Gail Goestenkors

[semper]

Not sure we ever really unpacked the demise of the person some think was a very fine coach. She and her recruits used to cause us fits when she was at Duke. I wonder 1) why she ever left and 2) what in the world accounts for her spectacular failure at UT. I just don't get it....

 

[Vowelguy]

Cam has a lot more insight.

Why would she leave Duke?
After years of painful losses, I could understand a desire to try someplace new.
TX offered her a boatload of $.

 

[semper]

Yeah, well, I'm still mystified by the whole thing.

 

[speedoo]

She failed at Texas because a) she did not recruit well enough and ended up with teams that were usually very weak in the post, and b) she probably put too much pressure on herself to try to achieve the same kind of results she did at Duke, which translated into subpar coaching. But without the same quality of players she had at Duke, she was never going to be a top team in the B12.

Could Tennessee give her another chance in a year or two? I would think she'd be able to recruit pretty well as HC at TN, especially if Summitt is in the background, supporting her.

 

[semper]

Don't you think she's a good coach? I used to think so...

 

[VAUConnFan]

Not sure we ever really unpacked the demise of the person some think was a very fine coach. She and her recruits used to cause us fits when she was at Duke. I wonder 1) why she ever left and 2) what in the world accounts for her spectacular failure at UT. I just don't get it....

Spectacular failure may be overstating it. Did not meet expectations is a more apt description.

 

[Vowelguy]

I thought she was good as the underdog, but was a terrible front-runner -- thus explaining the choke losses her teams suffered. Had expected her to do well in building the TX program, since she had built Duke from nothing.

The fact that she did nothing to improve a mediocre TX team marks down her stock tremendously.

Absolutely no way TN hires her.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Cam would know more but IIRC she wasn't offered a high enough contract. i believe if she had won the NC over Maryland the year before, she'd have gotten the big contract.

 

[huskyblooz]

Don't you think she's a good coach? I used to think so...

I used to think so ... until I had good seats in Bridgeport and watched her do nothing on the sideline.
That Duke team was 20 points better than us and we were a Charde gimme away from beating them.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

She failed at Texas because a) she did not recruit well enough and ended up with teams that were usually very weak in the post, and b) she probably put too much pressure on herself to try to achieve the same kind of results she did at Duke, which translated into subpar coaching. But without the same quality of players she had at Duke, she was never going to be a top team in the B12.

Could Tennessee give her another chance in a year or two? I would think she'd be able to recruit pretty well as HC at TN, especially if Summitt is in the background, supporting her.

No she killed her career with that tired business - with a gun to her head I suspect.

 

[TRest]

Cam would know more but IIRC she wasn't offered a high enough contract. i believe if she had won the NC over Maryland the year before, she'd have gotten the big contract.

IIRC she went through a divorce at about the same time she dedided to start somewhere new.

 

[wes33]

Cam would know more but IIRC she wasn't offered a high enough contract. i believe if she had won the NC over Maryland the year before, she'd have gotten the big contract.

 

[wes33]

Money was never a issue when she left Duke.

 

[JellyBean]

Not sure we ever really unpacked the demise of the person some think was a very fine coach. She and her recruits used to cause us fits when she was at Duke. I wonder 1) why she ever left and 2) what in the world accounts for her spectacular failure at UT. I just don't get it....

I still think that Gail Goestenkors is a really good coach. I think that she did well in the Big 12. She had Texas winning 60% of their games. I believe that she got burned out with coaching and needed sometime away from the game. Plus the big problem she ran into was landing enough talent in order to get the Lady Longhorns program to become elite. Some fans except their team to win 25-30 games every year and win a title every year or every other year. Glad that we are not like that with our Huskies But with Texas, they wanted just a bite too much for a women's program that is decent but not a major power yet.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I still think that Gail Goestenkors is a really good coach. I think that she did well in the Big 12. She had Texas winning 60% of their games. I believe that she got burned out with coaching and needed sometime away from the game. Plus the big problem she ran into was landing enough talent in order to get the Lady Longhorns program to become elite. Some fans except their team to win 25-30 games every year and win a title every year or every other year. Glad that we are not like that with our Huskies But with Texas, they wanted just a bite too much for a women's program that is decent but not a major power yet.

That is pretty much my take, as well.

Make no mistake, she is a good coach, which does not make her an "elite" coach. The number of elite coaches is very short, she looked like a candidate at Duke, after Texas not so much. Still, I can't think of very many programs that wouldn't want her.

Mulkey incidently is making herself a candidate for eliteness. Another NC and she's there, I think.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

When Texas was courting Goestenkors, then-Athletic Director Joe Alleva compared Gail to Pat and Geno.

"They've both won a lot of national championships and are part of programs that make money for their institutions. They bring in profit for their athletic departments, and that's not the case for our women's program," Alleva said.

