At what point do you consider that "the program has been turned around"?

[BTChamp]

Not being the last real Big Ten team to go to a Rose Bowl. Sustained 9+ win seasons. Wisconsin was 8-5 last year and it was a disappointment for them. Agree Mason started it, K/C undid Brewster, and PJ is taking it a lot higher. A few have already posted it - maybe not 4-5 years, but at least 2 in a row of West Championship talk and near top 10 nationally.

 

[beavergopher]

When Sid gets Fleck confused with Bernie B because they both have multiple national championships.

 

[jon marston]

If we are bridging the past then I feel nothing short of a Big Ten Championship is needed until the turn around is complete - at that point we will have at least matched the success of 18 other Gopher teams

 

[Panthadad2]

If we are bridging the past then I feel nothing short of a Big Ten Championship is needed until the turn around is complete - at that point we will have at least matched the success of 18 other Gopher teams

I'll quibble a little with the BG10 Championship piece. It's a helluva lot harder now to get a conference championship than it was the last two times the Gophs did it. 1967 and 1960 only required 7 conference games with no Championship game and Gophs tied other teams for a co-title with one conference loss in both years (and didn't play Ohio State). If the Gophs win out in the regular season this year and go 8-1 in the conference, they will have already accomplished more on the field than they did in 1960 and 1967.

 

[patrick08]

I mean other teams storming the field after beating us seems like a good start. Also arguing with the press about where we are ranked vs. Alabama, also a good thing. I chose 4-5 year option. If we finish middle of the pack next year, this will be considered a fluke.

 

[Panthadad2]

I mean other teams storming the field after beating us seems like a good start. Also arguing with the press about where we are ranked vs. Alabama, also a good thing. I chose 4-5 year option. If we finish middle of the pack next year, this will be considered a fluke.

Damn skippy!

 

[Panthadad2]

Panthadad2,
And I'm thinking that is what the game in eight days will really be all about. Who will be the dominant team in the West in the future, the new guys or the old guys.

Yup.

 

[1983]

Turned around is to imply we were great at one point. That was 57 years ago. What has happened is the University figured out that good football might be a benefit to the overall perception of the school and with some luck, profits to be made.. Glen Mason did an incredible job here and Jerry Kill brought to light the requirements of dedication from the administration..... Mark Coyle while sort of a dead fish, hired a guy that energized the fan base and benefited from a decent group of kids to coach. We have not turned around, we have picked up some steam and it is difficult to maintain that so enjoy it now.

 

[Panthadad2]

Another great indicator is getting 5-Star recruits. If Gophers can sign 1-2 5-star recruits every year....that my friends shows that the program has turned!

I agree but in a different measure. I'm less interested in "star" recruits (which is skewed towards the branded and SEC teams) and more interested how many players get to the NFL. That's the real measure. Wisconsin and Iowa overperform in this measure when compared to HS "star" recruits from other non-midwest schools.

 

[builtbadgers]

Get at least 3 straight conference winning records, with at least one division title.

 

[Panthadad2]

I'm kinda surprised there's not more love for the Mason option here. Minnesota was basically today's version of Rutgers before he turned it around. He was the original driving force behind TCF too.

 

[builtbadgers]

Turned around is to imply we were great at one point. That was 57 years ago. What has happened is the University figured out that good football might be a benefit to the overall perception of the school and with some luck, profits to be made.. Glen Mason did an incredible job here and Jerry Kill brought to light the requirements of dedication from the administration..... Mark Coyle while sort of a dead fish, hired a guy that energized the fan base and benefited from a decent group of kids to coach. We have not turned around, we have picked up some steam and it is difficult to maintain that so enjoy it now.

Mason was 32-48 here in 10 years of conference games. Two winning conference records in that time.

 

[Vandy]

Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys got things off to a very good start in many aspects. PJ has been able to build on the their start.

 

[BilldGopher]

I went with Mase because his hire was the reason I started to follow the Gophers. Certainly that first season was not worth following but that's the pattern with most coaching changes.

I know the B1G West Title is the program target that makes the most sense. From a meaningful perspective getting the three main Trophies in the case together is more significant to me. This would indicate a potential return to dominance over our historic rivals. And after November 9, maybe it's time for The Bell to start to join that hallowed trophy group.

 

[Maverick]

There are several stages to a "turnaround" The one I'm interested in is the one where the Gophers are top 10 in the pre-season poll and stay there for several years. So to answer your question, we aren't there yet.

 

[fmlizard]

I picked the only one that indicated sustained success. Lots and lots of programs nationally have had a single breakthrough year. The lack of one for over 50 years has defined Minnesota football, even though many P5 programs have been consistently worse than Minnesota.

I remember Rutgers, Kansas, Maryland, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, Oregon State, etc all having a big year or two in the past 10-20. All backslid, some into awfulness, and only Northwestern in that list is consistently decent. Only Wisconsin, Oregon, and debatably a couple other programs have made it last.

There's not even a huge turnaround to be made. This program had 2 quality seasons right before Fleck was hired. It's making the jump from OK to elite. So far, so good.

 

[GopherGold01]

I'll consider us turned around when our on the field success starts resulting in noticeable recruiting success, year over year.

 

[OldBob53]

I consider it turned around already. 9 - 1 is better than we've been in a long time, maybe forever.

And 10 - 1? That's rarified atmosphere.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Mason was 32-48 here in 10 years of conference games. Two winning conference records in that time.

More to it than the record though when you look at Mason and his time here. He took over a program that was the laughingstock of the Big Ten and turned it into a competitive respectable team.

At the time he was clearly looking to parlay some success here into a gig at Ohio State and when that didn't happen things started going downhill but he deserves a ton of credit for taking a down trodden program and making them relevant again.

He was never able to get the program over the hump but he accomplished a lot during his time here. Unfortunately Maturi botched the hire that followed him.

 

[50PoundHead]

When we can "plug-and-play" and still compete without having to re-tool at key positions constantly. I think we are approaching that level.

 

[Joe Hardy]

Consistently contend for the West title. A coach with a BIG record above 500. Consistently end the season ranked in the top 20.

 

[stocker08]

The 9th of November, 2019, at 1:54PM

This. Success is success. The narrative prior to the Penn State game was that the Gophers were a paper tiger. They've proved that to be false. I can see the product on the field. Fleck isn't selling us snake oil. I don't need to wait another three, four, five years to realize that this is the best Gophers team since I've been alive.

Mason had some very good teams. But that was typically because his offenses could outrun the opposition. This team has balance. There is legitimate star power on both sides of the ball. We don't need to rely on one or two players making big plays every single week. Between Bateman, Johnson, CAB, Morgan, Smith, Winfield, Coughlin, Martin.....all of these guy can, and have made game changing plays.