The Johnson family has made a habit of building college hockey programs in Madison, and now Wisconsin women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson has a chance to do that again. This time, though, he'd be shaping the team hundreds of miles from the UW campus.
Andy Baggot of the Wisconsin State Journal reported Tuesday that Athletic Director Barry Alvarez gave representatives from Penn State permission to speak with Johnson about becoming the first head coach of their men's hockey team. The Nittany Lions announced last year they would create a Division I hockey program, and it would appear Johnson is in their sights.
But while Mark Johnson is the right man for Penn State, Penn State isn't the right place for Mark Johnson.
The Wisconsin women's hockey program existed, and was pretty good, before Johnson took the reins as head coach in 2002, but it was nothing like it is now when he started. Today, the Badgers are arguably the best program in the country and are well on their way to a fourth national title under Johnson.
If he leaves that dynasty, however, the job Johnson would be tasked with is a lot like what his father, ""Badger"" Bob Johnson, did at this university more than 40 years ago.
In the late 60s, Badger Bob created Wisconsin men's hockey as we know it today —he brought the program to the varsity level in 1968, and eventually to its first three national titles. Bob Johnson is the reason why UW has the hockey culture it does today, plain and simple.
That's exactly what the people in State College, Pa., hope Mark Johnson can do there. And if they want a coach who will get fans to pack the shiny new rink that will accompany their shiny new hockey team when it debuts in 2012, Johnson is also the one to do it.
Along with his success on the ice, Johnson has sold the team to Madison fans. Wisconsin consistently leads women's college hockey in average attendance and recently smashed the single-game record by drawing more than 10,000 fans at the Jan. 29 ""Fill the Bowl"" event. Penn State is a sports crazy school, and with the nearest NHL teams a few hours' drive away (not unlike Madison), it's just the kind of market that is perfect for college hockey.
So Johnson is exactly the kind of person Penn State wants for its first ever men's hockey coach. But should he start packing for State College? No.
The most obvious reason would be that his success with a brand new team would be limited at best in its first seasons.
In their debut season, the Nittany Lions are going to be made up of freshmen, perhaps a few transfers and upperclassmen who, if they have been playing at Penn State, have no experience in Division I hockey. It won't be for a few years that Johnson will have a crop of players with real college hockey experience, and even then it will only be recruits brave (or desperate) enough to sign with a completely new program.
Badger Bob took Wisconsin to the varsity level and won a national title in five years. In today's college hockey world, where so many of the best recruits skip college all together, even the best coach couldn't accomplish what Bob Johnson did that fast.
For a coach who is working toward his fourth national title in six years, that prospect cannot be appealing.
But perhaps the biggest reason for Johnson to stay in Madison is his roots here. Johnson grew up in Madison, played at Memorial High School and UW and has coached at Wisconsin for more than a decade. With so much of his family in Madison and his own history tied directly to the city, he likely would not be quick to move.
It's not as if the Johnson family has no relationship with Pennsylvania – after all, Badger Bob won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991, and his iconic ""It's a great day for hockey"" motto figures prominently in the Pens' locker room. Still, that hardly equals the family's ties to Madison.
Given his success at Wisconsin, Mark Johnson is certainly in demand. But while he is exactly the kind of coach the Nittany Lions need to get off the ground, Johnson should stay where he belongs: In Madison.
Should Penn State go after Mark Johnson? E-mail Nico at savidgewilki@wisc.edu.
