Golden Gopher Football Blog

We're moving to The Daily Gopher

2010-08-23T17:51:00.000-05:00

Remember when Denny Green said "If you're looking for Denny Green, look on the high road, because that is where I'll be"?

Apparently the high road that Denny was speaking of was a stint as a coach in the soon-to-be-defunct UFL.

Anyway, Jeffrick and I have decided that the Gopher Football Blog has run its course. The feeling started coming over me several months ago, and then coincidentally we were asked to join The Daily Gopher, an invitation which we accepted.

So, if you're looking for Jeffrick and JDMill, you won't find us on the high road, we'll leave that to Denny Green. Where you WILL find us, however, is at The Daily Gopher.

I started this blog right around the time that Tim Brewster started heading up Gopher Nation, and it's been a lot of fun. I was excited when I brought Jeff on and we began doing some podcasting. But it's always been difficult to juggle life and put together a blog that communicates our love and passion for Gopher football. At The Daily Gopher we'll continue to get to write and podcast about what we love, we'll get the benefit of the tools and support of a very strong blog network, and we won't feel the pressure to promote and try to build the blog. In short, we'll get to do what we love without all of the administrative mumbo-jumbo that comes along with it. We'll miss it here, but we are really looking forward to our new home.

If you weren't already reading The Daily Gopher every single day, I'm not sure why not, but you should start (and it should be easy to find because I've already hyperlinked to it 4 times.

Thanks for your readership over the last couple of years!

Jeffrick & Jeremy

p.s. You will continue to find me writing at Off Tackle Empire (formerly The Rivalry, Esq).

A Few Things to Get Excited About

2010-08-19T12:09:00.002-05:00

Like Jermo said last week, I too am really, really excited for Gopher football to start. Dare I say, I'd almost call myself optimistic about what we should see out of Brew's Crew this season, especially when compared to the incredibly low expectations that have been set for this team by every possible media outlet that covers college football. The Gophs have been picked to finish no better than 9th in the Big Ten this year in every publication and preview I've read, and I've seen nary a Gopher player picked as first or second team preseason Big Ten. Adam Rittenberg on his Big Ten blog on E!SPN.com has been listing his top five units for each position (Backfield, offensive line, linebackers etc) and not once has Minnesota been ranked. Brewster is apparently guaranteed to be fired and we've got nothing to look forward to but getting the snot kicked out of us all season long.

Well I, my friends, am choosing to look differently at all of this. Am I expecting a trip to Pasadena this year? Or even our first New Year's Day bowl since the dawn of time? Um no. I think realistically a six win regular season is reasonable, and if things go really well, perhaps even seven. And sure the doom and gloom that everyone expects is possible, but there is just so much more to look forward to. Consider the following;

It's Adam Weber's last year as a starter.
Seriously, how great is this? This will be the last season that I'll have to endure bad start after bad start after bad start, only to hear his supporters blame everyone else- the offensive line, the coaches, the receivers, BP, Obama, the cast of Jersey Shore- for Weber's struggles. I hope Weber has a good year and meets his supporters' expectations, but I'm not exactly holding my breath. His 2008 2nd Team All-Big Ten season was an absolute fluke, taking advantage of his first seven games when he was great, as well as the weakest year for Big Ten quarterbacks in the history of humanity. He will NOT be an all-conference quarterback again (although a big part of that is because of just how loaded the Big Ten is this year. Holy Moses the conference is as deep and talented as it's been for at least the last decade, if not longer), but I'm not even hoping for that. Just a completion percentage north of 55 would be dandy, as well as more TD's than INT's. Really.

MarQueis the WR?
So Weber beat MarQueis fair and square apparently, and now Gray is getting a ton of reps at wideout. As long as Brewster is being truthful when he says Gray will get another crack at the starting QB job next year (although really, Brewster can say whatever he wants because there's a good chance he won't be around next season anyway. So he can say that Gray will be the QB and the Gophs will win 21 games and be better than the Vikings and that he'll be sole reason for an economic turnaround. Seriously, he can say anything and it doesn't matter if it's true. Perhaps his next gig should be to run for governor? Can't be any worse than Pawlenty), I applaud this move. It DOES get your best athlete on the field and in the game, and he'll be another weapon for Weber to throw to. I'm guessing the faster Gray learns the nuances of playing receiver, the more reps he gets, unless more than one of DaJon McKnight, Troy Stoudermire, Brandon Green, and Bryant Allen really asserts themselves, there's a starting spot there for Gray for the taking.

An Athletic D-Line
The more I read about our young, athletic D-line, the more excited I get. Brandon Kirksey could be a force inside, and how can you NOT get all amped up for redshirt frosh Rashede Hageman? a 6'6 280 pound freak of nature blowing over, around or through blockers off the edge? Sign me up!

The Home Schedule
Yes it's going to be tough, but when was the last time we've had USC, Penn State, Ohio State AND Iowa all come visit Dinkytown in the same season? Oh that's right, never. I'll take this schedule over Cupcake Central that we saw under Glen Mason every time. Now if we can just start competing and winning some of these games, it'll be even better.

Shhhhhh... I have a secret

2010-08-08T07:25:00.001-05:00

I finally admitted it on the phone to my uncle on Friday evening.

I haven't even told Jeffrick yet.

I've really been trying to suppress it, but it bubbled out of me on Friday and for some reason, before the sun rises on this Sunday morning I'm prepared to share it with all of Gopher Nation. Or at least the dozen or so people that read this blog when they are trying to kill some time.

I blame the media. They've been printing quotes by Gopher players and coaches and they've seeped into my subconscious.

I blame some of the posters over at Gopher Hole because some of them have been talking about it for months as I lurked quietly back, shaking my head and rarely posting anything in response.

I'm beginning to feel a bit of optimism about this Gopher football team.

There... I said it.

I know, I know, I've been negative for months. I was annoyed by Adam Weber all of last season. I was disgusted by our play in the Insight Bowl against Iowa State. I was skeptical of Brewster's insistence on there really a quarterback competition going on during the spring.

But as actual football is returning to our lives, my attitude toward what we might see on the field this fall is thawing out a bit.

Here are a few things that I wasn't really thinking clearly about that currently have me a little bit excited.

*Yes, we lost 9 starters on defense. Yes, that is a staggering number. And yes, the two starters that ARE returning had an injury (Royston) and a run-in with the law (Theret), during the off-season that put them slightly in doubt for the upcoming fall.

But saying that we lost 9 starters on defense and then automatically assuming that that means this will be a completely inexperienced defense just isn't the case.

Consider that of the 13 games that the Gophers played last season Kim Royston, Kyle Theret, Keanon Cooper, Gary Tinsley,Ryan Collado, Michael Carter, Anthony Jacobs, Jewhan Edwards, D.L. Wilhite and Brandon Kirksey saw playing time in 11 or more of those games, and all are in the discussion to be projected starters this season.

Yes, the defense will be young, but it will also be filled with plenty of guys who have seen significant playing time, albeit not necessarily as starters.

*Jedd Fisch might be a pretty smart offensive game-plan guy, but when it comes to actual coaching he might be an idiot. This is college football, this isn't the NFL, and by all accounts, Fisch installed an offense for the Gophers last fall that was filled with motion and intricacies that our players just weren't equipped to handle.

Add to that the fact that Fisch (and I'll put at least part of the blame here on Brewster because while Fisch was calling the plays, Brewster is STILL the head coach of this team and when the fish stinks, it stinks at the head) seemed more than willing to abandon the run in games painfully early last season and continually called plays that forced Weber to make throws into the flat (his least comfortable and least successful type of throw), and you begin to see why maybe it's not such a horrible thing that ol' Jedd headed west to try out NFL pastures. That, and he's an idiot.

I'm not quite prepared to say that I'm super excited for Jeff Horton, but in retrospect, I'm pretty glad that Fisch is gone. Additionally some of the things that I've been hearing have me at least intrigued about what Horton is doing with Weber and the offense.

Adam Weber, from the PiPress last week:

"We've had only 15 practices with coach Horton so far, but I already know that we're not going to try to trick ourselves," Weber said. "This style of play is more of a traditional style of football. For a while the spread became very popular, and it still is, but this style of play is more suited for the talent we have on our team. For me, I feel most comfortable in the I-formation with play-action fakes and being under center. That's what I was recruited to play. I wish I had more seasons with it."

A couple of things become clear from that quote. First, Weber isn't in awe of the offense in the sense that it's over his head. He seems to be comfortable with what is being installed and happy about getting back to something more simple. Second, Jedd Fisch was an idiot.

Another point is that Weber appears to be in much better health than he was at this time last season. Looking back, perhaps not enough was made of the fact that Weber was coming off of shoulder surgery and hadn't had the chance to condition in the off-season the way you'd like to heading into a Big Ten football season.

A guy who is confused by the offense he's trying to run and is also not confident in his body is a really good formula for a poor season... which is exactly what Weber had.

I would like nothing better than to see Adam Weber have the kind of season that he had in 2008, and with the talent that he has around him, this could translate into some very good numbers.

*There are definitely a lot of expectations in place for the 2010 Gopher Football season... fortunately almost all of those expectations are very low.

You cannot find a place anywhere on the internet that predicts the Gophers to finish anywhere but the bottom three in the Big Ten. In fact, in a completely unscientific research project, funded only by me and fueled by Diet Mountain Dew, I went to The Google, and searched "2010 Big Ten Football predictions." (My research methods are quite advanced, I know.) Of the articles on the first page of results that actually ranked how they thought the Big Ten would pan out in 2010, EVERY SINGLE ONE predicted the Gophers to finish DEAD LAST in the conference. (To which my wife replied "...it's going to be a painful season.") Every. Single. One.

Call it bulletin board material, call it motivation, call it whatever you want. The fact is nobody expects us to do jack squat this year, and considering how last season ended, and considering that we lost perhaps the single best player in the history of the program from an offense that was... well, bad, that shouldn't be too surprising.

To quote a line from the Gin Blossoms song "Hey Jealousy": "If you don't expect to much from me, you might not be let down."

So here's to having low expectations... but secretly having a little bit of optimism.

Notes on some notes

2010-08-06T11:28:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen of Gopher Nation... do you feel that? Do you feel the rumble? Can you feel the air moving?

THAT'S RIGHT GOPHER FANS... practice has started. This morning at 6am I was running wind-sprints at the Gibson-Nagurski football complex... okay, that's not true, but the Gophers were. And so it begins. IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

Both the PiPress and the Strib (by the way, Phil Miller, welcome to the Gopher beat, you're already a breath of fresh air) had tidbits on the Gophers yesterday and I thought I'd add my own tidbits to their tidbits.

Marcus Fuller is reporting that Ra'Shede Hageman has become a beast.

"Former tight end Ra'Shede Hageman's transition into a load at defensive end amazes even Kirksey, a junior defensive tackle. They both bench press over 400 pounds, but Hageman power cleans 390 pounds."

Hageman looks like he could make an impact on the D-line as a redshirt freshman and how nice would it be to see a true pass rushing and run stuffing, long and lean lineman coming off the end. Also, remember when this guy chose to go to Minnesota because he wanted to play TE? Doesn't look like he's got much interest in lining up on the offensive side of the ball anymore.

Fuller also talked to Brandon Kirksey, who will be a team captain this fall, and Kirk is ready to step up and, along with his coaches, expects to be one of the top D-tackles in the conference.

"Gophers coach Tim Brewster said the 295-pound Kirksey has a chance to be one of the top defensive tackles in the Big Ten this year.

The St. Louis native said he's been hearing that kind of praise from his defensive line coach Tim Cross since last season ended, and even more after he was named a captain.

'It motivates me to know that my coach feels that way about me,' he said. 'It's nothing new. Coach Cross and I always talk about it, but it's time to fill the shoes.'"

I have loved our defense that last couple of years, and I feel like they got a bad wrap in 2009 because they were constantly playing from behind and having to make up for where the offense left off, but with 9 starters graduating, there's been some concern about them. But I'm getting more and more excited to see how this defense performs. It definitely is lacking experience, but by all accounts they are a more talented group than we've seen the last couple of years.

PhiMill says that Brewster and his staff will be isolating the freshman for the first 3 days of practice in order to give them more individualized attention.

"Freshmen will take the field at 9 a.m. each morning, and everyone else will practice at 3:30 p.m. After a weekend of coaching emphasis on fundamentals and technique, the newcomers will join the vets on Monday as regular two-a-days begin.

'It will help, most importantly, from a confidence standpoint,' Brewster said of his 20-member freshmen class. 'They'll go into the fourth day with the older guys much more confident.'"

Here we go folks. We're going to start getting reporting on ACTUAL football, not just quotes and jottings and conference expansion and realignment and recruiting, but actual football!!!

Spending our time in the doldrums

2010-08-03T20:10:00.000-05:00

"I was spending my time in the doldrums..." is the opening line of the song "Lost For Words" by Pink Floyd. It's one of those songs that I haven't actually heard for probably a decade, but it sometimes pops into my head, and that opening line in particular describes how I feel about these last days of the summer of 2010 without Big Ten Football.

I really wanted to be excited about Big Ten media days. I really wanted to be excited about hearing what Brandon Kirksey, Kim Royston, Adam Weber and Coach Brewster have to say about the upcoming Gopher Football season. I had convinced myself I was going to follow it closely and write blog posts about it and that it was going to be an exciting way to jump into the football season.

But then I realized something... it's all just talk, it isn't football, and it isn't quite quenching my thirst for Gopher Football like I was hoping.

Then something else happened. As a fan of the Vikings, the news hit today that Brett Favre (allegedly) will be retiring for real this time. Suddenly I was thinking "this is good, this will be a good distraction for a couple of days until Gopher football practice kicks off." But you know what? I got bored with the Brett Favre news in about 20 minutes.

So here I sit again, spending my time in the doldrums, just waiting for Gopher football season to start. I can't wait for the talk and the speculation to stop and for the season to just begin. I even think that I might be excited about practices (it's possible I'll be wrong about my excitement for practice like I was excited about media days) because at least we'll be hearing about how the players are performing and who looks good, instead of just the constant speculation.

All I can say is bring on the football!

Devin Crawford-Tufts is fast!

2010-07-21T13:45:00.001-05:00

Ladies & Gentlemen of Gopher Nation, please watch this video. The gentleman who comes from WAY behind of the fourth leg of the MN State High School 4x100 meter relay is Gopher recruit Devin Crawford-Tufts... and as you'll see, he's fast. DCT blows by the guy who was in first place at the beginning of the leg like he's standing still.

Crawford-Tufts is your next Golden Gopher star WR and will join the Gophers in the fall of 2011.

3 coins in a fountain, and 2 cents on the coaching hot seat

2010-07-14T16:42:00.001-05:00

There's been plenty of talk about Brewster being on the hot seat...

The Daily Gopher here.
Fringe Bowl Team here.

And both of those blogs point to national publications that have placed Coach Brewster in the Top 10 of coaches in college football whose derrière might be feeling the flames heading into the 2010 season.

We've even mentioned it a few times around these parts, but I'd like to mention it again. Oh goody! Goody for you! Right?

(For the record, I do not plan to give my opinion on whether or not Coach Brewster should/should not be on the hot seat, because I think there are arguments to both sides and I'm on the fence about which is more valid... at least for now... that might change by the time I finish writing this.)

Let's look at 2 questions, and a speculation:
Why does Coach Brewster NOT deserve to be on the hot seat?
Why DOES Coach Brewster deserve to be on the hot seat?
And, despite what the national media and bloggers have to say, does Joel Maturi have Brewster on a hot seat?

Why does Coach Brewster NOT deserve to be on the hot seat?

FBT says:

"If you go back 42 years, every Gopher head coach has gottenthe benefit of the doubt for at least 5 seasons, including Salem and Wacker."

Certainly true. The history of Gopher coaches would suggest that Coach Brewster be given through the 2011 season to prove himself, get all of his players on the field, and solidify his coaching staff.

Another reason people believe Brewster should be given 2 more seasons is that he has done a good job of increasing the talent of recruits that are coming through the doors of the practice facility. I don't think anyone would argue with this. In his 3 full years of recruiting classes, Brewster has ranked 3rd, 6th, and 6th in the Big Ten, while the previous regime was consistently 9th or 10th.

Additionally, Coach Brewster has worked hard to instill an expectation of winning at the U of M. This actually could end up being his own undoing if he ends up not being able to live up to the expectations of Rose Bowls and Big Ten Championships that he is aspiring to, but at least he's talking about those things.

Tim Brewster really believes that Minnesota can have a competitive program. He really believe that Minnesota is historically a good program that can get back to that point. He really believes he can win here. That's a lot more than we can say for the previous regime.

Why DOES Coach Brewster deserve to be on the hot seat?

Gopher Nation, over at The Daily Gopher says this:

"In just three seasons Brewster has not beat one rival. In three seasons Brewster has not beat one team that he wasn't supposed to beat. In three seasons Brewster's teams have not improved as the season went along."

The only argument that he might get, and it wouldn't be coming from me, is that the 2008 win at Illinois was a game that one might say the Gophers weren't supposed to win, but that argument loses all water when you consider that Illinois pretty much fell off the face of the football earth after that game.

Another argument that I've heard is that Brewster's seat should get hotter sooner because he inherited a better team than did his predecessors. Let's look only at records.

Here are the past 6 Gopher coaches, and the combined 3-previous-years record of the teams they inherited:

Cal Stoll : 11-18-2
Joe Salem: 18-16
John Gutekunst, including the Holtz years: 12-22
Jim Wacker: 14-19
Glen Mason: 10-21
Tim Brewster: 20-17

Now, I realize that 3 years is an arbitrary number, but we have to start somewhere. With these numbers in mind, Tim Brewster is the only Gopher coach to inherit a team with a winning record since Joe Salem came on board in 1979.

If the success of the new coach in a program is measured by his ability to take the team from its current level to a higher level, then it seems clear to me that Brewster started with the bar set at a higher level, albeit still a mediocre level in the grand scheme of things, than his 5 predecessors.

Despite what the national media and bloggers have to say, does Joel Maturi have Brewster on a hot seat?

Considering that Maturi gave Brewster a contract extension, many would say that he doesn't have Brew on the hot seat. But I don't think that move necessarily communicates confidence in his coach as much as it communicates a desire to show recruits some stability in the program.

My fear with Maturi isn't really whether or not he has Coach Brewster on the hot seat, but what criteria he is going to use to make that decision. And even more concerning than that, is if he even has an idea of what that criteria should be.

The reason I have this fear is because of how Maturi fired Mason. Now look, I'm not saying Mason shouldn't have been fired, because I was leading the parade, the bandwagon and the charge when it came to that move. But what I think is concerning about how Maturi fired Mason is that I have my doubts that Joel had any idea what would or would not constitute firing his coach until he was suddenly faced with an embarrassing collapse of a loss in a mediocre-at-best bowl game. I don't have any insight into this, it's just how I feel in hindsight considering some of the other moves Maturi has made and things he has said.

When he was suddenly faced with that situation, he was up against the clock of the coaching staff's contracts being automatically renewed. That bowl game collapse was the only thing that really separated that year's Gopher squad from Mason's previous 7. They finished right around the .500 mark, they made a bowl game, they ran the ball well, and they were defensively susceptible to teams who threw the ball more than 50% of the time... all the hallmarks of Glen Mason football.

So do I think that Coach Brewster is on Joel Maturi's hot seat? I don't. And the reason that I don't is because I have my doubts that Joel Maturi has a standard in mind for what SHOULD put a coach on the hot seat at all. I don't think that he's comparing Brewster to other coaches from the U or outside of the program. Again, I have no direct knowledge of this, just a feeling.

While Brewster has done several very good things at the University of Minnesota, he has been given the keys to the castle to do so (upgraded facilities, increased resources in recruiting), and the good things he has done have not translated into wins on the field. Any measure of a coach HAS to put wins/losses at the top of the criteria, and by that criteria, Coach Brewster has maintained the status quo at best.

So the question for Joel Maturi actually goes back to the firing of Glen Mason. Maintaining the status quo wasn't good enough to keep Glen Mason around, so why is maintaining the status quo good enough to keep Tim Brewster around? And furthermore, why is maintaining the status quo good enough for Brewster when he's been given better facilities and tools with which to recruit and run his team? The answer from Joel Maturi, I would hope, would be, it isn't good enough.

So if it isn't good enough, how long does Brewster get to outperform the status quo?

The Arguement FOR a Geographical Big Ten Realignment

2010-06-25T12:19:00.002-05:00

Earlier in the week E!SPN.com Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg addressed the central question in Big Ten realingment: what to do with Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska?

The four neighbors share borders, values, rivalries and would seem to make perfect division mates. Nebraska is the fourth winningest college football program of all time, while Wisconsin and the dirty Hawkeyes have strong programs who in the last 20 years have won a Big Ten title, played in the Rose Bowl, and seem to make regular trips to New Year's Day Bowls. Iowa and Wisconsin have a strong rivalry building, as the two have met 85 times, the first in 1894. The Huskers and Hawkeyes are neighboring farming states who absolutely, positively eat, sleep and breathe Nebraska and Iowa football, and despite the two border states having played so little over the years, there's still a healthy rivalry brewing between the fan bases. Wisconsin and Nebraska have almost no history, but considering they share the same colors, and their fans share many of the same values and passions, them meeting annually would be a most natural fit.

Minnesota? Um yeah we were good like 50 years ago, and our sucktitude of late, especially in games against the three schools, have us bordering on irrelevance in the minds of their fans. But, the one trump card we have to play is that the Gophers have more history with these three programs than any other school in the country:

- The Gophs and Badgers have Division 1's oldest rivalry, as they've met 119 times, the first in 1890. They've played for Paul Bunyan's Axe- THE best rivalry trophy in sports- since 1948.
- The Gophs are Iowa's oldest rival, as the two first met in 1891, and have played for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy every year since 1935
- Minnesota has played Nebraska 51 times, more than any other Big Ten school, and lead the series 29-20-2. Of course, the Huskers have won the past 14 straight meetings, which includes the Gophs worst lost ever when Nebraska thumped them 84-13, so you can't really call this a rivalry.

Still, if you're going to split the Big Ten into two divisions, these four schools clearly belong together. Add the two neighboring schools Illinois and Northwestern from The Land of Lincoln and it would create two perfect divisions from the standpoint of competitiveness, geography, and maintain rivalries. Honestly, not one fanbase in the Big Ten would be upset if the divisions were split with a simple East/West geographic split. Everyone wins right?

Wrong. The only people who don't like this idea are the ones who drive the bus when it comes to college football- the Almighty Dollar. Yes television execs would not be thrilled to have three of the four highest profile Big Ten schools- Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State- in the same division. For television it'd be fantastic when Nebraska represents the West and would play any of the Big Three east schools. But what happens in the years Nebraska doesn't make it? The TV folks like the odds of splitting these four teams to better ensure they meet in conference championship games more often.

The problem here, besides the obvious fact that what's good for the fans is not being judged as good for the conference, is that this reasoning is flawed. I haven't seen anyone questioning the Big Ten's reasoning for NOT wanting to split the divisions by geography. Hear me out on this one, if you will...

With the addition of Nebraska, the Big Ten now has four strong, nationally recognized college football powers, which includes Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. All four of those schools "move the needle" nationally when they're on TV, which is why the conference obviously would like two of those four to meet in their new conference championship game as much as possible.

I totally get that. I would not argue that those four schools are the four most popular, and that even though Wisconsin and Iowa have excellent programs, they still aren't in that class of the other four for national followin. I also understand that the Buckeyes, Wolverines, and Nittany Lions have won or shared the past eight straight Big Ten titles, and have been extremely successful over the years.

SI.com's Stewart Mandel gave his opinion on what Big Ten realignment should look like, and was the first to use actual records to back up the claim that the Big Three shouldn't be in the same division. Mandel looked at the records of the 11 current Big Ten schools since the conference added Penn State in 1993, and looked at the Husker's record since the Big 12 was formed in 1996. Here's the chart he came up with:

TEAM RECORD
1. Ohio State 106-29-1 (.779)
2. Michigan 94-42 (.691)
3. Nebraska 75-37 (.669)
4. Penn State 86-50 (.632)
5. Wisconsin 79-54-3 (.581)
6. Iowa 71-64-1 (.522)
7. Purdue 63-70-3 (.463)
8. Michigan State 63-72-1 (.463)
9. Northwestern 59-77 (.434)
10. Illinois 45-90-1 (.331)
11. Minnesota 44-92 (.324)
12. Indiana 33-103 (.243)

That right there is some good information. Despite Michigan's recent struggles, as well as the recent strong play of Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska (all three schools should start 2010 ranked nationally in the top 10), it shows over two decades how good the "Big Three" and Nebraska have been.

Now I could argue that there's no guarantee Michigan will return to its Lloyd Carr glory days (how ironic- and TRUE- is that statement for Michigan fans?), but Mandel gives a pretty clear view of exactly what conference Commish Jim Delany and company will be looking at: that based on these stats the Buckeyes, Wolverines, Nittany Lions, and Huskers have been, and will continue to be, the four flagship programs for the conference.

Fine. So just to be clear, maximizing TV dollars for your title game is the ultimate goal for the Big Ten, right? They are hoping to get the biggest ratings year and year out for the next decade for that game, and the best way to ensure that happens to have as few championship games as possible that DON'T include at least one of the Big Four, and hoping to have as many as possible that would include at least two of those four?

So if that's the case, I have one simple question: wouldn't splitting these four up actually HURT your chances of doing that?

Splitting them two-and-two just means a BETTER chance of not having any of them in the conference title game and giving you worse ratings. While it seems like Ohio State would win any division every year for eternity based on the way they've played under Jim Tressell, they did have some "struggles" under previous head coach John Cooper (I use finger quotes around the word "struggles" because it was a span that 95% of college football fanbases, including Minnesota, would kill for) where they played in the Rose Bowl just once between 1986-1998, when the BCS was then created.

As mentioned earlier Michigan is down now and there are zero guarantees Rich Rod, or the next coach, quickly get them back to an elite program. Penn State is great now but from 2000-2004 were just 26-33. Nebraska, once the most dominant program in the country, are still awaiting their return to glory since legendary coach Tom Osborne retired after winning a share of the 1997 national championship. Frank Solich took over, and in hind sight had a good run going 58-13 from 1998-2003, but because he didn't win the Huskers national titles and ONLY averaged nine wins a season, he was run out of Lincoln on a rail. The next four years under Bill Callahan from 2004-2007 were the definition of average with a record of 27-22. Bo Pellini looks to be getting things back to a championship level with a 10 win season in 2009 and the school's first national ranking since 2005, but again, all of the recent history for our Big Four schools show dominance is never permanent. So to split these four two-and-two almost guarantees less meetings between them in a conference title game.

Having Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State in the same division means you're almost guaranteed to have one of those three in your conference title game every year- and just having one of those three automatically means bigger ratings because of their national following. Sure playing the Huskers would give you a ratings bonanza, but even against Iowa or Wisconsin the numbers would be very strong because of the success of those programs. And when Northwestern or Illinois has a sneaky season and represents the West, you still have a much better chance of getting good TV numbers because you'd have a much better chance of one of the Big Three representing the East to offset a less "popular" program being in the title game.

By my count, a simple geographic split of the Big Ten would keep All of the key rivalries intact, current and new ones would be strengthened, the divisions would be very competitive AND TV execs would have a much better chance of maximizing revenues for the Big Ten championship game by keeping Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State in the same division. Sounds like a real win-win for everyone. Now if only I could convince the Big Ten of this.

Some thoughts on divisional split

2010-06-18T13:33:00.008-05:00

Everyone is talking about how the divisions will be split once Nebraska joins the Big Ten fray... so why should I be any different?

Rittenberg today made his grand entrance into the discussion, with a proposed divisional alignment that, in my opinion, is just way too complicated. I get that divisions need to maintain a competitive balance, and they need to maintain rivalries, and that geography is really the last thing on anyone's mind, even though it does enter the discussion. But I don't think you can just ignore geography completely.

OSU, Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska are generally accepted as the "traditional powers" when discussing division alignment, and you'll get no argument here. So let's consider that the top tier. Then let's lay out two more tiers...

Tier 1: OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska
Tier 2: Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State
Tier 3: Minnesota, NWestern, Purdue, Indiana

We can all argue about how Northwestern is on the rise, and we can argue about how Illinois is down but are generally competitive, and that Purdue is on its way back, and we can bring all of the historical records we want to the table... fine. This is just one man's argument.

If the tiers listed above hold true, in a 12 team conference, we of course want 2 teams from each tier in each division. This, in theory, should take care of the issue of competitive balance.

To continue the formula that the Big Ten has mentioned, the next two most important factors, in order, are rivalries, followed by geography.

Now, I've seen only two arguments about this. The first is that an East-West divisional split makes sense because of geography, while still maintaining rivalries, and manages to do a reasonable job of maintaining competitive balance. The other argument is Rittenberg's, that the East-West split doesn't get competitive balance close enough, so let's completely ignore geography and only focus on balance and protecting rivalries.

What I haven't seen is anybody arguing for a different kind of geographic split besides the obvious East-West option, so I decided to look at the possibility of a North-South split that accounts for geography and hopefully also maintains rivalries and balance. In my mind it would look like this:

North

Tier 1 teams: Nebraska, Michigan

Tier 2: Wisconsin, Michigan State

Tier 3: Minnesota, NWestern

South

Tier 1 teams: OSU, PSU

Tier 2: Iowa, Illinois

Tier 3: Indiana, Purdue

Clearly each team would play their 5 other divisional opponents every year, followed by a combination of a protected rivalry (you've seen them all over the internet, I'm not going to rehash them here), and a round-robin of teams from the opposite division.

You are still going to have protected rivalries across divisional lines, which is a given, but in this scenario you have natural protection of some rivalries, and can still easily protect many others across divisional lines.

For example, Minnesota would play each of these teams EVERY year:
Nebraska
Wisconsin (rivalry)
NWestern
Michigan State
Michigan (rivalry)
Iowa (protected rivalry)

From here there are options...
1) Two more conference games on a rotating schedule of the other 5 schools from the Big Ten South, and still schedule 4 non-conference games.
2) A second protected rivalry (Iowa would still want to play Wisconsin every year and you'd probably like to see Nebraska play Iowa and OSU/PSU, etc), bringing the list of conference teams you'd play every year to 7. This would then mean that the final conference game would be rotated among the remaining teams in the other division. The unfortunate thing would be that you'd only see those other teams once every 4 years (i.e. Minnesota would only see Ohio State every 4 years).
3) A second protected rivalry game and drop the number of non-conference game to 3 (like the Pac10 has been doing for years). In this scenario Minnesota would see Ohio State at least every two years.

There's going to be flaws with every system, and some of you have maybe already tuned me out (Jeffrick) because I have Ohio State and Michigan in separate divisions. Personally, I like the idea of having Michigan and Ohio State in separate divisions. Assuming Michigan regains its composure and joins the national power discussion in the coming years, I can't bring myself to envision a Big Ten where Michigan and Ohio State would NEVER play for the Big Ten title. I realize that by protecting rivalries and then having them in separate divisions that means they may play twice a year, and possibly on consecutive weeks, but again, I just can't envision those two never being able to play in the Big Ten title game, which would be the case if they were in the same division.

Personally, I would like to see geography come into play with these divisions. The Big Ten is already a regionally proud conference and I think there's merit in maintaining regional flavor when splitting divisions. I also realize how difficult that is, which is why I set out to look at another option.

Texas Now STAYING in the Big 12?!?!?

2010-06-14T09:12:00.006-05:00

You've probably seen the joke already: you know it's a strange time in college football when the Big Ten has 12 members and the Big 12 has 10.

But it could get even stranger if Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com is right: Texas has now decided to STAY in the Big 12.

How is this possible? Well honestly this should have been a plausible option all along because it's an option that looks to give the Texas Longhorns the most money AND most control over their product. And that's what this whole thing has been about from the beginning.

According to Brown, a former beatwriter for one of the Dallas papers and a guy who seems to be more informed about expansion than anyone else covering it, Big 12 commish Dan Beebe made a late pitch to the Horns claiming a ten team Big 12 could still command a TV deal that would pay each member about $17 million a year (the same as the SEC), AND Texas would be free to pursue their own TV network, which would apparently make them an additional $3-$5 million a season. Add to that the reportedly $20 million in fees Nebraska and Colorado would owe the conference for leaving, and you can see how this still looks plenty appealing for Texas.

And of course if it's appealing for Texas, you know the rest of the Big 12 lackeys will be on board since they either a) have to go where Texas goes or b) is better than the alternative of being without Texas either in the MWC or who knows where else?

Well at least it's appealing for eight of the nine other current members whose colors aren't burnt orange: the lone dissenter remains Texas A&M, who also according to Brown have an invite to the SEC if they want it and would have a 6-3 vote from their Board of Regents to accept it if the vote was held right now.

Tough call for the Aggies: stay with what you know, continue your 100 year rivalry with Texas, and continue to cater to the Horns every whim. Or leave for a much tougher conference, but one with more prestige, more money (by adding the Aggies the SEC would add the Dallas, Houston and San Antonio markets, which would assuredly push each team's TV payout north of $20 million a year), and would get them out of the shadow of the Longhorns. Perhaps A&M uses this as leverage to demand a bigger payout from the Big 12, or to balance the TV revenue a little so Texas doesn't get more than everyone else.

While every school is trying to do what's best for them and makes them the most money, this entire process revolves around Texas and everyone has to follow. So I find it interesting that for the second time in a month, the Horns have managed to push the onus and blame onto someone else for what happens to the Big 12, knowing full well that regardless of the outcome Texas will still come out better than anyone else.

