My Gopher fan manifesto

[dpodoll68]

So it has come to this, yet again, already...

Let me preface this by saying that I will always be a Gopher fan, that I will always love the University of Minnesota, and that my family and I will always be season-ticket holders, be at every game that we can, and watch/listen to every game that we can.

This season and everything leading up to it has been monumental for me personally in many ways. I've been telling anyone who would listen that the Gophers have a real coaching staff for the first time in my life as a fan, one which shows that the University is finally ready to take a seat at the big-boy table of college football, and a head coach that would finish out the last 15 years of his career here, leaving a program that would be desireable to any in-demand coach in the country. I convinced two of my closest friends, both fellow alums and huge football fans who have been lukewarm on the Gophers, to join our season-ticket group on the premise that things would be better from now on, and that they would have seats to the Renaissance of Gopher football.

Under Mason, I was convinced that we had a coach who was a great developer of talent, a decent-to-good gameday coach, and one who had absolutely zero care to sell the program to anyone, whether internal or external. We would win the games we were supposed to win, win some we weren't supposed to because of an all-time great running game, and generally get outhorsed in almost every meaningful game because of an utter unwillingness to recruit the type of players needed to win those types of contests.

Under Brewster, I became convinced that we had a legendary salesman, one who would sell the program to anyone and everyone willing to listen, but one who couldn't out-develop or out-scheme anyone. I initially hoped that he could recruit so well that we would overwhelm opposing teams with superior talent despite enormous coaching gaps, but came to the realization over a period of years that this was a foolhardy endeavor, because all successful BCS teams have staffs who can coach, develop, and recruit. We were destined to lose many games we had no business losing because we would be out-coached in nearly every contest.

Now, with coach Kill, I had convinced myself over the past 9 months that we finally had the total package after 40 years of wandering in the desert. We would have a "decided schematic advantage" (copyright Charlie Weis) in many games, would certainly win pretty much every single game we were supposed to, and would win some that Sid's "geniuses" said we had no chance to. We wouldn't have to compromise anymore.

Now, only two short games into Kill's tenure, my head is back to making the same old excuses again. My head had convinced my heart that the days of losing to the likes of Pacific, Toledo, NDSU, and USD were over. In a game where we had an enormous personnel advantage at virtually every position, and where I am still convinced that we had a vastly superior coaching staff, how do we lose yet again? How do we so readily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, yet again play the role of Sisyphus so easily and willingly?

Is this team and program destined to forever top out at mediocre? If even a great man and great coach like Jerry Kill can't thoroughly overwhelm a vastly inferior opponent through sheer force of will, can we hold out any hope for a light at the end of the tunnel?

I did not harbor great hopes for this season. I assumed we would go 3-1 in the non-conference, win 2-3 games in the Big Ten, and battle for a bowl bid. I further hoped that we would build toward a realistic scenario wherein we would be competing for Big Ten titles by year 4. Now, the chasm between a home loss to NMSU in year 1 and a road victory over, say, Nebraska in year 4 seems so vast that I don't know if even the impressive intestinal fortitude of Jerry Kill is enough to bridge it.

The obvious tack is to not overreact to any single game for good or bad (or any single season, for that matter) but with each devastating loss it becomes harder and harder to ever envision a payoff for all the skin I have had, and will forever continue to have, in my University. Am I destined to forever be a fan of (at best) a fringe bowl team?

 

[hungan1]

Brewster has left this team in so much disarray. Coach Kill inherited a mess that will take three years to turn around.

 

[pinkmartini]

DON'T FORGET

This team beat Illinois on the road and Iowa at home to finish the 2010 season.

 

[Wheelwright]

I happen to agree with your manifesto and have thought quite similarly.

I have been a gopher fan my whole life and plan on being a fan my whole life. I am starting to get my kids into the Tailgating and fan experience, but losing games like they did yesterday really dampens my enthusiasm. This team is in trouble and the program is wallowing in the bottom of the FBS.

