Charles Hallman of Spokesman Recorder: Kill: not-a-big-name guy with a big job to do

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discochris said:
A number of people have already brought it up, but the fact is, the football programs, and many of the sports programs in general in the city conferences, simply aren't very good, and the good players go the open enrollment route. Just look at Hopkins Basketball. The suburban schools have the feeder programs that start in grade school, and the funding that goes along with them. The city has, as mentioned, the park board.I think the U would recruit Minneapolis and St. Paul if the talent was there, but for the most part, it isn't, and if it is, the guys open enroll elsewhere. Hallman seems to think there's this pot of gold of untapped football talent in the Minneapolis School District, but it just doesn't exist.
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Great point. I was going to bring this up also. It's happens more in basketball though, not as much in football. But when it does happen the kids end up at De La Salle, Eden Prairie, Wayzata and Cretin Durham Hall. (Not Hopkins.) Basically, open enrollment has killed the majority of Minneapolis Conference sports. (See; Hockey) The talent is there at the city schools, but it gets shipped off to the privates and the burbs with better resources and programs. Also sometimes, oh who am I kidding, a majority of the time, the kids basically don't have the grades to play and just give up on High Schools sports all together. The dropout rate in Minneapolis schools with males is unbelievable, especially on the Northside. Lots of athletic and talented kids go to waste on the streets. North High used to have one of the premier football programs in the metro, anyone remember Chris Rainey? But now, they barely have enough kids to keep the doors open. It really is sad.

As far as the U not recruiting inner city kids, it's true on some levels. But then again I don't think Mason or Brewster recruited any Minnesota kids, statewide. Mason loved his Ohio kids and Brewster loved his....whatever. But the football programs at the city schools had huge turnover rates with coaches and assistants that it has hard to develop relationships and what not. I know the coach at my high school (a city school) was just lazy. He didn't do anything for our juniors or seniors looking at colleges. But three did end up playing for the Gophers under Mason thanks to parents getting their hustle on.

Last but not least, it's all about image, especially with kids in the city. They want to attend schools that are winning and on television. In my day you would see kids up and down the block rocking Miami, Florida, FSU, Michigan, Nebraska and Georgia Starter Jackets and Pro Player Hoodies. Those schools won and had the flash. (FYI: Chris Rainey got a full ride to Nebraska.) The U has never been a "flash" school to inner city kids. The only maroon and gold you would see would be USC gear.

All in all, I think Kill will turn it around. He seems to get it. In the past I don't think the U ignored city kids, it was just all a bunch of bad timing and circumstances.
 


Jeffrey Jones, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore running back from Minneapolis Washburn, is one of the top players in the state in the Class of 2014. The two-sport standout attended the Minnesota Junior Day and their Friday Night Camp Under The Lights. GopherHole.com recently caught up with Jones to learn the latest on his early recruitment and expectations for his sophomore season.

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1461
 


BleedGopher said:
per Shooter:

"Minneapolis Roosevelt High has dropped varsity football this season due to lack of players."

http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_18772727

Go Gophers!!
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Is the perception in the community the program was dropped because of bias among university of Minnesota administration and football coaching?

I grew up in a farming town in southern MN. The enrollments shrank year after year until each community had to make tough choices. Lots of closed schools, consolidation and gut wrenching loss regarding the feeling of community. I know this feeling well, and it gives me a lot of empathy for the urban families that are going through it now.

The causes were very different but the end results are eerily similar. One thing I am completely sure of that is the same though... Both situations resulted in a general lack of D1 talent.
 


Schnauzer said:
Is the perception in the community the program was dropped because of bias among university of Minnesota administration and football coaching?

I grew up in a farming town in southern MN. The enrollments shrank year after year until each community had to make tough choices. Lots of closed schools, consolidation and gut wrenching loss regarding the feeling of community. I know this feeling well, and it gives me a lot of empathy for the urban families that are going through it now.

The causes were very different but the end results are eerily similar. One thing I am completely sure of that is the same though... Both situations resulted in a general lack of D1 talent.
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I agree. My Girlfriend (from southern/ outstate Mn.) and I have come to the same conclusion. There are many similarities. Though It may be some time before either produces powerhouse programs with regularity, Individual talent will continue to emerge from these areas.
 

More Sad News for Minneapolis Football - No Varsity Football for Roosevelt in 2011

Apparently the coaching staff decided to forgo playing a varsity schedule this year, citing a safety issue for the 20 kids who came out for the team...The coaches don't feel it would be safe to have most of their starters playing both ways the whole game. Instead, they'll play a JV schedule only, incorporating all 4 classes into the JV program.

Roosevelt was once a power in Section V, making it to the quarterfinals in the state tournament four times in an 8 year span in the 80's and late 70's.

According to a teacher at the school, many of the kids come from low income families and have to work after school to support their families.
 

20 football players? We had that many on our team, and that was a 9-man team in a town of 500 people! Why doesn't anyone want to play? I can't imagine it isn't because Minnesota's not recruiting there, at our school, people seldom even got a D-II offer.
 




St. Clair (enrollment 175) in south central MN also canceled their season for the same reasons. They had something like 2 seniors go out. Roosevelt also has to do with culture and demographics.
 

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