SBN College Hockey: Who Will Replace Red Berenson at Michigan
Doesn't think it will be Pearson. Put the list of candidates into two classes. Jim Montgomery, Nate Leaman, Norm Bazin, and Jeff Blashill in the 1st class and Bill Muckalt an Brian Wiseman in the 2nd class.
Personally, I think Montgomery and Bazin are the two best guys on the list, everyone else would be a major crapshoot IMO.
in HR?
Well actually now I am working on my 2nd Chad Flenderman novel. Chad is just an easy going black guy who knows the streets,yet he also went to Oxford. He is just as comfortable on a motorcycle as he is on Air Force One.
Red says Mike Babcock called him today; Babcock said he had hoped Red would stay on for a few more years because Michigan is his dream job
— Orion Sang (@orion_sang) April 10, 2017
I think Mike Babcock would constitute a home run hire
meh, more like "walk-off wild pitch" hire
an insanely good hire. I wonder if UM goes with an older guy (Mel) then Babs would come in after 5-7 seasons. I am pretty sure Babs wants to win at least 1 cup with Toronto before leaving. I can't say I would blame him for that considering they haven't won since 1967.
Look, I know that there were some rumors a few years back (quoted by Brian and others) that said Babcock was legit interested in Michigan, but I just do not believe Mike Babcock will ever do it when it comes time to pull the trigger.
This is like "Notre Dame is Urban Meyer's dream job" and "I hear Jon Gruden is interested" terrirtory at this point. There's some smoke, but it's never going to happen. Babcock may think Michigan is a prestigious job, but he's never going to come here
I remember that off-season when that rumor came out. Fun times.
Sandelin is not leaving Duluth and his personnel strategy is not well-suited for Michigan.
EDIT: I should point out that if Michigan were to throw a heap of money at him, he might be tempted (after all, his son did just graduate from high school up here, less disruptive, and for political reasons UMD wouldn't be able to match a monster contract) but I don't think he's the kind of guy you back up the Brinks for. And he IS quite settled here.
I'd rather hire Pearson and bring in Muckalt as an assistant coach here than hire Muckalt as head coach. Brian Wiseman hasn't done anything but coach an underperforming team. Seems like a Ellerbe, Hoke, Anastos type of hire where everyone would talk about what a great guy he is and how his players like him. I'm fine with Montgomery, Pearson, Bazin, Leaman or Blashill.
Can I hope for Babcock? I mean Harbaugh was just a dream at one point, right?
April 10th, 2017 at 10:09 PM ^
Best hope would be for Mel then develop a strategy for getting Babcock here when he leaves Toronto in 5-10 years.
Chris Dilks is a longtime Michigan fan now embedded in western hockey and his opinions matter. A lot of people are saying that Pearson is not the guy; that's smoke that seems valid.
Montgomery is a legit candidate for an NHL job this offseason; he might not be available. I'd love to get him, though. Bazin and Leaman are eastern guys who have turned losing programs into winners, and I'd be thrilled to get either of them. I would love Michigan to make a home run effort.
Blashill is less of a sure thing to me but he might be an option worth looking at.
The Babcock chatter should not be taken seriously.
This cant be like the first time brandon half ass chased harbaugh. Everyone around the program needs to get on board and sell michigan and no resource should be spared. With the right fefort i think um can land one of those 2.
Jim Montgomery would be a good hire.
But the truth is that Red is a once-in-a-program guy. To review: he was an All-American at Michigan (graduating with a degree in business); a six-time NHL All-Star (he once scored a double-hat trick); he coached the Blues to the playoffs, twice; he won two titles at Michigan as a coach.
Heyliger and now Red. I know Vic got a lot of his wins in the early days of the NCAA tournament, but there's no denying that he turned Michigan around from a sad sack program into one that went to 10 straight frozen fours and won 6 of them.
Until the very recent downturn, Michigan was generally regarded as one of the crown jewel programs of college hockey, right in there with your North Dakotas and your BCs.
