2021-22 Coaching Openings

[Goose21]

Probably a good time in the East timeline for Mike to step down. He and the Hounds have had a nearly 3 decade long run of being one of the top teams in the State. It will be interesting to see where the program goes under a new regime.

[Puckguy19]

Probably a good time in the East timeline for Mike to step down. He and the Hounds have had a nearly 3 decade long run of being one of the top teams in the State. It will be interesting to see where the program goes under a new regime.

Every one of us is replaceable. Mike did a great job, and left with a lot of class in his press conference.

[thefatcat]

Probably a good time in the East timeline for Mike to step down. He and the Hounds have had a nearly 3 decade long run of being one of the top teams in the State. It will be interesting to see where the program goes under a new regime.

Every one of us is replaceable. Mike did a great job, and left with a lot of class in his press conference.

I keep hearing about this "investigation"? What on earth is that about? Is it even real?

[FREDFLINTSTONE]

What issues do parents have with him. Great coach and a great person.

[Upfan111]

$$$$$$$$$

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

It would seem Randolph would have stepped down reasonably soon anyway. But it's still a sad ending.

I'm torn between views on this. One the one hand, we know parents can be just nuts these days. Since most of us on this board don't have first hand knowledge of how Randolph has handled his players of late, it's pretty convenient for us to have a knee jerk reaction and blame this on crazy parents, and more often than not, that's probably the case. Ocam's Razor and all that.

On the other hand, I did read an interesting comment in the STrib article. The commenter said that Randolph did not change with the times, that kids today are different, so what worked in 1995 may not be relevant today. There may be something to that. You can ask, "Who moved my cheese?" Or, you can say, "I better find a new source of cheese so I don't starve. Sometimes it's just time to find new roads.

Given all this recent controversy over high school coaches, this is a good time for me to blaspheme once more my long time thought that it was a mistake to ever have intermural athletics. The only sports that ever should have been in schools is intrAmural sports. You got 24 boys that want to play basketball? Make four 6 player teams and schedule some games. You got 60 boys that want to play? Make ten 6 player teams. A 3,000 student school that only allows 20 or so kids to play basketball is stupid. If you want to up your game, go to tournaments 49 weeks out of the year, go for it, there are leagues for that. No reason parents can't spend thousands of dollars on a lottery ticket for a D1 scholarship, plenty of them will no matter what.

When you've got 8 or 10 kids, you don't put all your own hopes and dreams on each one, and you won't spend money on stick handling school for 7 year olds. When you've only got 2 kids, it's a different world. Lots of families with only two kids these days, not many in double digits any more. That's part of parents being nuts, too.

[O-townClown]

It would seem Randolph would have stepped down reasonably soon anyway. But it's still a sad ending.

I'm torn between views on this...

When you've got 8 or 10 kids, you don't put all your own hopes and dreams on each one...When you've only got 2 kids, it's a different world.

So many great points in your full post. Message board gold.

Some thoughts:
* a legendary HS coach of the most high profile sport in Minnesota steps down because of pressure related to an open investigation and every media outlet that has covered (from YHH to Pat Reusse for the Strib to local Duluth tv and print) merely repeats Mike's talking points. At what point is there at least some scrutiny on this investigation? Is it total nonsense?
* things didn't end well for Woody Hayes or Bob Knight (with the Hoosiers). Knee jerk reaction at the time from those detached from Ohio State football and Indiana basketball was that there had been that the writing was on the wall and these schools didn't move on from the coaches before it became a problem. As you point out, we're discussing an old-school coach that takes pride in doing it that way.
* so many people want to take what happened here and ascribe the event to some much broader societal issue they have. "Parents are crazy! Kids are soft! This generation of adults has ruined kids!" Easy sound bites. What if there's a valid reason the people in charge have for not wanting him as the coach any longer?
* Mike Randolph certainly earned the right to exit on his own terms. That he didn't leads me to wonder if there's more to this.

Wishing the Greyhounds well and good luck to Coach Mike with what's next.

[goldy313]

Meh! As I posted on another thread.....using Kivihalme as your example does not further your argument and probably lessens it. You could have picked more than 3 dozen coaches wrongly not rehired. Yet you pick a Lakeville coach?

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

Maybe this was tried, maybe it wasn't. And, of course, we have no idea of what exactly was being investigated or how serious it was. But, just suppose that it is a case of an old school coach who yelled a bit, used a few swear words, and mentally messed with his players bit a la Herb Brooks. Just take those as a given for the sake of argument.

