More like Spencer Penrose National Interim Coach of the Year finalist.
Take. The. Tag. Off.
I disagree!
Clearly that interim tag is driving all of this success so let's keep the interim tag on for as long as he's at Michigan
Yes... he still needs to prove himself. If he can't win a national championship in his first stint as a 30-something year old head coach, then is he someone we really want in the job?
We have to maintain a standard here.
put him and harbaugh on the first train out of AA. no titles, no job. it's just that simple.
Coaching for his job every day!
Right? Steve Fisher was interim and won a national championship. Naurato is interim and, well, who knows...
Yes, keep the interim tag and sign him to a 7-year contact.
What if Clemson offers him 3% of our annual Athletic Dept. surplus? Then what??? Also how do we compete with teams with weather more suited for hockey? We really just cant compete.
It feels cringeworthy that it still says "Interim" at the top of his mgoblue profile, but I reluctantly get it. Texas did the same thing with their interim bball coach... officially hired him right after exiting in the elite eight. I just hope Warde has at least given Coach a wink and a nod to indicate it's just paperwork at this point.
I’m certain that’s the case. By all accounts, players love him. The results are there. He’ll be the coach moving forward. There’s just no reason to formalize that before the season ends. Doesn’t change anything for anyone involved by waiting until the season is over.
Let him and the team focus on the task at hand and get his head coaching contract sorted out after the season.
I'll bet its much ado about nothing at this point. A contract will be worked out once the season is over. No sense distracting Brandon with it right now. Texas got it done after they lost, but unlike Texas our interim guy made the final four
Might work out better for him. A few months ago, he probably doesn't have a great negotiation point. With a minimum Frozen 4 now, and possibly a National Championship, he can negotiate a longer term contract (and more $). Good for him and the program if so.
Might be a hard follow up to win BIG 10 Title, COY, National Title, and have a player win the Hobey Baker award. That's a hell of a start for a coach that is in his mid 30s.
I'm honestly not sure Naurato wants the tag off right now.
I mean, I don't actually have communion with this guy's inner voice, but every win this month has increased his negotiating power substantially. One or two more will only accelerate that further. And for as much as we are understandably focused on the binary choice (hired or otherwise), there's also a quantitative choice to be made (where on the sliding scale his salary, perks, and budgetary elements fall). In my opinion, it's clear that latter choice is the only true hangup that remains in play.
This might be true if he was Jim MF'ing Harbuagh. But he's not, he's the hockey coach. At best, that's the #3 program at Michigan, could be lower depending on how one views WBB, baseball, softball, and gymnastics. I think he's already maxed out his bargaining potential.
Nonetheless, I don't believe Warde has given him a wink. That's not his style. What Warde does is hold to his word despite how stoopidly stubborn that might become. He said before the season that he'd negotiate at the end of the season, and that hasn't arrived yet. Ward can be a dummass, as some around here have noticed...
Hockey is solidly the #3 sport at Michigan... revenue, merch sales, donations, fan support, pro alumni... and it's not close.
At best #3?
you mean at least #3
Hockey is firmly #3 and the only movement there is when they occasionally threaten #2 when basketball is terrible
March 29th, 2023 at 11:13 AM ^
Id also hear out the argument that hockey has a larger dedicated/hardcore following than basketball but basketball has more casual fans that make up a larger total sum.
Wouldn't that make it the Steve Fisher Interim Coach of the Year award?
That Steve Fisher Interim coach thing worked out OK. Let's hope for the same thing again.
Dug leading us to a National Championship after Frankie left for ASU wouldve been the most Steve Fisher thing ever!
Someone else probably has made the joke on this board before, but football got LaDarius Henderson as the PTBNL in exchange for Frieder, Frankie Collins, and Jack Becker.
I'm sure they will once the season is over.
Great to hear. Yes, he inherited a ton of talent (though we still lost a ton from last year), but what he was able to do given how late he took over the job is very impressive.
Has anyone heard any more on the interim tag front? Some of Bacon's recent comments cast at least some doubt on whether he'll be made the permanent coach...
Sort of inconceivable that he doesn't get the HC position. Won B10 tournament, made Frozen Four, team is demonstrably better in nearly every way than it was on 1/1/23. Plus, he seems very likely to ascend as a coach as he gets more experience. Top-notch player development guy, and has shown HC chops this year.