 

[GoldenHerbs]

I feel you, I wasnt guzzling the kool aid like some who thought it was gonna be a blow out but I thought we would win for sure. Now I sit here and think that Minnesota is cursed and we will never get to enjoy a solid college football program. Yes I know this is only Kill's first year, but that game is a must win, they got beat down by Ohio at their house and then come up to Minnesota and whip us. Im just sick of the constant disapointment.

 

[BleedGopher]

Interesting post that I think many/most of us would agree with, although some won't admit it. That being said, I really refrain from putting too much stock into yesterday's game, just as I was equally hesitant to put too much stock into the second half of the USC game. I have no doubt that the coaching staff will openly admit that it did a very poor job yesterday and my hope is we'll look back on the performance yesterday as a minor blip on the radar. Whether we're short on depth, talent or whatever, there was no excuse to get outplayed and out-muscled the way we did yesterday.

I received many texts from buddy's of mine that are casual Gopher fans that I had convinced to give Coach Kill a chance and they all said to me "same ol' Gophs."

It is what it is. Again, just one game early in tenure that I expect we'll laugh at down the road. But it will lift some anxiety if we can win the next two games, which no doubt will be more difficult than yesterday's game.

In Kill We Trust.

Go Gophers!!

 

[drinks at Northpoint]

Perspective

A year ago, two of our 4 starters in the secondary were playing offense. A third was on crutches recovering from a compound fracture. The top backup was playing for Mankato a few years ago. We shouldn't be surprised by challenges against the pass. Very disappointed that Michael Carter isn't playing.
6 months ago, a starting receiver was in high school. (and he's about 5'5'')
A year ago, our starting QB was playing WR.
Every player is learning an entirely new system. There will be bumps in the road. Some of these players are on their 3rd position coach.
I'm as blinded by hope as anyone, but these are the facts. The team has some young talent, especially on the OL, but there are too many glaring holes on this team.
I watched parts of Utah/USC, SC/Georgia, Michigan/Notre Dame, TX/BYU, and Fresno/Neb. I can't think of many of our guys that would see the field in any of those games. I love Duane Bennet. But he wouldn't be in the top five RB's on most of those teams.
We have far more in common with New Mexico than any of the teams I watched yesterday.
This is going to take a few years to correct.

 

[Replacement Gopher]

I've been asking myself the same things every year, except we've gone from the Purdue hail-mary loss, the @ IU one week after winning @ OSU loss, and the Michigan 4th quarter loss to consistently losing at home against 20-point underdogs. If us diehards are getting tired of asking the same questions each year, well ... it's no wonder attendance is what it is in the third year of a new stadium.

Yesterday will hurt recruiting and attendance and general program atmosphere for a long time.

On a side note, I really wish they didn't spike the ball on 1st down. I really wish they would have just lined up and tried to smash the ball into the endzone on the 2 1st and goal opportunities.

 

[drinks at Northpoint]

On a side note, I really wish they didn't spike the ball on 1st down. I really wish they would have just lined up and tried to smash the ball into the endzone on the 2 1st and goal opportunities.

My Dad and I had a long conversation about the spike on 1st down. We came to the conclusion that 90% of college and 80% of NFL teams would have done the same thing. Considering Gray is in his 6th quarter as a college quarterback and the entire team is learning a new offensive system, it is understandable they didn't run a play in that situation.
A more experienced team and QB would have had a play for that situation.

 

[scools12]

after 2 games with this coaching regime is bit premature to question if things will ever get better. the wins last year against Illinois, Iowa and the 2nd half play against USC gave many which I have found is very easy for some to conclude that the team is more talented than it actual is.

coach kill has said from the first day he took the job that there is a lack of overall talent. coach kill has won at every level he has coached and yes this is a step up for him and his staff I have no doubt that they will put in the hard work to try and change this program. whether they can or not will be seen but not in the first 2 games.

they lost to a team they probably shouldn't have and this year they will probably beat someone they shouldn't. my expectation for this program has not been winning the B1G though that should be the ultimate goal but to be a fringe bowl team every year and every 3-4 years get enough wins to play in a New Year's Day bowl game.

