Dennis Dodd: Count on hardened Kill to get Gophers out of their hole

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Great article. I was one of the many who were let down when Coach Kill's name was leaked. It took about a week for Coach Kill to convince me that he was the "right fit" for Minnesota. Then the hammer fell and when Michigan, Miami, Florida, etc started announcing their hires, our coach looked pretty good next to those schools and better than the hires as Pitt, Colorado, and Maryland. I went on a limb early and predicted the Brewster act wasn't going to work here and was proven correct. I think Kill gets it done here and has us feeling optimistic about the direction of the program 4 months from now, even if the record doesn't reflect progress.
 

I'm generally not a Dodd fan, but this was a great article!
 

akgopher said:
I went on a limb early and predicted the Brewster act wasn't going to work here and was proven correct.
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:rolleyes:

Pretty tenuous leap you took there. Without a safety net or anything?
 

dpodoll68 said:
:rolleyes:

Pretty tenuous leap you took there. Without a safety net or anything?
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Good one. I won't put my car title on the line, but how about this call.. Kill has a 9 win season by year four, if not three. I wouldn't be shocked to see 3-9, or even 2-10 this year but we will see growth in the areas of discipline and toughness.
 



Please

akgopher said:
Good one. I won't put my car title on the line, but how about this call.. Kill has a 9 win season by year four, if not three. I wouldn't be shocked to see 3-9, or even 2-10 this year but we will see growth in the areas of discipline and toughness.
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Stop talking. golly....lol
 

Great article. There basically wasn't anything I didn't already know but it was fun to read it using a perspective that I didn't know much about him. Reading that has to be impressive for any parent, recruit, or casual fan.

I was slow to cash in my Brewster chips (just couldn't believe he was THAT bad) and I was slow to warm up to Kill. Part of that slowness was I was second guessing myself wondering if I had become such a homer that it was destiny that ANY coach hired would suddenly command my affection. But as time has gone on, everything I have seen from Kill has led me to the same warm and cozy place... looking FORWARD to the future.
 

Gotta get my dpodoll68 on here:

They opened a new stadium by going 3-9, and only after winning their final two games.
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I thought we opened our stadium two years ago....?

Decent, though never really have been a fan of his anyway. He makes MarQueis Gray sound like a receiver prospect who is now being forced to play QB or somethin LOL.

But yeah, I definitely would not "settle" with the Glen Mason years, I'm still trying to figure out what that even means. I'd like at least a NYD bowl game appearance in the span of 10 years, and Mason never did that. I'd like to field a defense capable of regularly holding the elite B1G squads under 40 points a game. I'd like to have a coach who didn't think his own mess didn't stink. Glen Mason did a lot of good things, I understand that, but what he accomplished is NOT the best we can do, and hopefully Kill proves that in the coming years.
 



Dodd really paints a good picture of how far things fell under Brewster...not that the heights were all that great but things really fell apart fast.
 

Monty519 said:
But yeah, I definitely would not "settle" with the Glen Mason years, I'm still trying to figure out what that even means. I'd like at least a NYD bowl game appearance in the span of 10 years, and Mason never did that. I'd like to field a defense capable of regularly holding the elite B1G squads under 40 points a game. I'd like to have a coach who didn't think his own mess didn't stink. Glen Mason did a lot of good things, I understand that, but what he accomplished is NOT the best we can do, and hopefully Kill proves that in the coming years.
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When the U canned Mason, Dodd was all over it basically saying he was the best we could do. He hasn't changed his tune since then, but I struggle to see what leads him to believe that is our zenith.
 

Dennis Dodd and the fatass Ray Ratto are the reasons why I stopped reading CBSSports (Sportsline then). A few years ago I switched to SI.com and never looked back.
 

There are a number of articles which say that Kill will turn the Gophers around, but we can't expect anything better than the Mason years. Much the same could have been said about Wisconsin and Iowa before Alvarez and Fry were hired. 2 winning Big Ten seasons in a decade isn't the ceiling. There are a lot of writers who just don't seem to imagine that things can change, and then when they do, after a year or two, they forget it ever used to be different.
 



