DeLeon Eskridge will not return to the U

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Oneoldgopher wrote: "If I were a parent of a great football player, I wouldn't send them to an also ran team. I would send them to a better football school."

Obviously you don't speak for all parents nor make decisions for student-athletes.

Coach Kill has a very strong and successful resume and will gain consideration from a good number of quality athletes. Parents and athletes also know that they will likely get a college degree if they play for him. And be pushed to reached their full potential.

The UM has a lot to offer even though it is not one of your better schools.
 

Ole said:
WTF?
You know Kill's done this before right? I don't see many horror stories about SIU or NIU players burning out.

You mention Kill recruiting for character and getting developmental types in the same breath mention unmotivated players and drug users hurt Salem's era. One isn't the other, recruit high character, you probably avoid heavy drug users and slouches.

Mcdonald has decommited(essentially) but we've got 2 other top in state players coming, and nobody has committed elsewhere yet, so your claim of losing the recruiting battle is premature.

The you say parents of top commits want to send their kid to a top football school? Like USC, OSU, Auburn, Oregon, UNC? All will be under sanctions soon because their coaches lacked character, which I would hope is what a PARENT would be looking for in a college football program, the kids maybe, but the parents probably look to the coach's character first. Kill's got some of that.

WTF

You confuse me.
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I am likewise confused. Per your on the mark comments above how do people come up with this stuff? I am not much for swearing but sometime it has its place and this is one of the times. So Ole, I second your

WTF

You confuse me Old Goph.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Thank you! Many people miss the nuances of the position, it's not just breaking off long runs. There's blocking, which no other RB on the team (much less a Freshman) held a candle to Eskridge. There's short yardage where Eskridge was the go-to guy. Durability, he was never injured. Special Teams where Eskridge was a stud of coverage teams. Not every player has to be All Big-10 to be valuable & Eskridge was a valuable player.
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It's been a while since I've been on this thread, but I don't think anybody has said Eskridge didn't provide value, it's just that my opinion is that the value he provided wasn't "exceptional" in any way, and thus I personally don't feel it is as big of a loss as some appear to. Was he a decent blocker? Maybe, I can't say he was so great that I noticed (although I saw him getting worked nearly every time in a blitz pickup drill during one of the early spring practices to the point where it seemed to me that he was not a very good blocker - in fact, Beal ran him over on play that made me blush watching it; one practice is obviously not a worthy sample-size, and certainly not one play, but I just hadn't noticed either way until then). Was he a short-yardage guy? Maybe, but that's the type of situation Edwards was recruited for (in addition to breaking off long runs), and others (like Kirkwood) are probably even better-suited for (build-wise) than Eskridge, they just haven't had the opportunity due to youth/inexperience/eligibility.

Was he good on special teams? Maybe, but again, I have to take your word for it because I know he never stood out to me, and I've watched nearly every minute of every Gopher game for the last four years (minus the last four minutes of the OSU game, and the last two minutes of Northwestern). Assuming he was a good special teams player, there's a bigger drawing pool to pull from to replace a similar special teams player (RBs, DBs, even receivers). Replacing one special teams player on a college fb squad isn't going to make/break a season (kicker/punter excluded, possibly long-snapper/holder as well, on a GOOD team).

We were a 3-9 team last year. If we were a Big Ten title contending team this next year, I would be bothered more than I am. Fact is, his leaving gives guys like Edwards, Kirkwood, Wright, and perhaps even Cobb, the opportunity to do the things you mentioned (pass-blocking, short yardage, etc, etc.) now, which will hopefully pay off in the long-run when we are relevant in the Big Ten race again.

Again, I'd rather have him than not, but I'm not losing sleep over it.
 

WTF is right. I think oneoldgopher has confused himself into confusion. What "war" is Coach Kill losing right now? The "Scout/Rivals Ranking System War," or the "War of B1G Ten Pre-Season Ratings," or the "War Against Manic-Depressive Gopherhole Posters"?

Kill ain't Salem, Gutekunst, Wacker, Mason, or Brewster, he's Jerry Kill. We don't really know what he is yet, but we know what he isn't. I find that alone refreshing and optimistic. The recruiting class of 2012 is 7 months away from signing, and the Gophers will have played 11 or 12 games by then. This isn't a war right now, it's a scuffle.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
It's been a while since I've been on this thread, but I don't think anybody has said Eskridge didn't provide value, it's just that my opinion is that the value he provided wasn't "exceptional" in any way, and thus I personally don't feel it is as big of a loss as some appear to. Was he a decent blocker? Maybe, I can't say he was so great that I noticed (although I saw him getting worked nearly every time in a blitz pickup drill during one of the early spring practices to the point where it seemed to me that he was not a very good blocker - in fact, Beal ran him over on play that made me blush watching it; one practice is obviously not a worthy sample-size, and certainly not one play, but I just hadn't noticed either way until then). Was he a short-yardage guy? Maybe, but that's the type of situation Edwards was recruited for (in addition to breaking off long runs), and others (like Kirkwood) are probably even better-suited for (build-wise) than Eskridge, they just haven't had the opportunity due to youth/inexperience/eligibility.