Stay tuned. E!SPN.com is still saying this morning that Texas, OU, OSU and Texas Tech are bound for the Pac 10. I tend to trust Brown's reporting on this a lot more than E!SPN's, but until an official announcement is made, we'll hear a lot of differing opinions on what will happen.

We do know there will be Board of Regents meetings at Texas and Texas Tech tomorrow, A&M regents meet Thursday, and the Texas Legislature has called a hearing for Wednesday to try and get attention- I MEAN to work for the best interests of their wallets- I MEAN to work for the best interests of the state universities and their tax payers.

Some Expansion Questions to Ponder

2010-06-11T08:55:00.002-05:00

With Colorado officially off to the Pac 10 and Nebraska's "official" announcement about moving to the Big Ten expected today, college football is in a state of flux that we haven't seen in...well probably ever. So many scenarios, so many possibilities, so many different takes on what could happen. After reading a LOT of informed opinions this morning with the opening match of the World Cup on in the background, I have a few expanded related questions...

IF THE BIG TEN CAN'T GET NOTRE DAME OR TEXAS, IS THERE ANY SENSE IN FURTHER EXPANSION RIGHT NOW?

Unless I'm missing something, the answer is unequivocally NO. The Big Ten made a solid addition with Nebraska and will now be able to get their coveted championship game with 12 teams. Without question they are stronger now than before, and are the most stable, profitable conference in all of college football. So for me, it makes no sense whatsoever to continue expanding if it doesn't include Notre Dame or Texas (and for some reason, I am growing less and less enamored with the idea of UT joining us. More on that in a bit). If Texas goes to the Pac 10 and takes the rest of the Big 12 South with them, why does that force the Big Ten to expand?

Let the other conferences fight for the remaining scraps and see what happens. Conference expansion is all about money, and about making MORE revenue for your current members. No other scenario that doesn't involve the Irish or Horns seems like it would make the Big Ten's current members more money, so why bother? If the B10 stops at 12 teams, it does NOT mean the door on further expansion has closed forever. In a year, three years, or five years, the Big Ten is still going to be making a ton of money and will still be a desirable destination for any school not in the SEC, and possibly the Pac 10 (while the potential Pac 16 COULD be a big money maker, there's no way of knowing until it actually happens and we see what the TV revenue looks like). We can still get anyone we want outside of those two conferences just like we could today.

Furthermore, why risk shutting out the Irish entirely just for a quick money grab now? No, if you're expanding beyond 12 it only makes sense to do so with Notre Dame, and if the folks in South Bend aren't quite ready yet, we can wait.

WHY DOES NEBRASKA AND COLORADO LEAVING KILL THE BIG 12?

ESPN radio's Colin Cowherd, as well as Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg, have both raised this question, and I have not heard a rational explanation for it yet: really, why does these two schools leaving kill the Big 12? Why couldn't you add two of Utah, BYU, TCU, or Boise State and keep right on trucking? What's becoming evident is that the entire conference revolves around Texas (and primarily around UT), and the Big 12's formation was a shot-gun marriage where the Horns called the shots and have basically been running the thing all along.

So what's really changed by losing two disgruntled members? The conference still has the state of Texas teams and OU, and Texas still has its unequal revenue share: so why isn't that good enough anymore? New ESPN.com Big 12 blogger David Ubben has the simple answer: money. UT is the richest athletic department in the country, yet they're perfectly willing to screw the rest of their Big 12 brethren to get even more.

To me, that was the most ironic-and ridiculous- part of the whole "Pledge Your Allegiance" deadline Texas- I mean the Big 12- imposed on Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado earlier in the week: the Horns were trying to pin the blame for the Big 12 falling apart on these three schools when it's really Texas who's trying to make the whole thing crumble. UT could still make a ton of money by keeping the Big 12 together, but they see a bigger prize available in the Pac 10 or Big Ten (while there's a lot of different scenarios floating about, one that will NOT happen is Texas to the SEC). So out of one side of their mouths Texas is talking about loyalty to the Big 12, out of the other their talking to Larry Scott and Jim Delany in hopes of getting a better deal and screwing the rest of the Big 12. You stay classy, Texas.

WHY WOULDN'T TEXAS A&M JOIN THE SEC INSTEAD OF THE PAC 10?

What am I missing here? The Aggies and their conservative fan base are a perfect fit in the culture of the SEC, and would be a complete misfit in the Pac 10. Not only that, but while A&M doesn't have quite the pull the Longhorns do, they would still have a ton of fans in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio that would make them, and the SEC, a ton more TV money. As a matter of fact, I don't see how it's possible that A&M could make more revenue in the Pac 10 than the SEC.

So not only does it make more sense financially, culturally, and geographically to join the SEC, but they could also put the screws to their arch-rivals Texas. A&M would get a really sweet deal of their own, and would certainly lessen what Texas was trying to do in the Pac 10. It's a win-win-win for the Aggies.

WHEN THE BIG 12 FALLS APART, WHY WOULDN'T THE REMAINING SCHOOLS JUST ADD THE MOUNTAIN WEST AND KEEP THEIR AUTOMATIC BCS BID?

Rittenberg posed this idea in his latest chat, and I have to say, it makes all the sense in the world: the Big 12 is obligated to provide an automatic qualifier for the BCS every year. So instead of the Mountain West scooping up the remaining Big 12 schools and then petitioning the BCS for a bid, why wouldn't the remaining Big 12 schools just add the Mountain West and voila! they can keep their automatic BCS bid without having to ask for one? I would bet Big 12 commish Dan Beebe and the folks in the Mountain West figured this one out a long time ago, and when the Big 12 South leaves for the west coast, this could happen.

Welcome Nebraska!!

2010-06-10T08:39:00.003-05:00

It won't be official until Friday, but the first expansion domino has fallen: according to the Chicago Tribune the Nebraska Cornhuskers will join the Big Ten.

And we here at GGFB couldn't be happier! What happens to the Big 12 because of this? Who else, if anyone, will be invited to join the Huskers in Big Ten expansion? For now, who cares? As Stewart Mandel of SI.com did, let's take a moment to appreciate the Huskers:

* They're the 4th winningest program of all-time (Michigan is #1, Ohio State #5, Penn State #9)

* They bring THE classiest, most passionate fan base in the country. True story- at home games in Lincoln, Husker fans applaud their opponent before and after the game. In between, they expect Big Red to beat the bejeesus out of them. But don't mistake kindness for weakness: they travel anywhere and everywhere, including a rare trip to Notre Dame stadium a few years ago where Husker fans made up 47% of the crowd in South Bend. Expect more of the same when they visit Big Ten cathedrals like The Big House, the Horseshoe, Happy Valley, and everywhere else. When NU comes to Minneapolis for the first time, the town will be awash in red, and TCF Bank probably will be too.

* They're not quite Notre Dame in academic reputation, but they're AAU members and a research institution. Good enough for me!

* Don't the Huskers just FEEL like a Big Ten school? Like this is where they should have been all along? The crowd, the culture, the midwest proximity just makes Nebraska the perfect fit in the Big Ten.

* They will be insta-rivals with bordermates Iowa, but do you know which Big Ten school has played more games against Nebraska than any other? You guessed it, your very own Golden Gophers! The two have met 51 times, with the first meeting in 1900 and the last in 1990. Minnesota leads the all-time series 29-20-2. Still, we cannot call them "rivals" because the Huskers have won the past 14 meetings (the last in 1990) by a combined score of 553-100. So yeah, we have some work to do to make Nebraska care about us at all.

* Still, I'm saying right here and right now it's time to drop the worthless Governor's Victory Bell "rivalry" trophy we have with Penn State, and create a new one for our first meeting with Nebraska. Nobody on either side- not here or in Pennsylvania- gives a crap about the Minnesota/Penn State trophy or the rivalry. Don't get me wrong, I love to see us play a storied program like Penn State, but it's a manufactured rivalry and trophy. The matchup with Nebraska- despite the drubbings they've handed us the last 40 years- is quite the opposite. There's a ton of history there and one that should be celebrated. Regardless of what else happens in expansion, I would say the chances are VERY strong that Minnesota will end up in the same division as the Huskers and NOT with the Nittany Lions. Minnesota/Nebraska will once again become an annual game like it was for so many years, and it should be celebrated as such. We probably have two years until Nebraska starts competing in the Big Ten, so let's start figuring something out!

Expansion water heating up.

2010-06-09T16:33:00.002-05:00

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1092612

Expansion Rumors: Is this the beginning or much ado about nothing?

2010-06-04T12:14:00.002-05:00

Most people, myself included, love rumors and speculation and endless possibilities. We love the idea of "What if?" more than what actually happens. It's why where Lebron will end up this summer is getting more attention than the NBA playoffs. It's why SOME people were disappointed with the ending of Lost (and let me just say I'm one of them, and justifiably so. Through 4 seasons the writers had some great ideas and asked some mind-bending sci-fi questions. In season 6 their explanation proved they had no answers for any of it and came up with a story arc that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Island or any of it's crazy sci-fi properties. It was a huge cop-out, but I'll admit, I still really enjoyed the first five seasons. The sixth? Not so much).

Still, it shows that despite some incredible ideas and directions that something could go, usually it doesn't. NBA free agency is another example. In one form or another the NBA offseason is filled with crazy trade rumors and speculation and usually...nothing happens. This year? More of the same I think. Oh sure, somebody like Amare Stoudermire or Joe Johnson could change teams, and perhaps Chris Bosh too. But in the end, I think you'll see Bronbron stay in Cleveland, Wade stay in Miami, and Dirk Diggler stay in Dallas. Maybe Bosh joins DWade in Miami or maybe he gets shipped to the Lakers. Maybe. But because professional athletes overwhelming care more about money than anything else, I think the big boys will stay with their current teams because they can get the most money.

Which brings us to all of the conference expansion rumors that have been swirling since December when Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez and others in the Big Ten starting floating the idea that the conference was thinking expansion again. Don't get me wrong, I'm as intrigued by this stuff as anyone else, especially because as a Gophers fan, whatever happens will impact their teams.

But while I guess a 16 team Big Ten, or the latest rumor of a 16 team Pac 10, is possible, I'd say minor changes are much more likely than major ones. College football is the Old Boys Club of Old Boys Clubs, and none of them are exactly huge risk takers. They are protecting their wealth and status at all costs with a convoluted BCS system that makes less sense, and would probably make them less money, than a playoff. But they still cling to it because it's safe and because they remain in control.

I don't think the parameters of expansion are much different. Yes, the Big Ten has been risk takers, as starting the Big 10 Network was an incredibly bold move that has paid off ridiculously well. So now they're trying to strike while the iron is hot much like, say, Google looking to buy up competitors. It's a shrewd move, and if done correctly, will be another masterstroke from Jim Delaney.

But make no mistake, for EVERYONE involved three things matter over all else- protecting their wallets, their prestige and their control over both. As they've proven with the BCS, the men and women running NCAA schools and college football don't give a damn about competition, they care about making money and whatever you and I as fans will pay to see it, that's what they're going to charge us. While as fans I would love expansion to be about making the Big Ten stronger on the field, remember these are also the same people who helped usher in a 12th regular season game that EVERYBODY uses to schedule a crappy opponent so they can make money and pad their win totals so they can make more bowl games.

As for prestige, I'm talking about their academic standing and the image of the conference. For the Big 12 and SEC this isn't such a big deal, but for the Big Ten and Pac 10, this is a HUGE deal. If you want to join either of these conferences, you're going to not only need to add a lot of value (i.e. new revenue) but also academic standing. This is the part so many people seem to overlook. The Big Ten is the Ivy League of the Midwest, and the school presidents, who have to answer to faculty and donors as well as athletic boosters, are not going to let academics slip in the name of more money. Even more so with the Pac 10 for one simple reason: unless they change this at their meetings coming up, to get accepted into the Pac 10 ALL 10 SCHOOLS MUST APPROVE. The Big Ten I believe needs 8 of 11 votes, but in the Pac 10, if one school doesn't like you, you're not getting in. And there's one school in that conference who really, really, REALLY values academics, and that is Stanford. The Cardinal are NOT going to have their academic standing, and those of the conference they're in, slide in favor of more money. With all of the research, grants, and donors they have, Stanford prints money with or without athletics. So while more money from a new TV deal would be nice, it's not going to come at the cost of what they consider to be a lesser academic school.

Finally, the schools are going to do whatever possible to maintain control over both their revenues and their academic standing. It's why even though both Notre Dame and Texas would make more money by joining the Big Ten, they both won't unless something forces them to because they can still make a lot of money by themselves.

Which bring us to the past Thursday when rivals.com ran a story-at the same time the Big 12 meetings were about to begin- saying the Pac 10 was going to extend invites to six Big 12 schools: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, and Texas Tech.

Is there validity to it? Perhaps, as the article states, both the Pac 10 and some of the schools named aren't exactly denying it. And I know where this takes some people: a 16 team Pac 10, then a 16 team Big Ten adding Nebraska, Mizzou, Rutgers, and one of Syracuse/UConn/Pitt which forces Notre Dame to join and escape the collapsing Big East. While I guess this scenario is possible, I'd say it's more likely Lebron signs with the Timberwolves than this actually playing out.

For one thing- there's not a chance in hell Stanford ever lets Texas Tech into the Pac 10. Ever. Never ever. Not happening. I could be wrong, but even if the Longhorns say they'll join the conference by the Texas Legislature demands Tech goes with them, from everything I've heard and read Stanford values their academics to the point they'd put the kibosh on that. But maybe not.

Bottom line is that everybody involved has been in "wait-and-see" mode. Nobody wants to make the first move. So does this mean the Pac 10 invite rumor is the conference making the first move? Or are they just testing the waters to see what happens and who reacts? I'm guessing it's more of the latter, but then again they see the writing on the wall. They understand completely that's there's only so much TV money to go around and only so many networks that will pay it. Their TV contracts and bowl alliances suck, and they're all coming up for renegotiation, so the time is NOW to build as attractive a package as possible.

So I'm sure their aim is definitely Texas. Creating a cable sports network that would be on basic packages in California and Texas would be huge. Adding the states of Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and possibly Colorado, Oklahoma, and even Utah, would vault them right into third in the college football power structure behind the Big Ten and SEC. Again, all 10 Pac 10 schools need to be in agreement which is why I'm really doubtful they would offer Texas Tech.

Still, in a game that so far has everyone involved in "wait-and-see" mode, it'll be interesting to see if the Pac 10 is simply firing a shot across the bow to see how people react- or if this really is a shot to the heart of the Big 12 that will get this whole expansion process rolling.

Things are so bad I'm turning into an optimist

2010-06-01T08:39:00.002-05:00

I am a realist. Some would say a pessimist, especially when it comes to Gopher football. I'm one of those crazy people who thinks that with the right coach Minnesota should be able to compete for a New Year's Day bowl birth every season, not just once a century. I advocated firing Glen Mason, and even with all that's happened under Tim Brewster, I still do. I'm believe if Brewster doesn't win seven regular season games this season, he should be fired too. I was anti-Adam Weber last season and do not believe he was ever a 2nd team all-Big Ten quarterback or will be again.

I am a realist, and some would say a pessimist when it comes to Gopher football. But things have gotten so bad and so negative around here, I'm starting to look like an optimist by comparison. I mean, what else can you do with the Sam Maresh news but laugh about it? Heading into the offseason I was SO excited about the potential of our defense, yet since then we've now lost both of our middle linebacker candidates to suspension or academics (although I've heard Tinsley could make it back?), and both of our senior starting safeties- one to suspension and the other to injury. We should get both back, but really who knows? And would it surprise you in the least if it was announced today that Theret was booted off the team and Royston's injury was career-ending?

Yeah, me neither. At this point NOTHING would surprise me when it comes to the Gopher football team. I'm officially prepared for the worst because the worst keeps happening. Maybe having zero expectations is a good thing?

I've also found someone in media who is much more pessimistic about the Gophers than I could ever be- and no, it's not Pat Reusse. It's the college football writers at the Sporting News, who have released their preseason Top 100 rankings. Now, I've said since the offseason you could make an argument for the Gophs being as good as the 7th best team in the Big Ten and as bad as 9th or 10th. But not 11th. There's no way they're in worse shape heading into 2010 than Indiana. Well guess what? The boys at TSN disagree. The Hoosiers are ranked 78th in the country. Illinois is 94th. Our Gophs? 98th. Yep, they think we're going to be the worst team in the Big Ten, and easily one of the worst in the country.

But that's not all: check out the writeup from head writer Matt Hayes, who projects Minnesota to go 2-10 overall and just 1-7 in the Big Ten. I mean that, that is a pessimist right there. Even in my wildest and worst dreams I can't see the Gophs winning less than four games. But TWO?

And Hayes' confidence in this happening is high:

Even if Weber returns to his old form, he can't play defense. There will be too many young guys playing in big games for the first time — and against a brutal league schedule that includes favorites Ohio State and Wisconsin.

The schedule IS the toughest the Gophers have seen in years, but only two wins? Either I'm turning into an optimist or that's just crazy. Also, Hayes apparently thinks Minnesota would have a better chance of winning if they put Eden Prairie's high school team out there instead of Brew's Crew. Check out his positional rankings:

OFFENSE
QB (C), RB (D+), WR/TE (C-), OL (B-)

I will not argue with his rankings of the skill positions. Until proven otherwise I'd say those are bang on. I'd even say he's pretty optimistic by giving our offensive line- which was our biggest offensive problem last year- a B-. Hayes, like me and every other Gopher fan, is apparently thinking a year of experience will make them better and serviceable. Let's hope so.

DEFENSE
DL (D), LB (C), DB (C-), ST (C)

Now here's where I disagree strongly. As mentioned earlier we are currently without our two senior safeties and our two starting middle linebacker candidates. Yet I still maintain that while our D lacks in experience, this is still going to one of the fastest and most athletic groups we've seen here in a long, long time. Our D-line has so much more potential than a "D" gradeand could really be the strength of the team. Yes, our LB's are definitely hurt by losing Maresh and Tinsley (and by the way, this ranking was given BEFORE the Maresh news broke), but with guys like Keanon Cooper, Mike Rallis and Spencer Reeves, there's still plenty of talent there. The secondary? Michael Carter by himself is better than a C- rating. We will get Royston back from injury, and whatever happens with Theret, we'll be ok at the other safety spot. We ARE thin with depth at corner, but I still see a ton of potential in this group.

So maybe all of this negativity and bad news has made me crazy, or maybe I'm just turning into an optimist, but 6 or 7 wins is a possibility this year. Despite what Matt Hayes says (and I'm sure there's be plenty more pundits who will agree with him), we have the talent on defense this year, and IF our offensive line improves and one of the true freshmen running backs step up, our offense will be much better too. The schedule will indeed be tough, but I can find six or seven wins on this schedule.

And if it doesn't happen and we miss a bowl game, then Tim Brewster is gone and we'll get a better coach. And regardless of what happens this season Adam Weber will be gone too. See? All positive signs. This being an optimist thing isn't so bad after all.

The poor get poorer...

2010-05-29T17:28:00.001-05:00

Well folks... Jeffrick said it so eloquently over text message to me... FAAAACK!!!

As I sit on my deck on this beautiful Memorial Day weekend I decided to check the old Twitter feed on my Blackberry, where I read this from The Daily Gopher...

"Sam Maresh no longer a Gopher"

Stomach punch.

According to the Strib:

"Sam Maresh has one more hurdle to clear in his quest to play Division I football. Maresh, the highly-recruited linebacker from Champlin Park High School who committed to the University of Minnesota in 2007, has left the school because of academic issues.

He will take classes at Anoka-Ramsey Junior College this summer, then attend a junior college this fall."

You should go ahead and read the articles because I don't have the wherewithal to rehash it on this holiday weekend, but needless to say, this is another huge blow to a program that simply could NOT afford anymore.

Is Brewster's Coaching Seat the Hottest in the BIg Ten?

2010-05-28T09:29:00.001-05:00

Earlier in the week Jermo touched on what Tim Brewster will have to do to keep his job as Minnesota's football coach beyond 2010. While I wish I could argue against Jermo's beliefs that another six win regular season and a win in a crappy bowl game is all Brew will have to do to be here in 2011, I simply can't, especially with Joel Maturi in charge.

So while Brew's coaching hot seat is pretty warm heading into 2010, it's by no means the warmest in the conference. Just for fun (like a man wearing stretchy pants in his room), let's rank the coaching hot seats around the Big Ten in reverse order and see where Brewster shakes out:

A Cool, Comfortable Easy Chair

Tough to rank these five in any order, as all of their jobs are extremely safe. Still...

11. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern

Fitz's job is the most secure in all of the Big Ten because he's been the most successful coach in Wildcats' history at a school with little support and even less expectations. Honestly, he could miss a bowl game for the next five years and no one at the school would even fathom getting rid of him.

10. Danny Hope, Purdue

While Purdue has a larger fan base and expectations than Northwestern, they still don't compare to some other schools in the conference. Despite missing a bowl game in his first season, Hope's team was competitive and even exciting, and therefore he's going to get a few more years to get the Boilermakers "back on track" if you will (and I will).

9. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

Hawkeye fans LOVE Ferentz, but because of the expectations at Iowa, it wouldn't take more than two "down" seasons for Kirk's seat to start getting toasty. Heck, with the expectations going into this season, if they finish anywhere but first or second you might hear a few grumbles.

8. Joe Paterno, Penn State

Whenever JoePa decides to finally retire, he'll leave as the winningest coach in Division 1 history. With the way the past few seasons have gone, Nittany Lion fans will be thrilled to let him stay as long as he wants. The team is back to competing for conference titles every year, and while everyone knows Paterno long ago started delegating most of his coaching duties to his fine staff, it's working well and everyone's on-board. The only reason I put JoePa here is because if you remember back only five or six years ago when Penn State wasn't winning, the folks in Happy Valley weren't so happy and were ready to push Paterno out the door to retirement as fast as they could. A down year this season (possible with all the losses on defense and QB) and next would be enough for the fans to start clamoring for him to step down.

7. Jim Tressel, Ohio State

All the mighty Sweater Vest has done this century at OSU is win a national title, win or share the last six Big Ten titles, and continually beat the bejeesus out of arch-rival Michigan. At 99% of the schools in the country, they'd be naming streets after Tressel and handing him a blank check. But of course OSU expects more. After losing three straight BCS Bowl games (including two national title game drubbings in 2006 and 2007) and another regular season loss to USC AND a shocking upset to Purdue last year, a sizeable amount of Buckeye fans were lighting up message boards and websites wondering if Tressel was the right guy for the job. Of course the Bucks then ripped off a big winning streak to once again win the conference title and then avenged their previous BCS bowl game losses by handling Oregon in impressive fashion.

For now the folks in Columbus are satisfied, but with a loaded 2010 team that will be ranked in the top 3 in the country to start the season, anything less than another Big Ten title and AT LEAST another BCS bowl game win (if not the BCS National Championship), the questioning will begin again. As a Gopher fan it seems insane to me, as I would take any ONE of Tressel's Big Ten title seasons and take him as our coach for life. But Ohio State is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to expectations.

We're Getting Warmer

6. Bret Bielma, Wisconsin

Heading into 2009 most Badger fans seemed less than thrilled with Bielma's tenure. Considering he played at Iowa I'm not sure what they expected (zing!), but Bielma quieted his critics with 10 wins, including a bowl victory over Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl. Bucky Badger enters this season in just everybody preseason top 10, and if Wisconsin doesn't finish the season there- or at least close to it- his critics in Madison will start up again.

5. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State

Dantonio has done a pretty good job of rebuilding the Spartans in his short time there, but with a disappointing 2009 season coupled with so many player suspensions for the "frat boy fights", he really needs a top 5 finish in the Big Ten in 2010. Not saying he's going to get canned if he doesn't, but his seat will start getting awfully warm heading into 2011.

Is it Me, or Is It Hot in Here?

4. Tim Brewster, Minnesota

If it were me as AD, Brew would need 7 wins this season to keep his job. He's entering his fourth season with a roster full of his own recruits, and all he has to show for it is a string of players running afoul of the law, an 0-3 bowl record, 0-9 in trophy games, and he's yet to beat a team ranked in the top 25. But as long as Joel Maturi continues to run the U's athletic department, well, Brewster could win four games and still keep his job. Or maybe get another contract extension. Who knows?

3. Bill Lynch, Indiana
It's looking like bowl game or bust for Lynch, who with a returning QB and some offensive talent around him, has a pretty good shot at remaining in Bloomington. Still, it's Indiana so you never know.

2. Ron Zook, Illinois

If Zook were at a lot of other schools he wouldn't even have a job, but for some reason, the Illini wanted to give him one more shot at it. The Zooker definitely needs to go bowling to keep his job, but I wonder if HOW they qualify for a bowl doesn't matter too? Like if they go limping into a bowl game, would he still get canned? We're about to find out.

1. Rich Rodriguez, Michigan
We finish the list with the man on the hottest seat not just in the Big Ten but in the country. Things have not gone as planned on or off the field for Rodriguez or fans and alumni of the Maize and Blue as he enters his third season. I'm still of the belief that if he would get four years he would win there and start winning big, but he's not getting a fourth year unless he wins big in 2010. What does "winning big" mean? I have no idea, and considering how many differing opinions you read out there, I'm not sure anyone else does either. In my opinion to keep his job he needs to beat Notre Dame, win at least eight regular season games and get them back to a New Year's Day Bowl. But considering how much he's disliked in Ann Arbor right now, even that might not be enough.

Hot Seats

2010-05-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

Rittenberg wrote this morning about coaching hot seats as CBSSports.com did a list of how "hot" of a seat every coach in college football is sitting on.

On a 0-5 scale (0= coach is untouchable, 5= the seat is burning) Brewster gets a rating of 4 along with Bill Lynch of Indiana. According to CBS Sports, there are only 7 other coaches in all of college football whose jobs are in more jeopardy than Brewster's... and TWO of them are from the Big Ten (RichRod & Zooker).

With 4 Big Ten coaches in the top 10 of this list, Rittenberg points out the obvious:

"It has been three years since a Big Ten head coach was fired, as Michigan State's John L. Smith and Minnesota's Glen Mason got pink-slipped before the 2007 season (Michigan's Lloyd Carr "retired" after the 2007 campaign). But there's a good chance we'll see some movement in November or December."

What could happen?

2010-05-26T10:06:00.000-05:00

Here are some thoughts on the upcoming Gopher season and what might happen given some combination of wins/losses.

6 wins (Mid Tenn State, SDSU, No Illinois, NWestern, Purdue, Illinois)
3-1 in the non-con (with the obvious loss to USC) and 3-3 in the Big Ten. These are three Big Ten teams that the Gophers, based on what we know today, SHOULD beat. This record would clearly earn the Gophers a bowl bid, but once again to a lower tier game. If the team wins 6, and the games I've mentioned here are the one's they win, Tim Brewster will be playing for his job in a late December bowl game. Win that game and he stays, lose it, and he's gone.

6 wins (Mid Tenn State, SDSU, No Illinois, NWestern, Purdue & Wisky OR Iowa)
If Tim Brewster's squad wins 6 games this season and he wins one of the rivalry games, his job is safe no matter what happens in whatever low-tier bowl game they go to.

5 wins (Iowa & Wisky, Mid Tenn State, SDSU, No Illinois)
If Tim Brewster misses a bowl game, but beats both Iowa and Wisconsin, his job is safe. The schedule is difficult enough that the bar might be set low and he might be able to survive missing a bowl game... but he would HAVE to exercise both of the rivalry game demons. A five win season can't really be called a success... but winning both rivalry games in one season can't exactly be called a failure.

4 wins
The only way Tim Brewster is around following a 4-win season is if those wins are over 4 of the 5 best teams on the schedule: USC, Wisconsin, PSU, OSU & Iowa.

3 wins or less
Brewster is gone. In fact, if Brewster doesn't come out of the non-con schedule with a 3-1 record (unless one of those wins is somehow against USC), his job might be in jeopardy before he even hits the conference season.

Phil Steele Announces His 2010 Preseason All-Big Ten Teams

2010-05-24T19:40:00.005-05:00

As Rittenberg notes in his blog, college football guru Phil Steele has released his 2010 preseason All-Big Ten teams. Just in case you don't know, Steele publishes a college football preview magazine every year that is full of more stats and information than my belly was the one and only time I was able to eat two Chipotle burritos in one sitting. Seriously. It's just a staggering amount of information. I bought last year's Big Ten preview and will be snatching it off a newstand (ok, honestly, who buys from a newstand? I just like the word, but I'll be buying mine from B&N or Borders or somewhere like that) when it comes out June 8th.

In anticipation of this monumental college football day, Steele releases his all-conference teams. And not just a first or second team like some lazy writers- oh no, Phil releases first through fourth team. He knows who the backup kicker for Idaho State is let alone who the starting quarterback for your Minnesota Golden Gophers, so the man's word is trusted all over the college football world.

Which, for your aforemention Maroon and Gold, might not be such a good thing. The reason?

Well let's just say you could probably find more answers on last night's Lost finale than Gophers on Steele's four team. There's no Gophs on his first team All-Big Ten. Or his second team. Or his third. There ARE three Gophs on his fourth team however: G Matt Carufel (no really), S Kim Royston (assuming his injury heals for the start of the season), and KR/PR Troy Stoudermire.

And that's it.

But at least there were other teams with as few players as Minnesota had right? Well, do you know how many other Big Ten teams had three or less players named on Mr. Steele's four preseason All-Big Ten teams?

Um, zero. That's right, even Indiana had more guys than us with four, including one 1st team member (the dirty, hated Hawkeyes led everyone with 19 selections. Wisconsin had 16. Can't wait for those trophy games!).

So in a season where Tim Brewster will be coaching for his job he has, in the esteemed personal opinion of one Mr. Phil Steele, not a single first, second, or third team All-Big Ten player. Not one. And I don't think Steele is going to be the only college football pundit who believes this. As a matter of fact, I'm betting you'll see nary a Gopher named preseason 1st or 2nd team in any national website, magazine, or TV show in the country.

Now are these predictions a 100% accurate measuer of who's going to be good? Of course not. Guys come from way off the radar every year, like Iowa's Adrian Clayborn last year or Minnesota's very own Willie VanDeSteeg in 2008. It can happen. But it's one thing to have a first or second team selection and a half dozen guys sprinkled across the four teams, where you know you're going to have some solid players and then hope that some others step up. It's quite another for Coach Brew to have zero guys that a really smart, well-versed college football guy believes are worthy of being pre-season first, second, or third team.

What it means is that to keep his job and get more than the six wins he achieved last year, Brewster is going to have to do not only the best coaching job of his time at Minnesota, but perhaps the best of his life in what looks to be the toughest Big Ten conference in years. And if Phil Steele is right, the Gophers will begin 2010 looking up at everybody else.

Well We Have that Going For Us, Which is Nice...

2010-05-21T09:09:00.002-05:00

Howdy. Hope you've got your air conditioner out of storage, since we're expecting 90+ degrees here in Minnesota starting Sunday. Like the weather, Gopher news is starting to really heat up too...ok not so much, but we did get some much needed good news around our beloved football program:

Graduation rates are up!

Ok so it doesn't fix our offensive woes or Brewster's problems keeping his kids off the police blotter, but at least this is something good to talk about. As Myron Medcalf notes in the Strib, the U's football program achieved record gains in the NCAA's 2009 Academic Progress Report. I know some people still love the idea that Div 1 football players are "student athletes" but let's face it: this is a business. The U and every other D1 football program really only care about winning games and meeting whatever minimum graduation requirements they have to.

Well with this new-fangled APR, if teams don't meet the minimum standards, like the U did not in 2008, it means a loss of scholarships, and obviously at this point in Brewster's tenure here, we need all the scholarship players we can get.

Check the link for Medcalf's article and more information on the vast improvements the team made academically, but the bottom line for football fans is that we'll get some scholarships back, and whatever your thoughts on what Brewster has done at Minnesota, this is definitely an improvement we needed.

Now if he can just work on the on-field winning and off-field trouble-makers, we'll be in even better shape.

You'd Better Sit Down Before You Read This

2010-05-13T23:47:00.002-05:00

So I haven't written here in awhile, but this one was so big and so shocking and just so monumentous (pretty sure I made that word up...yep, spell check doesn't recognize it so yeah, that just happened) that I had to post here.

You're not going to believe this, but the Gophers announced today who their starting quarterback is going to be. Who is it? Who could it be? Seriously you'll never get it, not ever. It is...

Adam Weber!

I know right? Aren't you glad I made you sit down before you read this? I mean the shock of it could have knocked you out cold. I mean wow. Adam Weber! I just never thought it would happen. This rough and tumble kid from out of nowhere comes into camp and wins the starting job! What a story!

It's so great that Coach Tim Brewster is taking a whole new approach to things in 2010 and that he's ready to wipe the slate clean and replace the guy who last year "led" the worst offense in the Big Ten in 2009 scoring, total offense, and 3rd down percentage and he himself ranked dead last in passing efficiency...

...Oh that's right, Adam Weber IS that same guy from 2009. We said from the moment the words "quarterback competition" came out of Brewster's mouth that it was bullcrap and Weber would win the job regardless of what happened (like oh, I don't know, another abysmal spring game performance). And sure enough, he was handed a job that in reality he never really lost.

So Adam Weber will be our starting quarterback for the fourth straight season, and barring new NCAA eligibility rules, it will be his last. We could say the same for Brewster. But that's the one silver lining of the 2010 Gopher football season: if Brewster doesn't FINALLY start walking the walk, we'll get a new coach in here (Kevin Sumlin or Mike Leach please!) who will. And no matter who is coaching, we WILL have a quarterback competition for 2011, and the winner will NOT be Adam Weber. Sounds good to me!

Quarterback competition my @$$...

