Coyle takes over struggling U athletics program

Mark Coyle will soon be at the helm of the University of Minnesota's athletics program. With the new job, he inherits several teams regularly competing at the top of the conference, several teams that aren't — and quite a few looming problems for the department.

There was little fanfare Friday, as Coyle was officially hired as the new Gophers' athletic director.

His name was bundled with several other new hires presented to the Board of Regents.

With that, the board officially signed off on a five-year contract, which will pay Coyle a base salary of $850,000 per year, as well as incentive bonuses.

And, the hope is for the U, that it's turned a new page for its athletics department.

Coyle takes the reigns of a position last held by Norwood Teague, who resigned last August after being accused of sexual harassment.

University President Eric Kaler is clear that Coyle is walking into a program that has problems.

"Certainly, basketball has been in the news a lot. We do have some investigations into our gender equity compliance. I happen to think we're in a good space there, but we'll await the OCR findings," Kaler said. "Clearly, we've got a decision to make on our men's hockey coach. We've got some opportunities with our football program that we'll watch carefully as Tracy moves into the season. So, it's a full-time job."

The basketball team set a school record for losses last season. In the last few months, several players have been suspended over off-the court behavior. And a recent audit found that coach Richard Pitino spent more than allowed by his contract on travel.

As he announced Coyle's hiring, Kaler said he was profoundly disappointed with the basketball program. The new AD was asked about the team during the same press conference.

"I look forward to meeting the staff, the coaches and learning what's going on and what can I do to make that program grow and again, compete at the highest level," he said.

Coyle has dealt with coaching changes before. Shortly after he was named athletic director at Syracuse University last year, he fired an underperforming football coach.

When Coyle took the AD job at Boise State in 2011, the football program was winning under coach Chris Peterson. But the team was also dealing with several NCAA violations.

Dave Southorn, a sports reporter with the Idaho Statesman who covers Boise State, said Coyle worked with the football coach.

"Coyle held on to him longer that most people would've expected him to be in Boise," he said. "That was another thing he stressed was just keeping good coaches and changing that culture a bit and making sure they weren't going to be in that situation again."

Former Gopher and North Stars hockey great Lou Nanne said the Coyle hire gives the program a fresh start.

"Someone that I think is bright, refreshing, works hard and is very dedicated to winning, so I think they made an excellent hire."

Nanne, who is heading fundraising for the U's $165 million athletes village project, said they've raised $95 million so far. He expects the new athletic director will help ease the minds of donors.

It already has for some.

"Just the way he's carrying himself is what we need," said Nancy Lindahl.

She and her husband John had breakfast with Coyle the morning after he took the job. The Lindahls recently donated $17 million to the university, $12 million of which will go to the Athletics Village project. She was impressed with Coyle's Midwestern roots and his focus on his family. She said that Coyle should be good for fundraising, after what was a very difficult few months.

"I know that pipeline is robust and people have just been waiting for a new athletic director to be named," she said. "Now that it's finalized, Mark made many, many calls to donors yesterday. So he's on the floor running already."

Coyle said he'll start his new job after Memorial Day.