 

[MrC]

I've been asking myself the same things every year, except we've gone from the Purdue hail-mary loss, the @ IU one week after winning @ OSU loss, and the Michigan 4th quarter loss to consistently losing at home against 20-point underdogs. If us diehards are getting tired of asking the same questions each year, well ...

I remember those painfully, especially Michigan.

Once again, being a Gophers football fan feels like coming down the stairs on Christmas morning only to find a dead pony under the tree.

But it will take a hell of a lot more than yesterday's game to convince me we don't have the right man for the job in Coach Kill. The no-excuses, we have a job to do reaction of his staff to the the game and the seizure was impressive. It will take time, maybe lots of time, but this team will get better.

 

[BilldGopher]

In Kill We Trust.

Go Gophers!!

+1

 

[Digger01]

Don't lose the faith. It all comes down to fundamentals. The biggest reasons the Gophers lost all comes down to turnovers, big plays, dropped passes, miss-thrown passes, penalties and missed assignments. It does with every game and every team. Our team has little room for error but most of what went wrong can be fixed. The team is not jinxed. There is no reason the Gophers can't rise to the top of the conference but it won't happen overnight. It's a process. It takes a determined and methodical approach and everyone can see that this staff is on the right track. Remember that Coach Kill often says that the true measure of a man (or team) is how they handle adversity. We have a choice. Do we want to throw up our hands and say "same 'ole Gophs" or do we support our staff while they analyze the team weaknesses and correct them one by one?

 

[Governor Sibley]

Yesterday was just a stereotypically bad college football loss. It had all the normal ingredients.

First things first: building a college football team begins with an offensive line. That has to improve before anything else works.

Our o-line really showed up for three games last year. Those were the games we won.

 

[mplsbadger]

Barry Alvarez went 1-10, 5-6, 5-6, 10-1-1. Even if the Gophers do not win a game this year it may not mean Kill is not the answer. It may instead mean that he is running off guys who don't care enough, is playing young guys, is recruiting players who are a better fit, etc. It won't be fun to watch, but it may take time.

 

[kuhlmanalex]

Agree that it is going to take some time to build and I am definitely willing to give him the time; but that means that either people have to stop saying that we will win by 28 points or more or they have to be willing to deal with negativity when it doesn't happen. You can't say we will win by four scores and then act like people that are upset aren't true fans. I am fairly new to this board and it is shocking how fast "die hards" are to tell people that we don't need them as fans...

 

[GRGOPHER]

A lot of good thoughtful posts. I was as disappointed as anyone was, questioned my sanity in believing we could be winners again instantly because we now have a good coach. Why do teams that we should beat look like Super Bowl teams when they play here? But after a night sleep, I concur with others that "it is what it is". We will laugh about this, but it might take a couple years. And Gray will either mentally adjust to his new role and play instintively or Shortell is going to be the starter b4 the end of the season. This year, we'll lose some more like this, but we will put it all together and beat someone we shouldn't. But next year we'll be better....whoever is QB is going to make better decisions. And the next year we'll be even better. Meanwhile, we'll watch the learning evolve, for better hopefully!

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

A lot of good thoughtful posts. I was as disappointed as anyone was, questioned my sanity in believing we could be winners again instantly because we now have a good coach. Why do teams that we should beat look like Super Bowl teams when they play here? But after a night sleep, I concur with others that "it is what it is". We will laugh about this, but it might take a couple years. And Gray will either mentally adjust to his new role and play instintively or Shortell is going to be the starter b4 the end of the season. This year, we'll lose some more like this, but we will put it all together and beat someone we shouldn't. But next year we'll be better....whoever is QB is going to make better decisions. And the next year we'll be even better. Meanwhile, we'll watch the learning evolve, for better hopefully!

This. It just seems like a law.