2010-04-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

For the first time in several years, I opted not to attend the Gopher Spring Football game last Saturday. I suppose this makes me a bad fan, but I've been called worse. Heck, I'm a Gopher fan, and I've sat next to Iowa fans in the Metrodome... of course I've been called worse.

In any case, for a change of pace the local resident Gopher football experts at the local dailies had some opinions. I was reading Marcus Fuller's comments in the Pioneer Press when I came across something...

QB Stats from Gopher Spring Football Game...

Adam Weber: 8 of 20, 144 yards,

MarQueis Gray: 4 of 8, 66 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

(Moses Alipate also got 4 attempts in the action, but for his sake I'm going to keep him out of this discussion.)

I guess I see a few problems with these numbers.

First would be the continuing trend of Adam Weber's apparent inaccuracy. Youngblood reports that the receivers were dropping some balls, so I'll have to just assume that some of Weber's incompletions can be blamed on them. And I also get that it's JUST a spring game.

But I can't be the only one that, despite what we saw last year, is expecting big things out of Adam Weber this fall. Weber has been the leader in the clubhouse to win the QB job all spring, and Fuller and Youngblood and anybody else with a pulse who follows Gopher football at all has known it, and has pointed it out as much as possible.

The only way MarQueis Gray was going to win the job from Weber was if Weber's play was so egregious and Gray's play was so spectacular during spring practices, that the coaches just couldn't ignore it, because I can promise you that JUST egregious play by Weber would not have been enough for him to lose the job... THAT was proven throughout the 2009 season. The fact that there was a supposed "quarterback competition" this spring is just a farce.

The only quarterback competition on this team was the one that Gary Tinsley and Kyle Theret have going to see who is going to lead the Hennepin County Hens football team against the Ramsey County Ramblers in the Minnesota Penal League Championship Game.

Which leads to my next problem with those numbers. But before I tell you my next problem, I am going to tell you why you are possibly going to object with this problem, and then I am going to tell you why you are wrong.

You are going to say that Weber got more time with the starters and this is supposed to somehow make us feel better about how the numbers turned out for Gray. But the reason you are wrong is because THAT is exactly my point and I'll thank you for proving it.

If this was really a quarterback competition, if Gray was really going to get a fair shot at winning the job, if these two athletes were really on an even footing this spring, and if the coaches really were going to wait until AFTER the spring game to make a decision on who the starting quarterback would be... then why do we get this sentence from Adam Rittenberg's recap of the scrimmage: "Three-year starter Adam Weber got most of the work with the first team offense..." And, whether Freudian or not, he actually just two sentences later calls Gray the "backup."

Rittenberg also goes on to say "...all signs point to Weber, who stepped up his game this spring after a subpar junior season." I'm going to leave that last little nugget alone, but what about the phrase "stepped up his game"? How do we know this? Based on his performance in "live" competition when he completed 8 of 20 passes?

And truthfully, you didn't have to be at the game (which again, I wasn't, and I'm planning on sleeping pretty well tonight), and you didn't need to see the comments from Fuller, Youngblood, Rittenberg, The Daily Gopher, Down With Goldy, I'm In Love With A Fringe Bowl Team, or me, or anyone else for that matter, to realize that in the end, there really was no quarterback competition.

All you have to do is look at throwing attempts in the spring game, and you know everything you need to know.

Adam Weber: 20

MarQueis Gray: 7

Now look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Adam Weber didn't deserve to win the job, because he probably did. And I'm not going to tell you that MarQueis Gray did enough to win the job, because he probably didn't. But that isn't the point.

The point is that I don't believe for one single second that there really was really a quarterback competition this spring. And I doubt I'm alone in this thinking. I'm not about to claim a conspiracy theory, but I believe that Tim Brewster has known all along that he would name Weber the starter. He hired Jeff Horton under the pretense that Horton would not install a completely new offensive scheme, isn't it possible that Weber was part of the package?

But before we get into Roswell-like territory, I digress.

Gray had this to say to Marcus Fuller after the scrimmage:

"Hopefully, it's going to be hard for the coaches (to decide). I think I had a great spring, so it's up to the coaches now."

Sadly enough, it appears that MarQueis Gray may have been the only one who really believed Tim Brewster when he said that there was a competition for the starting QB job.

Draft Musings

2010-04-23T09:26:00.004-05:00

Gopher spring game arrives tomorrow, which will give us something to Gopher football-related to talk about other than arrests, major injuries, and how the coaches are saying the quarterback competition is still open even though we all know it's not. If you're one of the unfortunate souls like myself who won't be able to see it in person, it will be aired on the Big Ten Network at some point. So that will give us plenty to discuss next week.

For today, like just about everybody I know who is even a casual football fan, I want to talk NFL draft. I'm not going to hand out grades since you can't judge a draft until at least four or five years down the road and I'm not going to give a 2nd round mock draft because really what's the point? What I want from a draft "expert" or analyst is to tell me who they think is good and who they think will be a bust and why. It's a total guesstimation to try and tell me you think you know who's drafting who. Everyone for every team lies this time of year, but what I want to know is who is going to be good. And if I'm going to rip on analysts for being wrong about these kind of things, I might as well get my uneducated opinion out there to be ripped too.

QUARTERBACKS
For the life of me, I'll never understand why you HAVE to take a quarterback #1 overall. The three best players in this draft went #2, 3, and 4, which means the Rams, with the top pick, didn't get one of those three because they HAD to have a franchise quarterback. Look, a good QB is important and the NFL has become a passing league, but call me crazy, if you have the #1 pick and you want to improve your team, you take the best player available. Not only that, but very, VERY few QB's can come in right away and be good without a lot of help around them. Successful 1st round QB's of late like The Sanchize, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were certainly talented, but they also had talent around them from day 1, and weren't asked to do much as rookies. All of those teams had excellent running games, and allowed the QB's to get their feet wet by doing as little as possible while getting starter reps. If you insist on starting a rookie QB, this is the way to do it.

The way not to do it is to throw the kid into the fire on a terrible team with no help. David Carr, Alex Smith, Joey Harrington, JaMarcus Russell and the many top 5 QB busts of the last decade or so could have been solid players (well ok not Russell. What the hell were the Raiders thinking? I'd say what the hell are the Raiders ever thinking when it comes to the draft except they might have actually made a really good pick last night grabbing Bama LB Rolando McClain. He should be a keeper), but when you're getting killed each and every week, it takes a very rare person to be able to survive that and eventually thrive. Peyton Manning is one. Drew Bledsoe was another. John Elway was a third. I'm probably forgetting someone, but it's a pretty short list of highly drafted rookie QB's in the last 30 years who are thrown into the fire and make much of a career, let alone a Pro Bowl-caliber one. We might be able to add Matt Stafford to this list, as his rookie year in Detroit went much better than I thought it would, but if the Rams plan to throw Sam Bradford to the wolves this fall, history tells us he's much more likely to fail than succeed.

Plus, Bradford's not even the best QB in the draft. Colt McCoy is. I've been bullish on McCoy for awhile, and while both Jer and I would LOVE to see the Vikes snap him up with the 34th pick, I highly doubt it happens. The difference for me with McCoy and Bradford is that we know McCoy can handle adversity. He's played with extremely talented teams at Texas and then last year with a subpar group who he willed to the national title game. The Horns last year had no running game, and no real receiving threat other than 41 year old Jordan Shipley in his 17th year of eligibility. Colt's stats didn't compare to 2008, but his completion percentage was still around 70%. He's another Drew Brees, and just like Brees, he's going to make some team in the 2nd round very, very happy. I wish it were The Purple but I doubt it happens.

My problem with Bradford is we just don't know. His Heisman winning season of 2008 was played for the absolute dream team: an offensive line, if I'm not mistaken, who were all drafted, a couple of NFL caliber receivers, the best TE in the country in Jermaine Gresham, and Oklahoma's usual stable of running backs. Bradford ran the country's best offense like a machine and was rarely hurried, let alone sacked. Then just about everyone graduated and Bradford barely made it through game one last year before BYU hurt his shoulder. Hey, could he have faced adversity and led a worse team to a BCS game like McCoy? Maybe, but the point is, we don't know, and that would be a major red flag for me if I had the #1 pick. That, and he clearly wasn't one of the four best players in this draft.

I mean really, if you're the Rams, would you rather have Bradford and then whomever they take at 33 tonight, or Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh (for Mike Morris, it's pronounced "In-dom-uh-kin". It's not that hard there Superstar) and then have your pick of McCoy or Jimmy Clausen? You'd have to be crazy to say the former, which means the Ram must be crazy.

SUH AND MCCOY
Seriously, as a Vikings fan how much does it suck that because the Rams took Bradford #1, Detwah gets the draft's best player in Suh and now he's going to wreak havoc on The Purple twice a year. Although, I suppose had the Rams made the right pick and taken Suh, we'd still have to face a dominant DT in Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, who ended up in Tampa. These two seemed to me like the biggest slam-dunk, no-brainer choices in the whole draft, but of course, because they're DT's, the unwritten archaic NFL draft rules say you shouldn't take them #1 overall. Why? Because Dan "Big Daddy" Wilkinson didn't work out in 1994, and before that, the Canes Russell Maryland was only so-so. Yep, 0-2 on superstar DT's taken #1 overall more than 15 freaking years ago means you can never, ever draft them there again while teams keep swinging and missing on top QB's. Makes perfect non-sense to me.

BERRY GOOD
Another unwritten archaic draft rule is that "you shouldn't take safeties in the top 5 because they're not worth top 5 money." Thank goodness Kansas City didn't listen, and took the third best player in the draft in Tennessee S Eric Berry, who should only start for them from day one and barring injury be a Pro Bowler for years to come. I mean really, who would want that from your first round pick?

RECEIVERS
The fourth best guy in this draft is former Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant, and yes, I hate that Dallas was smart enough to trade up to get him. You have to think Jerry Jones is still pissed he passed on Randy Moss for character issues back in 1998, and wasn't going to let another uber-talented pass catcher with perceived character issues get away from him. Bryant isn't quite in Moss' class of athlete (then again, no one other than maybe Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders has been), but he's still clearly the best receiver in this draft, and had he not made one dumb decision- lying to the NCAA about hanging out with the aforementioned Neon Deion- he would have probably gone to the Skinnies at #4 (not that taking an OT there was a bad decision. Taking a LT in the top 10 is never a bad decision. It's the safest position to take. When in doubt, draft a LT. Unless his name is Robert Gallery. Suck it Iowa! Speaking of which, it's perfect that Hawkeye OL Bryan Bulaga would go from the Gophers biggest rival to the Vikings biggest rival. Not sure he's a LT or even a RT, but for the Cheeseheads to get him at 25, who really cares. He'll start somewhere for them next year and should stay there for a long time. I HATE it when Minnesota's rivals make smart decisions. Thank God Jerry Angelo is still running the Bears and the Lions are...well crap they did just get Suh and Jahvid Best. I'm not sure I can live in a world where Detroit does things that make sense.).

Other than that one dumb decision, I'm not sure what all of these character issues are that people are worried about for Bryant. He's cocky? He's arrogant? He might have an attitude problem? Um, he's a wide receiver. Other than Larry Fitzgerald, Reggie Wayne, and Wes Welker don't they all have some prima donna in them? I mean that's what makes them good receivers is because they're selfish. Anywho, so Bryant falls all the way to 24, and along with Best (because the opportunity for him to start with the Leones right away should be wide open) he's the favorite for offensive rookie of the year in 2010.

As for Big Ten wideouts, there'll definitely be some intrigue tonight for rounds 2 and 3. Either Eric Decker or Arrelious Benn will be the first Big Ten receiver taken, and both should be gone in round 2. I know Decker won't end up in Purple because that's the last thing the Vikes need, so I just hope he doesn't go to the Cowboys or a division rival. I can live with him anywhere else. MSU's Blair White probably won't be taken until Saturday, but the former walk-on could be a nice 3rd receiver for somebody for a long time. He's a big, physical kid who clearly isn't afraid of hard work and could be a steal late.

Actually, what's with the whitey receivers this year? Decker, White, Florida's Riley Cooper (if he doesn't go play baseball) and the 57 year old 17th year senior Shipley could all be solid NFL players. I'm not sayin' I'm just sayin'. Also, as much as I hate Notre Dame, Golden Tate could challenge Bryant for the best wideout in this draft.

Ok, that's enough ramblings for today. For those going to the Gophs game tomorrow, I'm jealous, but enjoy it, and when I get to see it on BTN, I'll have some thoughts on it. Until then, enjoy the weekend- and let's hope Brew's Crew can go a whole weekend without having someone thrown in jail. I don't ask for much.

Golden Gopher Football Blotter

2010-04-20T11:20:00.000-05:00

Jeff and I have been in serious discussions recently about changing the name of the blog from Golden Gopher Football Blog to Golden Gopher Football Blotter.

It seems like all we write about anymore is Gopher football players and their run-ins with the law. Quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of it. And, big freakin' surprise, we've got another one... and I'm just going to get by with a little help from the other bloggers to paint the picture.

So, here's the link to the Star-Tribune story about Gary Tinsley having a alcohol related run-in with the police.

Here's the Pioneer Press version.

Fringe Bowl Team (by the way, if you aren't reading this blog, what is wrong with you?) gave his two cents:

"The issue here is one of a broader concern among college football fans; off-the-field incidents are becoming the norm with college athletes, not the exception. Managing off-the-field fiascoes and dealing with a tolerable level of youthful stupidity is now part of big time collegiate athletics..."

And here's a couple of depressing quotes by Buck Bravo over at The Daily Gopher about the incident...

Yesterday: "If true, there's a good chance that the player who I would have projected to be the best linebacker on the team will probably be at a I-AA southern school that nobody cares about next season."

This morning: "Tinsley joins Sam Maresh and Kyle Theret as recent alcohol-related offenders. Perhaps a lock-down is needed to prevent more lock-ups."

Trouble, trouble

2010-04-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

Ugh. What else can you say?

The problems facing the Gopher football team are many and varied. If it's not off-the-field issues, it's something else.

Today we find out that Kim Royston has broken his leg... a compound fracture... in two different spots. That doesn't sound good. As Kent Youngblood mentions, Coach Brewster is hopeful that Royston will be ready for fall practices.

The loss is huge. Royston is easily one of the best players on our entire team, and clearly a leader on the defensive side of the ball. The loss is even larger when you consider that going into spring camp safety was considered to be one of our stronger positions. The injury to Royston, and the loss of Kyle Theret to booze, means our starting safety tandem is currently completely defunct.

We're a bit absent this week

2010-04-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

Hello there Gopher football fans!

Please excuse our lack of posting this week. Jeff has started a new job and has been very busy with training, etc. Meanwhile, it's Minnesota week over at The Rivalry, Esq, so I have been busy posting articles for them. Please head on over to get your Gopher fix, and look for us to be back at it here at GGFB next week!

Hey Everyone! Gopher Spring practices are going on...

2010-03-31T09:28:00.000-05:00

... and it appears that the Gopher beat writers at the Strib AND the Pioneer Press have actually taken notice. Looks like both Kent Youngblood and Marcus Fuller were at Gopher practice yesterday, as both blogged about what they saw.

Both writers made notice of the changes on defense, which is going to be much scrutinized after losing 8 starters from a unit that kept the Gophers in most games last season. Without Kyle Theret on the field, who I guess has gotten into a little bit of trouble with the law which subsequently has caused him to be suspended from the team, Kenny Watkins has stepped in and is taking reps with the first team. I'll be honest, I don't know much about Kenny Watkins, but it appears that he runs a 4.4-40 yard dash, and some extra speed in the secondary can't hurt.

Youngblood also has a nice piece today on sophomore safety-turned-linebacker Mike Rallis. The Gophers had GREAT SUCCESS!!!! (Sorry, I just channeled my inner-Borat there) with moving Simoni Lawrence from S to LB the last two years, and it appears that Rallis may be cut from the same mold. Youngblood notes that Rallis isn't quite as fast as Lawrence, but LB coach John Butler thinks Rallis is smart enough to pick up the position and make a difference.

This brings up a question... Are you like me? Despite the fact that our defense lost 8 starters and is basically starting from scratch, are you more confident in their ability to make a difference week-to-week than you are the offense? I sure am, and I think the reason why is because we actually have some young kids with some talent there, AND will be building off of a defensive scheme that has had some very good success the past two years.

On the other side of the ball, I still think that our WR group is incredibly talented, but just what are we going to be able to do with them unless we can get some consistent production out of the QB position? And how are we going to get production out of the QB position if the O-line can't protect? And speaking of the O-line, are they going to be able to actually run-block this year? And speaking of run-blocking, who is our QB going to be handing the ball off to? The RB-by-committee approach has NOT worked for this team, but we've got some young, talented RB's coming in this year... can any of them make an immediate impact?

So yeah... there's some questions on the offensive side of the ball.

GO FOOTBALL!

Now THAT'S kind of funny

2010-03-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

Below is a screen shot of the front page today's Pioneer Press Gopher Football section on www.twincities.com. I took this screen shot at about 1:45pm CST. Fin

Oh the irony.

You' ve... GOT... to be kidding me

2010-03-29T14:55:00.001-05:00

Kyle Theret has been suspended for... big surprise Gopher fans... off the field issues.

Theret is a huge part of the Gopher defense, especially considering the fact that so many players graduated from the program after last season. Assuming Theret finds a way onto the field this fall, he will be looked to as a leader, not just on the defensive side of the ball, but on the team in general.

Obviously it's very early on in the criminal process, but if the Gophers were to lose Theret it would be a very big loss for this program.

29 days later...

2010-03-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

Hey there Gopher football fans, just 29 days until the Gophers take the field against... the Gophers, in the annual spring practice game.

If you haven't been to a spring game (and judging by the attendance I've seen at the last few spring games, you haven't), you really should check it out. It's a great way to end the 4 weeks of spring practice blog posts and articles that Kent Youngblood and Marcus Fuller write about... oh, wait. What? It's been two days since they wrote anything about the Gophers? HAS to be an oversight, doesn't it?

Okay, so, where was I? Oh yeah, spring game. A great way to get out and see your Gophers after their 4 weeks of practices.

It's also a great way to get your football fix in the spring... only to be let down by the 3 subsequent months of no football.

I'm not doing a good job of selling this am I? Good thing I don't do sales for a living or anything...

So anyway, that's coming up. In the meantime, the Gophers are really practicing football over at the U of M. There's competition all over the field and of course the "QB battle" is the main attraction. I put "QB battle" in quotes because I'm still of the opinion that there isn't really a competition. Despite what Tim Brewster says I believe that it's a foregone conclusion that Adam Weber is the Gophers starter once they break spring camp.

So, just 29 days until it becomes official that Adam Weber is your 2010 Gopher Football Quarterback.

Are you sensing any sarcasm? In the words of Richard Hayden "Well, I should hope so, because I'm laying it on pretty thick."

Gophers All-Conference Candidates- Defense

2010-03-26T08:44:00.007-05:00

What's the good word? Happy Friday to you and yours. Happy Friday if you watched March Madness last night. Double OT for K-State and Xavier (that Gopher 1st round loss doesn't look so bad now, does it?) and Butler pulls off yet another shocker. More good games to come tonight, although I'll be fortunate enough to be at another kind of NCAA Tournament- the 1st round of the hockey NCAA tournament for Wisconsin and Vermont at The X. Anyone know what time the Gophers play at? Oh that's right, they didn't make it. Not even close. As a Canucks fan I was so happy Jordan Schroeder went pro and is playing in the AHL (two goals in his first game including one on his first shift) because at least I know he'll develop properly. What is Don Lucia doing? Does he last another year?

Anyway, onto Gopher football, since today is Day 4 of spring practice and all so there's plenty to talk about. Let's check the dailies and our favorite beat writers Kent Youngblood of the Strib and Marcus Fuller of the PP to see what exciting stories and blog entries they have posted for us.......hmmmm they have nothing for the second day in a row.

Do they know practice is going on? Do they know it's their job to report on it? Both gentlemen are fine football scribes, but perhaps they need a refresher on this whole "blogging" thing? Am I crazy or is it not much to ask two guys who get paid to write about Gopher football to post once or twice a day during spring practice? Is it? Please tell me if I'm asking too much here.

So since we have no inside info on what's going on at practice and how the many, many, many position battles are going, we'll continue to muse about who could be an all-conference candidate for Minnesota in 2010. Yesterday we looked at the five best candidates on offense, and today it's all about the defense. If you're one of our tens of readers, you know I'm VERY bullish about our defense this year. Yes we lose nine starters, but I have to give Brew credit here: he's fielding the most athletic defense I've seen in my more than 10 years in Minnesota. While his offensive recruits haven't quite panned out yet, his young defensive kids were pushing a senior-laden group for playing time last year. We don't have much in the way of starting experience, but we do have plenty of guys with game experience. And speed. And in the case of Ra-Shede Hageman (who might have replaced MarQueis as this season's man-crush) ridiculous speed AND size at 292 pounds. Did I mention he's 292? Have I? Just checking. Because he's 292 pounds. As a redshirt freshman. You would expect that from Ohio State or Michigan or Penn State. But for little ol' Minnesota? Yeah that's fun stuff right there. Whatever happens with Brewster this year I will be grateful he left the cupboard stocked on defense.

Picking five possible all-conference candidates on offense was kind of like trying find a good singer on American Idol this year: after one or two people it gets pretty hard. But defensively, yeah there's a lot more than five. There might not be 11, but there's a lot more than five. So while I am man-crushing about Ra'Shede, it's a pretty tall order to ask a redshirt freshmen from any Big Ten school to be one of the best in the conference, so he doesn't make the list this year. But he's right atop my list of guys I'm excited about.

Here then, my pick for the five best defensive players, and the five most likely to garner All-Big Ten consideration for 2010:

5. Kim Royston, S, Senior
As one of two returning starters, I like Royston's skillset better than Kyle Theret's. Sure Theret is a thumper against the run, and I know he had more picks (3) than Royston (1) in 2009, but to say Theret's a tortoise in pass coverage is an insult to tortoise's everywhere. I just remember him looking SO overmatched in coverage against Ohio State, helping to make Terrelle Pryor and Devier Posey look like Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne. Royston is our leading returning tackler, including a game high 15 in the bowl loss to Iowa St, is decent in coverage, and I'm hoping really embraces a leadership role both on and off the field.

4. Keanon Cooper, OLB, R-Sophomore
Keanon's third in tackles for returing players, and while he's the size of a DB at just 6'0 and 210 (gee it'd sure be nice to get an update from practice to see whether Cooper's put on any weight in the offseason and looks bigger. Too bad we don't have any beat writers in town covering the team who could get us that information) he hits like a linebacker. IF he can put on some more weight, look out! He showed the speed and instincts last year to be a force both in coverage and rushing the passer, and whether it happens this year as just a sophomore or 2011 or 2012, I think it's safe to pencil in Cooper for an all-Big Ten selection before his Gopher career is over. Actually, you can put that in pen. Even in Sharpee.

3. D.L. Wilhite, DE, R-Sophomore
I'm calling him the "The Sack Doctor." Why? Well he's already been a scholar-athlete award winner and plans to pursue a pre-med degree, so if this football thing doesn't work out, he'll have something to fall back on. But after watching him as a freshman last year, I don't think he'll have to worry about a fall-back plan. It doesn't sound impressive if I told you he played in just 10 games and only recorded 3 tackles in 2009, playing at maybe 220 pounds (his bio has him up to 233 and I'd love to see him around 240 by September). But what if I told you all three were not only tackles-for-loss, but were sacks? And that total led the team- not just for returning players, but for everybody in 2009? Ok, ok so the fact a redshirt 220 pound freshman led the Gophs in sacks with just three shines a big glaring spotlight on the team's ineffectiveness on third down last year. But it still speaks to The Sack Doctor's pass rushing ability, and I believe with a full season, and a more athletic and talented front line beside him (you heard me: as much as I loved Garrett Brown and Eric Small, 2010's D-line will be better than 2009), Doc D.L. could be a pass-rushing force this year. And as we know, sacks are the glory defensive category that gets you noticed in a hurry.

2. Michael Carter, CB, Sophomore
He's switching numbers this year from #1 to #6, but whatever number Carter wears, he's still expected to be Minnesota's #1 corner. Jer and I were just plain giddy at his last-minute signing in 2009, and after watching him in the spring game made the bold prediction he could be starting by the end of the year. While he didn't quite make it, he was still hugely impressive as a true freshmen, getting thrown into the fire in the Michigan State game because starter Traye Simmons was doing his best Adam Weber impression, and the kid more than held his own against the second best passing offense in the Big Ten. He continued his strong play for the rest of the year, and if it wasn't for one boneheaded off-field move when he tried to fight another student, his freshman year would have been a smashing success. Since that incident which got him suspended, he's managed to stay out of trouble (hang on while I find the biggest tree I can find to knock on wood), and if he can focus his aggression on the field in 2010 Carter has a chance to be the best corner we've ever had here. He's at least the most talented corner since Willie Middlebrooks in 2000, but is getting a chance to play much, much earlier. It's a lot to ask of a true soph to anchor the pass coverage and be a shut-down corner, but if anyone is up to the challenge, it's Carter. If he keeps his head on straight, like Cooper, he's a lock for All-Big Ten before his career in Maroon and Gold is done.

1. Gary Tinsley, MLB, Junior
If you're looking for Minnesota's best player in 2010, look no further than Tinsley. Because of all of our senior linebacker talent in 2009, his numbers don't jump out at you. But against Iowa, in what was our most important game of the year, he led the team in tackles with 10, including 1.5 TFL and a sack. Linebacker is usually the most stacked position in the Big Ten, and the most difficult one to garner All-Conference honors (just ask the linebacking trio from last year), but this is how much I believe in Tinsley. Of course, all-conference will be as much about how much the team wins as it is about the numbers he puts up, but I fully expect Tinsley to be the best player in Maroon and Gold this fall, and if the team can get at least seven wins, he should be recognized by the media and coaches as one of the Big Ten's best players too.

Which Gophers Could Be All-Conference in 2010?

2010-03-25T10:07:00.005-05:00

Heyo! Day 2 of Gopher football spring practice and just look at all the stories and reports we have coming from the local media...(searching the Strib)...(checking the PP)...(checking one local "all-sports" station that never talks about the Gophers)...(searching the other self-proclaimed "The Sports Talk" station)...and nothing. Thanks local media. Thanks for caring about a Big Ten college football team. I know we're not the Vikes or Twins but day two of spring practice and there's bubkis to report? Nadda? Zero? Zilch? 50,000 packed TCF Bank stadium last year, and more watched on TV but we can't have a story a day from the dailies and beat writers whose job it is to do this stuff? And we can't have a story or report or anything from our two "sports" radio stations in town? It's not hard, people, you're just making it seem that way.

ANYWHO, since I do this for fun and can't skip work to watch practice- oh wait Brewster doesn't open practices to the public anyway- I'm going off what I read and what is reported and when there's nothing reported, we as fans aren't left with much.

Soooooooooooooo...let's talk about All-Conference players. Or Minnesota's complete lack thereof. We're entering 2010 with only one player who's been named all-conference, QB Adam Weber, and as you may know, Weber is fighting this spring just to keep his job. Last season's disappointing 6-7 season saw just one Gopher be named first or second All-Big Ten by either the media or coaches- and he barely played in eight games. Yep, senior wideout Eric Decker was the only Gopher deemed worthy of being all-conference. I'm not arguing that a lot of worthy candidates in maroon and gold were left off the team- quite the opposite actually. Looking at the All-Big Ten teams from year to year, it's pretty indicative of how well a team did. If they're well represented on the all-conference team, chances are your team had a really good year.

Which brings up to the Gophs: In 2008, Minnesota finished 7-5 after a difficult and ugly 1-11 2007. Wideout Eric Decker and defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg were named 1st Team Big Ten for both the coaches and the media, CB Traye Simmons was named 2nd team for both and QB Adam Weber was 2nd team for the coaches and TE Jack Simmons was 2nd team for the media. I would venture to guess all five of those guys were not pre-season picks, but with Minnesota's improvement and those players' excellent play throughout the season (or for Weber for the first six games) they were worthy of selection for All-Big Ten. VanDeSteeg and Simmons graduated, while the other three were being picked as 1st or 2nd team again in the preseason...well we all know how that went. Only Decker made it back as Weber and Simmons were hugely disappointing. Simmons, along with fellow seniors TE Nick Tow-Arnett, and LB's Lee Campbell and Simoni Lawrence were the only other Gophers from 2009 who received honorable mention. And of course, along with Decker, they've all graduated.

So going into 2010, considering we lost all of our 2009 all-conference selections, our only two effective offensive starters, and 9 starters on defense, I don't expect to see anybody- literally ANYBODY- from the Gophers on a pre-season all-conference or national award watch list. Not one.

First that's a pretty telling sign of where we're at with the Tim Brewster Era of Gopher football: the so-called great recruiter is dealing with an entire team of player's he's brought in, and to start his fourth season he's not going to have one guy who the media or coaches considers a great player. As we know from the 2008 season, this is no guarantee we won't have anyone step up and have a big year, but I think it's pretty telling that four years in, Brew's Crew is facing about the same level of expectations around the conference and the country we did in 2008 coming off a 1-11 season. Nobody is expecting much of anything in what is looking like could be the strongest group of teams the Big Ten has had this decade.

So what this all means is what we already know: to keep his job Brewster is going to have to do his best coaching job of his life. He's going to have to start coaching up these kids that he's raved about in the recruiting process and in spring practice. The guys he keeps telling us are great, the one's no one else outside the program believe are great, are going to have to start to be.

But who will it be? Who's going to step up and save Brew's job? Let's look at the five most likely candidates on both sides of the ball. Today we'll focus on the offense:

5. The Starting Tight End
If there's been one offensive player not named Eric Decker who has consistently excelled in the Brewster/Weber offense, it's been the tight end. In 2009 senior Nick Tow-Arnett emerged as a favorite Weber target, and finished 2nd on the team in catches, yards and touchdowns. Had the team not fallen apart in November like it has every year under Brewster, he might have had a shot at all-conference. In 2008 another senior TE Jack Simmons also finished 2nd in catches, yards and TD's and, as we already mentioned, was named 2nd Team All-Big Ten. JC transfer Tiree Eure, junior Eric Lair, and senior Curtis Hughes will be battling for the starting spot, and if one of those guys can grab the position and some passes early in the season, history tells us they could have a big year.

4. Troy Stoudermire Jr, WR/KR/PR, Jr.
Ability has never been a question with this guy, but consistency certainly has been. He was one of the top kick returners in the Big Ten with an average of 24.6 and a long of 71- if his teammates could have stopped holding and clipping so much, his numbers could have been bigger. His return skills alone could get him All-Big Ten, but do it, he's going to need to be much better as a receiver. He showed some big-play potential, but also looked lost in the offense with plenty of drops, some wrong routes, and a disappointing 11.8 ypc average. Your big-play threat cannot average less than 12 yards per catch, and while part of that can be blamed on the quarterbacks and the play-calling, Stoudermire has so much athletic ability he should be better no matter what the excuse.

3. Duane Bennett, RB, Jr
He's not even guaranteed to be the starter, and we won't have much of an idea how the running backs are going to shake out until the freshmen show up this summer. Still Bennett has the inside track on the starting job right now, and now that he's more than a full year removed from major knee surgery, there's a chance we see the pre-injury Duane this season. In 2008 in just two games before blowing out his knee as a sophomore he already gained 140 yds and 2 TD's rushing and 125 and 2 TD's receiving. He clearly wasn't close to 100% last year, but if he can get close in 2010, he could have a breakout season.

2. Adam Weber, QB, Sr
Weber will be the first name mentioned, as he was 2nd team All-Big Ten in 2008 (even though he didn't deserve it). He's the likely starter and if the offense improves, he's going to reap the rewards. But considering how bad he was last year, and that he was only 2nd team in 2008 because it was the worst year for QB's in the Big Ten ever AND Weber built his numbers off the first seven games of the before he, and the season, fell apart, I'm not overly optimistic.

1. Da'Jon McKnight, WR, Jr
Yes, Da'Jon had only 17 catches last year and no touchdowns, but in Decker's absence the last four games of the year, the 6'3 gazelle really started to shine. He was the leading receiver in their last two games with 4 catches for 63 yards against Iowa and he snagged a game high 7 balls for 124 yards in the the bowl game against Iowa State. He has the size and ability to be a legit #1 receiver, and if starts 2010 the way he finished 2009, he has a great chance to be Minnesota's best offensive player.

Practice, Quitters and Booze: Welcome to Gopher Spring Football!

2010-03-24T08:38:00.001-05:00

So we wait and wait for Gopher spring practice to start so we have something Gopher-football related to talk about...and then about nine things happen at once. Or three. Two more players have left the team, they might be able to sell booze to the cake-eaters at TCF Stadium after all, and yes, the boys are finally practicing.

We'll start with the exodus of two more Gopher players, as junior center Trey Davis and redshirt frosh corner Kerry Lewis have left the program.

Davis, who started six games in his career, will concentrate on track and field. The Farmington, Minn., native finished fourth for the Gophers in the shot put at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships this year.
Lewis, who redshirted last season, decided to transfer to another school.

I don't have any behind-the-scenes info on the decision of these two, but it seems puzzling to me. Both guys, and especially Davis, would have been competing for playing time, if not a starting spot: I could understand both of them wanting to go a different direction AFTER spring camp if they found themselves way down the depth chart, but to quit before camp even begins? Anyone else find that a bit strange? Davis would have certainly been in the mix to start at center, so either shot put just became more important to him, or he lost the love for football, or maybe he didn't have as good a chance to play as we thought? I guess we'll never know.

