Anyone else impressed with Maturi today?

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I was not impressed with Mr. Maturi, he had a tone that indicated he didn't feel he had any responsibility for the situation. His tone as well as comments (Lombardi) suggest an eager willingness to blame it all on Brewster.

I have been a casual fan of the football program for most of my life, but really got interested with the hiring of Tim Brewster. I was not alive the last time the U had success in football (BigTen Championship). I also don't remember any talk of Rose Bowls (as goals) until Tim Brewster arrived. This may have been due to my casual interest of the program. Maybe he also bought into were this program could be and is bitter that it didn't work out. Joel just struck me as someone who is delusional about where gopher football ranks in the current (Cable TV era) ranking of programs. I feel the administration is also delusional if they feel they are providing the same level of support to Athletics that the top tier schools in the BigTen. The gap may not be nearly as large as people (Sid) claim, but clearly they are not on par with WI, IA, MSU much less Nebraska, MI, PSU, and OSU.

I also got the same feeling from watching Adam Weber speak and reading quotes in the paper. He appears to be a stand up guy who says the right things, he just hasn't been able to do the right things on the field and that has cost him many W's over his career.
 


Silvio said:
I feel the administration is also delusional if they feel they are providing the same level of support to Athletics that the top tier schools in the BigTen. The gap may not be nearly as large as people (Sid) claim, but clearly they are not on par with WI, IA, MSU much less Nebraska, MI, PSU, and OSU.
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Like spending 282 million for a new home for the marching band?
 

ruralgopher said:
Listening, I got the impression that the backchannels have already been worked and are coming up positively.
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Me too.

And as I mentioned in another thread, if indeed NFL sources told Vikings beat writers Sunday morning that Leslie Frazier was interested in the gophers job he had to have indicated this before Brewster was fired. No way he would have communicated that the morning of a game day.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
The "Vince Lombardi" comment was an unnecessary shot at Brewster. Maturi is the last person who should be taking cheap shots over people's job performance .
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I think JM was refering to the long list of non successful coaches(W&Ls) at MN in the last 40 years and not a direct shot at Brew. As in, it is harder to follow a legend that a non successful coach.

Pobably a poor choice of words(by JM), but that was my take.
 


GoAUpher said:
Other than, ya know, getting a HOF coach to leave Kentucky to come here once he knew he was interested.
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Exactly. People really have no idea how delicate that situation probably was. If word leaked out at all, Tubby would not have been here. He would have had to publicly deny it and that would have eliminated him as a candidate. In addition, Tubby still needed to like Joel and the situation. By most accounts, Tubby likes Joel. I know it is popular to think otherwise.

There were about a million ways that deal could have fallen through and Joel deserves credit for making it happen. It was more than a simple "fall in the lap."
 

Maximus said:
Like spending 282 million for a new home for the marching band?
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I can spend all my money on a professional kitchen for my house but what good does it do me if I leave no money to hire a competent chef? The new stadium is nice, but it still is behind in bringing in support to the athletic department as it has less seats and generates no parking revenue for the AD. If you haven't noticed most of the other programs mentioned have renovated their stadium in the past few years. Nice try.
 

Maximus said:
When Michigan and Iowa had job openings at the same time.
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Please don't compare MN basketball to Iowa. The MN job should be more appealing than MI as they are in a period of time when they are second fiddle in their own state.
 

ruralgopher said:
Listening, I got the impression that the backchannels have already been worked and are coming up positively.
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I think the back channels have been being worked since the South Dakota game. Agree that there is probably interest in the job by some fairly impressive guys.
 



tjgopher said:
Exactly. People really have no idea how delicate that situation probably was. If word leaked out at all, Tubby would not have been here. He would have had to publicly deny it and that would have eliminated him as a candidate. In addition, Tubby still needed to like Joel and the situation. By most accounts, Tubby likes Joel. I know it is popular to think otherwise.

There were about a million ways that deal could have fallen through and Joel deserves credit for making it happen. It was more than a simple "fall in the lap."
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Maturi did handle that situation well. But if it did leak I think Kentucky would have jumped at the change to let Tubby go. He seat was getting quite hot down there.
 

From Mandel's column in SI

Brewster's dismissal was inevitable, what with a 15-30 record and the program slinking to a 1-6 start (including losses to South Dakota and Northern Illinois) at a time when the program should really be building momentum following last year's opening of TC Bank Stadium. Rarely have I seen a coach as outwardly loathed as Brewster, who burned through six coordinators in four seasons and purportedly butted heads with nearly anyone connected to the program. Maturi delivered this parting shot Sunday when delivering a message to Brewster's hypothetical successor.

"You're not following Vince Lombardi here," said Maturi.
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So what's with the line in italics? The folks here in the know seem to think he's a nice, stand-up guy. Will a different story start coming out now that he's gone?
 

Yes. He showed realism and determination. No BS. Minnesota can do as well as Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, etc., and he and Bruininks seem to realize that and want to do something decisive about it - and don't forget the $290 million stadium on his watch. That's a big deal item.
 

Can't believe some of you guys. Ripping on Maturi for his presser?

Go get another hobby.. NCAA football doesn't seem to be your niche.
 



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