MVCfans.com

Poaches North Dakota’s HC. Good get.

North Dakota is a hockey school closer to Winnipeg than the Twin Cities that Jones took from D2 to D1 Independence to the NCAA Tournament. UNI alum. Could see him as MVC HC in 5 years. Muller’s best teams depend on a top assistant (Yaklich) and this guy is it.

MissouriValleyUnite wrote:North Dakota is a hockey school closer to Winnipeg than the Twin Cities that Jones took from D2 to D1 Independence to the NCAA Tournament. UNI alum. Could see him as MVC HC in 5 years. Muller’s best teams depend on a top assistant (Yaklich) and this guy is it.

20-38 in his last two years in the Summit ???

BEARZ77 wrote:

MissouriValleyUnite wrote:North Dakota is a hockey school closer to Winnipeg than the Twin Cities that Jones took from D2 to D1 Independence to the NCAA Tournament. UNI alum. Could see him as MVC HC in 5 years. Muller’s best teams depend on a top assistant (Yaklich) and this guy is it.

20-38 in his last two years in the Summit ???

It is rare to win at a hockey-focused school (Denver, UNO, Boston U, UNH, Maine) especially one equidistant from Manitoba and Fargo. He did take them to an NCAA 15-seed after transitioning from D2 and D1 independence, which is more than comparable schools.

I really like this hire. It's definitely different than any other hire he has made. Previously, he has hired young up and comers in the industry. This is more of a veteran hire who has had to go through a ton of adversity. Yes, you can look at his record and poo-poo it. However, in his 13 years he brought UND to D1. Once that happened he was in three different conferences starting in the Great West, then a move to the Big Sky where he won COY in 2016-17, and then into the Summit where they now reside. Remember how Loyola struggled in its first years in the MVC, and same with Valpo. There are challenges changing conferences and he had to weather the storm with a small 140k salary (comparatively) and an inoperable MBB budget. Also, you cannot overlook the fact he recruited some pretty good players to North Dakota. That's gotta be a tough sell.

So, I'm guessing he is getting a raise, and moving 2.5/3 hours away from his hometown and family. It's a personal win for sure. Professionally, Muller will benefit from having a guy around with HC experience. I do think Jones will be a head coach again but not for 3-5 years, which I think will bode well for the Redbirds.

The Redbirds are going to look completely different next season, and I am excited about it. Are they going to compete for a conference title next year? Who knows, but they will play a more fun, high energy, and high effort style of ball. That was something seriously lacking the last two years.

Is the adjustment from the Big Sky to Summit really that daunting?

Anyway I do think it's probably a good hire for ISU. Can help to have someone like a Jim Molinari, Rob Judson, Chuck Buescher on the bench. Not sure I buy his recruitment bona fides though. Crazy that a D1 coach was paid so little.

An interesting move any time a sitting D1 coach leaves for an assistant job somewhere else. Probably getting off the ship before they tell him to walk the plank.

Word on the street is he is going some place else. That is why they hired Belcher from Indiana State.

Muller’s Little Helper

Word in Normal is that Duhon is leaving, which opens up the spot for Belcher.