I don’t think AJ would turn it down if they offered. The real question is would that hire a male coach for the job.
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WHY?
what is the evidence for this?
i am NOT saying he will or he wont, but i definitely do not think him going if offered is a slam dunk
why would he go- in no particular order
1. coaching in the big 10
2. pay
3. home / personal / family connections to MN
but, it seems possible that AJ is invested in building what could be basically a big 10 team or very close to it in brookings.
home? he is almost 50 now and has lived basically half his life / all his adult life in brookings. brookings is definitely home for his kids
money? for some people (many? most?) there is some amount of money that cannot be turned down, but he has DEFINITELY had chances to leave for more money. will UM offer a number that seems impossible to turn down
also there are a LOT of costs to living in MN and the cities both monetary and other wise
FINALLY, and i really think this COULD be part of his thinking, WHY would he leave a wildly successful program to go to a crappy, start from the garbage heap, situation? AJ has a national profile and reputation. the basketball people KNOW who he is and what he has done. maybe he would be more tempted to go if the offer came from a good program instead of one he has to build from the ground
will there be reasons that a wise person would think he would / should go? YES
will there be reasons that a wise person would think he would / should stay? YES
i cannot say what AJ will do but i sure hope he stays!!
in the unfortunate event he leaves, obviously the jacks would get plenty of good candidates!
the most recent marquee sport hires came from within. would the jacks consider the same strategy? it definitely seems they like to hire people familiar with the SDSU way of doing things. they always have
i could go back further but going back to the 70s, Zulk played for the jacks before he coached the jacks. Thorson worked for Zulk, nagy worked for Thorson, hendo worked for TJ
AJ worked for both Nagy and Nancy
I think without question Coach Thielbar is respected, is she ready to be HC? i dont know but you would think she is gonna get a shot, if she wants one, fairly soon. i imagine that her bio says, but i am thinking between her 2 stints with the jacks she has been with AJ somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years
I dont think Rotert has enough experience yet? no? yes? would they go that route?
what about Lori Fish at SCSU
does someone else, with or without Jackrabbit ties, come to mind?
i cannot say what AJ will do but i sure hope he stays!!
in the unfortunate event he leaves, obviously the jacks would get plenty of good candidates!
the most recent marquee sport hires came from within. would the jacks consider the same strategy? it definitely seems they like to hire people familiar with the SDSU way of doing things. they always have
i could go back further but going back to the 70s, Zulk played for the jacks before he coached the jacks. Thorson worked for Zulk, nagy worked for Thorson, hendo worked for TJ
AJ worked for both Nagy and Nancy
I think without question Coach Thielbar is respected, is she ready to be HC? i dont know but you would think she is gonna get a shot, if she wants one, fairly soon. i imagine that her bio says, but i am thinking between her 2 stints with the jacks she has been with AJ somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years
I dont think Rotert has enough experience yet? no? yes? would they go that route?
what about Lori Fish at SCSU
does someone else, with or without Jackrabbit ties, come to mind?
Yes, I think so too, money well spent to keep a coach like AJ here and running the WBB program as well as he does. He's getting close to "nest egg" time.
i am NOT saying he will or he wont, but i definitely do not think him going if offered is a slam dunk
why would he go- in no particular order
1. coaching in the big 10
2. pay
3. home / personal / family connections to MN
but, it seems possible that AJ is invested in building what could be basically a big 10 team or very close to it in brookings.
home? he is almost 50 now and has lived basically half his life / all his adult life in brookings. brookings is definitely home for his kids
money? for some people (many? most?) there is some amount of money that cannot be turned down, but he has DEFINITELY had chances to leave for more money. will UM offer a number that seems impossible to turn down
also there are a LOT of costs to living in MN and the cities both monetary and other wise
FINALLY, and i really think this COULD be part of his thinking, WHY would he leave a wildly successful program to go to a crappy, start from the garbage heap, situation? AJ has a national profile and reputation. the basketball people KNOW who he is and what he has done. maybe he would be more tempted to go if the offer came from a good program instead of one he has to build from the ground
will there be reasons that a wise person would think he would / should go? YES
will there be reasons that a wise person would think he would / should stay? YES
Here are a few
1). And the likely of doubling/tripling his salary is significant wealth
2) The chance to make the tournament as an at large consistently. Yes, it can be done here but it takes a perfect schedule.
3) and maybe the most significant, the changing of college athletics. They money gap between B10 teams and SDSU (think private planes recruiting; additional staffing, NIL/outside money) is very real and appears to only be getting bigger.
I hope he stays, he obviously loves it here and likely has had multiple chances to leave but #3 is a relatively new factor….maybe the new arena is enough to get him to stay but I wouldn’t fault him for going. It would be hard to lose both him and Stig in the same year.
i cannot say what AJ will do but i sure hope he stays!!
in the unfortunate event he leaves, obviously the jacks would get plenty of good candidates!
the most recent marquee sport hires came from within. would the jacks consider the same strategy? it definitely seems they like to hire people familiar with the SDSU way of doing things. they always have
i could go back further but going back to the 70s, Zulk played for the jacks before he coached the jacks. Thorson worked for Zulk, nagy worked for Thorson, hendo worked for TJ
AJ worked for both Nagy and Nancy
I think without question Coach Thielbar is respected, is she ready to be HC? i dont know but you would think she is gonna get a shot, if she wants one, fairly soon. i imagine that her bio says, but i am thinking between her 2 stints with the jacks she has been with AJ somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years
I dont think Rotert has enough experience yet? no? yes? would they go that route?
what about Lori Fish at SCSU
does someone else, with or without Jackrabbit ties, come to mind?
