stay at U of M, however, here are the Top Ten reasons Mel might consider coaching at Tech:
10) It sux being a hockey coach at a football school.
9) What's left to accomplish at U of M? It can only get worse, ask Rich Rod.
8) Yost Field House is a barn with bleachers. Are the locker rooms still upstairs?
7) Weather in Ann Arbor sux.
6) Skiing in Ann Arbor sux.
5) The CCHA sux.
4) Can't get a decent pasty in Ann Arbor.
3) Tired of winning GLI.
2) We won't make him play outside in a football stadium.
and the #1 reason...
1) Threat of leaving may push Red Berenson into retirement.
I'm not looking for the best coaches, only the right ones.
Our athletic director must have a very interesting job. Our sports at the Division II level have great coaches and success (football is pretty solid. men's basketball is generally pretty good, and they seem to be building back up well after two down years. women's basketball is by far the most successful program on campus). We do pretty well with Tech people coaching Tech programs at that level.
But we apparently something happens when you move up to Division I and to the sport that is supposed to be the jewel of the University. Is there something wrong with the way the program is run? I still think being a hard academic school in the middle of nowhere is a hard sell when competing against these other schools. Hell, even Marquette (NMU) has more to offer and an easier degree path, and they have had success there.
It is quite simple actually. You can't win when you have a culture of losing.
I say:
1) purge the program of any and all malcontents, which it seems like is happening. Give every player the option of walking away, and work with only the guys that truly want to be on this team. If any of the guys walk away at that point, they wouldn't have done anything to help the team anyway.
2) The entire coaching staff should sit down with the freshman class and lay it out for them. "We are not a good hockey team right now, but you have the ability to change that. You have 3 and a half years to turn this around." As a group, the coaches and freshmen class should map out where they want to be throughout that class's 4 years at Tech. Start small, and work their way up, by the end of this year, goals should be: Make championship game of GLI, win Carnival and finish with double digit wins. Also challenge that entire freshman class to win carnival MVP, get them motivated. By the end of next year, challenge the same kids to get to the final 5. After year 3, host a playoff series. For their senior year, make the NCAA's. Map all of this out for that class right now, so they all know what they are working towards, so that they don't get ahead of themselves and so they have a common source of motivation.
3) The leader of this freshmen group should have an "A" next year, maybe 2 of them get "A's". Give them leadership roles on the team, like it or not, Baker and Olson aren't pulling Tech out of this hole, they don't have enough time. Hand the team over to this group, that up until this point, appears very capable.
My hope is by doing this, you end up with a class that doesn't say "**** it, we suck" and give up 2 months into their Junior year. We all know that the Freshmen class is the future of this team, one way or another (and I'll add, no matter who the coach is), why not give them the keys right away and see what they can do and make it clear to them that this is going to be a 4 year process. The program needs to find something to start building on, and this is the only way I can think of to make that happen.
Having a clear conscience just means you have a bad memory or you had a boring weekend.
I heard there were some hard feelings when Mel left but heck, that was 23 years ago and Yeo and Watters are gone. Pres. Mroz needs to pick up the phone and call Mel. Everyone assumes he wants to stay at U of M, however, here are the Top Ten reasons Mel might consider coaching at Tech:
10) It sux being a hockey coach at a football school.
9) What's left to accomplish at U of M? It can only get worse, ask Rich Rod.
8) Yost Field House is a barn. Are the locker rooms still upstairs?
7) Weather in Ann Arbor sux.
6) Skiing in Ann Arbor sux.
5) The CCHA sux.
4) Can't get a decent pasty in Ann Arbor.
3) Tired of winning GLI.
2) We won't make him play outside in a football stadium.
and the #1 reason...
1) Threat of leaving may push Red Berenson into retirement.
My comment has nothing to do with the quote, but I liked it so much, I'm quoting it anyway.
I didn't post until Wednesday because I was so ticked off after Saturday I was afraid I'd say something stupid. OK, so there's a good chance that happens anyway. It was clear Saturday night that as soon as they went down 2 goals that they gave it up. In that regard, it was probably worse to watch than any game last year. I almost got up and left with 10 minutes to go, but everyone else was already leaving, so why fight the "traffic". This is the first time I would have considered getting a new coach as the option. I don't think you do it mid year, but culture is definitely the issue. Russell's selling point when he got here was recruiting. Maybe we need a tactician who can make the talent we have work.
I heard there were some hard feelings when Mel left but heck, that was 23 years ago and Yeo and Watters are gone. Pres. Mroz needs to pick up the phone and call Mel. Everyone assumes he wants to stay at U of M, however, here are the Top Ten reasons Mel might consider coaching at Tech:
10) It sux being a hockey coach at a football school.
9) What's left to accomplish at U of M? It can only get worse, ask Rich Rod.
8) Yost Field House is a barn with bleachers. Are the locker rooms still upstairs?
7) Weather in Ann Arbor sux.
6) Skiing in Ann Arbor sux.
5) The CCHA sux.
4) Can't get a decent pasty in Ann Arbor.
3) Tired of winning GLI.
2) We won't make him play outside in a football stadium.
and the #1 reason...
1) Threat of leaving may push Red Berenson into retirement.
All fair points..... Yost, for all of its banners, is still not really that overall pretty. Its just that they lucked out in there with getting the fans all on top of the action there with its layout. Other than that, not really anything to write home about the place, save for the odd brick or two falling off of it onto State Street.
bueller: Why is the sunset good? Why are boobs good? Why does Positrack work? Why does Ferris lose on the road and play dead at home?
It just happens.
nmupiccdiva: I'm sorry I missed you this weekend! I thought I saw you at the football game, but I didn't want to go up to a complete stranger and ask "are you Monster?" and have it not be you!
Re: Severe Ronaldstorm Warning: the Michigan Tech 2010-11 Season Thread, Part the Sec
It's becoming more apparant to me that Tech needs it next coach to be someone from outside the program. Excluding the short tenure of Jim Narhgang, the other coaches (Boxer, Watters, Russell) with MTU ties have terrible records. The two with the most success (Brown and Mancini) had no ties to Tech and actually had established some pretty good teams and had the program looking like it may actually sustain some success. That being said, I have no idea who would be a good fit and have no names to chip in, but we need someone from outside this program to turn it around.
I still believe a big name coach would be willing to come here, if the money was available. The best marketing tool for the school would easily be a successful hockey team. Maybe it's time the university asks Obama for some stimulus funds to resurrect the program?
It's becoming more apparant to me that Tech needs it next coach to be someone from outside the program. Excluding the short tenure of Jim Narhgang, the other coaches (Boxer, Watters, Russell) with MTU ties have terrible records. The two with the most success (Brown and Mancini) had no ties to Tech and actually had established some pretty good teams and had the program looking like it may actually sustain some success. That being said, I have no idea who would be a good fit and have no names to chip in, but we need someone from outside this program to turn it around.
I still believe a big name coach would be willing to come here, if the money was available. The best marketing tool for the school would easily be a successful hockey team. Maybe it's time the university asks Obama for some stimulus funds to resurrect the program?
Why ask Obama for money? They already have 7000 students they can exploit for cash.
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