Was he good on special teams? Maybe, but again, I have to take your word for it because I know he never stood out to me, and I've watched nearly every minute of every Gopher game for the last four years (minus the last four minutes of the OSU game, and the last two minutes of Northwestern). Assuming he was a good special teams player, there's a bigger drawing pool to pull from to replace a similar special teams player (RBs, DBs, even receivers). Replacing one special teams player on a college fb squad isn't going to make/break a season (kicker/punter excluded, possibly long-snapper/holder as well, on a GOOD team).

We were a 3-9 team last year. If we were a Big Ten title contending team this next year, I would be bothered more than I am. Fact is, his leaving gives guys like Edwards, Kirkwood, Wright, and perhaps even Cobb, the opportunity to do the things you mentioned (pass-blocking, short yardage, etc, etc.) now, which will hopefully pay off in the long-run when we are relevant in the Big Ten race again.

Again, I'd rather have him than not, but I'm not losing sleep over it.
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+100

I couldn't have said it any better.
 


Oneoldgopher said:
He is losing the recruiting war right now. He needs to gain ground now and land some true 4 star recruits and not lose the ones he offered and received verbal commitments from.
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Sweet Jesus. Are you for real?

Is he winning the strength & conditioning war? Is he winning the keep the players out of trouble war? Is he winning the keep everyone eligible for fall semester war? Is he winning the game planning for USC and New Mexico State war? Is he winning the get the true freshmen acclimated to the Twin Cities war?

My next post on this board will be after September 3.
 

Bucking for sainthood

Jerry Kill is not a saint. He has just begun his career at Minnesota and group think about the Gophers has become the model around here. Repeat the trumpet call of the whole group or be labeled with the lowest standard retort of "WTF". Living large in Gopher Hole means living up to "WTF."

Jerry Kill said he wanted to recruit for speed and had a big need at Defensive End. Minnesota has 1 DE recruit so far, very unknown in recruiting circles. A project of major proportions.

Michigan has 3 ****, ***, ***
Michigan State 1 ****
Northwestern 1 ***
Penn State 1 ***
Iowa has 1 **
Minnesota 1 nil star

That is just for one position of need. That is typical of our current recruiting class.

Losing the war position by position for another year so that Kill can claim character over performance on the field his first year.

He is setting up his case for surviving as a coach in 2014 by stating now that he is searching for players of character. That's fine for sainthood. Not so sure that every student athlete has to look the coach in the eye and say, "I was born for Gopher football". Wouldn't be credible for 98% of the available athletes out there.

Withdrawing a scholarship for a player not yet signed is sheer stupidity. Kill's job is to sell the school to the player, not jerk the kid around. If Kill wants capable players, he will have to adjust his selling strategy. Once on campus, he needs to keep their hearts in the game. I wasn't at SIU or NIU, but I bet if I poked around, I could find an athlete or two that said the coach pushed them one too many times and they allowed themselves to coast as 3rd and 4th string players.

I know, many of you have your doubts that that is impossible with coach Kill. I bet you Jerry wouldn't deny that has happened. But you know-it-alls would claim he has already walked on water and that I am nothing but a baseless jerk. SFW.

I might have said this before, but the owners of this site can kick me off at any time. But, if they want an honest debate, and a much more interesting board, they will let me survive for another day.

I won't be responding any further to this thread. Have to go celebrate a birthday with a man decorated 23 times over 20+ years of police work, a much better man than most of you will ever be able to claim.

As for my own insanity -- why do I bother reading these pages!?

GH Pull the plug on my now!!!
 

Oneoldgopher said:
He is setting up his case for surviving as a coach in 2014 by stating now that he is searching for players of character.
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My word, that is an incredible reach.


Oneoldgopher said:
but I bet if I poked around, I could find an athlete or two that said the coach pushed them one too many times and they allowed themselves to coast as 3rd and 4th string players.
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O.K. Start poking around. I'll anxiously be waiting for the results.


Oneoldgopher said:
But, if they want an honest debate, and a much more interesting board, they will let me survive for another day.
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That statement alone, is debatable.

And I refuse to give any credence to a poster who continues to refer to "Smokey" Joe Salem as Smokin Joe Salem.
 




Whoa.

Where to start.

First, WTF is a young'un term for whatthe? Not my best writing, but some of strangeness of your post called for it.