As for Lewis, I was excited to see what he could do. He was a three-star prospect coming out of high school with a pretty impressive list of schools that were after him, so to lose a fast, athletic kid like that hurts. Haven't heard where Lewis is transferring to, but to me it's definitely a loss, especially with how shallow the defensive back depth is on the team already.

*****

So the rich people in the luxury suites at TCF Bank Stadium, Mariucci and Williams Arena might get their booze after all. Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St Paul is sponsoring a bill that would repeal the ridiculous law passed last year that if alcohol is to be sold at the three U stadiums then it has to be sold everywhere. While I still think it's naive and way too old fashioned to believe that not selling booze in the regular section is going to stop minors from getting it or sneaking it in (I don't say that to endorse underage drinking, I say it because the pro sporting venues in town sell alcohol and minors attend those events. Yet the pro teams aren't worried about the image it presents or that the minors are going to get their hands on booze because they ID everyone who buys a beer. If you ID everyone at a Gopher game who wants to buy booze then you're doing everything you can to stop minors from drinking. Of course I'm biased since I'll never be able to afford the cake-eater suites but would love to have a beer while watching the Gophers), this is a step in the right direction.

My wife works for The U, and they're slashing budgets all over the place. This would be easy revenue for the Gophers to make and would hopefully help stop further cuts. The bill cleared its first hurdle as it was approved unanimously by the Senate Higher Education Budget Division, and will now rests with another committee. In an election year, I would think this one has a chance as The U needs all the revenue it can get, and this one clearly has public support from Gopher fans and alumni.

*****

And finally, let's talk some football. Kent Youngblood has a few notes from the half hour of practice he and the media were allowed to watch yesterday. His comments in bold and italics and my comments below:

1. Punter Dan Orseske, fresh off his medical redshirt (remember, he got mono early last season) was absolutely booming the ball during warmups. I mean booming.

There is no position I care less about right now for the Gophs than the punter. The only thing I care less about in the world right now than the punter is probably women's basketball, but I'd have to think about that one.

2. Here was the first-string offensve line, from left tackle to right tackle: Dom Alford, Chris Bunders, D.J. Burris, Matt Carufel, Jeff Wills.

With Davis now gone, it's not surprising in the least to see these five starting spring camp with the first team. While they were a trainwreck last year, they do have experience on their side, and hopefully some of the simpler schemes and run-emphasis OC Jeff Horton is installing will work wonders for these guys. But I'm also all for the young guys pushing this group, and it'll be interesting to see if these same five start in the spring game next month.

3. The starting defensive line, on Day 1: Defensive ends Ra'Shede Hageman and D.L. Wilhite with tackles Jewhan Edwards and Brandon Kirksey.

On a scale of 1-10 how excited are you to see 292 pound (the website has him at 272 but Brewster claimed in an interview last week he's up to 292. Good gravy!) freshman Ra-Shede Hageman's name penciled in as our starting DE? I'm at about a 27 right now. The kid is a freak and I can't wait to see him wreak havoc on Big Ten backfields in the fall. Just take it easy on our own guys over the next month please. Oh and I did mention he's a redshirt freshman and 292 pounds? 292?!?! Ok just checking. Wilhite on the other side has me almost as excited, as he really played well towards the end of last season. We really struggled to replace Willie VanDeSteeg's passing rushing skills last year, and the answer this season is hopefully going to be these two flying off the edges. There are states smaller than the 325 pound Jewhan Edwards, and I'm hoping he becomes the run stuffer we'll need against- well against pretty much everybody in the Big Ten schedule this seasons since everybody except maybe Michigan State can run the ball.

4. Cornerbacks were Michael Carter and Ryan Collado.

Zero surprise here either. Again, Collado starts the spring as the starter by default because he's a senior, but with his man coverage skills- or complete lack thereof- we're in trouble if he's still the starter when the games start counting.

5. The linebackers: Mike Rallis on the strong side, Gary Tinsley in the middle, Keanon Cooper on the weak side.

Tinsley and Cooper are automatic starters, and I think/hope/pray both have a shot at being all-conference this year. Rallis, the converted defensive back, is going to get pushed big-time by soph (and Cooper's Skyline high school teammate) Spencer Reeves and RFr Brent Singleton. That's three pretty talented guys for one spot, and of course doesn't even include Sam Maresh. Pretty nice position to be in when getting anything from someone with Maresh's potential as in impact middle linebacker is simply gravy because you've got plenty of talent ready to go. Have I mentioned how excited I am for our defense this year? Have I? I think I just broke the 1-10 scale with a 432. Good times.

Let it Begin! LET IT BEGIN!!!

2010-03-23T08:58:00.007-05:00

If you haven't seen the movie Bolt then you either a) don't have kids or b) you're an adult who wouldn't watch kids movies and you have no idea who Rhino the hamster is. Shame on you. I don't have kids yet I saw this movie with my wife and her family and thought it was hilarious. Rhino, a hilarious hamster who is always very excited and looking for adventure, was my favorite character. As he's being held from a bridge over a moving train, he's so excited he can't contain himself yelling "LET IT BEGIN! LET IT BEING!"

Well today is the first day of Gopher football spring practice and I feel exactly like Rhino: I'm very excited, and spring practice, if nothing else, will definitely be an advernture. I cannot wait for it to begin!

As you know by now, and as Kent Youngblood examines in a Strib story today, there's a LOT of competition going on for the Gophs. Hence the adventure. We assume the returning offensive starters could keep their jobs, but with a new offensive coordinator in Jeff Horton, and a horrible offensive performance, in 2009, I would hope nothing is set in stone. Defensively nothing is a given except for the two returning starters at safety in Kim Royston and Kyle Theret. Otherwise, we need nine new starters and there should be quite the battle royale for those spots.
Out of all the competition and adventure this spring will bring, there's some position battles I'm more excited about than others. All of them are important, but in some cases we're not going to get much for concrete evidence other than the usual coach-speak and high praise for how good this guy or that guy looks and has performed- even if it's just tying his shoe laces. Or maybe Horton will be a breath of fresh air and give us an honest assessment of what's going on with his offense instead of the Goodyear Blimp full of hot air and positivity we usually get from Tim Brewster.

Maybe Horton, unlike Brewster, will also give us a taste of reality, or at least an idea that he's living in it (in fairness to Brewster, he's finally, like in this interview with Adam Rittenberg, admitting his offense suckd last year and they need to get better. Still, he did nothing to make changes during last season, especially at quarterback, when it was clear to everyone else that what he and Jed Fisch were trying to do was not working). Maybe you haven't heard, but our offense stunk last year, and third year starter Adam Weber was a big reason why. The PP's Marcus Fuller rehashes a difficult 2009 for Weber and the points we've discussed here ad naseum. Last spring game Jer and I watched Adam Weber have a so-so game while MarQueis Gray looked like Peyton Manning zipping the ball all over the field...and of course none of that translated to the field for the 2009 season. Well, ok Weber's struggles did, but don't tell Tim Brewster that as he did absolutely nothing last year to motivate or replace his clearly struggling signal-caller.

I still think there's a better chance of Rod Blagojevich admitting he deserved to get canned as Governor of Illinois on Celebrity Apprentice (I can't get enough of that show and think The Gov is hilarious because it's hard to believe a man who acts that clueless could run a state. However I also can't stand The Donald and think his annoying kid Donnie is the worst kind of silver spoon, trust-fund d-bag. Honestly Donnie, I know daddy has given you everything you've ever wanted and you've never had to earn anything, but really, can't you at least get your own hairstyle? At least The Donald's daughter is intelligent and acts like she could run a business regardless of who her father is) than there is of anyone other than Weber starting the season at quarterback, but hey, there's always a chance right? All I can hope for is marked improvement from Weber, Gray, AND Moses Alipate, and that Horton simplifying the offense helps everyone's confidence.

So I don't think we're going to learn much at all about our quarterbacks, and really, we're not going to learn much about any of the skill position guys until we start playing real games. As far as I know, none of the freshmen running backs are showing up until the summer and I don't see any of the freshmen receivers pushing for much playing time, so it's going to be the same cast of characters we saw last year. And just as it was with the QB's last spring, no matter how good our backs and receivers look this next month, we're not going to know how good they really are until the line up for the opener against Middle Tennessee State on September 2nd.

But for the rest of the team? Oh yeah, we're going to learn some things. By 1:30 p.m. April 24 at TCF Bank Stadium for the spring game, we're going to see and start to know who the coaches trust and who has really put in the work in the offseason. O-line coach Tim Davis has been raving about 6'7 redshirt freshmen Brooks Michel and Ed Olson, but are those kids ready to push our incumbent starters (good lord I hope so)? Who's going to get the bulk of the snaps at tight end? Is redshirt frosh and four star recruit Ra'Shede Hageman (who is still listed at TE at 272 pounds, and who Brewster has said is up to 292!!!!) start? Who's going to start across the defensive line? How are the linebackers looking? Especially Sam Maresh? Will Michael Carter look as fast and as good as we hope? Is anyone going to push Ryan Collado out of the 2nd corner spot?

While I'm not expecting to learn much about our skill position guys, it's going to be a lot of fun learning about everyone else. Practice starts today, and as Rhino says: LET IT BEGIN! LET IT BEGIN!!

The Monday Musings...on a Tuesday

2010-03-16T08:38:00.010-05:00

Ok so I'm a day late with this one. You know what? It happens. Sometimes it just does. You want to post on a Monday because, you know, Monday Musings sounds better than Tuesday...hell I don't even know what I'd call a rambling post on a Tuesday. Well actually I do- I'd call it Monday Musings on a Tuesday. Done and done. Glad we cleared that up.

Anywho, first a hearty congrats to the Gopher basketball squad. Gutty, gritty, determined performance in the Big Ten tournament- well except for the Sunday stinker against Ohio State. Apparently they knew they were in so they wanted to rest up for the Big Dance? That Evan Turner is pretty good though- and by pretty good I mean I would seriously consider taking him ahead of John Wall in the NBA draft. That is, if I had the opportunity and if I still cared about the NBA, which since the Sonics got shipped to Oklahoma, I do not. But still, Turner is the real deal and if Ohio State hadn't been placed in the bracket of death I'd love them as a Final Four team.

Honestly, I know next to nothing about college hoops this year as I've watch next to nothing for college hoops this year. Probably for the best for my bracket, considering in the years when I think I DO know something I end up doing terrible. Or at least not winning- and let's be honest, if you don't win it's terrible. Just ask Tim Brewster. What? Sorry, couldn't resist.

A few things to consider when filling out your brackets, courtesy of Colin Cowherd (who, by the way, you can now hear daily on AM 1500 in the Twin Cities. He talks about all kinds of sports instead of the host in the 9-noon slot on another so-called "sports" station that talks Vikings, Vikings, and more Vikings. And occassionally the Timberwolves because they're so relevant right now. Cowherd's not my favorite, but for me he's much better than the alternative):

* it's been 24 years since a team lower than a four seed has won the national championship.

* it's been about that long since anyone lower than a six seed has made the national final.

* 12 seeds and lower do not get past the first weekend- at least not usually. Since they started this whole crazy field of 64 back in the 80's, something like six in 400 hundred 12 seeds have gotten to the sweet 16. Not saying it can't happen, just saying it's very unusual. There's always a 12 upsetting a 5, but that's usually where it ends.

Having said all of that, and again remembering I have watched little college hoops and know absolutely nothing this year other than Evan Turner is a cross between Jesus (either the ice skating Jesus who does interpretive dance of my life or the baby Jesus who is watching his Baby Einstein videos learning about shapes and colors or the one who wears a tuxedo t-shirt. Or maybe the Baby Jesus who wears #7 for the Twins and who really should have signed that bloody extension right now? Or sweet baby Jesus), and some kind of really good basketball player who just seems to always make the right play (well except for his 10 turnovers Sunday) and is really, really "clutch" despite the fact stat nerds will tell you that clutch doesn't exist.

What was I saying again? Were we talking about bacon? No, but we should have been. From someone who knows nothing the brackets looked awfully messed up. Kansas is the supposed #1 seed in the tournament and they get the toughest bracket? Kentucky is the supposed 2nd best team and they also get a tough bracket? The ****ing Dukies are supposedly the third best team- even though they did not deserve a #1 seed and only got on because they're ****ing Duke and therefore stole it from both Ohio State and West Virginia WHO ONLY WON THEIR FREAKING CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS!?!?!?!?- and they get the easiest bracket in the history of mankind? I...I know nothing, and yet still I feel like I know more than the commitee of monkeys who put this together. They apparently just threw feces at a white board and then wrote the names of teams with their fingers. Oh what's that? They were a room full of men who should know something about this? Are you sure? Was Gary Bettman the committee chair? I'm going with a room full of monkeys until given definitive proof otherwise.

Ridiculous brackets. Ridiculous. Gonzaga an 8 seed? Temple only a five? Villanova a two? So much wrong with it I don't even have the time.

Oh and two more things before I forget- we barely had 65 worthy teams for the tournament this year. Barely. Maybe Mississippi State got snubbed, but Viriginia Tech played a non-conference schedule that made even Glen Mason say "geez, challenge yourselves, will you?" and I'm not even sure Wake Forest belonged and Illinois wasn't great either. Yet we're going to increase the bids to 96 so coaches can keep their jobs and schools can make more money? Yet another example of why sports needs an independent board to make decisions on this stuff, because when those involved make decisions only for profit and not for the good of the game or without giving a spit about the fans, well, they need a little more common sense thrown into their decision making. Or any.

The second thing: Bill Simmons has had a lot of good ideas over the year. His best might be that any women's college basketball score, or brackets, that scroll on the bottom line of E!SPN or CBS or ABC or wherever should be done in pink. Countless times I've seen a score or bracket and thought "wait I didn't know those teams were- OH FRICK it's the women's bracket." And then been mad about it. Honestly, to the people who run networks- it's not sexist to put that in pink. We know fans of Tennessee, UConn, and the families of women's college hoops players really care about those results. But for the rest of us, do us the public service so we're not always confused.

****

Ok so what else? Oregon coach Chip Kelly is having some issues with the inmates of the Oregon correctional facility- I MEAN his Oregon Ducks football team. Starting tailback LaMichael James is suspended for being arrested for domestic abuse. Starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was suspended for the season for his alleged involvement in a dorm theft. As much as this looks bad for the Ducks and Kelly, I have to praise him for his discipline and reaction to this. No really- as Andy Staples says so well in his satirical piece, Kelly could have taken the Bobby Bowden approach and given both of his stars, especially Masoli, a slap on the wrist as punishment and saved his conference and national title hopes in 2010. Instead, Kelly came down hard on both players, as he did last year on tailback LaGarret Blount for his punch in the opener against Boise State. If he keeps having players arrested, Kelly is going to get himself in hot water and perhaps a ticket out of Eugene, but for now, his stern punishments (at least by college football standards) will help keep him as Ducks coach. Well that and the Pac 10 title he won last year.

****

Gopher spring practice starts March 23rd- just seven sleeps away!

What Does Tim Brewster Have to do to Keep His Job?

2010-03-11T08:39:00.005-06:00

Heading into the 2010 season Tim Brewter's seat as Gophers head coach is almost as hot as the brake pads on that runaway Prius in California. While we all know he has to "win" this season and be "successful" to keep his job, but what exactly does that mean? Are there benchmarks he needs to hit?A win total or bowl game he needs to get to? A certain number of player arrests(more wins than police incidents would sure be swell)?

Only Joel Maturi seems to know for sure what's expected of Brewster, but still, if we can't take educated (or wild, uneducated) guesses, what good is the interweb Al Gore worked so hard to invent? Exactly. So let's take a guess at just what it's going to take for Tim Brewster to be leading Gopher Nation into 2011...

HOW MANY WINS?
As we found out last year, all wins are not created equal. While a win over Northwestern or Ohio State counts the same in the standings, the magnitude of what they would mean are substantially different. So the quality of wins Brewster gets might mean as much as the total. Personally, I do not believe another 6-6 season and a trip to a crappy bowl gets it done, even if the six wins include beating USC, Ohio State, Iowa, and/or Wisconsin. 6-6 last year didn't impress most Gopher fans, althought I do wonder if the perception would have been a little different if we'd lost some of those games 45-42 instead of 12-0? If the offense had been clicking on all cylinders but the defense struggled, would people look at 2009's 6-6 as more successful than the offensive gong show we had to endure? Maybe, maybe not. But for 2010, no matter how exciting or close the losses, and even if Jeff Horton morphs into Bill Walsh and the offense actually, you know, scores points and piles up yards and first downs, if Brewster doesn't win at least seven games in the regular season then he's out.

QUALITY WINS
As we've said time and again, Brewster lacks a signature win, and really has very few quality wins. Thus far, he has never beaten a rival (0-9 in trophy games), has never beaten a ranked opponent, has never beaten a team he wasn't supposed to, and has never won a game in November. Oh, and he's also 0-2 in bowl games. So yeah, I'd say there's some work to be done there. Thanks to a tough schedule- or an anti-Mason schedule- in order to get to the magic seven wins in 2010 Brewster is going to HAVE to notch a signature win or two to keep his job.

In years past, like Mason did, he could have lined up four cupcakes in the non-con (as long as those cupcakes weren't NDSU), and then hoped for three more wins somewhere in the conference schedule. But in 2010 that won't be happening. Sure, three of his non-con games should be gimmes- Middle Tenn St, USD, and Northern Illinois- but the fourth one is about as tough as it gets, and there is not one cupcake on the conference schedule this year. Four Big Ten games could go either way, and really, Brewster needs to win all of them: Northwestern, then at Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois.

IF he were able to win all of those, that gets him to seven, and it would also get him not one, but two victories in November. That would not only put the Gophers at no worse than 4-4 in the conference, but should also get them to the Alamo Bowl, a place Minnesota has never been. I do believe those accomplishments, win or lose at the Alamo, would be enough for Maturi to bring Brewster back.

Still, as we saw last year with the crazy Michigan State win and the maddening Illinois loss, those toss up games are exactly that- a toss up. While we Gopher fans can point at those games and say "we should win those" well guess what? Fans of the Spartans, Boilers, Illini and the 17 Wildcat fans who actually make it to home games would say the same thing about us, especially considering I'd bet at least three of those teams will be predicted to finish ahead of us in the conference standings (as I said in my quickee preview a few months ago, you could make an argument for the Gophers to be ranked as high as 7th in the Big Ten or as low as 10th. After OSU, Sconnie and the dirty, dirty Hawkeyes, this conference is WIDE OPEN).

So if/when the Gophs drop at least one of those four conference games, it means to get to seven wins Brewster would have to win a trophy game, and/or quite possibly not just get his first win against a top 25 opponent (thought Purdue, Michigan State, and even the Purple Smart Kids could all be ranked depending upon how the season plays out), but beat an opponent ranked in the top 15.

SLAYING GOLIATH
The five other games on Minnesota's 2010 sched are REALLY difficult games. The only silver living is that four of them are at home (get those season tickets now!!): USC, Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa. The Bucks will be a national preseason top 3 team (and might be the best team the mighty Sweater Vest has ever had in Columbus), Iowa should be in the top 10, and both the Nittany Lions and Trojans should start the year somewhere in the top 15. Yikes! The fifth tough team is on the road at Wisconsin, another preseason top 10 squad, in a place the Gophers haven't won since 1994.

If Brewster wants job security, if he wants to make good on all the promises about building up Gopher Nation, then he needs to win one of those five. I think his best chance is against Penn State because they look to be the "worst" of the five (and I use that term loosely. They're still at worst the fourth best Big Ten team to start the season), but if I could chose one of those five for them to win it would absolutely, positively be the last game of the year against Iowa. We'd beat our most hated rivals, a top 25 team in November, in a trophy game? Brewster could check off every category he needs to except for a bowl win, and then Maturi would hand him a big fat check and another extension.

So that's the task ahead for Tim Brewster: Beat the three teams we're supposed to, win at least three of four of the toss up games, and then find a way to slay goliath. Do that and he goes from the hot seat to the catbird seat.

Notre Dame Admits They Could be "Forced" into a Conference

2010-03-09T14:52:00.003-06:00

Oh boy. If you thought the firestorm surrounding Big Ten expansion was heating up before, just wait until this gets around:

Per Adam Rittenberg, and the New York Times story he links to, Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick admitted that giving up their beloved independence and joining a conference is possible. Not probable, but possible if they were forced to:

“We start that process with a clear preference,” he said. “You each could invent a scenario that would force our hand. It’s not hard to do. We just have to pay attention and stay on top of the game and talk to people. That’s what I’m spending 50 percent of my time doing right now. I’m talking to people who you’re writing about and trying to make sure I understand what they’re thinking and what’s going on.”

How would they be forced to? Essentially, it'd be the Big Ten taking either one or three teams that are not the Irish and then closing the doors on expansion for the forseeable ever, leaving the Big Ten and SEC as the clear-cut goliaths of college football- at least financially. And really, for the non-fans involved, that's what it's all about. Asked about how big of a change expansion could cause in college football, Swarbrick responded:

“I think seismic is a possibility,” he said. “I don’t know where the spectrum falls out. You have such an interesting media environment here. It’s having such an impact on people. You have two conferences who have separated themselves economically. And you have all the other conferences lined up in successive years for broadcast negotiations. That’s a tough situation for everyone in that position. The bar has been set so high, and the media market is so tepid, that it creates tension.”

Indeed, Jack. Indeed. As Swarbrick admits, the Big Ten and SEC have each not only signed a whopping TV contract that dwarfs everyone else, the fact they have those contracts for the best time slots with the main networks that show college football (CBS, ABC, and the E!SPN family of networks) means there isn't much left for everyone else. And if the Big Ten gets bigger which, as their study showed, makes them even more money, there's going to be even less around for everyone else.

Now, this doesn't mean the Irish are in danger of going bankrupt if they don't join the Big Ten. Far from it, obviously. If the Irish stay independent they can have that NBC contract from now until eternity because it seems people will always watch Notre Dame football. But the amount of money that they COULD make by joining the Big Ten will be lost, and that amount will continue to grow.

The Irish have remained independent because their alumni and boosters love it and, more importantly, because they don't need a conference to make money. While that's still true, not joining a conference in this expansion push means Notre Dame will miss out on gigantic dollars that would and will dwarf anything they could make with NBC, or by joining anyone else.

“I believe we’re at a point right now where the changes could be relatively small or they could be seismic,” Swarbrick said. “The landscape could look completely different. What I have to do along with Father Jenkins is try and figure out where those pieces are falling and how the landscape is changing.”

Swarbrick is not saying Notre Dame wants to change, or that it will change, but just that like any good business man he's reading the market and trying to set up his company to be as profitable as possible. I imagine that if they can stay independent, they will, but if the signs continue to point to making a boatload more money by joining the Big Ten or losing the possibility to someone else, I have to think the Irish will finally join a conference. And that confernence is the Big Ten.

Any other Gopher fans excited to see Notre Dame every other year? Hey it'd be better than once every never like it is now.

Who Will Be the Gophs #2 Corner?

2010-03-05T10:46:00.003-06:00

With the loss of seniors Traye Simmons and Marcus Sherels from the 2009 squad, the Gophers will be holding auditions for both starting cornerback spots in 2010. Not sure your thoughts on these two, but I'm only going to miss one of them- and it's not the guy who was named 2nd team Big Ten in 2008. Despite missing part of the season due to injury, I though Sherels played the best football of his career in maroon and gold in the latter half of 2009. He was always pretty good against the run, but thought he held up very well in pass coverage.

Simmons? Yeah not so much. After giving this some thought (I know, a rare thing for me) I think Simmons' play was the biggest mystery of the 2009 season: How does a guy go from 2nd team all-conference as a junior to getting yanked for a true freshman in a conference game as a senior? Unlike Adam Weber, whose struggles and regression can be at least partially explained (terrible O-line play, no running game, coaching, play-calling, young receivers and trying to run an offense that doesn't suit him), I can't think of a single excuse for Traye. Same coaches, same schemes, and a lot the same teammates combined with a year of experience should have set Simmons up for a big, big year. Honestly, after the way he finished 2008 I would not have been surprised to see him be 1st team all-conference and a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick. Instead, Simmons seemed content to rest on his reputation as "Big Play Traye"- the problem was, the big plays came for the guys he was trying to cover.

And so it is that I'm hoping the kid who replaced Simmons, sophomore Michael Carter who wears the #1 for the Gophers, will also be our #1 corner in 2010. The highly decorated four star recruit from Florida played very well as a true freshman in 2009, steadily moving up the depth chart as the season progressed and earned starter-type reps by the bowl game. If the kid can stay out of trouble off the field, this season and beyond looks very, very bright for him. Of course, we thought that about Traye last year, but I'm hoping Carter won't suffer the same fate.

So hopefully #1 is our #1 corner, but who's going to be #2? Before spring ball starts, the three strongest candidates look like the guy who wears #2 and then two guys named Lewis. Minnesota's #2 is senior Ryan Collado, our most experienced corner who probably belongs at safety. He was excellent last year in run support and decent in zone pass coverage, but looked thoroughly overmatched in man coverage. The problem, of course, is that we already have two starting safeties returning in Kim Royston and Kyle Theret, so there's no room there for Collado to play, but I think we're in big trouble if he plays the whole year as a starting corner.

For the Gophs NOT to have to rely on Collado so much in coverage means somebody taking the job from him, and while there will hopefully be a lot of guys pushing him, two candidates named Lewis are emerging as the favorites. Christyn Lewis is an incoming JUCO transfer from California who at 6'2 and 175 certainly has the build to be a successful corner in the Big Ten. He was ranked as a 3 star prospect by Rivals, and also had offers from BYU, Idaho and Utah State. Not exactly a list of heavyweight football juggernauts, but BYU and coach Bronco Mendenhal have made a name for themselves by developing under-the-radar prospects, so let's hope Lewis ends up being one of those guys.

The other Lewis is redshirt freshman Kerry Lewis, a 5'9 speedster who is the only one of the five guys on the Gopher team from Dallas who did NOT go to Skyline high school (he attended Lancaster). While Lewis didn't play at all last year, he was a three star recruit out of high school who chose Minnesota from a pretty impressive list of schools that included Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, and Vanderbilt. If you're scoring at home, that's seven BCS conference teams that have all been to at least one bowl game in the past two years, which means unless these seven were wrong, Kerry SHOULD be a legit BCS conference player.

So we can only hope that after sitting a season and getting bigger, stronger, and (hopefully) faster, Kerry is going to be ready to step in and contribute, and hopefully push the starters for playing time. While some people might worry that having a sophomore in Carter and a redshirt frosh in Kerry Lewis as our starting corners would be a recipe for trouble, if those are our best two kids then that's who should play. And it would certainly be our most athletic pair of starting corners since...well since when I'm not sure.

I believe neither Lewis will be showing up until the fall (please correct me if I'm wrong on that one though), so Collado will likely be the leader in the clubhouse right through the summer. Still, like we said about our competition at linebacker, while we don't return a ton of experience at corner, we do look to have some athletes, which is promising for a position that almost requires them best athletes on the field to succeed.

Good Grief

2010-03-04T10:50:00.000-06:00

Jeff is completely right. Everybody just needs to calm down. Let's take the Anchorman references over the top, shall we?

To everyone who is getting way too fired up about this expansion thing, way too early: "Take it easy, Champ. Why don't you sit this next one out, stop talking for awhile."

It's fun. The speculation, I've been guilty of it myself, but there's just so much of it. So I'm going to take my own advice and sit this one out... not going to talk expansion.

Have you been wondering where I've been? No? Not surprising. While Jeff has been holding down the fort and absolutely carrying this blog on his big, freckled Irish back, I've been having easily the busiest first quarter of the year, both professionally and personally that I've ever had. Busy is good, I'm not complaining, but it's clearly been keeping me from other things.

Having said that, it's about this time of year that I begin to get nervous. Last year was the first year that I can remember where my feelings about Gopher Football, pre-spring practices, were feelings of excitement. I was incredibly exited for Gopher ball last year. Unfortunately my hopes and dreams were shattered as we actually got into the season. Which leads me back to that old familiar feeling of nervousness.

What can we expect this year? Will some of Brewster's recruits begin to emerge and make a difference on the field? Will Brewster become a better in-game coach? Will he learn to go for the jugular? These are the things that sometimes, quite literally, keep me up at night.

I want to be excited about the QB situation (the boys over at The Daily Gopher gave the QB's a pre-spring grade of A...). It sounds like we're finally going to have an open competition. The problem, and the reason I can't get excited about it and I'm instead nervous, is because we all know that Weber not only has the inside track on the job, but he'll definitely do enough to win the job in the spring. But how Weber has performed in games probably won't enter the equation. No other QB on the roster has in-game experience close to Weber's, which means he'll get the job. After last season, I've got some difficulty being excited about that.

I'm slightly more excited about the RB situation, but nervousness is still the mood. All kinds of young guys will be fighting for a job that nobody has stood out for since Tim Brewster has been around. Kevin Whaley was our best RB last year, but you could find him "in da club" more often then you could find him stuffing the stat sheet, so he's back in VA Beach with his buddies. Duane Bennett... eh. DeLeon Eskridge... eh. Which leaves us with the newbies. I'm excited about Lamonte Edwards out of Woodbury (check out his highlight video). He's 6'2", 215lbs, and it looks as though he's not afraid to run people over, a trait that we haven't seen around here in awhile.

WR's? Jeffrick and I said it all of last year, one of the most talent heavy positions on this team is WR. And yet we couldn't figure out how to get those guys involved. Jeff Horton?!?!?! Paging Jeff Horton!!!! I'm looking at you buddy. You've got more weapons at WR than Kevin Whaley has in the trunk of his Honda Accord... let's find a better way to use them.

You'll see some more breakdowns of different positions in the coming weeks and months, but after breaking down the above positions I need to go take my happy pills.

When It Comes to Expansion, Let's not Go Ron Burgandy in a Phone Booth

2010-03-04T08:00:00.007-06:00

I HIT A MAN WITH A BURRITO!!!

Holy schnikes people are going all "Ron Burgandy in a phone booth because the bad man punted Baxter" about Big Ten expansion right now. People- CALM DOWN. Get ahold of yourself. Ed Harkin is not going to put Corningstone on the air, not anytime soon anyway. Baxter is still in his jammies, he's still a little tiny budda all covered in hair, and he's probably just eaten the entire wheel of cheese AND pooped in the refrigerator. I'm not even mad- that's amazing! Seriously, Baxter is fine. Calm down.

When the Big Ten announced before Christmas that they were considering expansion and were going to take up to 18 months to study the prospects, people have been freaking out. And hey, expansion is exciting and awesome and could be an amazingly great thing for the conference. But let's remember one thing here: 18 months. 18 months! And what month are we in now? Roughly month four since the announcement. Let me do some quick and dirty math and calculate... yep we still have roughly 14 FREAKING MONTHS until The Big Ten has said they'll make a decision. That's more than a year away. When the conference says they're going to take 18 months to get this thing figured out and done right, why can't we just take them at their word?

Apparently we can't because it seems like every month we have a new slam-dunk candidate that's THIS close to being the 12th member: first it was Missouri, then Pittsburgh was signed sealed and delivered, and now it's freaking Rutgers. It started when Teddy Greestein in the Chicago Tribune had "inside sources" who say Rutgers is the front runner. Adam Rittenberg has a video post up on his blog about the candidacy of Rutgers.

Rutgers? Really? A very good academic institution with gawd-awful athletics who CANNOT land the New York market for the conference? Their resume and legitimacy is about as thin as our previous candidates in Missouri and Pittsburgh. Law Buck has an excellent post on the non-candidacy of the Scarlet Knights on TRE right now, and Frank the Tank has about 10,000 hours worth of excellent reading on this, and every other possible angle on the Big Ten Expansion topic.

What you'll find both men saying in a very well though and logical manner, is that all of this is posturing. The Big Ten is not going to make any decision right now, and despite how fun it is to guesstimate who will be the next to join the conference, it's not happening anytime soon because, you know, the Big Ten has an 18 month timeline and believe it or not, they're sticking to it.

Another point I want to make, which is basically just parroting what Frank the Tank has already said, and continues to say, is that this whole thing is all about two schools: Texas and Notre Dame. That's it. That's all. Jermo is definitely the poker expert on this site, yet I'm going to use the analogy that this is really all one big poker game: The Big Ten is sitting with the most chips, and Texas and Notre Dame have the second biggest piles. Everybody at the table knows this. This is a poker game between these three to see if they can't strike a deal that can make three very, very rich corporations substantially richer. All parties involved in this know that the Big Ten can make both Texas and Notre Dame substantially more money than they're getting in their current situations, and that both of those fine academic institutions either by themselves or together can make the Big Ten substantially more money than any other candidate, or combination of candidates, the conference could add.

This is not rocket science. It's not. Everybody knows this, but just because they know it doesn't mean it's going to happen right away- or at all. There are negotiations going on here, more public than privately at the moment, and both sides know there's no hurry at the moment. They are posturing, and that is all.

News spilled last week that the Big Ten had an independent research firm investigate between five and fifteen schools to see whether they'd be a good fit. Two schools not on the list? Texas and Notre Dame. People then went all Burgandy on the bit yelling and pointing and chugging milk as they ran (which, as we all know, was a bad choice) saying how it was ridiculous to even mention these two and there's no way they'd leave their current situations and this puts the final dagger in their candidacy.

Frank the Tank, as he has done all along, went ahead and shot that idea full of holes. He said the reason this information was leaked was simply as a very public message to the Mighty Texans and the Mighty Catholics that goes something like this...

