Mark Coyle shocked Syracuse Orange fans on Wednesday by stepping down as athletic director at the university to take the same job with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Things moved pretty quickly from crazypants to Coyle's introduction at his new/old home. Along the way there were a couple quotes, either said by Coyle or about Coyle that are probably going to get your blood boiling just a wee bit. Sorry in advance.
Mark Coyle on his new job at Minnesota:
"My No. 1 goal is to bring consistency and some stability"
Former Minnesota AD Joe Maturi on Coyle:
"He’s a tremendously caring person with great integrity."
Maturi with more on Coyle:
"He didn’t do anything that’s inappropriate other than Syracuse put a lot of time and effort into hiring him and made a commitment to him."
Coyle on why he left Syracuse:
"There was one place I was going to leave Syracuse for and it’s Minnesota."
Floyd Little on Coyle's shock departure:
"It surprised all of us. I got a text from Mark saying that he had an opportunity to go to Minnesota. And I was, like, 'Whoa.' It's a shock to everybody. Everybody is walking around in shock...I mean, I sit next to him during the meetings … I speak to his kids, Nicholas, Benjie and Gracie … and his wife, Krystan. And I had no sign. Nobody. None of us. Nobody had an inkling. It was a shock to all of us."