 

[Old Cardinal]

Don't lose the faith. It all comes down to fundamentals. The biggest reasons the Gophers lost all comes down to turnovers, big plays, dropped passes, miss-thrown passes, penalties and missed assignments. It does with every game and every team. Our team has little room for error but most of what went wrong can be fixed. The team is not jinxed. There is no reason the Gophers can't rise to the top of the conference but it won't happen overnight. It's a process. It takes a determined and methodical approach and everyone can see that this staff is on the right track. Remember that Coach Kill often says that the true measure of a man (or team) is how they handle adversity. We have a choice. Do we want to throw up our hands and say "same 'ole Gophs" or do we support our staff while they analyze the team weaknesses and correct them one by one?

I became an GopherHole reader when Kill was hired, and have subsequently become addicted to it. I even look forward to the musings of Wren, dpoldoll68 and when LakesBison posted. But the above posting is the best post I have ever read. Digger is 100% spot on. I realize that in this Play Station world that we expect immediate results, but the reality is we will truly not know where this program is headed until after at least 2 years, certainly not after 2 games. Unfortunately patience is required.

 

[denguegopher]

Don't lose the faith. It all comes down to fundamentals. The biggest reasons the Gophers lost all comes down to turnovers, big plays, dropped passes, miss-thrown passes, penalties and missed assignments. It does with every game and every team. Our team has little room for error but most of what went wrong can be fixed. The team is not jinxed. There is no reason the Gophers can't rise to the top of the conference but it won't happen overnight. It's a process. It takes a determined and methodical approach and everyone can see that this staff is on the right track. Remember that Coach Kill often says that the true measure of a man (or team) is how they handle adversity. We have a choice. Do we want to throw up our hands and say "same 'ole Gophs" or do we support our staff while they analyze the team weaknesses and correct them one by one?

Thoughtful post. I hope that you are correct. Yesterday my wife suggested that the team needs an exorcism. I hope that she is incorrect.

 

[akgopher]

I'm all in for 5 years. I wanted Wacker to succeed because he was a good person and we know how that turned out. I think Glen Mason is a damn good football coach, but after talking to HS coaches who either sent players here or worked with him, it wasn't a surprise why he couldn't keep a lot of our best players or attract others to get us over the hump. Poor Gordie Shaw had a tough assignment maintaining relationships with coaches and recruits working under him. I though Brewster was a joke from the first press conference and believed he lacked the disposition to head our flagship program.

I wasn't initially on board when Joe Schmidt leaked that Coach Kill was the hire, but that feeling has dramatically reversed. I'm convinced that if Coach Kill can't win here in 5 years, I don't think anyone short of a fluke legend hire like the Spurrier-South Carolina connection can. And that happened once at Minnesota and it only lasted 2 years, don't see it happening again.

I'm all in with Coach Kill because he is the right fit for the job. Yesterday was as embarrassing a loss as I can remember, but if any realistic coach for this position is going to win here, it is Coach Kill. I think we learned last fall what the Chris Petersons, Troy Calhouns, Brady Hokes, Gary Pattersons, and even the Randy Edsalls of the coaching world think of working here.

 

[Khaliq]

I think we learned last fall what the Chris Petersons, Troy Calhouns, Brady Hokes, Gary Pattersons, and even the Randy Edsalls of the coaching world think of working here.

That seems a little fatalistic to me. Minnesota is a tough sell at this point in their history, but it's still a BCS school in a winnable division within a winnable conference. Having a new on campus staidum doesn't hurt either. What did hurt, in my opinion, was the uncertainty with the Athletic Director and a transition occurring with the school's president. What it meant was if you wanted to get into a higher tier of candidates you were going to have to compensate them to offset those uncertainties. More years, more cash.

Whether or not Kill can win with the Gophers remains to be seen but I don't think Minnesota should accept the feeling that they're second class citizens when it comes to luring coaching talent.