"Hey, it's the Big Ten. How are things? Hopefully super swell. So listen, we've been doing some research. As you know, all 11 members of our conference made at least $10 million more than you did last year in TV revenue. Yeah that's right bitches- Northwestern made more than you! Sucks doesn't it? Anywho, as you've no doubt been told, you could make that much, and probably a lot more by joining us. But here's the thing: our smart-guy lawyer research type guys? They've just told us that while we can make the most money by adding you, we can still make a boatload by adding just about anybody else. No really, we can. Like Rutgers. Hahaha ok we can all have a good laugh about the ridiculousness of Rutger's candidacy. We know, it won't come close to delivering the New York market, and unless the Yankees or Knicks start playing college football you're never going to get a ton of people in that city to care. But still, they can make us more money. So could Syracuse, Pitt, and a bunch of others we leaked to the Teddy at the Tribune. It's all true. So yeah, I guess what we're saying in a round about way is you need us more than we need you. You've got our number. Thanks for your time. We're going to go back to swimming in our Scrooge McDuck-style money bin."

You get the idea. As Frank the Tank said in his post "you don't need a research firm to tell you Notre Dame and Texas are the best candidates." Really, you don't. I also like his belief that this list could also be used to pick a 14th school if they were forced to take Texas A&M along with the Horns. A good theory for sure.

What is not a good theory is that Texas (please read this article from Frank the Tank that shoots down every single possible argument against Texas joining the Big Ten. Seriously, every single one) and Notre Dame don't make sense and wouldn't join. I'm not guaranteeing they WILL join, I'm just saying they make by far the most sense, and until the process is officially completed and the Big Ten adds a school(s) that are NOT the Longhorns or Irish, only then will they be out of the running. Until then, the poker game continues.

Don't Forget About the D

2010-03-01T08:56:00.004-06:00

Not sure if you heard, but yesterday this happened. And then in Vancouver, and all across Canada, and in my house, something like this happened. While watching the games Friday and yesterday my buddy Phil (a fellow Canadian) and I consumed almost as much Molson as the Canadian as the Canadian women's hockey team! All in all a great hockey tournament, hopefully it will gain the sport some new fans and ultimately get it back on E!SPN where people can actually watch it. And maybe somehow get rid of all the teams south of the Mason Dixon line. And get Gary Bettman fired. Not that I think the game needs some changes or anything.

Ok then, back to Gopher football. Besides the focus on recruiting, all the talk this offseason seems to be on offense: How can the offensive coordinator for the worst offense in the Big Ten actually get an NFL job? Can a man who has never called plays before be a good offensive coordinator? Who's going to start at quarterback? Who's going to start at tailback? Can the receivers get some consistency? Can the offensive line actually learn to, you know, block and stuff?

Certainly a lot of good questions and a lot of intrigue on the offensive side of the ball, but let's not forget about the defense. GN over at The Daily Gopher (this is a good time to point out that if you like March Madness, and for some reason can't get to a TV but are stuck in front of your computer...like say, at work...TDG will be showing NCAA tourney games live on their site thanks to an agreement with CBS Sports) said this offseason that despite the fact the offense gets nine starters back and the defense LOSES nine starters, he's more confident in the D than the O heading into 2010. While I don't always agree with GN (especially when it comes to Adam Weber), I could not agree with him more on this one.

As bad as the offense was in 2009, let's not forget the defense was pretty darn good, especially in the last three games of the season against SDSU, Iowa, and Iowa State. Overall, Kevin Cosgrove's defense ranked 5th in the Big Ten in scoring (allowed 23.8 pts per game), 6th in total defense (369.2 ypg), and 5th in pass defense. When the Gopher offense wasn't going 3-and-out all game long and keeping our D on the field for 35 minutes a game or more, they were pretty effective. The nine starters we lose were all solid contributors, and most were not highly ranked prospects but through hard work and (I'd like to think) good coaching, developed into Big Ten caliber defenders. So they're certainly going to be missed.

Still, regardless of what happens with our offense, there's definitely some improvements that need to happen defensively for this program to take the next step in 2010. I see two big things that need to change: one is getting off the field on third downs, and the second is getting pressure on the quarterback, and the two are definitely related. For most of 2009, the defense was dead last in the Big Ten in opponents 3rd down%, hovering near 50%, although there were some improvements in two of the last three games, holding SDSU to 3-16, and Iowa to 1-13. Granted, those two were not exactly offensive juggernauts, but Iowa did win the Orange Bowl. A big reason they struggled so much with third downs is the failure to get any kind of pressure on the quarterback. The Gophs were tied with Michigan for the second least amount of sacks in the Big Ten with just 22 (Sconnie and Penn State led with 37 apiece), and were just never able to replicate the sacks and pressure DE Willie VandeSteeg generated in 2008.

Finding an edge rusher from our young group of defensive ends will be key, but bringing pressure from anywhere and everywhere is going to be a team effort. Thankfully, while we don't have a ton of starting experience coming back in 2010, we do have more size and athleticism on defense than any Gopher group I can remember. We're big and/or fast at pretty much all 11 spots, and for me what's just as exciting is there's going to be some heavy competition for just about every starting position. I fully expect Kim Royston and Kyle Theret to be our starting safeties, but the rest are pretty open. I want to focus on the defensive line battles for another time, because there's certainly some good candidates along the line that can help us get more pressure and fill the running lanes. But another part of the QB pressure and 3rd down efficiency issue is the pressure we can bring from our backers and safeties on blitzes, as well as the coverage our back seven can provide. Improvements there are just as important as it is for the four guys up front, and two of the most interesting competitions on the team will be at linebacker and corner.

We'll look at the corner battle soon, but today let's talk linebackers. We have as many as six linebackers who will be considered for three starting positions, but really, two of them are already locked up. Sophomore Keanon Cooper, who finished 7th in tackles last year with 37, will be a starter at one of the outside spots. While he was only listed at 210lbs last season, his speed and strength more than made up for it. Hopefully some time in the weight room and the cafeteria can bulk him up some more, but regardless he's going to be a disruptive force on the outside both on the blitz and in coverage. Despite having three solid senior linebackers, by the end of the year the coaches just couldn't keep junior Gary Tinsley off the field. Tinsley might have been the Gophers best defender in the loss to Iowa, and continued his strong play in the bowl game. With good size and speed, Tinsley WILL start somewhere in 2010, but whether it's at inside or outside linebacker depends upon one man: Sam Maresh.

Maresh, as you probably know, was a highly decorated recruit from Champlin (who was also a 2-time Class AAA state wrestling champ) who at 6'3 and 250 lbs was expected to compete for playing time immediately as a freshman in 2008. Then doctors found a congenital heart defect which required surgery and some thought might end his playing career before it ever began. Maresh defied the odds and returned to the team in 2009 where he was redshirted and worked hard to get back into football shape. The question for 2010 will be whether he can be 100% again and play like the potential all-Big Ten middle linebacker he looked like coming out of high school? If he can, and he looks great in the spring, then either the coaches will move Tinsley outside, or they might play more 3-4, allowing both Tinsley and Maresh to play the middle.

But if Maresh doesn't prove to be worthy of starting, then Tinsley stays inside and it'll be up to as many as three other guys to fight for the other outside linebacker spot. Spencer Reeves, who like Cooper played at Dallas Skyline high school, is another sophomore with speed and strength who could make a real impact in 2010. IF Maresh isn't ready, then I hope Reeves is, as to me he has the most potential of the remaining guys to be a play-maker. The great thing is, he's going to really have to prove it, as he'll be pushed hard by redshirt frosh Brent Singleton and converted DB Mike Rallis. Neither guy is very big, as both are currently listed around 210 lbs, but they make up for it with good speed and instincts, and both would help a lot in pass coverage. As much as I loved last year's group of starting backers, other Simoni Lawrence, both Lee Campbell and Nate Tripplet weren't great when they had to drop into coverage. Whoever starts for us on the outside should be an improvement there, and hopefully can be just as good against the run.

With these six, and with perhaps more guys stepping up around them, we've got every reason to be excited about the potential of our linebackers, and our defense, in 2010.

Take Off, Eh!

2010-02-26T09:07:00.007-06:00

An actual Gopher football post is coming soon, I promise. But first- how freaking cool are the Canadian women's hockey team? I mean really? I don't say this to rub it in the faces of our American readers, I say it only because a good half hour or so after their gold medal win vs. the USA, after all the fans had cleared out, these fine Canadian lasses went back out to the ice with their gold medals- and champagne, cigars and Molson Canadian beer (I've always been more of a Kokanee guy- in fact I have an 18 pack in the fridge at home right now- but I also do enjoy a good Canadian). Check out the pics from Luke Wynn's blog on SI.com:

Great, great stuff. I particularily like this one where one of the players is driving the zamboni around (maybe she's taking someone to the looney bin on her way to the brewery eh?):

This kind of exuberance and joy is what hockey, and the Olympics are all about...oh what's that? The IOC is saying this is NOT what it's all about?

"If that's the case, that is not good," said Gilbert Felli, the IOC's
executive director of the Olympic Games. "It is not what we want to see. I don't
think it's a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing
room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what
happened."

I did not know that Gilbert means "douche bag" in whatever anal country he is from. Um Gil? The crowd had gone. It was just the media and janitors left- this wasn't in public anymore than celebrating in the dressing room would have been!! And really, I'm sure there's never been a team or athlete who has EVER gone out to the bar after the game to celebrate their victory in, you know, public. Nope, that's never happened. But because the Canadian gals bring their Canadians, stoggies and champagne back onto the ice they've committed some kind of crime against society? What would that be exactly- a crime of fun? One of passion? One you'd expect from Canadians?

The best quote came from Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, who said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party:

"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said, referring to raucous locker-room celebrations that are a tradition in some professional team sports.

Exactly, Steve. This would be a pretty Canadian response to winning a gold medal, and dare I say, a pretty common response from any team or athlete who would win gold at the Olympics. Just more proof the IOC are a bunch of hosers.

Meanwhile, you can bet that wherever the Canada women's hockey team go the rest of the week, they'll be the most popular party-goers in Vancouver, and would be welcome at my Gopher tailgate next fall anytime they want. Especially if they're bringing the Molson, and maybe instead of champagne, some of the Champagne of Beers for Jermo.

The Signature Win

2010-02-25T10:44:00.005-06:00

I'm going to bring this around to Gopher football: really, I will. But before I get to that I have to start by saying that if you don't know already, let me tell you: I'm Canadian, and therefore, I live and die with Canada's hockey team. All of this crap from the Canadian Olympic Committee about "Owning the Podium"? What a joke. There's been a few polls done of Canadians asking them if they'd rather win the most Olympic medals but no hockey gold OR only hockey gold but no other medals. Well guess which won in a landslide? Yep, over 80% of Canadians would rather win hockey gold and nothing else. So to say our image, our reputation, and everything we live for is at stake in this tournament is like saying NBC tape-delaying Olympic events in the internet age is a bad idea- it's the understatement of understatements.

I watched the USA's 5-3 win over the red and white last Sunday at the ESPNZone in Las Vegas with hundreds of other Canadian fans. The atmoshphere pregame was unbelievable. We showed up about an hour before the game and the waiting list to get in, according to the overwhelmed hostess, was "we don't know. We don't know how long it will be." Apparently they a) had no idea there was going to be a hockey game and b) had no idea every Canadian in Vegas would converge on them to watch it. Lesson learned. Thankfully we got in, and it was nuts to see an entire bar filled with nothing but Canadians.

Of course, as great as that was the USA took the wind out of the sails with the early first goal, and kept it out by always one-upping Canada, outworking them, and outplaying them. It was tough to watch. It was even tougher when four meathead gangster wanna-be d-bags who wouldn't recognize a hockey puck if it hit them in their fat heads rolled in midway through the third period to try and antagonize and start fights. Not exactly classy. Reminded me a lot of Iowa fans.

ANYWAY, as much as that game killed me, after watching Canada dismantle Germany, and then Russia last night, I'm thinking it's the USA loss that was the wake-up call Canada needed. A signature loss, if you will. While I want the USA and Canada to win tomorrow so we can get our sweet, sweet revenge, I'm not naive enough to think we WILL beat Slovakia. I hope we do, and I hope USA beats Finland, but I'm not counting on it. Still, I like our chances much better now than on Sunday. In 2002, Canada lost their opener to Sweden and then barely survived against Germany before Wayne Gretzky's "us against the world" speech rallied the lads and they rolled to Gold. In 2006 they lost...and lost...and were out. I'm hoping the USA loss turns into the rallying point it was in 2002, but we won't know until Friday, but it certainly seems to have changed their intensity and determination: they've been a more confident, more aggressive bunch since Sunday, and instead of worrying about trying to live up to the hype as the team that's supposed to be the best in the world, they're now just going out and playing. And through two knock-out games it's made all the difference.

So what does this have to do with Gopher football? Well I'm wondering when our beloved Gophs will finally get that rallying point game. For Canada, it's a hockey power that is expected by its fan to win every game. It seems like they need a tough loss, a signature loss, to wake them up and to change the momentum. For Gopher football, we know all too well about tough losses, since we've had so many over the years. It seems anytime this program gets some momentum, or we get some hope, it all comes crashing down. So for Minnesota, I'm left to wonder that to make the leap to be the program we all not only want it to be but KNOW it can be, we're going to have to get a signature WIN instead of a loss.

After reading Jer's summation of Minnesota in the Aughts over at TRE (as with everything Jermo writes, it's an excellent, informative, and entertaining read), I was reminded of the loss to Michigan in 2003. You know the game story by now: Minnesota led Michigan 35-7 at the end of the third quarter but lost. What I didn't really know- or perhaps had worked to forget- was just how close Minnesota was to going to the Rose Bowl that year, and how different this program would be today if it had. With the loss Minnesota ended up finishing 9-3 in the regular season and 5-3 in the Big Ten in a three-way tie for fourth place with Iowa and Michigan State. Because the Gophers are the Gophers, they ended up in the Sun Bowl.

But if they had held on against Michigan, if they had played any defense whatsoever in the fourth quarter instead of giving up 38 points, they would have gotten their signature win and been 8-0. And even if the rest of the 2003 regular season had played out exactly as it did- losses to MSU and Iowa, wins against Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin- the Gophs would have finished at 6-2 in the Big Ten in a four-way tie for first with Michigan, Ohio State, and Purdue. The Wolverines played both the Bucks and Boilers and beat both, while Minnesota played neither, but of course would have beaten Michigan. By my calculations, the tie-breaker then goes to Minnesota, especially with the rule that the team with the longest Rose Bowl drought gets to go.

So we were that close. Would Glen Mason still be coach here? Highly doubtful, as he seemed to have one foot out the door the entire time he was here looking for a better job. But I'd bet we'd have a stronger fanbase, and better local coverage because of it, and hopefully a better team and better recruiting. Sure, Rose Bowl seasons don't guarantee lasting success (just ask Purdue or Northwestern) but it certainly helps.

What we need in 2010 is a signature win, a momentum changer, and a program changer. We need something we haven't gotten yet from Tim Brewster: we need a big win against someone we're not supposed to beat. As you've no doubt heard, we have a very tough schedule coming up. I'd count only 3 games as gimmes, all at home in September against Middle Tennessee St, USD, and N. Illinois. There's four more that could go either way: Northwestern at home, then roadies against Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois. That leaves five daunting dates against top 15 foes nobody is going to expect us to beat: four at The Bank against USC, Penn State, Ohio State, and Iowa, and we an early October trip to Camp Randall.

I believe Tim Brewster needs seven wins, if not eight, to save his job. Which means to do that, he has to do something he's never done- not only does he have to beat everyone we're supposed to beat, and then steal the ones that could either way, but he HAS to pull an upset on one of the five teams we have no business beating. He need to delight and shock a packed house at TCF Bank Stadium and get his first signature win. He has never beaten a team ranked in the top 25, and he's going to get a shot at at least five such teams this year- if not more by the time conference play rolls around. While a massive upset won't guarantee a successful and winning season (see Purdue circa 2009) it can be a huge boost to the ego, pride, and confidence of the team and its fans (see Purdue circa 2009).

So far the Tim Brewster Era has left Gopher fans pretty down and wanting more. Like Canada with a "signature loss" I'm hoping 2010 can bring a "signature win" for Minnesota and turn the momentum- and this program- around, and steer us towards the program we all know and want Minnesota football to be.

Wrapping Up the Week

2010-02-19T10:39:00.009-06:00

Some musings on the week that was...

Adam Rittenberg reports that the Gophers hired Steve Watson as wide receivers coach. Shockingly, yet another Tim Brewster "nation wide search" to replace a coach led to someone he worked with or who people on his staff has worked with. In this case, probably not a bad thing at all, as Watson should be very familiar with what the Gophers are trying to do on offense, as he's familiar with the Denver Broncos pro-style Mike Shannahan ran that Jedd Fisch failed miserably to emulate last season. Watson worked with some receivers who had very, very good seasons including Rod Smith, Brandon Marshall, and Ashley Lelie. Lelie, who is out of the NFL, certainly sucked since leaving Denver in 2006, but had two pretty solid years with the Broncos, including 2004 when he had 1084 yards and 7 TD's. Hopefully Lelie's success in Denver, and maximum sucktitude the last three seasons, is a testament to Watson's coaching, and it'll translate to our talented youngester with the Gophers. If he can make a 1000 yard receiver out of Lelie, maybe he can teach Troy Stoudermire how to catch?

Andy Staples of SI.com says to forget talk of Big Ten and PAC 10 expansion: the top 64 revenue-producing athletic departments need to leave the NCAA and for four 16 team super conferences that play for their own national title. While I don't love this idea, his chart on the second page just reinforces how freaking rich the Big Ten and SEC are compared to everybody else, and why that, above all else, is why you're not going to see his idea happen. Those two conferences have the most control right now because they have BY FAR the most money, and even a 64 team super division doesn't necessarily guarantee them more than they're getting now. Texas is far and away the most profitable athletic department, but after that the Big Ten has Ohio State (2nd), Penn State (6th), Michigan (7th), and Wisconsin (9th) in the top ten, while the SEC has SIX teams in the top 11! This also made me wonder where Minnesota ranked in all of this, and how close we were to being left out of the top 64 (by the way, Iowa State and Mississippi State were the only BCS conference schools NOT in the top 64). The answer? You might be surprised, or maybe you wouldn't: Minnesota finished 27th, as their athletic department reportedly made just over $70 million in 2008-2009 school year. Wow. Definitely doing a lot better than I thought, and while a lot of that is thanks to the ridiculous Big Ten Network contract and the BCS bowl cashouts, the Gophers are still doing quite well thank you very much. And to again speak to the strength of the conference, the Gophers were still the 7th highest earners (Iowa was 15th, and Michigan State 17th).

I'm still surprised at the number of people engaging in the Big Ten expansion debate who do not realize that money and academics are the two most important factors. The conference will NOT accept schools with crappy academics and they will NOT accept schools who aren't going to add a lot of revenue by bringing in a new TV market. It's why Texas and Notre Dame are the only two who make sense to add, and that if you can't get one of those two then it just doesn't make much sense. Any combination of anyone else, even MIssouri by adding the St Louis TV market, likely doesn't increase the total revenues for each school enough for it to make sense. As much as I LOVE the thought of Nebraska joining (their athletic department finished 18th in the NCAA with almost $75 million), and while they would bring a lot of TV viewers, they would not bring many new homes for the BIg Ten Network to be added to. The Huskers have a large following outside of the state, sure, but I'm willing to bet most are already living where they already can get the Big Ten Network. Nebraska's sell job (there's been a lot of speculation that Big 8 homer Tom Osborne won't want to leave because of his loyalty, but he strikes me as a much, much smarter man than that) is going to be to convince the Big Ten that it's national popularity can get the network added to other new markets outside of Nebraska that the BTN is not currently in.

Tiger Woods wants you to know he's really sorry. Sure he is- sorry he got caught! I don't believe Tiger owes me or anyone else an apology, but then again, I'm not someone who uses athletes as role models. He's the world's greatest golfer, and apparently quite the ladies man off of it. Why should I care? Certainly it should cost him the sponsorships it has, but why else should Tiger apologize? He should take Bill Simmons' suggestion and just admit that he got married too young, doesn't want to be tied down because he's so rich and famous that he can apparently sleep with any woman he wants any time anywhere, and that while he's getting divorced he's going to support and love his kids as well as he possibly can. Then he should just concentrate on doing two things he seems to do really, really well: bang golf balls and hot chicks.

If he wants to finish if off with a Shooter McGavin-esque finger point and "let's go play some golf", all the better.

The Lights Are On, Somebody's Home

2010-02-18T10:14:00.003-06:00

What a day! Pitchers and catchers report AND Canada vs. Switzerland hockey (or for the Americans, the USA gets to annihilate Norway. Although we probably won't get to see either game because NBC will preempt it with either women's curling or the women's hockey team beating the bejeesus out of another country 62-0. But hey, we can't break from either of those to show men's hockey because that, you know, would actually get ratings. And if NBC has proven anything, it's that they do not want ratings. Please, run from your television sets. Change the channel. I love America but I hate NBC and their Olympic coverage. You probably couldn't tell, but I do. I really, really do). Seriously, as our friend Ice Cube said, "today is a good day."

What does this have to do with Gopher football? Well nothing. Nothing at all. But as a Gopher football only website...well what do we have left to talk about? Let's be honest here- Jer and I love Gopher football way, way too much. It's definitely a problem. But that's what we love and what we know (or at least we think we do) so that's what we talk about here. Unlike the boys over at The Daily Gopher, who seem to know anything and everything about all things Gophers, we know Gopher football. Which is great during the season, and the few weeks of spring practice, but in these long, cold, dark months without college football...yeah we have nothing.

In year's past, we've pretty much gone dark during the off-season because while we can pretend to have informed and enlightened opinions on Gopher football, we cannot pretend to know what the heck we're talking about when it comes to Gopher basketball, hockey or baseball. So we don't try.

So where does that leave us during the dark ages of the college football offseason? Good question. I would like for the lights to stay on for this site between now and when spring practice starts, but if so, that means little talk of Gopher football and other talk of well, other stuff. Two things I can guarantee you we will not talk about under any circumstances are politics and religion. Or HGTV. Or Shaun White. Or American Idol. Ok so there's probably a lot of things we won't ever talk about, but there's also plenty of non-Gopher football related stuff we may get into. March Madness? Music? Movies? The Twins (I'm a Mariners fan, but have to say I love what the Twinkies are doing. They are moving dangerously close to no longer being "The Little Engine That Could", the scrappy little piranahs who try really hard but just can't compete with the Big Boys because their own makes no money from the team. Pay no attention to the fact he has more money than God! No, the Twins can't possibly make money! No way no how! Well now they're bordering on a $100 million payroll and one of the best teams in the league. With all sincerity, couldn't happen to a better group of fans after all Carl Pohlad put you through. The summer of 2010 should be fun for baseball fans)?

We could go a number of different directions, or nowhere at all. But we'll try to keep the site from going dark the next few months with some kind of content, as we light the way during the long, long, LONG offseason. Whatever Gopher news there is to report (or the also fun total unsubstantiated rumors) mixed in with other stuff. Stay tuned. We'll leave the lights on for you.

I Like What Jeff Horton Has to Say

2010-02-12T09:21:00.003-06:00

To say I wasn't excited about the Gophers hiring Jeff Horton as the new offensive coordinator is like saying I've been disappointed in the final season of Lost thus far: it would be a big understatement. Horton, a coaching retread who has been nothing better than a quarterbacks coach since getting fired as head coach at UNLV back in the late 90's, and a man who has NEVER called plays, wasn't exactly the hire I was hoping for. But after reading his comments in an interview with the Strib's Kent Youngblood, I'm much more intrigued, and much more hopeful, that Horton can get the offense turned around in 2010.

"The college game and the NFL game, they're different," Horton said. "The
NFL's more about matchups. ... The college game is a little different. It's not
all 1-on-1, which is what you see in the NFL all the time. What we want to do is
get some things we can hang our hat on, know we can do well, then we can dress
those things up. My goal coming out of spring practice will be to have an
effective scheme, but one that is simple enough where the players can play
fast."

I've never coached football at any level, so you know, take this for what it's worth, but I like hearing this. I think one of the many problems for our offense last year was that Fisch just made it too dang complicated. Too many plays trying to do too many different things. An offense like the spread or the wishbone has some basic plays and formations, and at the college level they work well if they're executed well. Sounds like Horton wants to simplify the playbook, find some things this group of offensive talent does well, and stick with it. While this is easier said than done, it's a better direction that trying to do a thousand different things at once under Fisch.

Of course, what REALLY will make this offense better in all facets is the ability to run the ball. And Horton believes he can make that happen.

"We have to establish ourselves as a physical team that can run," he said. "We
have to. We have to be a team that can run the ball in October and November in
bad-weather games, when we have to do it and [the opponent] knows we are going to do it. That has always been a credo of mine. Off that, I'm a big play-action guy. The better you run the ball, the better you can run the play-action pass. I
was raised on that."

Again, it's one thing to say you're going to commit to the run (how many times last year did we hear Brewster talk about the Gophs being a smash mouth football team despite having the worst rushing attack in the Big Ten?), and quite another to actually do it. But if he's going to simplify the playbook and concentrate on the bread and butter basics of blocking and finally opening some holes, this offense could finally take off. And did he say play-action passing? Did he actually talk about something that's Adam Weber's strength instead of being like Fisch and trying to pigeon-hole him into a drop-back short-read precision passer that he's not? My goodness, could Horton actually want to try to play to the strengths of our quarterbacks instead of forcing them to do things they're not good at? Crazy talk is what that is! Crazy talk! And I like it!

"From the first meeting this spring, we will set those guidelines," Horton said.
"The defense may stuff us 20 times in a row this spring, but we'll keep
hammering until we get it right. Repetition builds confidence."

Ok, maybe that's not the best thing to say, as it seemed last year Fisch stubbornly ran the ball despite having little to no success with it, but I do like the idea that running the ball is going to be a priority from day one. It's going to be not just emphasized, but expected. Hopefully an experienced offensive line improves here in the off-season and in the spring, because without better play from them, it's not going to matter. I'm also hoping that now that Duane Bennett is more than a year removed from knee surgery that we'll see the burst and explosiveness we saw from him in 2008 but did not see last year, and that any one of the three incoming freshmen can make a big splash.

I continue to believe there's talent here, and while we may not be the best offense in the Big Ten in 2010, we can be a helluva lot better than the worst like we were last year. From what Jeff Horton is saying, maybe, just maybe, he's the right guy after all to get the most out of this group.

Texas and Notre Dame: Why the Big Ten Could Add Both

2010-02-11T08:41:00.010-06:00

As you've probably heard by now the stodgy and traditional Big Ten is talking expansion, and according to the Lawrence Journal World of Kansas they're now officially talking to Texas. Because of this, the also stodgy and even more traditional Pac 10, who last expanded in 1978, are also talking expansion. The pieces have set in motion for The Big Ten to drastically alter the landscape of college football, and with it perhaps grab two of the biggest fish available to them in Texas and Notre Dame. Both schools are coveted by the conference, and both seemingly have their reasons for joining and not joining. So how is it the Big Ten could get both? Follow along, with me, if you will...

The best place to start this whole discussion is with the TV revenue for each BCS conference and Notre Dame for 2009, which was reported by ESPN's Outside the Lines:

Big Ten: $242 million ($22 million per school)
SEC: $205 million ($17.08 million per school)
Big 12: $78 million ($12.5 million for Texas, $6.5 million per school for the other 11)
ACC: $67 million ($5.58 million per school)
Pac-10: $58 million ($5.8 million per school)
Big East: $13 million for football/$20 million for basketball ($2.8 million per football school)
Notre Dame: $10.25 million (about $9 million from their NBC football deal, and another $1.25 from Big East basketball)

For those scoring at home, the Big Ten made more money in TV revenue last year than Notre Dame, the Big 12, ACC, Pac 10 and Big East COMBINED!!!! Let that sink in for a minute. Got it? Got your head around that figure yet? The Big Ten took an enormous risk by starting their own network, but it's paid off even better than they could have dreamed. Therefore, if they're going to add another school(s) the current members are not going to want to cut into that revenue pie. They're only interested in increasing the value of the conference and increasing the revenue for their current members.

Remember, the conference is currently splitting their revenue 11 ways: While a football conference title game would add a few more millions for the conference, when you add in at least one more school and are then splitting the difference 12 ways, or even 14 ways, your schools are likely to be taking in less revenue. The new member(s) need to make each Big Ten school at least the $22 million per school they're currently receiving now, if not more. Otherwise, what's the point?

Even with a title game, adding someone from the likes of Mizzou, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn or even Nebraska does NOT increase revenues for the other schools. Even if you add three of them, splitting revenues 14 ways does not increase the overall revenue for each member school.

The Big Ten is going to expand only if it gets them a substanial revenue increase, and there's only two available schools that can offer that: Notre Dame and Texas. That's it. That's all. That's the list. If the Big Ten is able to get neither of those two, I don't think they end up expanding. That is unless Nebraska can make a compelling case that they can add the needed value and revenue to the conference, but they're the only ones outside of the Horns and Irish who by themselves could make that case.

I'm not even going to bother with the argument for why the Big Ten would want Notre Dame and Texas. Pretty sure that's been covered, and should be self explanatory. But what hasn't been, or what apparently hasn't been made mainstream enough, is why both of those schools would be crazy NOT to join the Big Ten.

Frank the Tank has an incredibly detailed and compelling argument for why Texas should join the conference. I highly recommend the read (I believe he's also done three follow-up posts which are also excellent), but make sure you carve out about a half hour of your time to digest it all. It's long, but it's really, really good.

Let's summarize Frank the Tank's argument for why Texas would be crazy NOT to join the Big Ten:
- Yes, the Longhorns get more revenue than other Big 12 schools, as they received $12.5 million last year while the other eleven schools got about $6.5 million each.
- But they would get substantially more than that in the Big Ten. Remember, each school last year got $22 million, so even if bringing Texas in and splitting it 12 ways gained the conference no extra revenue, $242 million split 12 ways is still $20.17 million per school. Just that amount alone is much more than Texas receives from the Big 12.
- However, if Texas were to join the Big Ten, the Big Ten Network would then be added to 90+ million homes in the state of Texas that it's not in now. By adding that many new viewers and paying customers, even a conservative projection would have to put the Big Ten Network's payout to 12 schools at somewhere around $25 million each. At least.
- So that means Texas can stay in the Big 12 and make $12.5 million, or move to the Big Ten and make more than double that. Every year.
- Add to that the fact the Big Ten is a much better conference academically and would open a lot of doors for research and academics that Texas simply can't get in the Big 12, and it's hard to see a reason why they wouldn't.

Shooting down two other counter-arguments:
- Rivalries with Texas A&M and Oklahoma. To me, this is minor, and one that's being overblown. Texas and Oklahoma have only been in the same conference for less than two decades. And, as Frank the Tank explained, the Horns were ready to ditch A&M in the early 90's when Texas almost joined the Pac 10 (but instead ended up forming the Big 12). Texas cares about Texas and will- and should- do what's best for them. They can always play the Sooners and Aggies in the non-conference.

- The Texas Legislature: this is the one big hurdle the Longhorns would have to clear. If Texas left, the Big 12, and its many remaining Texas schools, would be in serious trouble. Not hard to envision delegates from the counties and cities in the other Big 12 school areas voting against them leaving. Because Texas is a state-funded university, the legislature does have the right to make them stay put.

So that about covers Texas. Who cares if they're not connected to the other Big Ten teams geographically? The revenue to be gained for everyone involved would be so staggering, it makes too much sense for them not to try it. Another reason is because without Texas, or Colorado, or Nebraska, or Missouri, or whomever ends up leaving the Big 12 for the Big Ten and Pac 10, it means those left behind in the Big 12 will REALLY be left behind.

Ahhh yes, the Pac 10. The conference that is even more stodgy and traditional than the Big Ten. The one who hasn't expanded since 1978, and who wouldn't be looking at expanding unless they absolutely had to. And with the Big Ten expanding, and the dominoes that will start falling because of it, the Pac 10 has quickly realized it has to expand, as much for the survival of the conference than anything else.

You saw the TV revenue figures up at the top, and you saw that the Pac 10 is down near the bottom. The big reason they even got that high in the rankings is because of the television market in southern California, and especially because of USC. The Pac 10 knows that SC is vital to their survival, and keeping them happy, and in the conference, is imparative.

IF the Big 12 is able to keep Texas but loses another member(s) to the Big Ten, there's no reason to think they won't come calling to have the Trojans join them. The Pac 10 is without a lucrative TV deal and has some of the worst bowl partners outside of the Big East (obviously the Rose Bowl is great but that's really all they have). Texas is the one television market that could support a lucrative TV deal for the Big 12, and if you add in southern California and the massive LA market, well, you can see how that one would make a whole lotta sense, and a whole lot more money, for SC.

And if USC goes, why wouldn't UCLA go with them? So that means the PAC 10 has to be proactive, and that's why they're looking at expansion too. Like the Big Ten, they're certainly going to aim for Texas, and because of their history of courting them, they might have a decent chance. Colorado is the second no-brainer school, as the Buffs bring an excellent academic reputation AND the Denver TV market with them. Because Colorado cares so much about academics and the Pac 10 is such a better academic conference, it would not be a tough sell to the folks in Boulder.

IF the Pac 10 can't get Texas, and Texas ends up leaving for the Big Ten, few other schools make sense. First let's eliminate just about all of the other candidates I've been hearing mentioned. The two most important things to remember about Pac 10 expansion are the following:

- the conference requires a unanimous vote to add a school(s)
- the Pac 10 takes their academics just as seriously as the Big Ten, and perhaps even more so. Any school in consideration must be a "research institution."

Therefore, schools like Boise St, Fresno St, San Diego St, Hawaii, and the rest are out because they simply don't meet the academic requirements. They also wouldn't bring enough new viewers in TV revenue.