She's been under Boeseth for 10 yrs also, she knows that system better than AJ's at this point. The question is ,which opportunity would she take if given the chance, my guess is the first one of the two to become available probably. It costs nothing to put your name in the hat does it? We don't have to worry about this post season though, AJ's too loyal and classy to ever walk away before the post season's done. He's got great recruits coming in, so the grass is getting greener there too. We'll just have to see what happens In my opinion,maybe we are fretting over nothing, maybe not.
How long has Minny kept a coach recently, if they don't produce? Not as long as NDSU kept their losing coaches for sure, that set them back a lot. That said, I think we'd give any new coach a decent time to prove themselves I'd hope. But , hopefully AJ stays, with a good raise and see just how far he can take the program, that seems important to him, just my perspective, right or wrong.
i cannot say what AJ will do but i sure hope he stays!!
in the unfortunate event he leaves, obviously the jacks would get plenty of good candidates!
the most recent marquee sport hires came from within. would the jacks consider the same strategy? it definitely seems they like to hire people familiar with the SDSU way of doing things. they always have
i could go back further but going back to the 70s, Zulk played for the jacks before he coached the jacks. Thorson worked for Zulk, nagy worked for Thorson, hendo worked for TJ
AJ worked for both Nagy and Nancy
I think without question Coach Thielbar is respected, is she ready to be HC? i dont know but you would think she is gonna get a shot, if she wants one, fairly soon. i imagine that her bio says, but i am thinking between her 2 stints with the jacks she has been with AJ somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years
I dont think Rotert has enough experience yet? no? yes? would they go that route?
what about Lori Fish at SCSU
does someone else, with or without Jackrabbit ties, come to mind?
I'd think she'd be one of the leading candidates, after all SDSU did take AJ over then P-5 assistant Jeff Waltz of Louisville, so there is precedent in doing that, with very good results I'd say.
I'd think she'd be one of the leading candidates, after all SDSU did take AJ over then P-5 assistant Jeff Waltz of Louisville, so there is precedent in doing that, with very good results I'd say.
I am personally a big fan of hiring from within if there is a quality candidate and i think in this case there would be, you know them and they know you. plus all the returning players and the recruits coming in know her and would expect to be coming into the same or a very similar system
1). And the likely of doubling/tripling his salary is significant wealth
2) The chance to make the tournament as an at large consistently. Yes, it can be done here but it takes a perfect schedule.
3) and maybe the most significant, the changing of college athletics. They money gap between B10 teams and SDSU (think private planes recruiting; additional staffing, NIL/outside money) is very real and appears to only be getting bigger.
I hope he stays, he obviously loves it here and likely has had multiple chances to leave but #3 is a relatively new factor….maybe the new arena is enough to get him to stay but I wouldn’t fault him for going. It would be hard to lose both him and Stig in the same year.
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1. obviously if money is the key, no matter how much the jacks might raise AJ salary UM could top it
i DO NOT believe this is the top priority for AJ but that still does not mean there is not a number that might turn his head. i just think there are other factors that mean significantly more to him
2. i almost completely disagree with this. yes it is easier to be an at large from the big 10, but i think the jacks have crossed this hurdle and put it in the rearview mirror! we already get excellent teams to come to brookings and very quality opponents schedule us to come to their place. there is no reason to expect any change in this!! as long as we have good teams and we take care of our business (again NO REASON to expect any change in this) we will have a great shot to make the tourney
i have said it often before. the jacks are on the verge of being a top 20-25 team or better on a yearly basis
3. i think most people are in agreement that NIL is going to be regulated sooner than later. i also think that AJ kind of enjoys the challenge of going against teams that have some advantages, be it NIL or something else
finally, NOT that AJ thinks it is all about him and he definitely recognizes that plenty of others have had a hand in getting the program to where it is!!! BUT i also think he kinda thinks of this as his baby and i am not sure he is ready to put it in somebody else's hands. he is enjoying the challenge of seeing how high this program can go. i think this is a BIG deal to him. if he thought he had taken the program as far as it could go, i think he would be far FAR more likely to go some other place and seek a new challenge
all that said, i hope i have made it clear that i agree with you and anyone else who thinks there is at least a chance he goes. i really am NOT willing to say no chance!! but i think the fact he is really enjoying the challenge and WANTING to see how high this program can go overcomes pretty much any advantage except money. if UM or someone can turn his head with a big pile of money then that will be that, i just cannot help thinking if that was the deal, it would have happened already
With the talent Minnesota has in WBB, Johnston would have Minnesota in the top 10 within a couple years, I would guess. I am going to guess he isn’t going to leave if he hasn’t already, but who knows? Would cheer him on just like with Scott Nagy, who has done great things for Wright State.
That talent has a history of going to U Conn and other very good programs. That isn't going to change overnight, regardless of who they hire.
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