In frantic search for new head coach, Columbus Blue Jackets offering diehard fans opportunity to prove themselves behind the bench
Following the sudden and humiliating resignation of Mike Babcock prior to ever coaching a game, the Columbus Blue Jackets are now giving fans the opportunity to try out for the role.
The Jackets hired Babcock July 1. Babcock resigned this week, just 78 days into the job and before ever even holding a practice, following allegations he had asked players to share with him personal photographs on their private mobile devices, often referred to as “cell phones.”
Now, less than a week before the start of preseason, the long-beleaguered franchise is giving its most loyal fans a chance to “suit up” and call the shots. Fans can sign up on the team’s website. From there, executives will narrow the field through a highly deliberative process similar to Tinder, where they will swipe right or left based on who looks like they could be a coach.
Eventually, those selected will be given one 20-minute period during a preseason game to prove themselves. Considering the National Hockey League schedules a whopping eight preseason games, that will give the Blue Jackets front office a look at 24 candidates from which to choose heading into the regular season.
“We all acknowledge that hiring Mike Babcock was a mistake, and at first we felt really bad about it,” said John Davidson, the team’s president of hockey operations. “But after giving it a little more thought, we remembered that we work for a team that has won exactly one playoff series in almost a quarter century. So, we figured, does it really matter who coaches the team?”
Team officials said the criteria they are looking for in a successful coach include goals scored, fights won and the willingness to sell 50/50 tickets during intermission.