The search for Minnesota men's basketball's next head coach is officially underway after Gophers' athletic director Mark Coyle dismissed Ben Johnson from his job on Thursday morning.
But how long will the coaching search take? We take a look at how long the process could take for Mark Coyle and the rest of the Minnesota administration.
How long did the last process take?
The last time Minnesota was in this position was four years ago on Saturday when the Gophers fired then-head coach Richard Pitino after eight seasons with the program. The coaching search, led by Mark Coyle and company, was a rather quick one, as Ben Johnson was officially hired just seven days later on March 22, 2021.
How will the transfer portal affect the search?
One factor that could play an important role in the coaching search for Minnesota is the transfer portal. The portal will officially open on March 24, just 11 days after Ben Johnson was dismissed as head coach. While the transfer portal window may be the biggest factor when it comes to the swiftness of the coaching search, it will certainly factor into decisions.
With most of Minnesota's roster departing the program this offseason due to exhausted eligibility, the Gophers' 2025-26 roster will look quite different from the one Ben Johnson utilized this season. That doesn’t account for the possibility that some players may choose to enter the transfer portal themselves.
The next head coach of the Gophers will need to dive headfirst into the portal and begin recruiting pieces for Minnesota's 2025-26 roster immediately upon their arrival in Minneapolis. Any wasted time regarding the portal will only be detrimental to the rebuilding efforts.
Ultimately, the coaching search for the Gophers must be thorough and leave no stones unturned. A once-proud program finds itself lost within the shuffle of a deep Big Ten and must find its way back to relevance. But with the transfer portal opening just around the corner, it will also need to be a swift coaching search. While having a coach on the day the portal opens isn't necessarily a must, the Minnesota administration will still need to provide the new head coach enough time to not just manage the transfer portal but to also assemble their respective coaching staff.
Of course, there is also the potential issue of the NCAA Tournament. If the Gophers are targeting a head coach whose program is dancing this month, the process could theoretically, albeit highly unlikely, play out as far as April 7. Even at best, any potential coaching candidate whose program is playing in the NCAA Tournament likely wouldn’t be available until the weekend of March 22, following the first round of the tournament on March 20 and 21.
Mark Coyle and the Minnesota administration will need to find the right balance between securing the right coach and doing so in a timely and efficient manner.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @RivalsDylanCC
- SUBSCRIBE to Gophers Nation
