Gold Rush
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With the Gophers 8-0 start, we have been reflecting a lot on some of the other coaches we have had, how successful they were and what their records were. I think everyone has been very happy with the team so far this year and we are all very hopeful this success can continue. We are one of the most pleasant surprises of the year, ranked #13 and PJ Fleck is becoming the toast of the town.
Coaching records can be a little misleading. Someone said that Kill was a mediocre coach with a mediocre record but Kill needed a little time to right the ship and came into a difficult situation. Brewster was fired after going 1-6 halfway through the season in 2010 but I thought Kill did a good job of leaving the program in better shape than when he had left it. When Lou Holtz was here his record was an unremarkable 10-12, but when you saw what he had to deal with and where he left it in just 2 years you can see what a great coach he was. Those were both successful hires as a result.
With Jerry Kill and Tracy Klaeys, they were both very good coaches - they knew what they were doing and certainly several steps ahead of the previous regime but they were both very vanilla and I don't think they would ever have taken this program any further. There is no way they were going into a recruit's home and getting that top prospect away from Alabama or Clemson if they wanted them badly enough. I always thought the Gophers should swing for the fences and go for that guy who just might be able to take this program to the next level. That is why I wanted Mike Leach at the time Brewster was fired - he was very risky but he was that kind of guy who could win big at a place that hadn't enjoyed a great deal of success. He indeed proved that at Washington St. We won't know if he would have won here but I think he would have done quite well. That ship has sailed a long long time ago and it is gone. Another one was Bobby Ross who badly wanted the Gopher job after Lou Holtz left but they decided to go with John Gutekunst because they felt he would be a good continuation from what they had. Ross went on to win a national championship at Georgia Tech a few years later (as Lou Holtz did too) but Gutey just couldn't continue the momentum. He was another vanilla coach who knew what he was doing but was uninspiring. These decisions were similar in they went for the nice safe pick who was a good coach that knew what they were doing but were only going to take it to a certain level.
Enter into the equation PJ Fleck. Fleck was probably one of the top 2 hottest up and coming coaches when he came here. He was NOT that safe, vanilla pick that Gutekunst or Kill were. He was dynamic and talked a lot of smack which immediately scared a lot of the Gopher faithful because he sounded like Tim Brewster or further back Jim Wacker and both those regimes ended in disaster. It took a while for many Gopher fans to warm up to him as they were very cautious, but they are starting to come around in a big way. If they can keep him here there could be very big things ahead for the Gophers. If you are a fan of Iowa, Nebraska or Wisconsin you have to be very concerned about what is happening here at Minnesota.
Coyle diverted greatly from typical Gopher football coaching changes. Usually, a search committee is developed and they go over all the applicants and weeks if not months later, a new coach is named. This usually goes on long enough to completely destroy a full recruiting season. Old timers like me remember the disaster following the Joe Salem firing. They named a committee and they went over all the applicants and mid December finally named Les Steckel as their choice. Steckel turned it down so I believe they offered the job to BYU coach Lavalle Edwards, who was a great choice. Unfortunately - he hadn't even put in for the job!!! They announced they were starting all over again. This would have dragged into January or February but they were fortunate that Arkansas fired Lou Holtz and somehow got lucky he accepted. Instead, Coyle acted swiftly and instead of going for a single he swung for the fences and got a guy who just might be that home run hire Gopher fans have wanted forever.
This game with Penn St. is a big one but at the end of the day win or lose we put it behind us and get ready for Iowa. I think we are in very good shape for the future here!!
Coaching records can be a little misleading. Someone said that Kill was a mediocre coach with a mediocre record but Kill needed a little time to right the ship and came into a difficult situation. Brewster was fired after going 1-6 halfway through the season in 2010 but I thought Kill did a good job of leaving the program in better shape than when he had left it. When Lou Holtz was here his record was an unremarkable 10-12, but when you saw what he had to deal with and where he left it in just 2 years you can see what a great coach he was. Those were both successful hires as a result.
With Jerry Kill and Tracy Klaeys, they were both very good coaches - they knew what they were doing and certainly several steps ahead of the previous regime but they were both very vanilla and I don't think they would ever have taken this program any further. There is no way they were going into a recruit's home and getting that top prospect away from Alabama or Clemson if they wanted them badly enough. I always thought the Gophers should swing for the fences and go for that guy who just might be able to take this program to the next level. That is why I wanted Mike Leach at the time Brewster was fired - he was very risky but he was that kind of guy who could win big at a place that hadn't enjoyed a great deal of success. He indeed proved that at Washington St. We won't know if he would have won here but I think he would have done quite well. That ship has sailed a long long time ago and it is gone. Another one was Bobby Ross who badly wanted the Gopher job after Lou Holtz left but they decided to go with John Gutekunst because they felt he would be a good continuation from what they had. Ross went on to win a national championship at Georgia Tech a few years later (as Lou Holtz did too) but Gutey just couldn't continue the momentum. He was another vanilla coach who knew what he was doing but was uninspiring. These decisions were similar in they went for the nice safe pick who was a good coach that knew what they were doing but were only going to take it to a certain level.
Enter into the equation PJ Fleck. Fleck was probably one of the top 2 hottest up and coming coaches when he came here. He was NOT that safe, vanilla pick that Gutekunst or Kill were. He was dynamic and talked a lot of smack which immediately scared a lot of the Gopher faithful because he sounded like Tim Brewster or further back Jim Wacker and both those regimes ended in disaster. It took a while for many Gopher fans to warm up to him as they were very cautious, but they are starting to come around in a big way. If they can keep him here there could be very big things ahead for the Gophers. If you are a fan of Iowa, Nebraska or Wisconsin you have to be very concerned about what is happening here at Minnesota.
Coyle diverted greatly from typical Gopher football coaching changes. Usually, a search committee is developed and they go over all the applicants and weeks if not months later, a new coach is named. This usually goes on long enough to completely destroy a full recruiting season. Old timers like me remember the disaster following the Joe Salem firing. They named a committee and they went over all the applicants and mid December finally named Les Steckel as their choice. Steckel turned it down so I believe they offered the job to BYU coach Lavalle Edwards, who was a great choice. Unfortunately - he hadn't even put in for the job!!! They announced they were starting all over again. This would have dragged into January or February but they were fortunate that Arkansas fired Lou Holtz and somehow got lucky he accepted. Instead, Coyle acted swiftly and instead of going for a single he swung for the fences and got a guy who just might be that home run hire Gopher fans have wanted forever.
This game with Penn St. is a big one but at the end of the day win or lose we put it behind us and get ready for Iowa. I think we are in very good shape for the future here!!
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