If that's a close approximation of the situation, maybe the AD should have talked to Randolph, a bit of a heart to heart, and said, "Ya know, Mike, you've had a great run. This investigation, I don't know what will come of it, but you know I needed to do it. Just between you and I, maybe it's time to leave, and do it on your terms. I know some of these parents are nuts, believe me I know it as well as you. You've got to leave some time. Maybe that time is now."

[Usthockey13]

Maybe this was tried, maybe it wasn't. And, of course, we have no idea of what exactly was being investigated or how serious it was. But, just suppose that it is a case of an old school coach who yelled a bit, used a few swear words, and mentally messed with his players bit a la Herb Brooks. Just take those as a given for the sake of argument.

If that's a close approximation of the situation, maybe the AD should have talked to Randolph, a bit of a heart to heart, and said, "Ya know, Mike, you've had a great run. This investigation, I don't know what will come of it, but you know I needed to do it. Just between you and I, maybe it's time to leave, and do it on your terms. I know some of these parents are nuts, believe me I know it as well as you. You've got to leave some time. Maybe that time is now."

The AD was part of the problem! He never got involved abd believed to be in the group to oust Mike.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

The AD was part of the problem! He never got involved abd believed to be in the group to oust Mike.
[/quote]

I'll have to take your word for that. I get a parent would see their kid as God's gift to the Hounds (or Hornets, etc). But if I were an AD, and I had a coach with proven success in a high profile sport, I'd probably be tempted to overlook some of his short comings. And if I run off a successful coach, now I've got to find a replacement at least as good.

I know, I know, we all do irrational things, me included. And there are plenty of bosses who get rid of proven employees for petty reasons. And we all value different things, that's just the way I look at it.

Here is something I wonder about: Do mid-tier and lower-tier programs have less drama that top tier programs? Mounds View has not been relevant for a generation or more. Are parents beating on the coach and AD there? Or at a school like Apple Valley?

[ThatMNHockeyGuy62]

Anthony Reynolds from Delano named Head Coach at Waconia.

[arcticpurple]

Waconia is posted…now only one Carver County school looking for a new coach https://waconiaathletics.com/2021/06/07 ... announced/

[BP]

Down to 12 jobs still open. That is a lot with STP starting this week!

[goldy313]

Matt Erridge will be good at John Marshall, he has been the top assistant there for a number of years. He knows the program and the problems they face.

Man, he was a great high school player.

[BP]

Hastings has their guy, They have hired current Asst Matt Klein.

[Gotothenetman]

"Hastings has their guy, They have hired current Asst Matt Klein."

Either no one applied or this was pre-planned from the beginning. Too bad a proud program struggling and no real change in leadership.

[InThePipes]

"Hastings has their guy, They have hired current Asst Matt Klein."

Either no one applied or this was pre-planned from the beginning. Too bad a proud program struggling and no real change in leadership.

No idea on this situation, but in a couple of others I've heard there is an appalling lack of candidates for these open positions, a sign of the times I suppose.

[jg2112]

"Hastings has their guy, They have hired current Asst Matt Klein."

Either no one applied or this was pre-planned from the beginning. Too bad a proud program struggling and no real change in leadership.

No idea on this situation, but in a couple of others I've heard there is an appalling lack of candidates for these open positions, a sign of the times I suppose.

People are unwilling to work in positions with poor pay and / or suboptimal working conditions? Sounds like the prevailing national trend post-pandemic.

[Gotothenetman]

"Hastings has their guy, They have hired current Asst Matt Klein."

Either no one applied or this was pre-planned from the beginning. Too bad a proud program struggling and no real change in leadership.

No idea on this situation, but in a couple of others I've heard there is an appalling lack of candidates for these open positions, a sign of the times I suppose.

People are unwilling to work in positions with poor pay and / or suboptimal working conditions? Sounds like the prevailing national trend post-pandemic.

In Hastings case a lot of the credit or lack of credit goes to a poor AD. Just heard now the Baseball coach quit also. Tough to be a HS coach these days without a strong AD who will support the coach but also challenge the coach.

[WestMetro]

Deast job was posted yesterday

Hearing some interesting applicants at Chan , could affect transfer dynamics in west metro?

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

"Hastings has their guy, They have hired current Asst Matt Klein."

Either no one applied or this was pre-planned from the beginning. Too bad a proud program struggling and no real change in leadership.

Well, they've been struggling for almost 20 years. They had about 4 good seasons and nothing since then. If Hastings has a proud program, who doesn't?

[BP]

Brainerd has hired Howie Borden as their new coach.

[WestMetro]

see yhh list of Deast coach job applicants

https://twitter.com/youthhockeyhub/stat ... 18178?s=21

[Schotzy]

Interesting read on the administration side of the Randolph story.

https://duluthreader.com/articles/2021/ ... queeze-out