 

[EG#9]

I opened this thread fearing that I would see more excuses for the horrible performance yesterday. I am glad I did not. Losing to New Mexico State, especially the way they lost to New Mexico State (never leading, allowing their QB to go 12-12 with 3 td's, inability to convert 3rd downs, losing all 3rd and short, 4th and short battles) brings up real questions about this staff. That does not mean that anyone should be fired, just that the "real" coach talk should be shelved. This isn't the team Brewster inherited where he had to do things like play multiple freshman DB's that he recruited after getting the job in January (eventually playing Kytle Theret at CORNER if I remember correctly). This is a team that gave up 19 pts to USC, and defeated Iowa and Illinois in its two prior games. The entire defense (minus Jewhan Edwards) is back from last year. It does take time to build a winner, but it should not take time to put a team on the field that beats New Mexico State by 3 td's. Hopefully, this will be looked back on as a very ugly game before the clouds parted for Gopher football, but it does bring real concern.

 

[Goldmember]

This was the second game.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

My two cents:
Somebody already mentioned this, but this was essentially a less-experienced version of the team that lost to South Dakota last year.
I HATED the Brewster hire from day one, but one he was hired decided that he would be here at least 4 years (well almost anyway), so I would get behind him for those 4 years and then evaluate.
I think Kill is a very good hire (but probably not the Bear Bryant some want(ed) to make of him). My prayers are that he can remain healthy enough to coach this team for 4 years and during those years, I will be a Kill supporter. Because the fact is, he ain't going anywhere.
Give him some time and give him a break.

Go Gophers!

 

[EG#9]

My two cents:
Somebody already mentioned this, but this was essentially a less-experienced version of the team that lost to South Dakota last year.
I HATED the Brewster hire from day one, but one he was hired decided that he would be here at least 4 years (well almost anyway), so I would get behind him for those 4 years and then evaluate.
I think Kill is a very good hire (but probably not the Bear Bryant some want(ed) to make of him). My prayers are that he can remain healthy enough to coach this team for 4 years and during those years, I will be a Kill supporter. Because the fact is, he ain't going anywhere.
Give him some time and give him a break.

Go Gophers!

Whoever that "somebody" is happens to be misinformed. The Gophers had 11 new starters on defense last year, and return 10 of those players. This is certainly not a less experienced team than the one that played South Dakota State last year.

 

[Formo]

I'm disheartened as well, no doubt. If I had never quit drinking, I would still be drunk from the ammounts of booze I would have drank after the game.

But all I can think about right now is Coach Kill getting back to the team healthy and burying his foot in some asses.

 

[tikited]

How do we so readily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, yet again play the role of Sisyphus so easily and willingly?

Sisyphus was able to figure out the game and beat the Gods so to speak. Will we ever get to that point? I don't know. I do know that the loss yesterday was just as bad as any Brewster loss. I'll still go to every home game and watch every road game no matter what...Sisyphus indeed.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I think there's a certain fatalism involved in being a MN sports fan. Other than the Twins winning 2 World Series titles, it seems as if MN fans are constantly being slapped in the face with disappointment. Vikes - lost 4 Super Bowls, lose NFC title game to Atlanta, lose NFC title game to New Orleans. North Stars - lost both times they made it to Stanley Cup Finals. T'Wolves - best team in franchise history loses to Lakers in Western Conference finals. since then, doormats. Even the Twins in recent years have teased fans with decent regular seasons, only to go belly up in the playoffs.

As a result, I think a certain level of cynicism has entered the fan populace - not to mention the media (Reusse, Souhan). I liken MN sports fans to a character in a horror movie. We can never let up our guard, because just when we think we're safe, we know the big bad monster of disappointment is lurking out there to snatch us up and do nasty things to us. We go into every game and every season waiting for the monster to get us - and more often than not, it does get us. This movie has had more sequels than Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees put together.

I hate to sound cynical, but maybe we just have to accept our lot in life, and start expecting every team to stink. Then, if a team comes along that doesn't stink, we can be pleasantly surprised for once, instead of always having our hopes crushed.

As we sit here today, I honestly don't know if Kill and his staff are up to the challenge of running a big 10 program. Rebuilding smaller programs is entirely different than rebuilding a major program. At a small school, if you can just recruit a few key players, it's much easier to turn things around. At a BCS-level school, you need a whole roster of key players - and right now, the Gophers clearly don't have that.

