Andre McDonald is visiting Gophers next weekend!

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i get tired of folks trashing kids for not being able to make up their minds. There are lots of slick talking coaches promising the world to these kids. I listened to an interview and it made a lot of sense. Now the coach he thought he was playing for is no longer there. Seems to me he is be mature and looking at all his options. If he was in the business field you would say he was a sound business man.
 

DTOWNGOPHER said:
We played hopkins 3 years ago when Mcdonald was a sophomore. He caught 3 tds in the first half, one of which was a bubble screen that he reversed field on and took it the distance. The kid as a sophomore was a BEAST. For whatever its worth I think he's the best receiver I've ever seen IN PERSON so far during my time as a defensive backs coach. A lot more atheltic than Farrow from Minnetonka was to me. I haven't seen him play the last two years, but I can only imagine he's gotten better! I really hope we can get him! GO JERRY!!!!!!!
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I think he is really similar to Michael Floyd, who was the best HS WR i've seen in person. But I think McDonald is right there. Floyd is more physical and more of a natural at playing the ball in the air. However, I think McDonald is a touch faster.
 

I know people probably get sick of WI / Alvarez references but when asked about locking down the borders, he cited the case of Jim Flanagan. Flanagan was a top in state kid from Green Bay and was firmly committed to ND where Barry had been the DC. Barry said he convinced Flanagan to take a visit and say some nice things about the program knowing full well that he wouldn't switch. He firmly believes it made a big difference going forward.
 

DTOWNGOPHER said:
since his coach at Vandy left him for Illinois, I hope he see's that college football is a business and that he needs to make his decision based on whats best for him. Not just because of you like your position coach.
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This. Assistants move around all the time, not smart to bank your college decision on one.
 

badgergopher said:
I know people probably get sick of WI / Alvarez references but when asked about locking down the borders, he cited the case of Jim Flanagan. Flanagan was a top in state kid from Green Bay and was firmly committed to ND where Barry had been the DC. Barry said he convinced Flanagan to take a visit and say some nice things about the program knowing full well that he wouldn't switch. He firmly believes it made a big difference going forward.
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I mention it to note that even if he doesn't sign, the fact that he decommitted elsewhere and took a visit is welcome news from my perspective.
 


badgergopher said:
I mention it to note that even if he doesn't sign, the fact that he decommitted elsewhere and took a visit is welcome news from my perspective.
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I think there is value in that. I actually made a similar argument about Seantrel keeping us in contention. It might have just been a token from him (we could never really know), but that token interest is something that we didn't get with a lot of big time MN kids before Seantrel.
 







It seems obvious to me this is because JD Pride has left the program.

The competition was too much for a kid like McDonald. :rolleyes:
 


According to Rivals, Briscoe didn't have an offer from us anyway.
 



As I mentioned in the other thread, only my opinion, but i just don't think this McDonald business is going to end well for us Gopher fans. It's like a movie about a guy's first love/girlfriend. She just happens to call whenever the guy is single, leaving the guy thinking, "hey, maybe this could work out", only to find out she just wants to be friends and is interested in some other dude, and definitely wants to make sure the ex knows it.

I could be wrong - I just don't have a a good vibe about this.
 

Dr. Don

Dr.Don said:
Killjoy...come on now. Art is our second favorite commentor on the GopherHole. Everyone else is tied for first.
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I always feel like Art is auditioning for a role in Grumpy Old Men when he comments here.
 

We're dealing with an 18 yr old kid, his first instinct was to stay home with the Gophers, then he fell in love with Vandy. Reality bites and he finds out that this is a business transaction and he has to take care of himself. First instincts are often accurate, and maybe he figures it out, I like our chances, but you never know.
 

Making a commitment to a school that you could potentially play your entire collage career is a big decision. I can't blame the kid for going back on his decisions, but in all fairness, he shouldn't make a commitment if he is not sure. With that said, I think this is good news for us. Considering the fact that he saw enough to commit to us in the first place makes me think that we still have a really solid chance. Combine that with him playing with a few other gopher commits in Arizona this last week and seeing Nelson and Williams in action may sway his decision a little bit. Consider me hopeful.
 

His recruiter and position coach? at Vandy moved over to Illinois; he's visiting Illinois on the 27th of Jan. I'm not holding my breath thinking he is coming here when he had such a great relationship with his then recruiter from Vandy now in Champaign-Urbana. But wonders never cease to amaze.
 

