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Gwoz Resigns from DU?

Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

Stauber has it about right in one of his posts above.

Gwoz was imagining himself as the GM of DU Hockey ... he was "Burkeing" it. No way he goes to some podunk gig to rebuild anything or go to Omaha. He doesn't have what that takes anyway. This is a guy who wants to have his cake and eat it too. I can't feature him as an assistant in the NHL even. He'll be all about a B1G gig. In his mind he is a big fish in a big pond kind of guy. He'd take a gig overseas head coaching somewhere perhaps before he'd stoop to anything less than a B1G job.
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

uaafanblog said:
Stauber has it about right in one of his posts above.

Gwoz was imagining himself as the GM of DU Hockey ... he was "Burkeing" it. No way he goes to some podunk gig to rebuild anything or go to Omaha. He doesn't have what that takes anyway. This is a guy who wants to have his cake and eat it too. I can't feature him as an assistant in the NHL even. He'll be all about a B1G gig. In his mind he is a big fish in a big pond kind of guy. He'd take a gig overseas head coaching somewhere perhaps before he'd stoop to anything less than a B1G job.
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Time will tell. I think the money thing is a bit overblown. He is a family guy and location will enter into the decision. I expect we'll know by early June. At any rate, I respect the guy and what he has accomplished here. I'm still very much in shock.
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

MagnessMan said:
Time will tell. I think the money thing is a bit overblown. He is a family guy and location will enter into the decision. I expect we'll know by early June. At any rate, I respect the guy and what he has accomplished here. I'm still very much in shock.
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Not trying to be a dick, but if it wasn't about money what was it about?
In the past 12 years he's gotten Denver 9 NCAA appearances, 3 league titles, 3 conference tournament titles and 2 national championships. What more could one reasonably ask for?

I don't care who the A.D. is, you don't let a guy like that go unless he is demanding more than you can give. And if he's demanding that from a program he has spent 19 years with, he's going to be demanding it from any future employer as well.
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

Stauber1 said:
Not trying to be a dick, but if it wasn't about money what was it about?
In the past 12 years he's gotten Denver 9 NCAA appearances, 3 league titles, 3 conference tournament titles and 2 national championships. What more could one reasonably ask for?

I don't care who the A.D. is, you don't let a guy like that go unless he is demanding more than you can give. And if he's demanding that from a program he has spent 19 years with, he's going to be demanding it from any future employer as well.
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I agree this is all about $$$; and he and DU obviously were at an impasse on the bottom line. Unless there are serious ideological and relational differences at work here, IMO a bad move for DU to let a guy of this caliber move on.
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

uaafanblog said:
No way he goes to some podunk gig to rebuild anything or go to Omaha.
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If UAA can come up with somewhat of an attractive salary, I'll go out on a limb and say Gwoz still has the "pioneering spirit" (sorry about the pun) to take UAA on and attempt to elevate the program much like he did at DU.:eek:
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

Here's the dealio.

Gwozdecky had a 10 year contract signed in [midseason] 2002 when DU was #1 in the country and Michigan State & Sconnie were about to conduct coaching searches. Then they extended after the 2004 Natty to stretch the contract expire after next season. Very unusual provision in the contract was a $1 million dollar annuity that would only be paid at the end of the contract. This was back when a $1 million actually got you more than a cup of coffee and a haircut. But I digress.

Around 2009 Gwozdecky wants to extend his contract to carry him to retirement. At the same time DU has re-upped basketball coach Joe Scott, now the highest paid person at the university, while the hoops team is lucky to draw 500 fans a night. Someone ran to the Denver Post and all the juicy numbers are splashed all over town.

In June 2009 DU signed lax coach Bill Tierney for significantly less than market value and less than Tierney made at Princeton. Suddenly DU is on the map in lax, and hockey takes a little dip in prestige at DU.

In April 2010, the Ohio State job opens up and Gwozdecky goes from consultant to candidate in the blink of an eye. But to get Gwozdecky, OSU would have to pay the annuity, give Gwozdecky his money and spend money for all the bells and whistles Gwozdecky would need to build a winner. Ohio State, with all the money in the world, says "No thank you."

DU continues to tell everyone they are going to re-sign Gwozdecky & Tierney to deals, but there's no hurry with Gwozdecky because of the annuity.

Between 2010 and present DU gets knocked around like a beachball because of conference affiliation [WCHA->NCHC, Sunbelt->WAC->Summit League], spends millions trying to find a home for hoops and and finds out that hockey, skiing, lacrosse and gymnastics success isn't worth a crap in the new world order. Especially when you don't have a football program.

So the decision was made a few weeks ago to buy out Gwozdecky's contract and use the same formula to find a coach they used in 1996 hiring Gwozdecky.

If DU gets the guy they are targeting, you'll find similarities to Gwozdecky hiring in 1996. But is not Enrico, any Gwozdecky disciple or a DU alum.
 
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Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

Stauber1 said:
In the past 12 years he's gotten Denver 9 NCAA appearances, 3 league titles, 3 conference tournament titles and 2 national championships. What more could one reasonably ask for?
I don't care who the A.D. is, you don't let a guy like that go unless he is demanding more than you can give. And if he's demanding that from a program he has spent 19 years with, he's going to be demanding it from any future employer as well.
Click to expand...

We would love to have that resume and success (err...I mean failure according to the DU Athletic Director) here at Wisconsin.
 
dggoddard said:
Here's the dealio.

If DU gets the guy they are targeting, you find similarities to Gwozdecky hiring in 1996.
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Or, DU could be looking at reliving through the suffering of 1975-1995.

I don't know how anyone can see this as anything but a high risk, low reward move with respect to the on-ice product (and a high risk, high reward move financially).
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

Almington said:
Or, DU could be looking at reliving through the suffering of 1975-1995.

I don't know how anyone can see this as anything but a high risk, low reward move with respect to the on-ice product (and a high risk, high reward move financially).
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I don't fire the coaches, I just blog about it.:D
 
Re: Gwoz Resigns from DU?

dggoddard said:
Coach Gwozdecky is a legend. He can sit back and wait for the perfect situation. And I'll certainly be cheering for any school that hires him every time they play.
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Side question, have any of the recruits signed NLIs? I did a quick google search and didn't find any official releases from DU athletics about commitments?
 
dggoddard said:
So the decision was made a few weeks ago to buy out Gwozdecky's contract and use the same formula to find a coach they used in 1996 hiring Gwozdecky. Funny thing is, they had a deal in place and a handshake with Maine's Shawn Walsh in 1994 and he stabbed DU in the back, so Gwozdecky fell into DU's lap.
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DU hired Gwozdecky in 1994 and I am pretty sure the "Walsh agreement" was in 1990. I thought DU hired Frank Serratore as second choice after Walsh fell through but Gwoz was hired as first choice. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I thought Dan Ritchie wanted to make some noise with his first hiring and i thought that was Walsh in 1990.
 
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