I guess second, our "DE" recruit is currently unranked, not unknown, and he's going to be a DT.
I'd bet he ends up a low 3 star, he's a DT from a good program in TX. Not a MAJOR project.
Redshirt him, teach him technique, and pack 30 lbs on him while keeping his speed, good to go.

I don't get it, why the chicken little act? We've got 7 months before signing day, most of our recruits are going to commit later.

As for the position by position "war", that's not how it works. We won't even know what position some of these guys will play until maybe their So year. Matt Spaeth had an article today where he said he played LB in HS, was recruited as a DE, and is now a super bowl champ at TE.

Any player who ends up "coasting" will be replaced. It's just that simple. Those that are motivated will rise up the depth chart, and judging from Kill' history, it works.

Try to calm down, nothing is proven or unproven here, but there's certainly no reason to hit the alarm bells on Kill's recruiting yet, in 3 years if none of his recruited guys are worth a damn, then we'll have to get real worried.

Have fun at your freind's thing, throw back a few and relax a bit.
 

Half the conference doesn't even have a verbal from a DE yet and this guy is losing his head. Good lord. Many of the teams in the big10 have less verbals then the gophers right now. Take a breath, little early to be claiming Kill's tenure is already damned due to poor recruiting.
 

Doesn't no stars just mean the recruit hasn't been evaluated yet?
 




Not sure if it is common knowledge already but Deleon just told me he is going to San Jose state.
 

WestBank08 said:
Not sure if it is common knowledge already but Deleon just told me he is going to San Jose state.
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That would make sense. San Jose State is about 30 miles from his hometown and he'll probably get a lot of playing time against some pretty good teams.
 

WAGopher said:
That would make sense. San Jose State is about 30 miles from his hometown and he'll probably get a lot of playing time against some pretty good teams.
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That's exactly what he said, about the proximity. Nice kid, good RB, sorry to see him go. I hope he does really well there.
 

WestBank08 said:
That's exactly what he said, about the proximity. Nice kid, good RB, sorry to see him go. I hope he does really well there.
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Thanks for the info. I wish him the best. Selfishly, I wish he was still a Gopher. I will be interested in his development at San Jose State.
 

Like everyone, I think this sucks but given timing (junior heading into senior year) it only can mean two things:
1. Eskridge doesn't want to play a senior year at Minnesota (homesick or just no future)
2. Something happened academically.

Best of luck to Deleon but don't read too much into this.
 

Winnipegopher said:
Like everyone, I think this sucks but given timing (junior heading into senior year) it only can mean two things:
1. Eskridge doesn't want to play a senior year at Minnesota (homesick or just no future)
2. Something happened academically.

Best of luck to Deleon but don't read too much into this.
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Or:
"The 21-year-old running back, who gained 698 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground last season, both tops on the Gophers, has been granted a release from his scholarship, the university announced Friday. Eskridge asked for his release in order to deal with a family situation and intends to transfer to a school closer to his San Francisco home."

But don't let that stop you from starting completely unsubstantiated rumors.
 

Unregistered User said:
Or:
"The 21-year-old running back, who gained 698 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground last season, both tops on the Gophers, has been granted a release from his scholarship, the university announced Friday. Eskridge asked for his release in order to deal with a family situation and intends to transfer to a school closer to his San Francisco home."

But don't let that stop you from starting completely unsubstantiated rumors.
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I think he could have went about it in a nicer way, but I think it is fair to wonder about the timing. News of his departure came out pretty much at the exact same timing as Tiree Eure. I will admit that the first thing that came to my head was that this was a nice spin to put on a story about a player that has been an exemplary contributor to the Gophers. I have no idea if it is true or not, and not really worth asking questions about, but I think it is fair to wonder.
 

eker0016 said:
I think he could have went about it in a nicer way, but I think it is fair to wonder about the timing. News of his departure came out pretty much at the exact same timing as Tiree Eure. I will admit that the first thing that came to my head was that this was a nice spin to put on a story about a player that has been an exemplary contributor to the Gophers. I have no idea if it is true or not, and not really worth asking questions about, but I think it is fair to wonder.
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Nicer? How? Was he supposed to take you out to dinner and spring it on to you real gentle like?

Don't go saying things like "not really worth asking questions about" and then post the same unsubstantiated question on a public message board.

Some people have no clue about what they are doing. This is a public board where what ever you write can be seen by everyone, and it can not be taken back. It is not just you and your buddies having a few beers and shooting the breeze. Are you one of those guys that posts all those drunk feast pictures on your Facebook page and then wonders why they can't get a good job? Don't go making up crap about the players!

DeLeon was a good player, we thank him for being a Gopher and wish him luck.
 

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