Monty519 said:
Gotta get my dpodoll68 on here:



I thought we opened our stadium two years ago....?

Decent, though never really have been a fan of his anyway. He makes MarQueis Gray sound like a receiver prospect who is now being forced to play QB or somethin LOL.

But yeah, I definitely would not "settle" with the Glen Mason years, I'm still trying to figure out what that even means. I'd like at least a NYD bowl game appearance in the span of 10 years, and Mason never did that. I'd like to field a defense capable of regularly holding the elite B1G squads under 40 points a game. I'd like to have a coach who didn't think his own mess didn't stink. Glen Mason did a lot of good things, I understand that, but what he accomplished is NOT the best we can do, and hopefully Kill proves that in the coming years.
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I laughed when I read the lines about opening the stadium and MarQueis.

I too am sick of the settle for the Mason years comments. If that's what we wanted we would have hired him back. I don't expect tOSU dominance but an occasional sniff at a conference title would be nice. And how about feeling like a 4 touchdown lead might actually be safe. And not innovating new ways to lose games. And actually pursuing recruits instead of waiting for them to call you...
 

Gopher07 said:
When the U canned Mason, Dodd was all over it basically saying he was the best we could do. He hasn't changed his tune since then, but I struggle to see what leads him to believe that is our zenith.
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Most national writers have also struggled to understand that it wasn't just the fact that Mason had reached a plateau in terms of wins. Local folks get the impact his attitude towards his "ceiling" was having on the fanbase and know that it played right into the angst most felt. Since most national writers seem to share the "I'm the best you'll get so be happy" sentiment that Mason always seemed to exude they can't fathom how that would be frustrating to the fanbase.
 

GoAUpher said:
Most national writers have also struggled to understand that it wasn't just the fact that Mason had reached a plateau in terms of wins. Local folks get the impact his attitude towards his "ceiling" was having on the fanbase and know that it played right into the angst most felt. Since most national writers seem to share the "I'm the best you'll get so be happy" sentiment that Mason always seemed to exude they can't fathom how that would be frustrating to the fanbase.
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I think Mason's program was close to being on par with what Clem did with the basketball program before we found out what was happening behind the scenes. Even if you remove the Final 4 team, people were content with Clem Haskins.

The difference between the two was that Clem sold the program and embraced The U and The Barn. He went for the Kentucky job, but there was a perception that it was the only job he would leave the U for. Mason is a good coach, but seemed to allow his deficiencies in dealing with high school coaches and the fan base take him down. I perceived that Mason felt he was slumming being here and was kicking himself for not sticking with Georgia, a program worthy of him. If Mason had humility, he would have survived Texas Tech and boosters would have stepped up earlier to pay the TCF bill.
 

akgopher said:
I think Mason's program was close to being on par with what Clem did with the basketball program before we found out what was happening behind the scenes. Even if you remove the Final 4 team, people were content with Clem Haskins.

The difference between the two was that Clem sold the program and embraced The U and The Barn. He went for the Kentucky job, but there was a perception that it was the only job he would leave the U for. Mason is a good coach, but seemed to allow his deficiencies in dealing with high school coaches and the fan base take him down. I perceived that Mason felt he was slumming being here and was kicking himself for not sticking with Georgia, a program worthy of him. If Mason had humility, he would have survived Texas Tech and boosters would have stepped up earlier to pay the TCF bill.
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Haskins was starting to grate on BB fans in the mid-1990s, after about six straight bubble years before the Final Four run.

There are a few differences between him and Mason, though. Clem did take a team to the Elite Eight (BCS Bowl-level status) and Sweet 16 (Jan. 1 Bowl?) that is still on the books. And even during the mediocrity, you could go to a game at the Barn on any day of the season and know that the Gophers could beat any team in the country. Sure, Mason beat OSU and Michigan once each. But I never felt like we were consistently competitive with the best teams in the Big Ten.
 

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