Good riddance to Glen Mason

[Timberwolf]

This was well-deserved.

You could not bring him back after Friday night. You just couldn't. The culture had to change. The attitude had to change. Everything needs to change around here.

I have zero sympathy for Mase for so many reasons. He will be well-compensated for his firing with that generous contract extension. He has had more than enough time to get the job done at the U. He has had his chances here. I expected him to be here next year, but to me, this was over Friday night. Joel Maturi could not ignore this.

Mason was fired for this reason. His teams choked leads and Mason clearly could never find solutions when teams made a run. If anyone got to watch Friday night's game on the NFL Network, you will notice that Mason clearly had a look of a man that had no clue what to do. He was like screaming at the refs and begging for calls. He clearly had no idea what to do and I have to figure Joel and Robert Brubinks realized that and made that decision. Losing in important Big 10 games also was a factor in the coach's firing, but Friday's game was the topper.

Was Mason a failure? I have to say yes. He deserves credit for taking this team to another level and he put a lot of time into his job. With that said, he had no idea how to put this team into a big-time program. The recruiting was fine, but his philosophy about how defense does not matter is why the Gophers are what they are. He also was a horrible gameday coach which is why I consider him a failure. For the money he was being paid here, he should have done better.

To me, the decision to fire Mase was Brubinks. I know he was not crazy about giving Mason that extension. I doubt Joel Maturi would make a decision like this. Hell he kept Monson this season after rumors that he was going to be gone in March. The president of the university had to be fed up.

Who I want as a next coach? We are not getting a major league head coach like a Rich Rodriguez, Greg Schiano, Karl Dorrell, or any of that ilk here. It will be a young coach. I am very intrigued with Mike Tomlin. I don't know what his future plans are. I know he wants to be a head coach, but what level. If he is committed to the pros, it won't happen. I would hope he would take the college game because I think he can win here at the U and he is a guy that has a good personality to win recruits and create relationships. If not Tomlin, I would say Rick Neuhisel, but will the Gophers take a risk on a slick guy like him.

Who knows how the new hire will do, but the bottom line is this. Mason had to go. His time has come and gone. It wasn't getting better. I have been a Mason guy up until this year and this loss Friday night was it for me. I don't think fans had any more confidence in him. It was clear the alumnis and the board of trustees had enough of him. His bosses could not take it anymore.

As for Mason, I doubt he will ever be hired from a big-time program. Why would they considering he is a horrible gameday coach? He will likely work for a small college program like he used to be at Kansas. He will get a job, bu Minnesota was going to be the best as it comes for him.

[mntwinsfan]

Nice post!

Mason needed to be gone years ago! He just like Chiildress can not coach a big game and win! 34 points and you lose the game! I would like to see a Mike Shula type coach come in here and fix the mess! Both teams need a coach, Tomlin I don't know about yet, he seems alittle soft! Worst passing defense and he did nothing to fix it. Minnesota sport teams need to start to step things up! Gopher hockey is the only thing great right now, number 1 in the country..

Mason was worthless he and Childress should get in a room together and see what happens. Both are stubborn and refuse to listen to players or coaches!

Mason = Gone FINALLY!
Childress = Needs to get out of town now
Mchale = Why did you NOT get AI??? Worst GM in the league, time's up go away.
Gardenfire = never liked him, but with what he has to work with doing well. This season must go somewhere in the playoffs.
Polad = die already! J/K don't want him owning the team, he NEVER go's after any top free agents. HE is to damn cheap.

Those are the big names I can think of now. I am sure there are others to place in the list.

Who will we bring in to replace Mason?

[Timberwolf]

Why do we hire losers as coaches in the Twin Cities?

[mntwinsfan]

Because the fan in Minnesota are to soft. We need to demand much better!

[Timberwolf]

I agree. We need to boo guys who are tanking it. I think coaches and players get too much of a free ride in Minnesota. We need to have a protest at the Target Center. I am thinking about a protest to call for Glen Taylor to sell the team and McHale and Casey to be fired.

[browntown653]

I don't care who you're playing, if you can't hold a 38-7 lead you deserve to be fired. If I am correct, they called 11 passes and 11 runs in the 2nd half...why were the Gophers passing the ball even once? Ridiculous.

[Lynch]

My dislike for Mason isn't a secret. The guy has one thing going for him ... he knows how to schedule non-conference games. He was a pathetic loser in the Big 10 over his career, only having 2 seasons in 10 where he was over .500

Glad to see him go for more reasons that I care to list at the moment, even if it means the program has to take a step back for a year to get organized and focused again.

[Lynch]

I agree. We need to boo guys who are tanking it. I think coaches and players get too much of a free ride in Minnesota. We need to have a protest at the Target Center. I am thinking about a protest to call for Glen Taylor to sell the team and McHale and Casey to be fired.

I will finally agree with you on this one, about Taylor. I don't think he needs to sell the team as much as I will at least blame him for a lot more of the problem. The biggest problem being not having the right people running the team. McHale won't fire himself and won't hire his successor. That has to come from Taylor.

It's too damn bad that the wrong guy got canned 2 yrs ago and that was Flip. The team needed a scapegoat for the shitty return after a NBA WC Finals appearance and Flip undeservedly got the axe. I'm not sure Flip was/is the next Phil Jackson, but he wasn't as big of a problem as some of the more glaring issues with the team.

I hate seeing my Wolves flounder like this. I really really do.

[catman]

The T'Wolves need to find someone that can work with KG (shouldn't be that hard, after all, KG is pretty unselfish). I was hoping Iverson would be brought in, but that was not to be. What they truly need is a very big body to fill the lane on defense and move people around on offense. A guy like Miller or Ben Wallace leaps to mind.
As to Glen Mason, he did not have a "bad" run with the Gophers. His record was positive for his stay there and they made it to quite a few bowl games during his tenure, but won very few of them.
A change was needed.

[Lynch]

Mason's overall record looks good. Check his Big 10 record (the only record that truly counts in my book). The guy was 32-48 vs the Big 10 during his career. His numbers look ok based soley on his uncanny ability to schedule pre-conference games against the likes of Crowly Tech and North Hennepin Community College squads. Only 2 times in 10 years did he have over .500 records in the big 10, twice he was 4-4 and 6 times he was under .500

Hardly what I would ever consider to be successful. Add to it, the past two years he's given up record comeback losses in consecutive bowl games. The guy was a doe in the headlights. You could see it in their games this year. I found it very aggrivating.

Anyway, his record did not warrant the $$$ that he was making. I don't wish the guy any ill-will, but I'm glad to see him gone. It'll be interesting to see who this college can bring in. The U of M's fall from grace has been far too long. I want so badly to see this squad back on the winning track.