Hockey head coaching speculation
Red himself said a couple years ago that he'll walk away when he feels he is getting in the way of the program succeeding. This team has been an utter mess since Mel Pearson left. 3 years without a tournament should give Red a hint that maybe it's time to hang it up, no?
Coaching candidates anyone? I know I keep seeing Mel Pearson's name brought up in threads.
So in short your comment makes no sense there are zero parallels in these coaching speculations
Red hasn't brought in high level talent- develops it into an around .500 team anyways.
So really there's no comparison still... One coach had talent couldn't use it. The other didn't have it and remains .500 consistently. And the second coach has NCs under his belt so excuse me if I don't force him out or beg him to leave
People like to rag on the goaltending (yes it isn't solid in fact it is average at best) but those guys are just being left out to dry WAY too often. Do they allow weak goals? Yes of course but how many guys are left open in the slot or left in front of the crease to screen or sitting free waiting for rebounds?
The amount of delusional Red capers in this thread is mind numbing lol. Writings on the wall folks.
So I think we may be getting a little ahead of ourselves with the Mel coming back train for several reasons
- He's making more than Red at Michigan Tech and just signed an extension going through 2020-2021 season
- His original contract had a 275,000 buyout going down 25,000 each year while I'm not certain I'd figure on something similar in the new contract
- Tech is his alma mater who he played for under another legendary coach John Macinnes
- Tech alums are crazy excited for him to be back, my dad who was in school during the same time as Mel can't stop talking about how good Tech is going to be now and about how exciting their return to glory is
- Hockey at Tech is football at Michigan, no sport is bigger or more important to the university or even remotely close to it's level of importance
- College hockey is different in terms of recruiting and dominance the teams currently ranked 1 and 2 North Dakota and Minnesota State are located in Grand Forks and Mankato not really emminently more desirable locations than Houghton
Do I hope Mel comes back to Michigan and we win everything for all the years he's here? Yes, yes I do but I'm just not sure that if Red retires Mel comes back.
Red loves Michigan. He knows he'll be hanging them up, and that Hackett needs both his help and the right timing to secure the best possible coach for Michigan hockey.