"Nelson throws deep to Harbison...caught...and OMG its a hook and ladder to Mcdonald!!!!! the defense is flat footed; he's gonna score!!!! and the Minnesota Golden Gophers win their first rose bowl in 54 years!!!!" -Brent Mussberger 2016

just call me gophradamus
 

Saskatchewan Gopher said:
His recruiter and position coach? at Vandy moved over to Illinois; he's visiting Illinois on the 27th of Jan. I'm not holding my breath thinking he is coming here when he had such a great relationship with his then recruiter from Vandy now in Champaign-Urbana. But wonders never cease to amaze.
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I'm curious why he would choose to follow this recruiter and position coach. As we have seen many times at Minnesota, position coaches and coordinators move around like crazy (besides our current staff which is about as stable as they get). What happens if he follows this guy to Illinois and the coach picks up and moves out west to coach in the Pac-12 in two years? Does Andre go with? Just seems odd to me.

Not holding my breath on Andre either (seems like it will be Illinois in the end if this coach is so important to him), but would love it if he decided his first instinct of Minnesota was the right instinct.
 

t-docious said:
"Nelson throws deep to Harbison...caught...and OMG its a hook and ladder to Mcdonald!!!!! the defense is flat footed; he's gonna score!!!! and the Minnesota Golden Gophers win their first rose bowl in 54 years!!!!" -Brent Mussberger 2016

just call me gophradamus
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Love it.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
As I mentioned in the other thread, only my opinion, but i just don't think this McDonald business is going to end well for us Gopher fans. It's like a movie about a guy's first love/girlfriend. She just happens to call whenever the guy is single, leaving the guy thinking, "hey, maybe this could work out", only to find out she just wants to be friends and is interested in some other dude, and definitely wants to make sure the ex knows it.

I could be wrong - I just don't have a a good vibe about this.
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I hear you, just try not to get too caught up into it. He might not end up here, but unlike a couple days ago it appears we have a chance. I'll take it, it beats nothing.

I agree with you that it does have sort of a scary vibe to it from the Gophers perspective, but worst case scenario, we are no worse than we were a week ago (he goes elsewhere). I'm hoping he has seen his good friend Phil Nelson tear it up, and maybe that'll sway his decision.
 

umn99 said:
I'm curious why he would choose to follow this recruiter and position coach. As we have seen many times at Minnesota, position coaches and coordinators move around like crazy (besides our current staff which is about as stable as they get). What happens if he follows this guy to Illinois and the coach picks up and moves out west to coach in the Pac-12 in two years? Does Andre go with? Just seems odd to me.

Not holding my breath on Andre either (seems like it will be Illinois in the end if this coach is so important to him), but would love it if he decided his first instinct of Minnesota was the right instinct.
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I hear what you're saying, but it is actually more common than you'd think. It seems like when recruits are talking about coaches, they are often talking about the position coaches who have recruited them. It is sort of strange though, as you said, there is a lot of moving around in that profession for an athlete to base so much of their decision on one coach. But recruits tend to remember that stuff. It's probably just an example of a kid choosing a school partially because of an assistant coach, getting into school and liking it. I imagine playing D1 college football is a pretty good life anywhere.
 

We have a chance to get a solid MN WR again that's all that matters now. Kill is going to make this program successful so I hope Andre sees that and realizes he can make a difference in Gopher football.
 

Someone needs to show this to McDonald relative to the coach from Vandy that was recruiting him:

Chris Beatty Year-by-Year:

2012- Illinois (assistant coach)
2011 Vanderbilt (wide receivers/offensive recruiting coordinator)
2008-10 West Virginia (running backs/slot receivers/Director of Recruiting)
2007 Northern Illinois (running backs)
2006 Hampton (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/wide receivers)

Also, the IL profile says he is originally from Centreville, Va. and played college ball at East Tennessee State University. No ties to IL so nothing says when a better offer comes along he wouldn't bail to be somewhere else in 4 years. Don't choose a coach - choose a school.
 

Man, if we get McDonald, can we just fast forward 2 or 3 years? Philip Nelson at QB. Harbison and McDonald out wide. Maxx Williams at TE. Jonah Pirsig at LT. That would be a great looking offense.
 

McDonald is a must get IMO to start that culture change. He's a special talent.
 

t-docious said:
"Nelson throws deep to Harbison...caught...and OMG its a hook and ladder to Mcdonald!!!!! the defense is flat footed; he's gonna score!!!! and the Minnesota Golden Gophers win their first rose bowl in 54 years!!!!" -Brent Mussberger 2016

just call me gophradamus
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Great, except Brent Mussberger will be dead by then.
 


mkAz said:
I wonder if Philip Nelson and Maxx Williams got in his ear at the Semper Fi game. There were a lot of Cal recruits at that game too.
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I hope this is the case. After initialy commiting to the Gophs, Andre did his part in helping to recruit other MN kids. The Vandy thing never really made sense to me. Hopefully Andre realizes that his relationships with the likes of Nelson & Williams could become something really special. MN kids with the chance to put MN football back on the map? To me, a no brainer, hopefully Andre comes to the same conclusion.
 

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