Ben Johnson Finally Fired as Gophers MBB Coach

The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team lost their 17th game of the season on Wednesday, a 72-64 dud in their first round Big Ten Tournament game vs the Northwestern Wildcats. Ben Johnson’s 2024-25 Golden Gophers finished 15-17. Sadly, that’s the second-best record Ben has enjoyed during his 4-year tenure in Dinkytown.

This week’s B1G Tourney loss made Ben Johnson 56-71 (.441) as University of Minnesota men’s basketball coach, 22-57 in Big Ten play. His .441 overall winning percentage is the worst of any men’s head basketball coach in school history, who was on the job for three years or more (see table below).

Ben Johnson fired as University of Minnesota Gophers men’s head basketball coach

But in the wee hours of Thursday morning, Ben Johnson finally met his fate when athletic director Mark Coyle announced at 1 a.m. CDT that the De La Salle and U of M alum had been fired from his dream job as Minnesota Golden Gophers head basketball coach.

University of Minnesota Director of Athletics Mark Coyle has announced that the University has parted ways with men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson.

“I met with Ben in-person early this morning when the team returned to Minneapolis from the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament and informed him that we were making a change in leadership. I thanked him for his dedication and for guiding the program, one he cares deeply about, for the last four years. Ben is a terrific person, and we wish him well.

U of M AD Mark Coyle statement

There were reports recently saying that Ben Johnson’s job felt safe. But that’s because this was a Mark Coyle decision, and he wasn’t letting anyone in on it. Unlike when Ben was hired, Coyle was not going to allow high-powered alumni and boosters influence his decision to fire the first time head coach.

Ben Johnson goes down as one of the worst men’s basketball coaches in U of M history

You have to go back 100 years — to Harold Taylor from 1925 to 1927 — in order to find a former Gophers MBB coach who lost a bigger percentage of his games than Johnson, who was allowed more time on the job. Any other head coach whose teams performed as poorly as Ben’s were all fired within one or two years of getting the job.

Rk	Coach	From	To	Yrs	W	L	W-L%	NCAA
1	Louis Cooke	1898	1924	27	248	131	.654	0
2	Clem Haskins	1987	1999	13	239	168	.587	6
3	Dave McMillan	1928	1948	18	196	156	.557	0
4	Jim Dutcher	1976	1986	11	190	113	.627	1
5	Ozzie Cowles	1949	1959	11	147	93	.613	0
6	Richard Pitino	2014	2021	8	141	123	.534	2
7	Tubby Smith	2008	2013	6	124	81	.605	3
8	Dan Monson	2000	2007	8	118	106	.527	1
9	John Kundla	1960	1968	9	110	105	.512	0
10	Bill Musselman	1972	1975	4	69	32	.683	1
11	Ben Johnson	2022	2025	4	56	71	.441	0
12	Bill Fitch	1969	1970	2	25	23	.521	0
13	Harold Taylor	1925	1927	3	19	30	.388	0
14	Carl Nordly	1943	1944	2	17	23	.425	0
15	George Hanson	1971	1971	1	11	13	.458	0
16	Weston Mitchell	1945	1945	1	8	13	.381	0
17	Jim Molinari	2007	2007	1	7	17	.292	0
18	Jimmy Williams	1986	1986	1	2	9	.182	0

In other words, good riddance. Ben Johnson, according to every single person who has ever run into him, is a wonderful person. Great. But this is a cut-throat business. The only way anyone cares about your personality is if you win first, something Johnson failed to do for four full seasons.

Ben’s biggest failure, without a doubt, was in Name, Image and Likeness. He got his job at the same time NIL was taking over college sports. Instead of embracing change and fundraising NIL early, to get ahead of other schools, Johnson ignored it. In the end, that cost him his job.

Mark Coyle starts the search for next Gophers MBB coach

Now, Coyle is on the hunt for a new leader of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball program, and he believes it’s a job a lot of coaches around the country are going to want.

“These decisions are difficult and are made after careful consideration and evaluation. The expectation for our program is to compete for championships, and unfortunately, we have not done that in the last four years. 

This is an extremely desirable job in one of the best conferences and cities in the nation, and we fully expect to compete at the highest level on and off the court. We provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes, have one of the best practice facilities in the nation and play games in a historic venue. We offer everything that is needed to be successful, and we will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next men’s basketball coach.”

U of M AD Mark Coyle statement