Hopefully the two sides are just finalizing the contract length and amount. Better yet, it's finalized and will be announced once the season ends.
Obligatory: FIRE NARATO!
I think some folks are viewing Brandon through a different lens just because he's unproven. This teams looks as complete as any Michigan hockey team I've seen in my 15+ years and they've gotten significantly better in the back half of the season.
I view people's hesitancy on his unproven-ness the opposite way: if he's this good as an interim guy who had essentially no off-season to prep, then we may have struck gold. Now of course, he could be Kevin Ollie but you gotta give him an initial contract at least to see what you got
The fact that the team has cut their penalties way down shows they are listening to Coach N.
Bacons a shill.
I don't buy Bacon's comments at all. IIRC, at some point before the conference tournament, Brian's take was that qualifying for NCAAs would be the "line" at which there would be no justification to NOT take the tag off. I thought then (and think now) that was a very fair heuristic given the context of Naurato's inexperience and suboptimal entry into the job, balanced by a very solid returning roster.
We've blown way past that particular line by winning the dang Big Ten and also advancing to the Frozen Four. And best of all, this doesn't have the feel of a "generational transfer horseshoe year" like Staee and KW3. This feels sustainable, and with a possibly even higher long term ceiling. Remove the tag!
Technically, he got this on Sunday since Penrose finalists are conference Coach of the Year winners and the four coaches to make the Frozen Four.
In my eyes he wins the handsomest damn coach of the year, and let's be honest that's way cooler.
If he would just knock one of his front teeth out, every hockey recruit would come play for him.
Well, he also needs a mullet. Hockey players love them some mullet!
Really close between Naurato and Bob Motzko
March 29th, 2023 at 11:34 PM ^
He's dreamy.
Don’t screw this up, Warde.
The irony in that comment (chef's kiss) -- given everybody eviscerated Warde for the way the Mel process and Naurato hiring played out. And by the way, the shit that Warde got over Mel was almost universally warranted, but many (including on this site / board) were equally unhappy with the Naurato hire and labeled it as lazy / uninspired / underwhelming... I haven't seen any credit for Warde on the decision -- which was not a no-brainer, as there were multiple people on staff that most placed above Naurato -- so let me give some credit where it's due and say it turned out to be a fantastic hire. Now...
Don’t screw this up, Warde.
i was happy with the Naurato hire. just sayin
I don’t think anyone was that upset over the Naurato hire specifically. I’m pretty sure that most of the agitation stemmed from Warde’s complete mishandling of the firing/letting go of Mel which basically left the hockey program in a state where no legitimate coaching search could be conducted in a thorough manner which in turn resulted in making an interim hire. I definitely recall lots of people saying Naurato was a good up and coming coach and we’re excited about his future while also pointing out that it was an unnecessary risk taken on by Warde all stemming from his failure to fire Mel asap.
Nice go-along with the Frozen Four achievement. Onward!
Is that good? Because it sounds pretty good to me. Not bad for an interim coach!
He and the team have done well this season, no question about that. And, congratulations on the nomination for this award.
On a serious note - my one question is - can he recruit effectively? Michigan has had a talented roster - and, he may have been integral in signing players on the team - or “less involved”. I don’t know and would welcome any knowledgeable perspective.
Thanks…
Recruiting is plugging along just fine so far. And he had to re-recruit the roster after he got the job. “I’ll prepare you to be a top NHL draft pick and leading ROY candidate” is a pretty good recruiting pitch.
Honestly I don’t consider ability to recruit guys a question for him. Things are fine there. How he builds the overall roster and how he balances the need for discipline with the need to lead in a way considered appropriate by players and others in the 21st century are the things for which we have, as yet, no answers. And they will remain questions for a while. But he had earned the opportunity to answer those questions.
I'd add that Michigan can still rely on a pretty significant degree of "recruits itself" power, to a greater degree in Hockey than probably any other sport. Naurato is probably a good recruiter anyway, but it's not like we're asking him to sell wool sweaters to sheep.
Yeah. Just look at the recent players we've had who are significant guys in the NHL. Mix in campus life and our new NIL fund and it's gotta be easier to recruit top guys to Michigan than it's ever been
We are the Alabama Football of Hockey. Actually, the more correct statement would be that Alabama is the Michigan Hockey of Football.
We need to win national championships in the 21st century in order to be considered an analogue to the current version of Alabama football.
Thanks to all for your replies - they are appreciated.
Go Blue!