I guess I'm just not sure if I want to make the emotional involvement in this coaching staff, because I don't think I could deal with the disappointment of another failure. If that makes me a bad fan, so be it. On the other hand, when the Gophs stink, it makes it easier to go out and tackle yard-work on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[Swede]

So it has come to this, yet again, already...

Let me preface this by saying that I will always be a Gopher fan, that I will always love the University of Minnesota, and that my family and I will always be season-ticket holders, be at every game that we can, and watch/listen to every game that we can.

This season and everything leading up to it has been monumental for me personally in many ways. I've been telling anyone who would listen that the Gophers have a real coaching staff for the first time in my life as a fan, one which shows that the University is finally ready to take a seat at the big-boy table of college football, and a head coach that would finish out the last 15 years of his career here, leaving a program that would be desireable to any in-demand coach in the country. I convinced two of my closest friends, both fellow alums and huge football fans who have been lukewarm on the Gophers, to join our season-ticket group on the premise that things would be better from now on, and that they would have seats to the Renaissance of Gopher football.

Under Mason, I was convinced that we had a coach who was a great developer of talent, a decent-to-good gameday coach, and one who had absolutely zero care to sell the program to anyone, whether internal or external. We would win the games we were supposed to win, win some we weren't supposed to because of an all-time great running game, and generally get outhorsed in almost every meaningful game because of an utter unwillingness to recruit the type of players needed to win those types of contests.

Under Brewster, I became convinced that we had a legendary salesman, one who would sell the program to anyone and everyone willing to listen, but one who couldn't out-develop or out-scheme anyone. I initially hoped that he could recruit so well that we would overwhelm opposing teams with superior talent despite enormous coaching gaps, but came to the realization over a period of years that this was a foolhardy endeavor, because all successful BCS teams have staffs who can coach, develop, and recruit. We were destined to lose many games we had no business losing because we would be out-coached in nearly every contest.

Now, with coach Kill, I had convinced myself over the past 9 months that we finally had the total package after 40 years of wandering in the desert. We would have a "decided schematic advantage" (copyright Charlie Weis) in many games, would certainly win pretty much every single game we were supposed to, and would win some that Sid's "geniuses" said we had no chance to. We wouldn't have to compromise anymore.

Now, only two short games into Kill's tenure, my head is back to making the same old excuses again. My head had convinced my heart that the days of losing to the likes of Pacific, Toledo, NDSU, and USD were over. In a game where we had an enormous personnel advantage at virtually every position, and where I am still convinced that we had a vastly superior coaching staff, how do we lose yet again? How do we so readily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, yet again play the role of Sisyphus so easily and willingly?

Is this team and program destined to forever top out at mediocre? If even a great man and great coach like Jerry Kill can't thoroughly overwhelm a vastly inferior opponent through sheer force of will, can we hold out any hope for a light at the end of the tunnel?

I did not harbor great hopes for this season. I assumed we would go 3-1 in the non-conference, win 2-3 games in the Big Ten, and battle for a bowl bid. I further hoped that we would build toward a realistic scenario wherein we would be competing for Big Ten titles by year 4. Now, the chasm between a home loss to NMSU in year 1 and a road victory over, say, Nebraska in year 4 seems so vast that I don't know if even the impressive intestinal fortitude of Jerry Kill is enough to bridge it.

The obvious tack is to not overreact to any single game for good or bad (or any single season, for that matter) but with each devastating loss it becomes harder and harder to ever envision a payoff for all the skin I have had, and will forever continue to have, in my University. Am I destined to forever be a fan of (at best) a fringe bowl team?

University of Minnesota football could very well be a lost cause but I don't believe that it can be said based upon two games. Kill has really only had a few short weeks to implement his program. A downtrodden Big 10 football team has a long wheel base and will not be turned around easily. You are an optimist, I will say that. We were a 3-9 team last year, with a miracle win against Illinois, and an inspired game against a free falling Iowa team. To expect any more out of this team this year is unrealistic. This program has not had a sure victory game in 4 years, and it will take 2 or 3 years for it to return to that point.