BYU is an excellent school and has very good athletics, but unless the Pac 10 changes their rules for acceptance they're not getting in either. The reasons are that they are NOT a research institution and because there's no way in hades Cal lets them in because of their religious differences (Frank the Tank explains here). It just would never happen.

That leaves Utah, who is pretty good academically and would bring the 31st largest TV market as well as some good athletics. However, nobody in the Pac 10 is going to be excited to bring in the Utes. The one school other than Texas who would? Oklahoma.

Think about it: If Texas goes to the Big 10 and Colorado bolts for the Pac 10, what is Oklahoma left with? What they're left with is a football conference that's suddenly worse, and would make less money, than even the Big East. Joining the Pac 10 with the Buffs puts them right back in the money. The Sooners as a candidate is a totally unsubstantiated rumor at this point, but I'm just saying if the dominos start falling, it makes sense, and their addition would bring more to the Pac 10 than anyone else besides Texas.

Finally, IF Texas leaves for the Big Ten, then Colorado bolts for the Pac 10, what would that mean for everyone else? Suddenly Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the rest of the not-so-Big 12 are scrambling to find a life raft. The Big Ten and SEC would have vaunted themselves into another financial stratosphere, leaving everyone else, including Notre Dame, behind. The result? Super conferences.

IF this happens I could see the Big Ten and SEC not stopping at 12 teams, but increasing to 14. The evidence (aka the money) for Notre Dame to join the Big Ten is currently already overwhelming. Even with an exclusive TV deal with NBC, the Irish only made about $10 million last year. They also no longer have their sweetheart BCS deal (Before the addition of a fifth BCS game, it used to be that everyone had to finish in the top 8 to be eligible for an at-large selection. Everyone, that is, except for the Irish, who only had to finish in the top 14. But now, everybody is eligble with a top 14 finish). The Irish are also seeing non-BCS bowl options disappearing, most of which are going to the Big Ten and SEC. So if the Irish don't make a BCS game, their runner up options are...the New York City Bowl? The Sun Bowl? The Champs Sports Bowl? As of now, all of the non-BCS New Year's Day bowl options are gone.

Really, the only thing keeping Notre Dame from joining a conference are their alumni and boosters. Thus far, Irish alums simply do not want to give up the independent status because they like to think they're special. That's it. That's all. And because no school relies more on their alums and boosters than do the Irish, at the moment they're not at a point where they can go against their wishes. But that point in time for a change is coming and its coming soon.

Being an independent no longer gets Notre Dame more revenue, better bowls, and a better shot at a BCS bowl. If I were Irish AD Jack Swarbrick, I'd be sending out pamphlets about the benefits of joining the Big Ten to every alum and booster on the mailing list, because to stay sustainable and viable, Notre Dame is going to need to join a conference.

So what happens if it looks like Texas is going to join and Notre Dame suddenly wakes up and says "Hey!! We were just kidding! We really want to join!" who would the Big Ten take? I think the answer would have to be both, wouldn't it? Adding both the Horns and Irish would make the Big Ten just an obscene amount of money, and since you can't have a conference with 13 schools, they could then add just about anyone (Oklahoma? Nebraska? Mizzou? UConn? Pitt?) for 14 and a real and true Super Conference.

And if that happens, you have to think the SEC counters by adding Texas A&M and another school left behind in the wake of the Big 12's demise so they can also have 14.

While all of this may seem really premature, we do know the Big Ten is talking to Texas, the Pac 10 is talking expansion, and it makes more sense than ever for Notre Dame to join the Big Ten. While it's just discussion now, the rumblings we're hearing could cause an avalanche of change in college football that alters the landscape in a major way.

Patrick Reusse Was a Handsome Man

2010-02-11T08:32:00.002-06:00

Thank you to the Strib's Michael Rand for posting this glorious picture. My goodness gracious.

What if the Big Ten (14?!?!) looked like this?

2010-02-10T22:58:00.002-06:00

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Brewster's Contract, More Coaching Changes, and Seantrel

2010-02-10T09:17:00.002-06:00

Top o' the mornin to you. Sick of winter yet? Tired of 12 feet of snow and icy roads? Yeah me too. Gopher "spring" practices start March 23, with the spring game April 24. So we can count away the day til spring football AND until spring starts. Plenty of Gopher news circulating in the meantime, most of which we haven't had a chance to get to. Better late than never, right? Right?

Let's start with Tim Brewster's contract details, which were released Friday. He will continue to get a base salary of $400k per year through 2013, but can make a lot more if he wins. Before we get to his win and bowl bonuses, the part that matters most to me is the buyout- $200,000 per year through 2013. So let's just say, hypothetically, Brew gets canned in 2010. We'd then be on the hook for three more years at $200k for a total buyout of $600,000. Not great, but it could have been worse I suppose. That certainly won't limit the University from being able to pay good money to Ken Sumlin- or, um a good coach- to replace him.

Onto the bonuses then:
Capital One or Outback Bowl berth- $100,000

Wins Bonus
7- $100,000
8- $150,000
9- $200,000
10- $250,000
11- $300,000
12- $350,000

To me, this looks like a pretty fair contract. IF Brewster is able to finally start winning here, I have no problem paying the guy those totals for wins. But as I said, bottom line is that if things don't work out, then The U is only on the hook for $600K.

The coaching carousel continued to spin in Dinkytown, as receivers coach Richard Hightower left for the NFL, and RB's coach Thomas Hammock was given a new title of co-offensive coordinator, apparently also to keep him from leaving. Frankly, I think Hammock needs to concentrate more on getting better production (or perhaps any production) from his running backs than play calling, but that's just me. As for Hightower's replacement, Brewster uttered one of his favorite phrases, saying a "national search" is already underway. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. The same "national search" that landed us Jeff Horton? Let's just cut the BS and tell us you're looking for a former Wisconsin WR's coach, and the first one to take the job wins. Madison West, that's us!!

The "Seantrel Undecided" stories are already becoming almost as annoying as the Brett Favre retirement stories. Wake me when he signs with a school and shows up at practice. Until then, I just don't care. I know he's not coming to Minnesota, so at this point I don't care where he ends up.

Let's talk about players who actually ARE signed to play for the Gophers, shall we? Marcus Fuller had a blog post about Marquise Hill competing for playing time this fall at wide receiver. While I doubt the three star recruit from St Louis is good enough to start right away, I hope he's able to push the guys we have coming back and make them better. I like our talent at wideout heading into 2010, but with the way they performed last year after Decker went out, by no means should anyone be guaranteed a job.

Some great quotes on recruiting from other Big Ten coaches...

2010-02-04T16:43:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of quotes on recruiting that I read today from Bret Bielema and Pat Fitzgerald that I wish would have been said by Tim Brewster.

Please understand, this is NOT a knock on Tim Brewster, and I sincerely mean that. I just think that these quotes are so on the money that I wish they came from our guy.

From Adam Rittenberg's ESPN blog:

"I'd rather be ranked at the end of the year than the start of the year, and the same thing holds true in recruiting. It doesn't really matter, coming in, how many stars you have behind your name. It's about what you do while you're there...
It was brought to my attention today, we're ranked by one recruiting service at 30th and another at 83rd. There's so many factors into this recruiting that are off-the-wall ridiculous."- Bret Bielema

"I don't cohabitate very well with prima donnas. The hat charade and the decommitting and the recommitting, I'm not looking to recruit those kind of young people. Those aren't the things that we believe in and value in our program. ... I don't really care what anybody ranks our class right now. They fit us, we believe in who they are, and more importantly, we trust our evaluation."- Pat Fitzgerald

"I don't want to win signing day. I want to win on Saturdays in the fall." - Pat Fitzgerald

From the Chicago Tribune:

"The spectacle that recruiting has become, I don't think it's very healthy for young men." - Pat Fitzgerald

"It's a very over-hyped process. If you were to re-rank recruiting classes three years down the road, you'd get a truer (sense) of what these young men mean at the collegiate level." - Pat Fitzgerald

-----------------
From a personal standpoint, I have become very enamored with the recruiting process and rankings in the past couple of years since Tim Brewster has been our coach. This has more to do with the fact that recruiting was never even talked about before Brewster came here. But now that talking recruiting at Minnesota is more the norm and we're in the thick of the conversation every year, I see more and more that Bielema and Fitzgerald are right.

Look, I get it. Recruiting is of huge importance, but the recruiting services, the star rankings, the t.v. shows, narrowing your list down to 6 schools (6 SCHOOLS?!?!?!? Really?!?! Do you realize how crazy that is?)... now that I've been paying more attention to it, it really is a bit ridiculous.

The problem is, as fans, it's really the only thing that we have to go off of. Even with the world wide interweb we just can't follow high school football in Florida and Texas very closely, so we have to rely on people who do this for a living, and clearly it's not an exact science.

Eric Decker was a 2-star WR out of Ricori High School who chose the Gophers over... not OSU, not USC, not Florida... but St. John's University. Were the star-rankings wrong at the time? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact is Eric Decker turned out to be an absolute stud of a WR in major college football. The stars didn't tell anyone that would happen.

Some National Signing Day Thoughts

2010-02-04T09:44:00.000-06:00

Now that the dust has settled and National Signing Day is over (unless you are Seantrel Henderson, for whom yesterday was apparently National Announcing but NOT Signing Day, as The Daily Gopher pointed out), there are certain things we know.

We know...
...that this recruiting class was built to fill some needs. This class is heavy on RB's, offensive and defensive linemen, and defensive backs... all need areas for the Gophers.

...that this is Tim Brewster's lowest ranked (50th according to Rivals) recruiting class in the three years that he's had full control of the recruiting process.

...that the recruiting classes, according to Rivals rankings, have gone down in terms of national ranking, each year. The Gophers had the 39th ranked recruiting class last year, and the 17th ranked class in 2008.

...that Seantrel Henderson will not be a Gopher, and likely never really considered the Gophers a contender. The only good thing that Seantrel could muster up to say about the Gophers was "...hometown school"...

...that the Minnesota borders are not quite closed when it comes to football recruiting. While not landing Henderson isn't a huge shock, Brewster did manage to land the next two most highly rated prospects in the state in Jimmy Gjere (the best o-lineman in the state outside of Henderson) and Lamonte Edwards (the best RB in the state). Unfortunately the rest of the top 10 all went elsewhere... Standford, Wisconsin, Nebraska and... NDSU? Ouch. And many of those that went elsewhere play in the trenches, so their services would have been useful at Minnesota.

Overall the most important aspect of this class is that, despite how it is ranked nationally, we filled some needs.

We absolutely MUST find a running game in 2010, which means we need to find a primary running back, and a solid offensive line. This class helps in both of those areas.

Additionally, our defense was absolutely decimated by graduation, so finding players on the D-line and D-secondary was also imperative.

I think the Gophers met both of those need areas and hopefully these players will make an impact sooner, rather than later.

Sid Hartman Just LOVES Him Some Seantrel

2010-02-04T08:41:00.004-06:00

On my drive to work this morning (is there anything better than rush hour traffic in freezing rain?) I wanted to hear someone, anyone, talking on the radio about the Gophers recruiting class. I knew KFAN would be talking NFL football (three things KFAN covers well- Vikings, Twins, and non-sports. If there's anybody out there with a boatload of money looking to make even more, please start a REAL all-sports radio station in this town. You know, one of those where not only does every live show actually talk sports, but the hosts actually know about more than just the Vikings and Twins. Please? Pretty please? There are a lot of sports fans in this town and this state who would listen), and I can't stand Pat Reusse (although I do listen to him on my drive home when he's on with Soucheray, mostly because I'd rather hear Soucheray occasionally talk sports on a talk station than Barreiro occasionally talk sports on a sports station), so I took a trip down the dial to WCCO.

Well, what an early morning treat I got! Morning show host, and Gopher play-by-play guy Dave Lee was talking to none other than the greatest sports writer in the history of humanity (at least according to himself), none other than one Mr. Sid Hartman. And not surprisingly, ol' Sid did not have a favorable opinion on Seantrel Henderson choosing USC and NOT choosing the Gophers and making such a tram-shava-mockery of the whole thing. He had many great lines, but my favorite was "I don't mean to sound like sour grapes but" and then went into a five minute rant that sounded exactly like sour grapes.

See Sid thinks all Minnesota football players should play in Minnesota. It's a rough and tumble world out there in college football, and it's just too big and scary of a place for our down home, corn-fed, humble Minnesota boys. He couldn't understand Seantrel choosing USC. Doesn't he know he'll never play there? Doesn't he know he'll just get lost in the shuffle? Doesn't he know they're a bunch of crooks out there in La-la land? Sid backed up his statements by pointing out former Minnesota high school standouts Walker Lee Ashley and Willie Mobley left The Promised Land of Minnesota for USC and Ohio State- which not coincidentally were Seantrel's top two choices- and were never seen or heard from again. Chewed up and spit out by the big mean machine of major college football. Shame on them for leaving, but that's what they get, says Ol' Sid.

Of course, Sid failed to mention guys like James Laurenitis, Michael Floyd, John Carlson, and Larry Fitzgerald, who all left the "PL" and ended doing just fine both in college, and eventually the NFL (Floyd's still in college but after he puts up about a million yards receiving and a thousand TD's in Brian Kelly's passing offense he'll be there soon enough). Ashley and Mobley are certainly good examples of why this whole recruiting class obsession can be over-hyped and over-done, but Sid made it sound like if a kid leaves Minnesota, he's guaranteed to fail.

Barring an injury or off-field incident at USC (like, oh, I don't know, let's say his parents getting a home bought for them by an agent, or an agent buying his girlfriend a Cadillac Escalade. Hypothetically speaking, of course) Seantrel will get drafted and play in the NFL for a long, long time. He's an 18 year old kid that's 6'8 and 340, but moves with agility of a man half his size. He's like a dump truck with the handling of a Porsche. Henderson is the top recruit in the country and whether he plays at USC, Ohio State or Minnesota, he should be a force to be reckoned with.

Sid also gleefully pointed out how Henderson has chosen USC but won't sign until the school's hearing with the NCAA later this month, and might not end up playing there. Sid thinks the NCAA is going to come down hard on the Trojans power house football team. Sid thinks this because Sid always sides with owners/management/administration (never, ever, ever forget he sided with his old buddy Carl Pohlad when Carl tried to contract the Twins. Never forget that) and always wants the best his wealthy and powerful cronies.

While the NCAA- and Sid and a LOT of USC haters out there- would certainly LOVE to put the smack down on USC's juggernaut football program, they're likely to escape this with nary a scratch. They've been trying since Reggie Bush left school four years ago to make a case against him and the school for Bush's parents allegedly accepting a Southern California home from an agent. Of course since Bush is no longer at school, he is under no obligation to talk, and hasn't and won't. Then came the recent Joe McKnight scandal where his girlfriend was allegedly given an SUV by an agent. While they might be able to pin the Trojans with something for what happened with McKnight (who declared for the draft and is also no longer in school and, therefore, also is not obligated to speak with the NCAA), the worst that probably comes out of it would be to vacate wins or something more minor like that. They're not going to have major restrictions put on them or be banned from post season play or anything. The basketball program? Now they're screwed (thank you OJ Mayo!!) but Lane Kiffin and the Trojan Machine will continue to roll on whether the NCAA slaps them on the hand or not.

It's probably a wise move for Henderson to wait for the hearing to play out, but I'd bet he ends up a Trojan, and really, who could blame him? Well besides Sid, and seemingly a lot of Gopher fans. I certainly don't, and I don't blame Tim Brewster for NOT keeping him in Minnesota.

Under Pete Carroll, nobody recruited better and nobody was more aggressive at playing true freshman than USC, and with Kiffin as a Carroll apprentice, I'd expect that to continue. Carroll brought in wave after wave of high school all-Americans (at one time in 2008 they had 10 running backs who were former high school AA's. 10!!! My goodness we'd kill for just one at Minnesota), and while you'd think all that talent would scare away kids who usually want to play early and often, it somehow had the opposite effect, as Carroll preached competition and "may the best man win." And whether the best man was a fifth year senior or a true freshman (Matt Barkley and Taylor Mays are just two guys to start for the Trojans as TF's in recent years), Carroll held his word. Again, I'd expect that to continue under Kiffin (at least for the year he's there until he takes another job. Zing!), and that, even more than the sun, the beach, the lifestyle, and all the winning SC has done, had to be a big factor for Seantrel. Yeah, the Trojans group of backup o-linemen are better than ours, but if Seantrel goes in and works hard in camp, there's every reason to believe he could be a starter by the time the Trojans come to town here in late September. Starter on a perpetually rebuilding Gopher team or on the reloaded Trojans?

Even you can see the logic in that right Sid?

His last words to Dave Lee before signing off: "Mr. Henderson, I hope you go away!"

Ok maybe not.

Brown Down, Seantrel Decision Looms

2010-02-03T13:22:00.004-06:00

According to Rivals LB Preston Brown has signed a Letter of Intent with Louisville. Former Florida D-coordinator Charlie Strong adds to a solid first recruiting class, and gives a painful reminder that Minnesota could have hired him instead of Brewster. Oh well.

Seantrel is the only undecided guy remaining who has the Gophers on his list. Well, unless you count Texas HB Josh Huff, who committed to Utah, then Minnesota, then TCU, but is STILL listed as unsigned. While our offense could definitely use a four star HB, considering how many times he's changed his mind, I'm not sure Huff will be worth the trouble. Of course, if he somehow recommits to The U, I could be persuaded to change my opinion.

Seantrel's announcement should be coming in the next few hours.

James Louis Was Just Kidding

2010-02-03T11:04:00.004-06:00

Oh that wiley James Louis. The four star wideout from Florida who was committed to Ohio State but then on Facebook started throwing out quotes that maybe he was coming to Minnesota, signed his letter of intent this morning to play for the Buckeyes. So all the Buckeye fans who flooded his Facebook page with pleas to come to Columbus either swayed him, or never had anything to worry about in the first place as this was all some big ruse to by Louis to get some attention. While I was hopeful of the former, it looks more like it was the latter. Not surprising with an 18 year old kid I suppose.

So with Louis signing with OSU, the Gophs do not have an impact wide receiver coming in this class. We're left to hope then that one of the running backs or perhaps Irondale OL Jimmy Gjere can make an immediate impact in 2010 to help our struggling offense. That is, unless some guy named Seantrel announces later today that he's staying home. Would be nice wouldn't it?

All 24 players that were committed have sent in the LOI (look here on the official Gopher site for the list), which is at least good news that we won't lose anyone else from this class.

The only real intrigue left then involves Seantrel (who I think goes to either OSU or USC), and three star linebacker Preston Brown from Cincinnati, who will decide between his hometown Bearcats (who he decommitted from when Brian Kelly took the Notre Dame job), Louisville (new coach Charlie Strong was an awesome defensive coach at Florida) and us.

He and Seantrel will both make announcements sometime this afternoon. Stay tuned.

Gophers Steal Recruit from Ohio State?

2010-02-02T09:00:00.003-06:00

Wild internet rumors (which, let's be honest, are the best kind) on Gopherhole say that four star wide receiver prospect James Louis of Florida has switched his commitment from Ohio State (where he's listed as being a "soft verbal") to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Official word of this change of heart from Louis can be found...well absolutely nowhere as of now, but the best we have for evidence is where the rumors started: yep, you guessed it, his Facebook page.

His last two updates as of yesterday were this:
Everybody its offical I have just changed my mind I will be playing my
college football at??????? 9 hours ago
I wanna head out to minnesota with my brother DONNELL KIRKWOOD!!! 8
hours ago

Donnell Kirkwood is the three star running back the Gophers already have as a commit. Again, this could just be a kid wanting to build suspense for his official announcement tomorrow, or maybe, just maybe, Brewster was able to steal someone else's recruit for a change. From what I could find on Louis, he looks like the real deal, and could be an impact guy from day one, a la Michael Carter from a year ago.

We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if Louis is coming here or Ohio State, along with some other guy.

Brewster (Finally) Gets His Extension

2010-02-01T08:49:00.002-06:00

Congratulations Gopher fans- Tim Brewster is all ours through 2013! Yep, the man who in three glorious seasons is 14-24 overall with a 6-18 record in the Big Ten, 0-9 in trophy games, 0-2 in bowl games, and has not beaten a single team ranked in the top 25 has been locked up!

Ok, ok so I'm not exactly excited about this, but we knew it was coming, and I do still believe a head coach- even Brewster- deserves four full seasons to prove his worth. While I'm slighly pessimistic (I know, what's new right?) about his chances of turning things around, it should be pointed out that Big Ten successes like Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and Nick Saban at Michigan State each took four seasons to start really winning. Since Brewster is our guy, let's hope his fourth year is the magic season too!

Two questions I have about the extension, the first of which apparently won't be answered until Brewster actually signs it: how much are we on the hook for if things don't work out in 2010 and we have to can him and then hire Ken Sumlin? We know Brew had a base salary of $400,000 on his original deal, but I'm hoping the buyout- or payout- for firing him will be much less. We'll see how shrewd Maturi really is by giving an extension to a coach who did not deserve it.

My other question? What took so long?!? No really, why is he getting this extension done with five days left in the recruiting season instead of in November or early December? I didn't agree with the extension, but if Brewster was going to get it to keep continuity and keep recruits coming here, what good does it do to finally have him sign it now? As you no doubt know, the Gophs have lost nine recruits this year, and four in just the last month (three of which can be blamed on "instability" since James Green didn't qualify academically), and at least two of those three- RB Josh Huff and WR Chris Hawkins, who both incidentally chose TCU- could have been impact guys from day one. While I didn't love the idea of giving Brew an extension, if you were going to give it to him, why the heck did Maturi wait more than two months to do it?!?

I'm again worrying that the guy running our athletic department could be as big a problem as the guy running the football team. We'll have an even clearer answer to that when the contract extension details come out this week.

It Might Get Loud

2010-01-28T08:53:00.014-06:00

I finally watched the documentary of that title last night, and it was definitely worth the wait. If you're a fan of the guitar, or rock music in general, you NEED to find it and watch it. It's freaking amazing!

I bring this up not only so I have an excuse to talk about the movie and music, but because after giving it some thought, I see a similarity between my feelings about that movie and my feelings about the Gopher offense. No really.

I love so much of that movie and so much about our Gopher offense, yet there's a glaring discrepancy I see in both: in the movie it's the fact director Davis Guggenheim chose to have U2's The Edge involved at all, and for the offense, it's that Brewster stubbornly wanted to keep an offense that didn't work with the talent we have at quarterback, and therefore netted us Jeff Horton as an OC. While I don't agree with either decision, and wish each "director" would have made a different choice, after watching It Might Get Loud (especially the deleted scenes and the interview from the Toronto Film Festival) I understand a little more on why the decisions were made. And since it's impossible to remove The Edge from that movie or Jeff Horton and a pro-style offense from the Gophers, it's helping me learn to live with it.

For what I loved about the movie, well, I'm currently a Jack White freak, with a man-crush that borders on obsession. I have no clue how to play the guitar and probably never will, but I think (and believe even more so after watching the movie) that Jack White is a musical genius. I love rock n roll and love the blues, and to hear what Jack does with both of those things just blows my mind. The White Stripes are my second favorite band on the planet- the Tragically Hip always and forever will be first. As an aside, do you have what Jermo calls "A holy trinity" of bands? Back in college he and his buddy Chris came up with that name of three bands that will always and forever be your favorites. We each had our three, and yet, and at least for me, two of the three have changed. Mine used to be the Hip, Dave Matthews Band, and another Canadian band called Our Lady Peace. As much as I still love Dave's old stuff, I've stopped listening and buying his music since the "Everyday" album. I bought the Stand Up album, listened to it once, hated every single second of it, then either threw it out or took it to Cheapo. I don't remember which, I just know I don't have it anymore. Our Lady Peace was like our little secret, an awesome rock band that nobody down here really knew about. They pumped out six great albums, and then the lead singer started dating some hippy chick, the music turned political, and they were done. There's nothing wrong with starting as a political band- Bob Dylan, U2, Rage etc- but it seems like the ones who end up getting there later in their career end up sucking. Maybe it's me. So at this point, I'm not even sure who my holy trinity of bands would be- the Hip, White Stripes and...?

Ok what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, my Jack White obsession. You get the idea. Jimmy Paige? Only the greatest living guitar player and a musical legend. I know it's really unoriginal to say Led Zeppelin is the best rock band of all-time, but I mean really, they probably are. I love their music and to get to hear Jimmy still rockin' today in the movie, as well as get a lot of background on how he started and what his influences were, was fantastic.

For the Gopher offense, like Jermo I am clinging steadfastly to the belief that we have talent. We definitely have talent at QB, and I'm hoping we see more of it from Adam Weber, and better opportunities for MarQueis Gray. I also know Moses Alipate was a well-respected high school recruit from Bloomington, who might just be the pro-style passer this offense needs. In any case, lack of talent at quarterback is not an issue. Running back? We certainly don't have the world's best runners, but if they'd actually have some decent holes to run through instead of having defenders meet at, or behind, the line of scrimmage they could actually be pretty could. And assuming (I'm crossing my fingers AND my toes as I type this) we don't lose anymore commits between now and Wednesday, I like the prospects of all three freshmen running backs we're bringing in.

Wideouts? Gobs of talent and tons of potential. I believe DaJon McKnight can be our go-to guy with more experience and more reps. Nobody has more potential than Troy Stoudermire with blazing speed and a knack for big plays...he just needs to learn how to catch the ball. Brandon Green should be a good possession receiver, Bryant Allen looked good for a freshman, and I still believe Hayo! Carpenter can contribute something as a senior. Add to that big-time incoming freshmen like James Green and Chris Hawkins and...oh that's right, ok nevermind. Still, our returning group should be ready for a breakout.

The offensive line I'm not crazy about, but I maintain we have talented kids there. Maybe/hopefully all they need is an offseason of workouts, reps, and a little seasoning and they'll start performing better. We certainly don't lack for size and strength up there, we just need them to start producing!

So much to love about IMGL and the Gopher offense and yet...each has a major flaw as I see it: The Edge and Jedd Fisch's pro-style offense.

Before I talk about The Edge, let me say this: I like U2. "Where the Streets Have No Name" is not only my favorite U2 song, but it's one of my favorite songs by any band ever. U2 have stayed together for 30+ years and is still cranking out decent music. It's unprecedented really. The Edge is a quality guitar player and a big part of their success, but he does not belong on a stage or a movie with Jimmy and Jack. He just doesn't.

Jimmy and Jack's talents are, well, talent. The Edge's is technology, and making the same three or four chords and notes sound different with computers. Whoopty doo! As the movie went on anytime The Edge came on both my wife and I were thinking and eventually saying "Stop talking The Edge, and stop playing with your computers and your three chords and show us the crazy amazing cool **** Jimmy and Jack are doing!!!!" Again, both of us are U2 fans (more for the old stuff in the 1980's and Achtung Baby but still), but we just couldn't understand how The Edge was in this movie and seemingly getting more air time than Jimmy or Jack!!!

(And since I know you're wondering who I would have replaced him with, the answer is simple and obvious: Slash. If you're doing a documentary on the electric guitar, and you want to include a guy who goes by a stage name and is one of the best guitarists alive, it had to be Slash. Had to be. And yet it wasn't.)

Similarily, while I love the talent we have on the Gopher offense, I thought the 2009 season was a pretty good indicator that Brewster made a bad choice in hiring Jedd Fisch for this "project" and that his offense was wrong. Good system with the right people maybe, but with quarterbacks whose strengths are running, throwing the ball deep, and making plays on roll-outs and play-action? Yeah not so much. And yes despite the glaring failures of 2009, Brewster was adament about keeping the system. So much so, promising guys with bright futures were passed up (in this scenario, we'll say Josh Heupel is our Slash) so we could take someone the coach loved and who could be sold to some fans as a QB guru (much the same way the director clearly loves The Edge and can be sold to the throngs of U2 fans).

People have stated in the comments here and on the other fine Gopher sites that bringing in yet another OC with yet another new system would spell disaster, to which I counter that your top two QB's, and most of your offensive players, have played in spread systems before. A new guy with spread tendancies (like, oh I don't know, JOSH HEUPEL?!?!?) is going to do similar things to what Mike Dunbar tried to do with his version of the spread two years ago. A different system? Yes. Completely foreign to our offensive players? Absolutely not.

I disagree with the decisions Guggenheim and Brewster made, and because I'm stubborn, will always believe my way (Slash and Josh Heupel) would have worked better.

Still, because we're living in reality, I know I'm not going to get my way. While it's always fun to whine and complain and take cheap shots (which I would never, ever stoop to. Ok, that's probably not true), perhaps trying to understand the rationale behind it can help me come to grips with the decisions. I'm not going to agree with it, but at least if I understand why a decision is made I'll have an easier time accepting it. The reason for both decisions? Continuity.

I understood the choice of The Edge much better after watching the interview with the cast and crew at the Toronto Film Festival (which is included in the extras on the DVD). Those in charge explained that Jimmy, Jack, and The Edge were their top three choices because they had different styles, spanned different eras, and that they also got along really, really well. It ended up working really, really well for the movie when the three of them met and talked and jammed on a sound stage. Is Slash a better guitarist than The Edge? Yep, he is, but would his personality have worked for the movie, and would he have gotten along or cared he was on stage with Jimmy and Jack? Maybe, maybe not. I see now how The Edge worked in cohesion and continuity with the other two guys, and how his different take and style on the electric guitar added a different element to what Jimmy and Jack brought. I would still have chosen Slash, but I understand why The Edge was chosen, and that he accomplished what the director wanted.

I've heard Tim Brewster use the word "continuity" way too much in the past couple of months, yet after watching IMGL, I understand a little more why he does. Like me, Brewster believes there's talent on his offense, but unlike me, he believes all they need to be effective is more time, more reps, and some of that good old fashioned continuity. He believes that Weber and Gray and the running backs and the receivers and, most importantly, the offensive line just needs more time together doing more of the same things to be better. He believes that more time in the same offense makes everybody more comfortable and therefore better when working together. He believes that if the line blocks and the backs churn out yardage that Weber will have more time and will make better throws, making easier catches for our receivers (I believe Weber couldn't complete a timing pattern if his life depended on it no matter how much time he had, but that's me).

Guggenheim and Brewster believe continuity was the best way to achieve success on their chosen projects. While I disagree with the inclusion of The Edge, IMGL was certainly a success and the scenes with the three guitarist are all pretty amazing. So I'm hoping that while I disagree with how Brewster is going about trying to achieve success with his offensive project, that like Guggenheim, continuity will be the key to his success.

Jeff Horton Gets A Favorable Contract- For The U

2010-01-27T10:52:00.003-06:00

Kent Youngblood has details of new Gophers OC Jeff Horton's contract figures which, if everything goes well, will pay him $590,000 over two years. Pretty good pay to run someone else's offense, no? Upon closer look, the deal looks very shrewd for Minnesota:

According to the contract, Horton will earn $250,000 during the upcoming season. If he's on the staff on March 1, 2011, he will get a $40,000 bonus. Horton is scheduled to make a $300,000 base salary in the second season of the deal. The contract officially runs through Feb. 15, 2012, and is contingent upon coach Tim Brewster remaining in his position.

The last part of the last sentence is the smart part for the Gophs: IF Tim Brewster remains as head coach into 2011, Horton will get his cash. If not, he gets his $250,000 and is shown the door with the rest of Brew's staff. $250K is a lot of money for just about any profession, but it's not a lot for an offensive coordinator of a Big Ten school.

This further explains why we ended up with a OC who has never called plays and, despite his good work with QB's at Wisconsin, hasn't been offered an OC position anywhere else. The contract is clear to everyone that it's a one-year lower salary deal, and IF , and only if, Brewster starts making good on his promises to improve the program and get us a seven or eight win season, then he and his entire staff are out the door.

It also gives me hope that if and when Brewster gets his contract extension Joel Maturi told us was coming, that a similar structure will be given, with a base salary, and bonuses contingent on him staying on. Or, even better would be an extension where the Gophs owe him nothing if he's fired, but I highly doubt he'd sign that.

Bottom line, it's a make or break year for Tim Brewster and the coaches at Minnesota: I hope Jeff Horton can fix the quarterbacks and our offense, I hope Brew can close strong and bring in some more good recruits for 2010, and I hope Kevin Cosgrove can get a bunch of young and talented kids to play at the level our 2009 defense did. If they don't, Maturi will find someone who will.

This One Goes to 11

2010-01-26T09:42:00.008-06:00

The Daily Gopher reports the Gophers have had yet another player decommit as three star wide receiver Chris Hawkins of Channelview, Texas is going to TCU. If you're keeping score at home, that's the 11th player to decommit from the Gophers 2010 recruiting class, and the second one that's decided to go to play for Gary Patterson at TCU (I've heard other accounts say it's the ninth decommit, but the headline doesn't work as well with nine).

Apparently the hiring of Jeff Horton as offensive coordinator does not quite get the recruits fired up as much as it does for Brewster. Let's hope Coach Brew, who according to Joel Maturi and Brew himself is a fabulous recruiter, can start bringing more players into the program instead of having them leave. Obviously not all of the decommits are Brewster's fault, as the loss of four star receiver James Green was because of academics. Still, losing at least nine kids after they've pledged to come here is never a good sign.

He did get a commitment today from JUCO corner Dwight Tillman, which brings the number of commits who have committed but are unsigned back up to 21. He shows as unrated by Rivals, but there was a rumor from Scout.com he also had offers from Wisconsin and Illinois. Not sure who to believe on that. Regardless, let's hope the news the next couple of weeks before national signing day is about bringing more talented recruits to The U, and not about more of them leaving.