Rather than highlight her accomplishments, he denigrated her in the press. It was well known in Duke circles that Alleva did not think much of Goestenkors or what she built at Duke.

At a student/fan rally to support Coach G, neither Alleva nor President Richard Brodhead bothered to show up.

At the time, Goestenkors' salary was not public information, but she was not listed among the top five paid employees on Duke's most recent Internal Revenue Service 990 tax filing. The lowest among those five earned $532,584 in the fiscal year that ended in 2005.

Alleva left the next year for LSU. After the lacrosse scandal (and the subsequent lawsuits of the exonerated players suing the university) plus how he handled the Goestenkors situation, it was rumored that he was asked to leave for another job, despite having several years left on his contract.

 

[wes33]

When Texas was courting Goestenkors, then-Athletic Director Joe Alleva compared Gail to Pat and Geno.

"They've both won a lot of national championships and are part of programs that make money for their institutions. They bring in profit for their athletic departments, and that's not the case for our women's program," Alleva said.

Rather than highlight her accomplishments, he denigrated her in the press. It was well known in Duke circles that Alleva did not think much of Goestenkors or what she built at Duke.

At a student/fan rally to support Coach G, neither Alleva nor President Richard Brodhead bothered to show up.

At the time, Goestenkors' salary was not public information, but she was not listed among the top five paid employees on Duke's most recent Internal Revenue Service 990 tax filing. The lowest among those five earned $532,584 in the fiscal year that ended in 2005.

Alleva left the next year for LSU. After the lacrosse scandal (and the subsequent lawsuits of the exonerated players suing the university) plus how he handled the Goestenkors situation, it was rumored that he was asked to leave for another job, despite having several years left on his contract.

 

[wes33]

There was also a boat accident with his son injured and drinking involved that was swept under a big old rug.

 

[Icebear]

Don't you think she's a good coach? I used to think so...

Never thought she was a good in game coach. In other aspects I think she was excellent.

 

[wes33]

There was also a boat accident with his son injured and drinking involved that was swept under a big old rug.

Write up
http://dukechronicle.com/article/alleva-injured-son-charged-dwi-boating-accident

 

[jsloanjr]

Wait until Geno leaves and another coach steps in an tries to replace a legend at UCONN......UCONN better hire within unlike Texas......

 

[alexrgct]

Wait until Geno leaves and another coach steps in an tries to replace a legend at UCONN......UCONN better hire within unlike Texas......

Why in the name of everything sacred would you limit yourself to only coaches with a UConn connection? Get the best coach you can and hope for the best.

 

[Vowelguy]

Why in the name of everything sacred would you limit yourself to only coaches with a UConn connection? Get the best coach you can and hope for the best.

If you believe that Geno is merely "smart" (for lack of a better word), then, yes, by all means you want to go out and find another 'smart' coach. However if you believe he has created an entire philosophy, style, attitude, and tradition, then you have an interest in finding someone who is familar with and can continue that tradition.

Rizzotti, Dailey, & Ralph are the clear top choices in my book (maybe Tonya & Jamelle pending future success). If they're not interested then I'd expand the search wide, but those have a huge inside edge for me.

 

[Bestiarius]

If you believe that Geno is merely "smart" (for lack of a better word), then, yes, by all means you want to go out and find another 'smart' coach. However if you believe he has created an entire philosophy, style, attitude, and tradition, then you have an interest in finding someone who is familar with and can continue that tradition.

Rizzotti, Dailey, & Ralph are the clear top choices in my book (maybe Tonya & Jamelle pending future success). If they're not interested then I'd expand the search wide, but those have a huge inside edge for me.

It would be nice to think that Geno can be 'learned', but I doubt that it is possible. The people mentioned above may be qualified and might be successful, but I doubt they would or could do everything the way Geno did. For example, Dailey would never be able to do what Geno does. As they both have said, Chris does the things Geno doesn't like doing and visa versa.

I think it's important to get the best person available and if that person is Uconn family, great but it shouldn't be much of a factor in the decision.

 

[alexrgct]

If you believe that Geno is merely "smart" (for lack of a better word), then, yes, by all means you want to go out and find another 'smart' coach. However if you believe he has created an entire philosophy, style, attitude, and tradition, then you have an interest in finding someone who is familar with and can continue that tradition.

Rizzotti, Dailey, & Ralph are the clear top choices in my book (maybe Tonya & Jamelle pending future success). If they're not interested then I'd expand the search wide, but those have a huge inside edge for me.

I'm not sure what Geno does CAN be taught/learned. A lot of his success is being obsessed about doing a a lot of things, little and big, flawlessly, and you just kinda have to be wired that way to do that. Because CD, Shea, and Jen are beloved, it woud help from a public relations perspective, but ultimately I'd want the coach with the chutzpah to replace a legend and have their own approach to the job. Geno-lite isn't the same as Geno and can't be.