Michigan very well can land another coach that appears to be a 'once in a program' type of guy because Michigan frankly has a loooott to offer in the college hockey world. Tremendous history, huge name brand and fanbase, and deep pockets. Plus the recruiting region: Michigan has the best access to the Detroit area and probably the best access to the Ontario talent pool out of anyone else in D1. We are in a very unique position in the college hockey world and if anyone could make another home run hire, it's Michigan
I must say I know probably less about hockey than any other frequent visitor to MGOBLOG. I have never played in a game and have watched only one - tickets were given to me - the Muskegon minor league team, at a level lower than the Mohawks were. I don't know why I didn't watch any more games. I was very impressed with the abilities of so many players.
However, as a fan of Michigan in any sport, you cannot avoid either hearing about or reading some of the accomplishments of many of our other (always been FB for me) outstanding programs like women's softball and, of course, Michigan Hockey under Red. Knowing virtually nothing about the sport, it stands to reason I know even less about the available candidates.
As I said, I think ihgirkwg may have answered my question which was going to be, is Michigan Hockey at a level of Michigan football, where - with RR and Brady being the outliers - the tradition is so rich, their place secured among college's elite programs that when the head job does open, UM fans believe they will attract whomever they want and any cfb coach in the country would love to be named the next HC Fans of all the elite programs think like this, but all the true bluebloods of cfb have been turned down by certain coaches for various reasons. Even with that, it is understood that UM will always attract the perfect candidate because even though "all" don't want to come here, many of the very best do. In my lifetime as a football fan they've hired the perfect candidate twice to add to a lsurprisingly short list.
My hockey fan buddies, my question, which I started by asking about the level -guessing it also is among the nation's best programs - will they attract interest from some of the game's best, both those with lots of experience and the up and comers? Will they be in a position where one of the best will express interest and like the fb program, Manuel will have to chose wisely and like Bo, I imagine he'll lean heavily on Red, who obviously doesn't have the asst in place to take over like Bo, but wants the best candidate possible. I know ihgirkwg's answer. Is that the consensus among knowledgeable M hocky fans? Thanks
April 11th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
Money and fame and the NHL isn't necessarily the aim of a lot of coaches. It doesn't seem like guys are bouncing up the coaching ladder as much and are often content to ride out long careers at the spot they've made home. Michigan certainly has a ton of history, resources, and recruiting cache in the US and Ontario but as others have noted, some guys like to just recruit their 23 yr olds as freshmen and ride out that system. Not a lot of teams can do what Michigan, North Dakota, BC, BU, etc do in being able to go head-to-head with the CHL for recruits.
Regarding the "program" guys such as Wiseman and Muckalt: Muckalt at least has a coaching track record. He's not really proven at a top level, and I think Michigan can get a guy who is, but he's coached before. Like Mel Pearson, there's history there.
Nothing against Wiseman, who's a loyal guy to the program and deserves to be well-remembered and perhaps even employed here, but he would be a terrible hire as head coach. It is thought by a number of people, including me, that the assistants currently have a lot to do with the product that is actually on the ice, and there are serious on-ice problems with the way the team plays that have remained the same for years without correction. If Wiseman hasn't fixed them before as an assistant he won't fix them as a head coach, either.
yeah, this is *clearly* a situation where none of the assnts should stay on.
Why don't we just steal West Virginia's? After all, it worked out pretty well in basketball.
There was this football guy in the 19th century who was from there...had some weird first name...
I was referring to his time in WV though.
Can't wait to hear Brian's thoughts on the coaching search on this week's podcast.
He's been talking about it for years. Just replay any old podcast.
Going to Michigan should be low on the list of qualifications for this job. Go get the best available. I'd rather not see Wiseman or Powers around anymore.
You all are going to think I'm nuttier than squirrel shit. But I've got a name from the Division 3 ranks that is probably worth a conversation: Tim Coghlin, St Norbert College. His record at SNC, including 4 national championships, all fairly recently:
http://www.uscho.com/stats/coach/mid,121/tim-coghlin/
They don't have it posted yet, but SNC lost in the national semis this year.
I don't care if he's been in D-3. Dude can coach. Period. And he's not that old (roughly 50-51 now).
April 10th, 2017 at 10:01 PM ^
If some nutty Russian surgeon is about to perform a head transplant...then we are not far away from the Futurama talking heads.
April 11th, 2017 at 10:18 AM ^
I just noticed the thread above this one. Steve Fisher is available.
April 11th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^
Bring the mullet to Ann Arbor