A Minnesota Football Fan's Lament

2010-01-25T09:27:00.005-06:00

Just for today, I'm going to use this space to talk about Minnesota's purple and gold football team instead of our beloved Maroon and Gold. With the recent tragedy in Haiti (if you haven't already, please donate to the red cross or one of the many other charities and relief organizations fighting to help the people in Haiti), it's probably silly to feel depressed and down because of a football game. And yet I do.

I've been a Vikings fan since 1987. As most of you probably know (and if you don't you will now) I'm not from Minnesota. I'm actually not even from this country. No matter how long I live here or how passionate I am for the Gophs and Vikes, I'll never be considered "One of Us". Hopefully you can accept my thoughts and feelings on these two fine football teams anyway.

Growing up in Vancouver without an NFL team, I somehow decided to become a Vikes fan. I blame Anthony Carter, who at the time mesmorized me with his grace and acrobatics catching a football. I had posters of the guy up in my room as a kid, and to this day he's still my all-time favorite Viking. I don't remember much about the 1987 NFC championship game loss to the Redskins other than being disappointed but feeling like I had made a good choice. Then came the Herschel Walker trade. And the Denny Green Era. 1998. 2001 and 41-doughnut. Chilly. T-Jack. And then this year.

It was yet another kick in the crotch and punch to the stomach all at the same time. I heard Dan Barreiro on the Dan Patrick Show this morning, and he said he'd rate yesterday's loss behind only the 1998 loss as far as most painful. I would agree. 1998 was a complete and total shock. We were a much better team than the stinkin' Dirty Bird Falcons, and I still can't, and probably never will, believe we freaking lost to Atlanta.

Last night just left me depressed. New Orleans is a great team with great players and a great coach. No shame in losing to a quality team, except we gave them the game. We really did. For me there was a lot of blame to go around, but I don't feel like one person should shoulder it more than others. The Vikes dominated New Orleans in every single stat category except for the two that mattered most: the final score and turnovers. The turnovers KILLED Minnesota and it's what ultimately cost them the game. That and the inexcusable, inexplicable 12 men in the huddle penalty. Oh my good lord. A few thoughts and then I'm done talking purple until September:

FAVRE:
I watched the game with a few people, including my wife and brother and law Dave, both of whom are die hard Packers fans (to the point they both wore Packer sweatshirts last night). They were both very gracious to me in defeat, and Dave even made the point that this loss could bring Vikes and Packer fans a little closer together, since this is almost exactly how Green Bay lost to the Giants in the 2007 NFC Championship game. Favre making a dumb throw that gets picked off and essentially loses them the game. I can't solely blame Favre. That throw, along with his other pick, and a third that Greer dropped, were awful, awful throws. On his last throw Favre should have run for five yards or thrown the ball away instead of trying to do what every person who has ever watched football knows not to do, which is throw the ball across your body to the middle of the field. Never. Never ever ever. But Favre did.

Still, we would have never gotten here without him. We'd be lucky to have even made the playoffs with T-Jack or Sage at QB. As Dave said, and had been telling me all year "Just wait. He'll kill you at the worst possible time." And he did. And yet, this is what we signed up for back in August. He was our best option at the time and despite all the retirement-unretirement circus and the schism and everything else, the Vikes made the right choice to get Favre. Does he come back next year? I don't know and I don't care. I hope he does (unless a better QB falls out of the sky. Donovan McNabb maybe? then again, you can't seriously say he's better than Favre), but I'm not reading, listening to, or watching a story about Favre between now and the end of training camp.

Regardless of what happens with Favre, the one quarterback move the Vikes absolutely, positively have to make is drafting Colt McCoy. From what I've seen and read from all the so-called draft experts, McCoy will not be a first round pick, which means the Vikes can trade up to get him in the 2nd just like they did T-Jack. McCoy reminds me so much of Drew Brees it's scary. Smaller guy with the heart of a lion and incredible accuacy and timing. Bill Walsh said the two things he looked for most in a QB were decision-making and accuracy, and that arm strength was WAY down the list. You won't find a QB in the draft who is better at those first two things than McCoy, and I think he could end up being the steal of the draft. I want him in purple.

TURNOVERS:
According to stat nerds, fumbles are supposed to be somewhat random. How else to explain that the Vikes were one of the best teams in the NFL taking care of the football, and suddenly yesterday they can't hang onto it to save their lives? I don't get it and that's probably the most frustrating part. New Orleans is a helluva team and deserving to win, but AP was right: the Vikes gave that game away. You won't convince me, or any other Vikings fan otherwise. Credit New Orleans for attacking ballcarries and trying to punch the ball out. That very could have been planned, and was something they saw on tape. Whatever it was, I still blame the fumbles on Minnesota, and that, coupled with Favre's two awful picks, cost Minnesota the game.

ADRIAN PETERSON:
Oh how quickly our opinions can change. To start the year, AP was considered by some to be the best player in football. After last night's game, and after a regular season where he had just 3 100 yard games, nobody's saying it anymore. He's not washed up. We don't need to cut him or trade him. He's still capable of being one of the best backs in the league. I'm still glad to have him on the team, proud that I own an AP jersey, and hope he plays his whole career here. But obviously, he needs to fix his fumbling issues AS"AP". Ahman Green did it, having major issues with Seattle before going to Green Bay to become the Pack's all-time leading rusher. Tiki Barber too had fumble problems early in his career before figuring them out. It can be done, and Peterson needs to figure it out.

BRAD CHILDRESS:
I don't trust him. I've never trusted him. After yesterday's loss, that definitely hasn't changed. You can't blame the loss on Childress, but he certainly played his part. The 12 men in the huddle penalty is the fault of the players, but especially the coaches. How on earth can you come out of a timeout and NOT HAVE THE RIGHT PLAYERS ON THE FIELD?!?!?!? As the play-caller for the offense, that one's on Childress more than the other coaches. And that's not even the one that baffles me most: what about that last drive? Chilly admitted in the post-game interview he was being conservative and playing for overtime, that the percentages said despite having 2.5 minutes on the clock and all three of your timeouts remaining (and a fourth with the two minute warning), the best play was to run the clock out. Un-freaking-believable. It makes no sense whatsover because in that scenario, after Minnesota ran two run plays for zero yards, causing the Saints to use up their last two timeouts, had the Vikes not converted a third and ten New Orleans still gets the ball back somewhere around their 30 yard line (at worst) with about 90 seconds left to get into field goal range. So Chilly's thought process told him to be gutless, play scared, and hope for a coin flip in overtime- which the Vikes lost.

Now, you can say that Minnesota had gotten into field goal range anyway even with the conservative start, but what happens if the Vikes go for it to start the drive? They would have had more time and more timeouts left, and there's a good chance the 12 men on the field never happens. Maybe that's just me rationalizing and trying to find another way to blame Childress, but I feel like that strategy really, really cost us.

OVERTIME
Honestly, I'm much more upset about what happened in regulation than what happened in overtime. Is the NFL overtime rule idiotic? Of course it is. Whomever won the coin toss won the game. We knew that. New Orleans won the toss and did what they had to do. It's a stupid rule that both teams don't get at least one possession, but I don't see it changing anytime soon. Did the Vikes get jobbed on the pass interference call, even though David Thomas had no hope whatsoever of catching that ball? They did, but it never should have come to that.

THE DEFENSE
Let's end this on a good note. The Vikes D was unreal. You could not have asked for more out of them. To hold the mighty Saints offense to under 300 yds total offense in regulation is amazing. They played the game of their lives the second half, and despite how many times the offense kept giving the ball away, the defense kept giving it right back with another chance to win. Hats off to Leslie Frazier, the rest of the coaches, and of course the defensive players for the effort. As much as everything else sucked, the defensive performance was truly epic. Those guys deserved better.

Alright enough whining, complaining and bemoaning the fact the Vikes found new and terrible ways to rip my heart out and stomp on it. It's going to probably take me until Super Bowl Sunday, but I will find the gumption to cheer for New Orleans. Great team, great story, and if anybody deserves it, it's them. I just don't have the heart of emotion to believe that quite yet.

Now back to your regularily scheduled Gopher football programming.

What Can We Expect from Jeff Horton

2010-01-22T15:45:00.003-06:00

Ok, I've had a chance to calm down. Jeff Horton is our offensive coordinator. Jeff Horton is our offensive coordinator. JEFF FREAKING HORTON IS OUR FREAKING OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR!?!?!?

I don't love this choice. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Brewster went out and got himself a Yes Man, a guy with no future of ever being a head coach again, let alone an offensive coordinator. Since getting canned at UNLV back in 1998 Horton has been a career position coach at best. 1999-2005 coaching QB's at Wisconsin. 2006-08 with some bad Rams teams (they won a grand total of 11 games in those three seasons) his job was, according to his NFL.com bio, "assisting with special assignments and administrative duties." Seriously. And that was as recently as two years ago. Last season he was QB coach with Detwah, and all sarcasm aside, looked to do a pretty good job with #1 overall pick Matt Stafford. I mean it's the Lions- the fact Stafford didn't get killed, injured, or throw 9,473 picks has to be seen as a victory, right?

Still, not exactly the resume I was hoping for, and not one that inspires me to believe great things are ahead for our offense in 2010. You wonder if guys like Heupel or any of the other candidates were ever seriously interested, or if they interviewed just to get their name out there, and lauged in Brew's face when he told them they were not only coming into a situation where they could very well be one-and-done, but they were also going to be forced to run someone else's offense. It'd be one thing if you got the playbook and schemes to an offense created by Mike Leach or Brian Kelly, but to be forced to run an offense that produced the worst offense in the Big Ten and one of the worst in all of college football?

No wonder Horton's the guy we ended up with. Who else would be desperate enough to take this job? A guy who hasn't called offensive plays at any level since at least 1998, and even then I don't have confirmation he did so at UNLV. Or previous to that at Nevada.

So Horton's our guy. Judging from the places he's been, we can only guess what this means for us. Obviously we hope it's NOT more of the same of 2009. The ray of hope for me is that in his time at Wisconsin he developed John Stocco and Brooks Bollinger into really good, productive Big Ten quarterbacks. He also certainly seemed to have Stafford going in the right direction with the Lions. Let's hope that means he can get through to Weber and Gray, and get some better production out our signal callers. Another is that he sees Fisch's offense in a different way, and uses different looks to get our QB's rolling out instead of using so many straight drop backs that don't favor the strengths of Weber or Gray.

Obviously, a big part of how well our QB's do are completely out of Horton's hands. So much depends upon Tim Davis getting a heck of a lot more out of our offensive line, and our offensive line opening holes for our running backs so we're not so completely dependent on our passing game to move the ball. Play-action fakes and bootlegs and rollouts don't do much good if the running game isn't a threat, or if the O-line is so porous our QB's are running for their lives.

Jeff Horton, quarterback developer? As my dream of Josh Heupel or anyone else with a pulse has died, this is the hope I'm going to cling to. That and that Brewster knows what he's doing.

New Gophers OC is Jeff Horton?!?!?

2010-01-22T15:12:00.004-06:00

Just heard Paul Allen of KFAN say that Detroit Lions QB coach Jeff Horton is going to be the new Gophs' offensive coordinator. If you're like me, you're thinking: WHO?

Exactly. He was a grad assistant at The U in 1984, was the head coach at Nevada in 1993 before taking the head job at UNLV, where he went 13-44 in five seasons. After getting canned in Vegas he was the QB coach for the Badgers from 1999-2006, then was hired on Scott Linehan's staff with the Rams in 2006. He joined the Lions as QB coach in 2009.

This is exactly the kind of hire I was afraid of: a desparate guy with no big future that's not going to get an offensive coordinator position anywhere else. I'm hoping this rumor is just that, I'm still holding out for Heupel, but it sounds like those hopes range between slim and none.

***UPDATE****

Just as I posted, the Strib's Kent Youngblood put a post up claiming he's hearing the same thing. No official word yet, but Rivals.com and GopherIllustrated are both reporting it. Excuse me while I go slam my head in the car door for a few minutes.

2010 Big Ten preview Part II

2010-01-22T15:05:00.000-06:00

No word yet on who the new OC is going to be (definitely won't be Sandy or Seth Cohen or Ryan Atwood...anyone? Anyone for an OC reference? No?), so let's get this whole way too early (and way too long) 2010 Big Ten preview wrapped up. Here then, is the top 5, as I see it today. Oh, and go Vikes!!!!

5. Purdue Boilermakers (2009 record: 5-7 Big Ten: 4-4)
Returning: 6 on offense, 5 on defense
Non-con: @Notre Dame, W.Ill, Ball St, Toledo
B10 miss: Iowa and Penn State. No really.
Roadies: Northwestern, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan St

Reason(s) for Hope:
Their biggest reason for Hope is head coach Danny Hope. A program that had started to slide at the end of Joe Tiller's tenure, Hope started turning things around in West Lafayette far faster than I thought possible. The Boilermakers played hard on the field, and Hope hit the recruiting trail hard off it, especially in Florida, where he's already made inroads. The offense loses five starters, but returns top rusher Ralph Bolden and Big Ten receptions leader Keith Smith. They also have two quality options at quarterback with Caleb Terbush and U of Miami transfer, and former high school All-American, Robert Marve. Another reason for Hope? Have you seen the schedule? Did you notice they do not play Iowa or Penn State? They also don't have to play Oregon this year.
Reason(s) for Concern:
Losing three of five starting offensive linemen and their entire back seven on defense. The defense wasn't very good last year anyway, so perhaps all the speed Hope has been recruiting can step in and improve a unit that finished 9th in scoring defense and 7th in total defense in the conference.
Outlook:
This is definitely a bullish prediction, and one that will probably change before the season begins, but follow my logic here (or perhaps complete lack thereof): the 2009 version went 4-4 in the Big Ten, lost a heartbreaker to Notre Dame in the final seconds because Danny Hope made a rookie mistake, lost by two ON THE ROAD to eventual PAC 10 champ Oregon, lost to Northwestern because after jumping out to a 21-3 lead they turned the ball over on six of their last eight possessions, and lost to Michigan State by 3. Sure, everyone can play the "yeah but" game and say how good their season could have been. I only bring this up to say Purdue was better than a five win team in 2009, and I expect them to be better in 2010 with their returning starters and better recruits. Remove Oregon from their non-conference schedule, and once again they don't have to play Penn State or Iowa, two of the four best teams in the conference. While Danny Hope could hit a sophomore slump, call me a believer, and I see every reason this team could and should win four or five Big Ten games again and finish 5th in the conference.

4. Penn State Nittany Lions (2009 record: 11-2 Big Ten: 6-2)
Returning: 7 on offense, 4 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: Youngstown St, @ Alabama, Kent St, Temple
B10 Miss: Purdue and Wisconsin
Roadies: Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Indiana

Reason(s) for Hope:
Evan Royster chose not to go to the NFL, and his return, along with Stephfon Green, gives the Nittany Lions the best one-two punch at running back in the Big Ten. The JoePa's also get their top three wide receivers back in Derek Moye, Graham Zug and Chaz Powell, and most of their offensive line. Defensive end Jack Crawford could be the next great Nittan Lion defender and a probably first round pick.
Reason(s) for Concern:
You mean other than losing QB Daryll Clark, the best QB in the Big Ten the past two years? Or losing their trio of stud linebackers in Josh Hull, Navarro Bowman and Sean Lee? Or how about 1st team all-Big Ten DT Jared Odrick? Or what about road games against defending national champ Alabama (guess we can stop making fun of Penn State's Glen Mason-esque non-conference scheduling), and the two top teams in the conference in Ohio State and Iowa? Besides all of that, you mean?
Outlook:
I don't think you can ever say Penn State is having a rebuilding year, but I'm hard pressed to believe they can be as good as they were last year. Clark is by far the biggest loss for any team in the conference, and while Kevin Newsome could be a good QB, he threw all of 11 passes last year, so it's anybody's guess. Penn State has recruiting extremely well, so perhaps it'll be a piece of cake to replace all of those linebackers and Odrick, but that's still asking a lot. The 2010 team will have less experience than 2009 against a tougher schedule. They're not going to be awful, but they won't be in the hunt for the Big Ten title or a BCS bowl either.

3. Wisconsin Badgers (2009 record: 10-3 Big Ten: 5-3)
Returning: 10 on offense, five on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: @UNLV, San Jose St, Arizona St, Austin Peay, the UW school for the blind, the all-girls school of Madison, Waukasha Jr. high school, Madison Pop Warner Bears
B10 Miss: Illinois and Penn State
Roadies: Michigan St, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan

Reason(s) for Hope:
The only offensive starter who doesn't come back is TE Garrett Graham, and as good as he was (All-Big Ten), Lance Kendricks should fill in just fine. Everybody else from the conference's offensive leader in scoring (31.8 pts per game), total offense (416.9 yds per game), rushing (203.8 ypg and 33 TDs) and time of possession (33:54) returns, including Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year John Clay. Defensively B10 Rookie of the Year LB Chris Borland headlines five returning starters, including All-conference safety Jay Valai. Oh and have you looked at that schedule? It's not UW's fault Arizona St has gone in the tank (I'm sure when they scheduled the Sun Devils series a few years that they were a middle-of-the-pack Pac 10 team), but you can pretty much guarantee four non-conny wins right now. They skip Penn State, and get Ohio State and those tricky, tricky Northwestern Wildcats at home.
Reason(s) for Concern:
They lose a ton on defense, including all-conference end and pass-rushing force O'Brien Schofield (24.5 TFL and 12 sacks. Good lord). His production will not be replaced by one guy, and they lose some other key pieces. The Badgers are going to need some new guys to step up in a big, big way on defense. The Big Ten road schedule is also tough, as Iowa looms (and will be one of the biggest conference games of the year), Michigan, especially at the Big House, always seems to be a challenge for Bucky Badger no matter how bad Michigan is, and Spartan Stadium is not an easy place to play these days. There's also the question of Bret Bielma: the pressure is on and expectations are high. Does he wilt in the spotlight or prove he's a worthy successor to Barry Alvarez? He's definitely a question mark at this point.
Outlook:
Despite the Badgers big losses on defense, their offense will not only be good, but the style they play will keep their defense off the field for long stretches with their smash-mouth, clock chewing running game. They also have the four NC cupcakes to get the defense ready for conference play. On paper, they're a better team than Iowa heading into 2010, but I couldn't bump them ahead of the Hawkeyes because Ferentz has proven more than Bielma (at least thus far), and Sconnie has to travel to Iowa City this year.

2. Iowa Hawkeyes (2009 record: 11-2 Big Ten: 6-2)
Returning: 6 on offense, 8 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: E Illinois, Iowa St, @ Arizona, Ball St
B10 Miss: Illinois and Purdue
Roadies: Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota

Reason(s) for Hope:
Eight starters return from one of the best defenses in the Big Ten, and DE Adrian Clayborn's decision to return for his senior season cannot be overstated. Ricky Stanzi should be healthy and ready to go, and if he struggles, James Vandenberg proved he's more than capable of running the offense. The Hawks also get their top runners back, including Jewel Hampton, who if completely healthy from a knee injury could be a force, and their top two wide receivers. They also get their three toughest Big Ten opponents at home, as Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State all have to come to Iowa City this year.
Reason(s) for Concern:
More than Iowa fans want to admit. I know Iowa always have good o-linemen, but losing four of five starters has to be a concern, as is all-conference TE Tony Moeaki, who was a big part of the offense. Defensively they do return a ton and getting Clayborn back was key, but their losses are nonetheless big. CB Amari Spievey was one of the conference's best and will not be easily replaced. Neither will all-Big 10 LB's Pat Angerer and AJ Edds.
Outlook:
As I said, I like Wisconsin better on paper, but that's the thing about Iowa: they always seem to be better than they're supposed to be. They never have highly ranked recruiting classes but keep winning games and cranking out NFL players. They weren't very good offensively last year (10th in the Big Ten in both scoring and total offense), but as always, they did just enough to win. Bottom line, I give them the nod because of Ferentz, because of cardiac Stanzi, and because all of their three toughest games are at home.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (2009 record: 11-2 Big Ten: 7-1)
Returning: 9 on offense, 7 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: Marshall, Miami, Ohio, E.Michigan
B10 Miss: Michigan St and Northwestern
Roadies: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa

Reason(s) for Hope:
It's not that Ohio State is favored to win at least a share of its 7th straight Big Ten title in 2010, it's that nobody else is really in the conversation right now. Sure Iowa and Wisconsin could be good, but these Buckeyes get 16 starters back from a team that walloped Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and should start the season in everybody's national top 3. Outside of Alabama and perhaps Boise State, nobody in the country returns more talent, and more proven talent, than the Buckeyes (to the people in Eugene- you have a great team that will be ranked in the preseason top 4, but you got thumped). Terrelle Pryor could finally live up the hype. Devier Posey looks like a star. A returning offensive line finally played like an Ohio State offensive line is supposed to. Cameron Heyward and Ross Homan could be All-Americans (Heyward could be a top 10 pick). Simply put, this could be the best team head coach Jim Tressell has had, and that includes a national title winner, two runners-up, and those teams that won six straight conference titles.
Reason(s) for Concern:
It's getting ridiculous in Columbus to have worries about anything other than whether the Buckeyes can win the national title. Seriously, that's about the only concern Buckeye fans probably have right now. Sure they lost some good defensive players, but keep in mind they lost NINE defensive starters from their very impressive 2008 team, and all the 2009 group did was put up better numbers. So why should we expect anything less in 2010? Personally, my only concern is Jim Tressel: was the Oregon game a sign of things to come or an abberation? Remember in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl Terrelle Pryor looked like the second coming of Vince Young and Jesus in the loss to Texas, prompting the media to tab Pryor as the preseason player of the year. Of course we know what happened, as for most of last season Pryor and the offense struggled as Tressell kept things so conservative it looked like it belonged on Fox News. Finally, after months and months of fans wailing and gnashing teeth for him to open up the offense and set Pryor free, he did, and the kid destroyed a really good Oregon team. You would THINK Tressell watches that tape and understands that letting Pryor loose is the way to go, but then again, we thought that last year and it took him until the bowl game to figure it out. I know, the other 10 teams in the conference would kill for this to their big concern, but so it goes in Columbus.
Outlook:
Does Tressell open it up a bit or go back to his button-down sweater vest bore-you-to-death offensive style? With that defense, will it really matter until the national championship game? Miami isn't USC, but is still a top 15 team with a ton of speed so it'll be a good early season test for the Buckeyes. They get Penn State at home, but I think their two toughest games will be at Wisconsin and at Iowa. It's national title game or bust for the 2010 Buckeyes, and anything less will be a disappointment. 10 other Big Ten schools would love to have that problem.

Open Mouth, Remove Foot

2010-01-21T15:08:00.002-06:00

So remember all of that negative pessimissm I had about Tim Brewster being able to find a viable candidate for offensive coordinator? Remember how I said it would basically be impossible to find anyone with a pulse who would be crazy enough to take this job? Well, allow me to apologize for ever doubting Brewster, as a post this afternoon from Adam Rittenberg has caused me to do a 180 on this whole fiasco Jedd Fisch's departure has caused. And I'm serious. All sarcasm aside here. I mean it. I do. Really.

Rittenberg reports that the Tulsa World reports that Oklahoma quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel was in town yesterday to interview for the OC job. Heupel is from Aberdeen, South Dakota, and played his college ball at Oklahoma where he led the Sooners to a national title in 2000. After bouncing around the NFL for a few years, he took a job as a grad assistant under Bob Stoops, went to Arizona with former OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops to be the tight ends coach, then came back to OU a few years ago to be their quarterbacks coach. Only 31, Heupel is pretty highly thought of around the college football world, and would be a FANTASTIC hire for Brewster.

Rittenberg points out the one caveat is that Heupel comes from a spread system at Oklahoma, and Brewster thus far has maintained he wants someone to run Fisch's pro-style offense. Then again, just about every other rumored candidate comes from a spread system too. Seems like Gopher fans are pining for Major Applewhite, but I'm telling you, Heupel would be just as good a get. Sure, he'd be yet another candidate to use Minnesota as a spring board, but I'd rather have a guy like Heupel give a few good years of actual, meaningful, productive offense than hiring an older retread OC who can't get a better job anywhere else.

If Brewster somehow pulls Heupel out of this whole mess, I'll give Brew a standing ovation and two thumbs up. That is, just as soon as I can get my foot out of my mouth.

Fisch Gone: what does it mean?

2010-01-21T09:28:00.000-06:00

By now you've heard that Jedd Fisch is gone. As they say, Jedd, on your way out, don't let the door hit'cha where the good Lord split'cha.

I'm not going to go back over how inept Fisch's offense was, how poorly they ranked in every offensive statistical category, how schizophrenic the play calling was, or how it never appeared that there was any kind of offensive game plan or adjustments. Really, I'm not going to go back over those things.

When it comes to Fisch leaving, in the words of Ron Burgundy, "I'm not even mad."

But there's a bigger issue here, and it's not exactly the elephant in the room. Pre-dating even Tim Brewster, this football program has had a revolving door of coordinators for a decade now. The question is, does this have more to do with the head coaches, or the program in general.

Look, Tim Brewster is right, this is a business, and everybody wants to be a head coach, so they are going to take the job that is going to be the best means to that end. But I have a hard time believing that if Jedd Fisch thought he had the opportunity to be a successful offensive coordinator at Minnesota that he would have left to be a QB coach in the NFL.

Now, maybe we don't think Fisch's opinion of the Minnesota program (which clearly can't be too high) matters much here. And maybe Fisch just wanted to be in the NFL all along and taking the Minnesota job was a hiatus for him. And maybe getting the opportunity to work with someone like Pete Carroll was just too tempting to Fisch. I don't know. But I still have to believe that if Fisch saw the offense turning around next year he would have been on the sideline at The Bank this year.

Which is why I think this has more to do with Minnesota as a program, or maybe more accurately, the perception of Minnesota as a program. You see, while Tim Brewster is trying to change the culture here at Minnesota, and in a lot of ways he is doing the right things toward that end, the true litmus test is on the field, and the results on the field still feel an awful lot like they did in the Mason years. This is why, when it comes to coordinators, he can't get past the national perception that a program like Minnesota cannot be successful in the long term.

So how is Tim Brewster going to get past this perception and keep some coordinators around for more than 2 years? You guessed it. Win, and win now.

Gone Fisching

2010-01-21T08:42:00.002-06:00

It's officially official- Jedd Fisch is leaving Minnesota to become the quarterbacks coach of the Seattle Seahawks. His departure means Brewster will have to hire his third offensive coordinator in four seasons, and that senior QB Adam Weber will be playing for his fourth OC in five seasons. Yikes. As hard as I've been on Weber, that is not a recipe for success for a QB, no matter how good or bad they are.

As I said yesterday, this creates quite the problem for head coach Tim Brewster. Fisch's system was trying to fit square pegs into round holes- his two best quarterbacks, Weber and MarQueis Gray, both have strengths that do not fit a classic pro-style offense. Anyone who watched Minnesota in 2009 saw this was obvious, yet Brewster has remained steadfast that he wants the new OC to maintain continuity by keeping Fisch's playbook, right down to the terminology. AS GN says over at The Daily Gopher (and props to those guys for getting pub in Rittenberg's blog. They're definitely the hardest working bloggers in all of Gopherland), maintaining continuity is pretty much impossible at this point, but in hopes of saving his job, Brewster says he's sticking to the plan.

I've said this before and will say it again: Weber's run a spread system before. Gray ran it in high school. Most of your linemen have run the spread too. Yes, it'd be a departure from Fisch's system- BUT IT WOULD FIT YOUR CURRENT PERSONEL, ESPECIALLY AT QUARTERBACK!!!!!!

While I would love to believe, even for the briefest of moments, that Brewster realizes this and just gets the best man for the job, I can almost guarantee you it won't happen. Brewter is desparately coaching for his job, and he clearly seems to think getting a Fisch clone is the best way to keep it. It's not, and for all the anti-Brewster people out there, this could be the final nail in his coffin. But then again, maybe whomever he brings can still make something happen despite being hamstrung by Brewster's demands.

The Strib has a list of possible replacements from outside the program, but the guy who makes the most sense is current o-line coach and running game coordinator Tim Davis. Yes, he's never called plays, but if you want continuity, Davis will know the players, and Fisch's system, better than anyone Brewster could bring in. Let's just hope Davis emphasizes more of the packages and plays that play to the strengths of Weber and Gray instead of trying to force them to be pocket passers.

Heck, maybe Brewster will be right, and all these kids needed was another offseason to keep learning the same offense and same plays. Maybe just another year of experience is all they need. While I'm not Brewster's biggest supporter, I'm going to watch this team regardless of who is coaching and what offense they're running. So here's hoping the new OC can turn our group of offensive players into a productive unit, because I'm not sure I can handle another year of offensive ineptitude like we had to endure in 2009.

Maturi says Fisch is Going to Seattle

2010-01-20T08:38:00.004-06:00

Still no official word from the Seahawks or Jedd Fisch, but in a Strib story published late last night, Gophers AD Joel Maturi says Fisch has already flown the coop:

"I believe he's gone," Maturi said. "I believe it will be official soon, that he will no longer be our offensive coordinator."

Asked if he's talked to head coach Tim Brewster about finding a replacement, Maturi had this to say:

"We have not chatted specifically about it, about names," Maturi said. "He's out recruiting hard right now. My comment to him was, 'Take a deep breath, do the right thing for the football team and for him. There is no need to hurry.'"

Um, Joel? I would disagree with your last sentence. There IS a need to hurry and get someone else in here ASAP to at least maintain the illusion of continuity. The Daily Gopher is saying that two more recruits, CB Allen Veazie and OT Josh Allen, are backing off their commitments, and WR Chris Hawkins is taking a visit to TCU. The last Gopher recruit to do that, Texas four star RB Josh Huff, ended up committing to the Horned Frogs.

We need a new OC in here to stop anymore commits from jumping ship. This is not an ideal situation, and losing his OC can't be blamed on Brewster. He's out there recruiting as hard as he can right now and trying to add to the recruits he has, and also keep the ones he's got. Fisch leaving is out of his control, but the fact Fisch is leaving is telling of just how dire the situation is in Dinkytown right now.

Think about it: Fisch is going to leave his post as an offensive coordinator at a Big Ten school to take a quarterbacks coach job in the NFL for comparable, or perhaps even less, pay. Anyway you slice it, that's not a lateral move, that's a step down. Why take a step down unless you're worried about your job security? Is Fisch concerned that his offense isn't going to get any better in 2010 and he'll be out on his can looking for work at this time next year?

It's the only rational explanation I can think of for wanting to take a demotion. Perhaps the recruits are seeing it too, which is why they're also leaving. Whether Maturi gets Brewster his extension or not, it's clear the word is out that Brewster's days seem to be numbered, and that even though Brew is back for 2010, he won't be around for 2011. As much talent as I believe is on the roster, you have to believe that if Brewster puts together another six win campaign and a crappy bowl trip, it's not going to be enough for him to keep his job. So if at least seven wins is the bar, I'm sorry, but I just don't see seven wins on the 2010 schedule. I just don't. They should win three of four non-conference games, but there are no gimmes in the Big Ten this year. Everybody looks like they should be as good or better than they were in 2009 (with the possible exception of Penn State, who should finish in the top four in the conference again, but won't be in the hunt for a BCS game), which means you can't look at the games against Northwestern, Purdue, and Illinois and say those are automatic wins. They're certainly not un-winnable, but they're not going to be easy. Neither will Michigan State or USC. And need I remind you that Brewster is o-fer against the remaining teams of Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, and Penn State.

If ever there was a year for Brewster to break his Trophy Game drought, or just to pull an upset and beat a team they're not supposed to, 2010 will be it, because that's what it's going to take for him to keep his job.

This then raises the question of who Brewster can get to replace Fisch? You can cross off any of the big-name offensive coordinators at other schools, and any prime-time position coaches who have aspirations of being a head coach for two reasons: One is that nobody who has good potential and are in a good position are going to leave their current job to move to Minneapolis in what looks like a one-and-done situation. Somebody in the Strib comments section mentioned Major Applewhite as a possibility, but dream candidates like that aren't coming.

They're not coming because Brewster could very likely be in his last year as head coach, AND because of his assertion that he wants whomever the new coordinator is to keep the status quo and keep Fisch's offense intact. So you're coming to a one-and-done situation AND you have to keep the former guy's offense and terminology?!? Admit it, you'd have to be pretty desparate to take that job. It's why I think Brewster will end up promoting O-line coach Tim Davis. He's already here, he's been around the offense, and he'll certainly take the job. If Fisch took a step down from the Gophers to the Seahawks, maybe the new guy will leave a better situation for this one. It's about our only hope right now.

A Way, WAY Too Early 2010 Big Ten Preview

2010-01-19T08:52:00.013-06:00

As we wait for Jed Fisch's departure to become officially official, and now that the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft has passed, we might as well take a gander at how the Big Ten will look for the 2010 season. After the way the conference finished up the bowl season, I can tell you the Big Ten looks strong- very strong. There's at least one legit national title contender that should start the season ranked in the national preseason top five- and maybe even top three- two more in the top ten, a fourth in the top 12-15, and perhaps even a fifth that lands somewhere in the top 25.

2010 really could be the Season of the Big Ten, and should improve upon the seven teams we sent bowling in 2009. The league should only be better at the top, but much deeper, as 10 of the 11 teams have legit hopes of going to a bowl game. We'll go in reverse order of how I see them finishing. This, of course, is not only subject to change, but WILL change once recruiting is finalized next month, we get a look at spring ball, and the Gophers have players that either don't qualify academically or get arrested. Oh for the days when we used to be able to make those jokes about Iowa...those days, by the way, were this time last year.

