Some random thoughts:
I wholeheartedly agree that it starts with strong leadership at the top ala Chancellor Donna Shalala/AD Pat Richter at Wisconsin. As was previously mentioned, they hired Barry Alavarez using Richter's extensive contact.
This put Wisconsin on the winning trajectory for decades. Make a mistake on the AD & football coaching hires, and it may set us back many years to come.
Imagine what the Gophers football program would have been like today had Lou Holtz decided to stay in Minnesota.
However, the call of Notre Dame was too great.
Getting a good AD is critical. I still don't get how the administration & BOR even with the so called "professional" search firm botched the Woody hire. We cannot afford to screw up like this.
Are there really problems about the culture within the Gopher Administration like former player Carter was saying? Is this something that will prevent good ADs from coming to MN? If there is no accountability like he was saying, we have a huge problem.
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Don't be too sure about a "soft" schedule next season. Other teams in the B1G West have improved, and as this season has demonstrated you are a few injuries away from a bad season. NW had this two seasons in a row, and Iowa was on a losing streak at the end of last season with Iowa fans calling for Kirk Ferentz's head.
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It is all about the money in the end. With revenue generated from winning at stake and the state of facilities cold war, there is huge pressure to win more than ever. Schools like Minnesota rely on primarily football revenue to fund other athletic programs. Throw into the mix the Title IX requirements, and you have a very complicated matter. I wonder if athletic departments who cannot foot a winning football team around the country are starting to accumulate huge debts. Winning brings in more money and donors in general
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Recruiting is everything. This goes for scholarship players and PWOs. We'll soon find how good Claeys and staff are in the recruiting game soon without Jerry Kill. They've got their work cut out.
Claeys has huge retooling jobs in both the offense and defense to do. We need good size, strength and speed on the defensive line. We need consistent o-line play to launch the offense.
We've lost the recruiting wars so far on DT - Mike Panasiuk (MSU), JoJo Garcia (hung up cleats after JK's retirement), and Walvenski Aime (FSU).
Let's hope they can get commitments that stick from the likes of Meritt Jackson (JC) and Amir Watts (Chicago area).
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I don't think Claeys will be like John Gutekunst at MN. I hope not. Losing some of Lou Holt's recruits to Notre Dame, and then the inability to recruit like Holtz ultimately let to his firing. He lasted six seasons. He did have two 5-3 Big Ten seasons.
I hope that the last two recruiting classes start showing dividends on the playing field next season.