John Buccigross says bet on Mel Pearson as next hockey coach
FWIW.
Multiple #cawlidgehawkey sources say: Established coaches interested. NHL guys, too. Bet on Mel Pearson with John Madden as an assistant. https://t.co/CL8tVb1ran
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) April 19, 2017
April 19th, 2017 at 12:03 AM ^
John Madden? The actor?
The actor?
I just bought his LeBaron.
Did you check the glove compartment? You could have his pencil!
Calling all dentists to analyze the bite marks
You still need a gnarled arm.
J-O-N or J-O-H-N?
You mean Jon Voigt?
and sports caster.....
The shoe designer.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:08 AM ^
John Madden former Wolverine.
what does the NHL coaches interested mean? I'm so confused by that tweet.
Are sources saying it's Pearson or that NHL coaches want the gig? Is Pearson what they're saying or is Bucci guessing? I would tweet him but somehow I'm blocked by buccigross?? lmao. I wonder what I said...
Did you tweet at his daughter?
April 19th, 2017 at 12:12 AM ^
Sounds great to me. Hope it's true.
Sounds like those in charge are very set on hiring someone with Michigan ties. Pearson is the only one I'd be comfortable with taking the reins.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:13 AM ^
DEFINITELY second this.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:14 AM ^
no one else with ties is fit to do the job.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:16 AM ^
That's putting it very nicely as far as the options close to home are concerned..
I don't follow closely, but thought I had heard people say that his close Tech ties might keep him away. . .
It's quite amazing how small of a coaching tree Red has while coaching so long. Astonishing his assistants never moved on to head coaching jobs for so long.
Hockey isn't like football where there are 9 assistants to cycle through. Also not like basketball where there are 300+ schools to where an assistant can bounce to get a head coaching job (like Bacari and LaVall). There are just not that many jobs, and when guys like Red, Mason, York, and Lucia hang around schools for 20-30 years, it's hard to create the turnover required to have the kind of coaching tree there is in other sports.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^
I get that. But when you coach at a school for what, 33 seasons(?), and you have the type of success Michigan has had, you'd still expect a little bit more turnover. 22 consecutive tournament appearances and 11 frozen fours to go along with a national title. And you're telling me nobody wanted to get one of the assistants for YEARS?
I get that there's only two assistants. But you'd also figure a lot of the smaller schools, especially in the state, would go hard after guys like Pearson and Powers earlier.
You want to look at the football comparison, look at how many of Meyer, Saban, or Harbaugh offensive or defensive coordinators are currently head coaches. Leave the assistants who moved up later out, just look strictly at their coordinators and you'd have the comparison.
The level of coaching stability that Michigan has had with the amount of success they've had is just astonishing.
Well, Pearson ultimately did leave, so of the Pearson/Powers duo, 50% have branched off the tree. I'm not saying that no one wanted to hire M's assistants, it's probably more likely they just wanted to stay and coach under Red.
I just think that college hockey is a different culture, and can't be compared to football. There's not nearly the level of money and fame and expectations flying around, and hockey people are different anyway. Maybe they (Powers, and Pearson until Dave Brandon) like the stability of living in Ann Arbor, coaching a historic, successful program, and don't care to jump out to a more difficult situation (smaller school/conference, by definition not doing well since they likely just fired their coach).
Even the money doesn't really make sense to leave. According to UMSalary.info (no idea how accurate it is) Powers made $138k, Wiseman $121k (Red was at $254k). I assume you can add 25% in bonuses. How much more can they make as a head coach somewhere else? Is the jump of maybe 50-100k worth it for the risk, and the upheaval of changing jobs? Maybe, maybe not.
Like I said, Pearson I get. Coach in waiting at an Elite program is a great reason to stick around. But Powers... he had no real reason to stick around as long as he did. Only reason the 50k a year and job upheaval isn't worth it is if you're not ambitious. If your career goal is to be the second assistant on a college team, by all means. But I wouldn't be too thrilled with a coach with that lack of drive and ambition being on the staff.
If he wanted to be here and Red wanted him here, what's the big problem?
I mean, when Billy Powers and Mel Pearson are together on your bench for twenty years, how big do you expect that tree to get?
April 19th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
Given that Billy & Mel were the only assistant coaches at Michigan for the last 20 years, the only possible way for the coaching tree to expand was for former players to blaze their own trail.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:43 PM ^
Well thanks for reiterating my exact point...
My point being that it's amazing nobody went after those guys and Michigan was able to have the level of stability in the coaching ranks that they did for all those year while still running the CCHA, making the NCAA tournament every year and making it to 11 frozen fours.
to open up. Which was probably true. Mel only moved on after a long wait when his alma mater called.
Or... those guys liked the stability, the teams they were coaching were stacked, Mel expected to stick around and get Red's job, and there aren't exactly a lot of hockey jobs out there as it is.
But, hey, you've got a concern to troll here, so...
It's not a concern, it's just pretty amazing that the coaches never branched off on their own.
Mel i can understand because he was the coach in waiting for quite some time. But Powers... you're telling me with that a team like LSSU, Northern, or Western never wanted to take a chance on a Michigan assistant? It's just rare that you have that longevity and virtually no coaching tree when you coach for 30+ years.
That's my only point.
April 20th, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
And it's a pretty speculative point at best.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:17 AM ^
I don't care if he wears fish ties, so long as they win.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:18 AM ^
Mel is a shoo-in for the job. Madden as an assistant is something I support. You get a coach in waiting who is an alum but will get plenty of experience in the college ranks before taking the reigns.
April 19th, 2017 at 12:46 AM ^
He's currently an HC in the AHL and spent some time as an interim assistant in the NHL. He may be interested in this to build up his resume for an NHL gig.
April 19th, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^
I feel Madden might be interested in the assistant job to take over once Mel leaves. Mel is currently 58, don't see him coaching more than 10 years. Madden is 43.
April 19th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
The Devils will have a coach on the hot seat next season. If he gets fired after the 2018 or 2019 season, Madden could be a candidate.
Yeah, frankly I could see Mel retiring after 5-7 years. Madden would be a good guy to groom... this is his first season in coaching in the AHL so it's not like he is in line for an NHL gig
Hockey pies
Yup.... You always elect an older Pope after the reign of a popular, long serving Pope. Pearson is the guy.
is going to have been heir first South American head coach ever?
Interesting.
But as long as he gets us back to our winning ways, I'm all in favor.
/s
Did you completely blot Benedict from memory?
coached baseball, not hockey. And not South American.
/s
I see this kind of theory, but really, are there more examples beyond JPII --> BXVI?
In recent memory, there was Pius IX (~32 yrs) --> Leo XIII (25 yrs) --> Pius X (11 yrs).
Then Pius XI (17 yrs) --> Pius XII (19 yrs).
Nothing for or against the idea as a recommended practice, but it doesn't seem to have been practiced much.
(never make unfounded assertions on MGoBlog, even in jest :) )
My recollection is the saying in Italy is you always elect a fat pope after a skinny pope. Which is somewhat like the NFL, when you always follow an authoritarian coach with a players coach.
Glad to hear the coach-side appetite for the job is what we assumed it would be.
Hope it's a thorough process (you want to do this once every decade plus if possible so might as well do it right) but also couldn't be mad if it was a quick Mel hire.
b/c then he would be in 'the know'.
am curious when they intend on announcing. would be nice to get filled in on all the behind-the-scenes machinations.
We just played 1.6 together
Everyone knows 1.5 is where the real scoops are at.
CS 1.3. Get good.
April 19th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
Get *well
and Bucci needs to drop 'cawlidge hockey' ASAP. Turrible.