(By the way, check out this fantastic schedule chart from BigTen.org I will be looking at that rougly 1,000 times between now and the end of next season)

11. Indiana Hoosiers (2009 record: 4-8 Big Ten: 1-7)Returning: 8 starters on offense, 4 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-Conference: Towson, C. Michigan, and two more cupcakes yet to be named
Who They Miss in the Big Ten: Michigan St and Minnesota
Big Ten roadies: Ohio St, Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue. And they play a "home" game against Penn St. in DC.
Reason(s) for Hope:
The Hoosiers return just about everybody from a productive offense, including their top running back and a really good receiving tandem of Tandon Doss and Demarlo Belcher.
***UPDATE***As John M so astutely pointed out, Indiana QB Ben Chappell is not gone. Not at all. In fact, he's nly a junior, he'll be back for his senior season in 2010. OK suddenly things are looking better and better for IU.
Reason(s) for Concern:
Pretty much all of their defensive starters who were sorta kinda good from a defense that was definitely not. Also, this is Indiana, where we never expect them to do much.
Outlook:
Bill Lynch will be coaching for his job, and if he gets the Hoosiers to a bowl, he should not only keep it, but be the Big Ten coach of the year. IU SHOULD be able to win their four non-con's considering they're all crap, but as usual they'll find a way to get blown out by Virigina or someone like them.
After John's reminder that Chappell returns, the Hoosiers look a lot more intriguing. If they can find a way to stop people, and just figure out how to finish games- remember they had leads on Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Iowa last year before losing them all- IU could make some noise in 2010.

10. Illinois Fightin' Illini (2009 record: 3-9 Big Ten: 2-6)
Returning: 5 on offense, 4 on Defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: Mizzou, N. Illinois, S.Ill, @ Fresno St
B10 Miss: Iowa AND Wisconsin. Seriously.
Roadies: Penn St, Michigan St, Michigan

Reason(s) for Hope:
Juice Williams is gone. Never thought I'd say that as a positive, but the offense seemed to run just as well or better without the erractic but talented Juice. The Illini return two solid QB options, and The Zooker went out and got some coordinators who will play to their strengths as passers instead of the read option spread. The Illini, who had a top 30 rushing offense, should continue to move the ball well on the ground, as they return all of their tailbacks. The Zooker is coaching for his job, and unlike last year, there's zero expectations for the Illini, so they could be dangerous flying under the radar.
Reason(s) for Concern:
Well The Zooker is still coaching. They have no real proven receivers returning, and seven starters leave a defense that had a lot of trouble stopping anybody.
Outlook:
The schedule isn't exactly easy, as Missouri and Fresno St are quality non-con opponents and traveling to Happy Valley, East Lansing, and Ann Arbor are never fun, but considering the schedule gods somehow have them skipping the Hawks and Bucky Badger- two preseason top 10 teams!!!!- AND have somehow have five Big Ten home game s?!?! The Zooker can't ask for anything more to keep his job. The favorable schedule + a roster stocked with talent + zero expectations outside of Champaign mean the Illini could be a dangerous team in 2010.

9. Minnesota Golden Gophers (2009 record: 6-7 Big Ten: 3-5)
Returning: 9 on offense, 2 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: Middle Tennessee, USD, USC, N. Illinois
Big-Ten Miss: Indiana and Michigan
Roadies: Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan St, Illinois

Reason(s) for Hope:
There's a lot of returning experience at quarterback and receiver, and hopefully the new OC can get to them and use them better than Fisch did. A trio of talented freshmen running backs should push the incumbents, and let's hope another offseason, and more recruits, make the o-line functional and useful. Certainly the running game couldn't get any worse...right? Defensively, there's a lot of young talent returning.
Reason(s) for Concern:
Nine of eleven starters return for an offense that was awful. Was it the coordinator or the players? We'll find out soon enough. The running game couldn't get any worse- except we thought that each of the last two seasons and look what happened. Yep, it got worse. As mentioned, there's talent and speed returning defensively, but so much of it is inexperienced. Sam Maresh's progression at middle linebacker will be a major key. So will keeping him and everyone else on the team out of handcuffs.
Outlook:
You could make a strong case for ranking Minnesota higher than this, but an equally strong case for dropping them lower, so I'll start them here at ninth. This is it for Tim Brewster, and he can't use the schedule as an excuse. He should win three of four Non-con's, and three of four Big Ten roadies are winnable. The home slate? Holy Christmas, it's brutal, but at least it's at home: USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa. Yikes. But if you want to be a consisten winner, you have to win some of those. Bettering the six regular season wins from last year looks really difficult, as does just equaling that total.

8. Michigan Wolverines (2009 record: 1-7 Big Ten: 5-7)
Returning: 7 on offense, 8 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-Con: UConn, @ND, UMass, Bowling Green
B10 Miss: Minnesota, Northwestern
Roadies: Indiana, Penn St, Purdue, Ohio St

Reason(s) for Hope:
Seven starters back on offense, including soph QB's Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson. Uber-frosh Devin Gardner couldn't enroll early, which could be a blessing in disguise. It'll give him a redshirt and put him two full seasons behind the two sophs, making him more than ready to take over in a few years. Forcier handled things incredibly well for a true freshman, and should be improved in his second season running the offense. A ton of young talent back on offense, and most everybody back on defense.

***UPDATE***
Rittenberg blogged late yesterday afternoon that Gardner has gotten into school early after all. He was able to enroll a week and a half after the semester started, and will be eligible for spring practice. The Wolverines QB battle just got a whole lot more interesting. I'd still chalk that up as positive, as whoever wins that battle will have to be very, very good.

Reason(s) for Concern:
An awful defense lost it's by far its two best important players when juniors Brandon Graham (DE) and Donovan Warren (CB) left early for the draft. They leave a lot of experience behind, but seemingly very little talent. When do you ever think you'd hear that said about a Michigan defense? The schedule also does them no favors with roadies to Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State- and Purdue won't be a picnic this year either.
Outlook:So what's the magic number for RichRod to keep his job? Eight wins? Nine? Certainly no less than that. He's always had a dynamic offense everywhere else he's been and he looks loaded with young talent, especially at the skill positions, so an explosion in points and production can be expected. But can the Wolverines stop anybody? They'll be a better team and WILL be bowl eligible, but I have a hard time finding eight wins on this schedule.

7. Northwestern Wildcats (2009 record: 8-5 Big Ten: 5-3)
Returning: 7 on offense, 6 on defense
SCHEDULE:
Non-con: @ Vandy, Ill. St, @ Rice, C. Michigan
B10 miss: Michigan and Ohio State
Roadies: Minnesota, Indiana, Penn St, Illinois

Reason(s) for Hope:
Pat Fitzgerald is the most underrated coach in the conference and maybe the country. With three straight seasons with at least six wins, even a pessimist like me has to start believing in Fitz and what this program can do. Four of five o-linemen starters return, which always helps, and while they lose some defensive talent, because of so many injuries last season on that side of the ball, they have guys coming back with starting experience. Oh, and their schedule is cup-cake city as usual.
Reason(s) for Concern:
The loss of QB Mike Kafka cannot be understated. A run-first guy morphed into one of the conference's most dangerous passing threats. Can Fitz work miracles two years in a row with Dan Persa taking over? They also lose their two best receivers, and all-conference end Corey Wooten.
Outlook:
If Kafka was coming back, they'd be pushing for a top five conference finish again, but without him, I have to knock the Wildcats down a few spots. The schedule almost guarantees them six wins, but anything beyond that will be tough considering the depth of the Big Ten. Then again, I doubted them last year and look what happened.

6. Michigan State Spartans (2009 record: 6-7 Big Ten: 4-4)
Returning: 7 on offense, 8 on defense
Schedule:
Non-con: W.Mich, FlaAtl, Notre Dame, N.Colorado
B10 miss: Indiana, Penn St.
Roadies: Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, Penn State

Reason(s) for Hope:
15 starters return, including Big Ten DPOY LB Greg Jones, who should win that award again in 2010. They also return their top 2 QB's and RB's, and including Jones get six of their starting front seven back from an excellent run defense.
Reason(s) for Concern:
Who is going to catch the ball, and who is going to stop the other team from catching it? Senior wideout Blair White went from walk-on to 1st-team Big Ten, and outside of Eric Decker, no receiver will be missed more by his team. The defensive secondary was torched on a regular basis, and Mark Dantonio's going to need to work some miracles back there if the Spartans have any hope of a top four finish. The Big Ten schedule also isn't kind to Sparty, as they miss Indiana (the one gimme win) and have four very, very tough roadies.
Outlook:
Dantonio's going to have to do his best coaching job yet to take another step forward in 2010. They were the preseason darlings of 2009 as the media predicted them to finish third, but they fell well short of that. This year, somewhere between 5-7 looks about right considering what they have to replace and what the schedule holds. Maybe replacing White won't be so difficult, and getting Jones back was a coup, but too bad he can't play safety and corner.

Part II tomorrow. Or maybe Wednesday, depending upon when the Fisch departure becomes official.

Will Wonders Never Cease?

2010-01-15T09:30:00.003-06:00

Like mana from heaven the boys at The Daily Gopher posted last night that according to Seattle Seahawks beatwriter Danny O'Neil of the Seattle Times, the chances of Gopher "offensive" coordinator Jed Fisch becoming the Seahawks QB Coach has gone from probable to likely. How is this possible? How can it be that the man responsible for Minnesota having an offense ranked 109th in total offense, 100th in scoring offense, and 100th in 3rd Down Conversion Percentage get a job in the NFL? How is it possible that the man responsible for Minnesota's quarterbacks being ranked 99th in passing efficiency, 97th in interceptions thrown, and 75th in passing offense possibly be selected as an NFL team's quarterbacks' coach?!?

I don't know and I don't care: I just hope it happens. I hope Pete Carroll continues to drink whatever Jed Fisch Kool-aid he's been drinking long enough to get him the hell out of Minnesota. It'd be nice if he could find a spot for Tim Brewster on his staff too so we could bring in a head coach who talks less and wins more (Kevin Sumlin anyone? Please? Pretty please?), but I'll settle for a new offensive coordinator. Yes, our third in as many seasons. Yes, the third new offense incumbent starter Adam Weber will have to learn. While this kind of constant change and upheaval usually isn't a recipe for success, it's still better than having Fisch calling plays, and trying to fit our square pegs at quarterback into a round hole.

As much as I wanted Adam Weber yanked last year in favor of MarQueis Gray, I'll concede that Weber was not, and is not, suited for a pro-style offense. He struggles to throw the short and intermediate timing routes (and by struggle I mean he's proven to be pretty much incapable) required in the pro-style drop-back passing offense Fisch brought with him from Denver. What Weber does excel at is throwing long passes, and making throws on roll-outs and play-action fakes, which he got to do a lot of in the previous spread, read option offense Mike Dunbar ran in 2007 and 2008. Obviously as a "dual threat" recruit, Gray's strengths also lie in a spread option offense too.

So while Fisch might have improved by leaps and bounds in his second year calling plays for the Gophers, his best options at quarterback still wouldn't fit his offensive scheme even in the best of times. If/when Fisch takes the Seahawks QB job, Brewster should and hopefully will bring in somebody with an offensive more suited to our talent at quarterback, and while it will be our third offensive coordinator in three years, our players should be more familiar, and hopefully more successful, in a system they ran for two years under Dunbar. Here's hoping.

Big Ten Bowls Rule TV Screens...Except for One

2010-01-14T11:34:00.005-06:00

Adam Rittenberg has a post up this morning on the success of the Big Ten excelling in bowl TV ratings.

From Rittenberg:
Here's what you need to know:
The Rose Bowl matchup between Ohio State and Oregon on ABC drew the second-highest rating (13.2) -- behind the BCS title game -- and reached 5,143,000 households and 24,025,000 viewers.

The Capital One Bowl between Penn State and LSU drew the fifth-highest rating (6.8), and had a six percent increase in viewership from last year.

The Orange Bowl between Iowa and Georgia Tech ranks sixth with a 6.8 rating but had a 26 percent increase in viewership.

The Outback Bowl between Northwestern and Auburn had a 30 percent increase in viewership on ESPN.

The Alamo Bowl matchup between Michigan State and Texas Tech was ESPN's most viewed bowl and the fifth-highest rated ever. It reached 5,554,000 households and 7,829,000 viewers, and drew a rating of 4.8, which ranked sixth overall and represented a 23 percent increase in viewership.

The Champs Sports Bowl between Wisconsin and Miami ranked 12th with a 3.9 rating but had a 13 percent drop in viewership.

The only bowl involving a Big Ten team which didn't do so well? You guessed it, the Insight Bowl with our very own Golden Gophers against Iowa State. And to say it "didn't do very well" would be like saying Tennessee fans are mildly upset about Lane Kiffin's departure: the Insight was the WORST rated bowl of all 34!!!

Here's a handy-dandy chart with all of the ratings, and as you'll notice, people would rather watch games like Central Michigan/Troy, Fresno St/Wyoming, and the ultimate kick in the crotch- Middle Tennesee St/Southern Miss. Yep two teams from the Sun Belt and C-USA had more viewers than Minnesota vs. Iowa State. I'm going to go out and on a limb and say that if the Gophers are the only Big Ten choice for the Insight next year, what would happen first- the Gophers decline the bid or the Insight forfeit the game? I can't wait to see how much money the U lost because of this game.

The Last and Final GGFB Top 25

2010-01-12T14:00:00.001-06:00

Looking at the final rankings for this year, our beloved Big Ten shows up pretty well. Our four top teams all won against good competition, and what's better, three of the four return a ton of talent for next year. I want to wait until January 15th for all the underclassmen to declare for the draft before looking ahead to 2010, but the Big Ten looks to be very, very strong for next year.

Anyway, onto the final top 25, made completely and totally with my own bias, but mixed with love, care, and hatred for Iowa. You're welcome. As always, here is the official BCS Standings, as well as the final Sagarin rankings.

FINAL 2009 GGFB TOP 25

1 Alabama (14-0)
Bama 2010= Florida 2009, but in some ways reversed. The Gators lost some key players on offense but returned their entire 22 deep on defense. Bama returns almost their entire offense, but will lose some key pieces on defense, including all-world linebacker Rolando McClain and Mt. Cody. Still, the Tide should be the undisputed #1 to begin 2010.

2 Boise State (14-0)
I'm out of excuses for trying to keep Boise State behind the big boys. Sure, they only played two good teams all year in Oregon and TCU, but they thumped them well enough to make me believe they'd have a chance against Alabama. Not saying they'd win, but they'd be at least as competitve as Florida and Texas were.

3 Florida (13-1)
Ok so both the Gators and Horns lost to Alabama, so the hypothetical question is: who would win on a neutral field? After watching the bowl games, I'm going to side with Florida. I would not fault you for choosing Texas with a healthy Colt McCoy.

4 Texas (13-1)
I know I play too many video games when my thought watching the NC game is "This isn't fair! Somebody hit the reset button? Why can't we hit the reset button?" Tough way for Colt McCoy to go out, but hopefully his shoulder recovers in time for him to work out for scouts. I'd love to see him in Purple next year. Also, why the end was tough for Longhorns fans, the future looks pretty bright with frosh QB Garrett Gilbert. A pretty impressive performance going against a defense with 11 starters who will all probably play on Sundays sometime soon.

5 Ohio State (11-2)
This is me standing up and applauding The Sweater Vest. I applaud him and credit him for opening up the offense and turning Terrelle Pryor loose, which I never thought he would do. THAT Pryor, and that style of Ohio State offense, makes them a national championship contender in 2010, and unlike past years againt LSU and FLorida when they got blown out, they're going to have the horses and the speed to compete with anybody. Once again, the Big Ten title conversation for next year will begin and end with the Buckeyes.

6 TCU (12-1)
I almost dropped them out of the top 25 just for those gawd-awful uniforms. Um, Coach Patterson? Just because Nike wants you to wear some crazy new-fangled crap, doesn't mean you have to. That's about the only bad decision he's made in his time at TCU though.

7 Iowa (11-2)
WHO HATES IOWA?!? I certainly still do, but as much as it kills me, you have to give them a ton of credit for slowing down the Georgia Tech triple-option. While they lose some very key players, they also return a ton of talent, and are right behind Ohio State in the Big Ten entering next year, and could very well start the year in the national top 10.

8 Cincinnati (12-1)
This is not a list of who had the best season, but who the best teams are at season's end, and without head coach Brian Kelly, the Bearcats are just not the same team. That or Florida, and the other teams above them, are simply better. I'd say yes to both.

9 Penn State (11-2)
This will be last time to take shots at Penn State for their gutless non-conference scheduling, as next year's slate includes a trip to Tuscaloosa to face the defending national champs. They didn't play many good teams, and sucked against Iowa and Ohio State, but they played well in poor conditions against LSU.

10 Virginia Tech (10-3)
I might not even have them ranked high enough. Another national title threat next year as they return a boatload of talent.

11 Oregon (10-3)
12 Wisconsin (10-3)
13 Brigham Young (11-2)
14 Georgia Tech (11-3)
15 Nebraska (10-4)
16 LSU (9-4)
17 Miami (FL) (9-4)
18 Utah (10-3)
19 Pittsburgh (10-3)
20 Stanford (9-4)
21 USC (9-4)
22 Mississippi (9-4)
23 Texas Tech (9-4)
24 Central Michigan (12-2)
25 Navy (10-4)

Roll Tide

2010-01-07T13:58:00.002-06:00

I'm always excited and yet saddened for the BCS National Championship game: you always go in expecting to see a great game (hopefully this year is no exception), but it also means that no matter what happens, it's the last college football game for almost nine full months. I know, it bums me out too (although if it nine months of not having to watch the Gopher offense, then maybe it's not so bad). So what will we see in Pasadena tonight? Will we get a classic like the 2006 game when Texas upset USC, or a blowout stinker like when Ohio State played LSU...or when Ohio State played Florida...well, you get the idea.

Since the conference title games were played in early December, you know, when Bama crushed the #1 team in the country, and when Texas barely- and I mean BARELY- survived against an all-defense no-offense Nebraska team. It was not so much because of those results themselves, but what those results meant when factored into the whole season. Sure, both teams are 13-0, and sure, both teams didn't have the most daunting of schedules, but Alabama rose to the occassion in all of their tough games, whereas Texas struggled.

The Longhorns were third in the country in scoring offense with an average of 40 points per game, and had the 15th best offense in the country averaging 432.8 yards per game. But here's why I'm worried the national title game could get ugly in a hurry:
The Horns played only two top 30 defenses all season (Bama faced six)- Nebraska (7th), and Oklahoma (8th): Their averages in those games are a little less rosey, as they averaged just 14.5 points and 235.5 yards of offense. Seriously. While Bama doesn't have a defender as good as Nebraska's Ndkamong Suh, they DO have the nation's second best defense, and a pair of corners better than anything Texas has seen all season. Not to mention Bama's 80+ blitzes available to them, Colt McCoy will be lucky to live through four quarters at the Rose Bowl, let alone move the chains and score touchdowns.

Now sure, Texas has had a month to prepare for what Bama is going to bring, but the Horns just don't have many weapons, they can't run the ball, and as the stats show against Oklahoma and Nebraska, their line is shaky at best.

However, thankfully there's plenty of reasons to think Texas has a chance tonight, most of which I culled from SI.com's Andy Staples, who had to pen an article today on why Texas has a chance. Upon seeing the headline, I laughed and felt bad for Andy, who defintitely drew the short end of the stick, as senior college football writer Stewart Mandel got the easiest assignment of his career in telling us why Bama wins tonight. But after reading Staples' five reasons, I have to say, I've been swayed: I'm not going to go so far as predicting a Longhorns upset, but I do think we'll get a close, low-scoring defensive battle, probably similar to the Big 12 title game.

Considering the following:
- In the BCS Era, anytime we get a heavy underdog, they seem to win. Ohio State over Miami in 2003. Texas over USC in 2006. Florida beating Ohio State in 2007.

- Bama might have the #2 defense, but don't forget Texas is #3. How do the Horns beat OKlahoma and Nebraska with such dismal offensive performances? Because their defense is unreal. Sergio Kindle and Earl Thomas will be wreaking havoc on a Crimson Tide offense that had by far the best game of their season against Florida, but otherwise have been solid but not spectacular. Yes, the Bama running game will be the best Texas has seen all year, but Greg McElroy stunk in the middle of the season, and if Texas can find ways to pressure him, we could see the mid-season McElroy instead of the guy who had the game of his life against the Gators.

- The Heisman Curse. Like the Madden Cover and SI Cover curses, maybe this exists and maybe it doesn't, but you can't discount the fact Heisman winners have not had a great record in a game like this.

- Turnovers. I know, I know, saying turnovers could decide the game is like saying whoever scores more will win. Obvious, but I still feel the need to bring it up. Texas led the county in takeaways, while Alabama led in fewest giveaways. As they say, something has to give, right? If the Longhorns can force an opportunistic fumble, or pressure McElroy into throwing picks, the Horns have a chance.

As I said, I don't have the stones to pick the upset, but I do think Bama wins a tight, low-scoring ball game 20-17. Whatever happens, I just hope the game is close, and I'll take solace in knowing the offense's can't look any worse than Minnesota's.

Kevin Whaley Dismissed After Arrest

2010-01-07T08:21:00.003-06:00

Kevin Whaley is just the latest Golden Gopher football player to run afoul of the law, but this time, the university is taking a stand. According to a report in the Pioneer Press, Minnesota is releasing the redshirt freshman running back from his scholarhship, allowing him to transfer to another school immediately. Where he ends up is anyone's guess, but what we know for sure is he'll never wear the Maroon and Gold again.

Per the Marcus Fuller story:

Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi said the university had to part ways with Whaley after he was arrested on an assault charge at a nightclub in Scottsdale, Ariz., following Minnesota's 14-13 Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State on New Year's Eve.

It's the second time Whaley has been arrested for assault in a nightclub in his brief stint as a Gopher, and apparently the U had had enough. Not sure if this was Brewster's call or if it was forced by Maturi, but either way, two arrests in two years for a decent but not great running back was enough to punch his ticket out of town.

Whaley would have pushed for a starting job in the spring, but with three heralded freshmen coming in, it's not like depth is going to be an issue. Then again, we thought that last year until our top recruit didn't qualify because of academics, and the rest of our backs were underwhelming and unproductive.

More of an issue for me is this: Whaley was the eighth football player just this year involved in off-season incidents. Eight guys! The Gophers had more players show up on the police blotter this year than wins!! Fans will tolerate this kind of stuff if you're winning (Bobby Bowden has probably had as many players arrested and suspended than games won down at Florida State), but if you're going 6-7 and losing to Iowa State? Yeah not so much.

It seems Brewster has rolled the dice A LOT on guys with character issues, and whether it be legal troubles or academic troubles, his players seem to be in the news more for the wrong reasons than the right ones. I don't see this tactic changing, however, as we all know 2010 is a make-or-break year for Brewster (or at least it'd better be). Because he's coaching for his job this fall, and because he hasn't seen the kind of on-field results he, and all Gopher fans, have hoped for, you can be sure he's going to continue to throw good character out the window and continue to gamble on troubled players in hopes he can get just a few that can help him win in 2010.

Gophers NEED to Hire Mike Leach

2010-01-04T08:49:00.003-06:00

So this morning I log onto one of my favorite college football sites, The Rivalry, Esq. to do some reading. After a few bowl recaps (hopefully the performances by Ohio State and Penn State will shut- as well as Wisconsin last week- will shut some people up about how good the Big Ten is. As much as I hate Iowa, a win over Georgia Tech only improves the conference's image), I saw this post: Gophers Need to Hire Mike Leach.

Intrigued, I read the short post from a commenter, and like him I was skeptical at first. But by the time I got to the end of it, I now have the following question: Give me one good reason why the Gophers SHOULDN'T hire Leach? Really, go ahead, I'd love to hear one.

People are going to argue two things: one is that you don't hire Leach because it's bad publicity. The second is you don't fire Tim Brewster now because it shows instability in the program.

Second thing first: If you watched the Insight Bowl, or any Gopher games in November, you should know instability should be the least of our worries. THE problem right now is that despite all of these acclaimed recruiting classes, Tim Brewster's teams cannot win in November and they cannot win bowl games. Period. They had 15 freaking practices to figure out what went wrong with the offense, and what did they find? They couldn't fix it. Same old stagnant, predictable and ineffective offense. This leads to only three conclusions: 1) Brewster's recruiting classes are vastly overrated, 2) Brewster and his staff can't coach, or 3) all of the above. Any way you look at it, that does not look good for Brewster. And yet after watching this team for 2009, and for his full three seasons here, those are the only three conclusions you're left with.

If you're expecting things to change in 2010 you're either expecting miracles or you know something the rest of us don't. The athletic director has so little confidence in his coach, he said point blank that Brewster could take the Kansas job and he wouldn't stop him. The fan base (that being the few of us left crazy enough to cheer for this team) has so little faith in Brewster, that the vast majority of respondents to polls in the daily newspapers in this town wanted him to take the Kansas job and don't believe he deserves an extension. This coming from the people who follow this team closely.

So again, please try and sell my why it would look "unstable" to can Brewster now, but won't in November or December of next year when we struggle to another six win season. Please, I'm listening.

While you're thinking of that one, I'll respond to the first thing people would say about hiring Mike Leach, that it would be bad publicity: People, at this point for the Gopher football program, ANY publicity is good publicity. There is no hype and no hope surrounding this team right now. None. Zero. Zilch. Go ahead and peruse the dailies and see how far into the archives you have to go to find a story about Gopher football. Head over to our favorite Gopher site The Daily Gopher and see how fired up those guys are about the team (hint- they're not). Heck, look how long it took us to get something up about the loss- or about ANYTHING- and we're supposed to be a Gopher football site!!

Unfortunately the bowl game loss only reinforced what we already knew: the offense is terrible, 15 additional practices added nothing and improved nothing, and considering we return pretty much the same offense we did this year (well, except for our best player and the conference's most important offensive player) we're left to expect nothing less than the shoddy results we were given this year. We already know Brewster is going to huff and puff about improvements and how much he loves his kids and his offense and his coaches and he'll huff and puff about quarterback competition and offensive competition and his players will probably look pretty good in the spring game.

But all of this was true last year, and what happened? 6-7 happened. One of the worst offenses in Division 1-A football happened. Brewster recruited better than any coach has here in a long, long time yet he got out-coached and his team was outplayed in just about ever game this season. He has not won a game in November or December and has not won a single trophy game. No matter what Tim Brewster says between now and the first game of 2010- and as we know, he'll say a LOT- he's going to get tuned out by the media and most sports fans and even most Gopher football fans in this town. And he should, because that's what we've come to expect in his three seasons here. We hope for the best and expect the worst because that's what Tim Brewster has brought us. We will expect that until he proves otherwise, and there's nine really long months until he gets a chance to fix this program, and most of us believe whether Brewster had nine, or nine hundred, months he couldn't get us to a New Year's Day bowl or Big Ten title.

Hiring Mike Leach would change that in a big, big hurry. Would it bring negative publicity? Yes, it most definitely would, at least for a short time. No matter what you read or hear, we don't know exactly what happened down in Lubbock. Did Mike Leach do something wrong? Yes, I think he did, but what exactly happened we don't know, and may never know.

Here is what we DO know however:
- In an interview with ESPN's Reece Davis, Texas Tech University chancellor Kent Hance said that Mike Leach got fired for insubordination, NOT for whatever happened with Adam James.

- Mike Leach was suspended, and then fired, before a full investigation was ever conducted or finished.

- Adam James' dad Craig, the former SMU star and current college football analyst, called and harassed Leach and his son's position coaches all the time about why his son wasn't playing more. He was the worst of "hockey dad's". Other coaches on the staff have not denied this. James has a lot of money and a lot of influence.

- Mike Leach was a hot coaching commodity last season when his Red Raiders almost ran the table, and to keep him, the school signed him to a massive contract extension.

In a subsequent interview with Davis and ESPN, Leach goes onto defend himself on every charge. While this is Leach's side of the story, and you can't believe everything the man says until it's proven or confirmed by others, it paints a pretty clear picture of a coach and administration at odds with each other since the contract extension last year. Considering the man was suspended and fired before the investigation was ever conducted or finished, it seems obvious the school had an axe to grind, and was looking for the first sign of trouble to give him the boot.

And they got one. I'm not defending what Leach allegedly did by locking James in a storage garage because of migraines. No matter how much a kid's dad bothers you, or how much you question the kid's work ethic (again, TT coaches have denied neither claim. From all accounts, James comes across as a spoiled brat who felt entitled to start because his dad was Craig James, and when he was told he had to work for it like everyone else, he whined and cried to daddy), you can't lock him in an equipment "shed" (which has been confirmed is the size of a garage, not a shed). IF that's the entire story and it's entirely one-sided with Leach being the bad guy and James and his family a saint, then you have problems. But considering Texas Tech ran Leach out on a rail before any official investigation was made to find out, and all we're left with is James and the University vs. Leach, that says to me the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

So yes, Leach would be a controversial hire, but make no mistake- the man can coach. And the man can coach offense. We have the weapons at wideout and enough good quarterbacks coming back that I believe Leach could turn this offense around tomorrow if given the chance. And like Tubby Smith when he was let go by Kentucky, Leach would jump at the chance to coach a BCS conference school and rebuild his name. Would he treat this as a stepping stone job and try to bolt for greener pastures like he did at Texas Tech? I would assume so, but that would be true of ANY coach here. Until this program has sustained success like Wisconsin or Iowa, it's always going to be considered a stepping stone job.

For me, Leach has done enough to clear his name in the court of public opinion, and since we're probably never going to know exactly what happened, that's about all you can ask for. You deal with the negative publicity and then sit back and watch the man do what he does- coach offense and win games. He's certainly proven much more in his time at TT than Brewster has here.

Hiring Mike Leach gets you back in the sports consciousness of the Twin Cities, gets you a much better coach than we could ever have dreamed of getting, and gets us pointed towards the New Year's Day bowls and conference titles Brewster promises but doesn't deliver.

Unless you believe in miracles, we're going to be looking for a new coach at this time next year, so why not go get a much better coach than will be available to us, and should be available to us? The time might not seem right, but the time is now. Hire Mike Leach.

Insight Bowl: MN Offense v ISU Defense

2009-12-30T09:36:00.001-06:00

The following is a reposting of an article I wrote at The Rivalry, Esq. last week...

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Around here we call ourselves "The quintessential Big Ten smoking room." They don't allow smoking in offices anymore (shame), so today, I'm hijacking our subtitle... Welcome to The proverbial Big Ten water cooler.

I thought about postponing these tidbits until after Christmas (yes, I said Christmas, not "the holiday"), but let's be honest: between your company paid holiday (THEIR word, not mine) potluck, the secret Santa reveal, the white elephant unwrapping, extra trips to the coffee machine to kill time, and the multiple YouTube videos that are floating around the office today... you're looking to kill some time.

You could be reading about The Rose Bowl, the National Championship, or even last night's Las Vegas Bowl and the veritable tornado that they played through. But instead you are here, reading about the Insight Bowl. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite: "LUCKY!"

When Minnesota is running...
The Gophers rank 112th nationally in rushing offense... YUCK. 97.6 yards/game. I'm not going to go into why this is the case, just know that it's clearly a huge issue. Thankfully ISU rushing defense isn't so stellar, giving up 169 yards/game (89th nationally). The Gophers broke the century mark in rushing 6 times this season, and they were 5-1 in those games. They broke 200 yards only once and that was against Purdue, a game in which Adam Weber only attempted 10 passes.

When Minnesota is throwing...
... may heaven have mercy on all of us. Look, let's just get this out of the way right now: the Gophers offense is BAD. Fact. Throwing the ball, the Gophers rank 82nd nationally with 198.2 yards/game. The Gophers complete just 51% of their passes. Add to those stats 15 INT's (vs just 14 TD's), only TWO games all season with more passing TD's than INT's, only TWO games all season with more than 250 passing yards, and you begin to understand why I'm developing ulcers.
Saving grace? ISU doesn't stop the pass well. They give up 245 yards/game, 95th nationally.

When Minnesota is in 3rd down...
If there's one thing the Gophers do well on offense it's... oh, wait.
Here's a surprise, the Gophers rank 93rd nationally in converting 3rd down opportunities, doing so just 35% of the time. And what about ISU? They stop their opponents when they are in 3rd down situations 39% of the time. This is getting depressing.

When Minnesota is in the Red Zone...
HEY!!! The Gophers rank 52nd nationally when it comes to scoring in the red zone! How about that?!?! But guess what? It just so happens that ISU does pretty well defending the red zone... in fact, ISU ranks 4th nationally in this category allowing their opponents to score when they make it to the red zone just 68% of the time.

What it all means...
Yesterday I told you about how the Gophers needed to stop the run, and stop Iowa State in the red zone. So today, let's just go ahead and assume that the Gophers need to establish the run, and score when they get into the red zone.

Here's the truth: I have absolutely no clue what this game is going to be like. All season long I kept saying how I couldn't figure out who the Gophers were, how they are a team without an identity. Breaking down the stats proves this. Offensively the Gophers aren't good, but they have had glimpses of being okay. Defensively the stats say they are painfully mediocre, but they have had moments of greatness and bouts of complete craptasticness.

I haven't watched Iowa State play even a single down of football this season, but breaking down their stats... ISU is the the Gophers of the Big 12. They aren't great at anything, they rank at the bottom of the list nationally in almost every category that matters, they fancy themselves a decent defensive team, but the numbers don't necessarily back that up, and if the statistics (which look not unlike Minnesota's) are any indication, they don't have much of an identity either... making it pretty ironic that these teams are playing in something called The Insight Bowl.

The only difference I can see in these programs right now is that Iowa State outperformed their expectations this year reaching a 6-6 mark, while the Gophers underperformed reaching the same mark.

ENJOY THE INSIGHT BOWL!!!