Focusing in on Kill's B1G recruiting style

[btowngopher]

In 2010 Wisconsin's class was ranked 2nd to last, in 2009 Iowa's class was ranked 2nd to last and 4th to last in 2008, NW has never finished better then 4th from last since 2002. Nebraska is included in these rankings. If you want to abandon hope based on recruiting rankings alone, much less half a year of recruiting rankings, then that's your prerogative.

 

[harrys ghost]

I am not having a freakout. Just stating an opinion as to the quality of recruits. As for Rivals, I didn't use Rivals. As for other ranking services, every player on the list, but maybe 6 didn't have stars. Of those 6, well, you can guess where some of them are. As for evaluations, hey, the 4 star guys are evaluated. You don't think the 2 star guys weren't evaluated? Who is in fantasy land? As for how this correlates to success, I think MV had a fine article on that not too long back. Or was it the other guy? Either way, stars and draft success positively correlated.

Back to the question of June vs. NSD. If we have 17 total available scholies (just to use the lingua franca of GH), when we are half way through, and the best we can do is a soft verbal from the only 4 star athlete yet to suggest he is committed, well, you have to question how the other half is going to move. The only indicators out there are pathetic. Frankly, it is undeniably pathetic. Only those who have a vested agenda in Kill are saying things are okay when they are clearly not.

You might not have freaked out but you certainly seem to be borderline incoherent. "... every player on the list, but maybe 6 didn't have stars." What are you talking about? Last year? There were four HS guys ESPN didn't evaluate (they never evaluate JUCOs). ESPN had 11 guys three stars or higher. This year? No one has finished evaluating players.

You likely don't remember this but in Brewster's 2008 there were 4-6 players on Rivals that were bumped from two stars to three stars on their final senior season evaluation. So, it is a bit early to give up on stars for this year -- if that is what you are into. My biggest concern with Kill from the start was about recruiting. They did better than I expected last year. This year is still open but with only 17 slots it is probably not going to be highly rated. That said, part of recruiting is recognizing talent. If this were a perfect science, there would be no two stars in the NFL. Remember Brian Robiskie who played for tOSU? Scout gave him all of two stars. James Laurinaitis, in the same class, got three stars from Rivals and Scout. I believe the Rivals rating was 5.5 which is the lowest three star level.

I, for one, like what I am hearing about Eric Murray. It sounds like no one had looked at the kid as a DB. Our staff tries him out there and he literally blows everybody away. I think this is what recruiting is about. I get that it makes everyone feel better if they have a bunch of four and five star recruits. But, look what good it did Weis at ND.

 

[Mustang Mountain Man]

Setting the stars straight

If a player has a 2 star rating, the scouting services suggest the player has potential. Probably not start the first or the second year. Will be a player that eventually will contribute. That is exactly what we are getting and few on this board have suggested otherwise. Yet, many have concluded I am hyperventilating and going crazy because it is June and not NSD. I find that very funny. I took a position that is not popular and I get the chair delivered to the head by Baron Von Raschke, whom I wrote in for Student President. Imagine my surprise that the U students voted him student body president by popular acclaim, but was declared ineligible. What a loss. But I digress...

The purpose of recruiting isn't just the "system", which to me is the recruiting strategy to mesh your players to the scheme on the field. I truly can admire coach Kill for matching his players to his system. But, don't you think the guy has expressed a desire to coach up and that is one of his passions. He has also expressed ad nauseum that he thinks football is a social tool and he likes saving kids. Doesn't it seem like that has found its way onto the recruiting board and we are seeing the fruits of that outlook!??? I am not a mind reader and yes it is speculative -- to a point. But, again, there are indicators that the kids he is recruiting are being overlooked by other programs. These kids are so far under the radar as to make every other college in DI football to be blind to their abilities. That has me scratching my head and saying did we hire a DI coach or what is this "masterful" plan unfolding before our collective eyes? Well, I never said our collective eyes are actually open.

Instead of a debate, we have a collection of yahoos critical of questioning the status quo of Jerry Kill and his truly fine collection of coaches. The moment questioning becomes taboo, I love to take up the opposing view. So, I want this continued until there is an arguement made that is convincing that Kill can actually recruit for his plan. Can it be absolutely proven that the new Minnesota football style is so different that it requires very unique football players that are being overlooked by 97% (a bit of an exageration -- wink, wink) of the colleges in DI. Or, is it more probable that Jerry Kill is already showing evidence of having an Achilles heel.

 

[btowngopher]

Are you questioning Kill or are you convinced he is going to fail? The later seems to fit you better. Especially since you are ignoring the many different points other people are making to stop you from jumping.

 

[btowngopher]

Or perhaps you can name which players in this class you feel aren't good enough?

 

[EG#9]

in terms of recruit service evaluations, the recruiting-gap becomes more apparent versus our B1G competitors.

Although Brewster temporarily moved Minnesota up the recruiting chain, it seems the program's current recruiting results...again in terms of stars...are generally consistent with the Gopher's past 40 year B1G history.

Countering this obvious concern, Minnesota now has arguably the most competent, deepest and successful intact coaching staff it has been able to attract in the last 40 years with a record of developing talent and winning consistently at every stop.

WI and IA rebuilt starting with solid coaching, not an emphasis on stars.

Looks like that's the same formula at work in Minneapolis.

Kill's verballing kids who the coaches believe will enable them to repeat the same type of winning success they have had at NIU/SIU, with the full understanding that the D1 B1G is a much bigger stage, every scholarship is very important and they don't have much margin for recruiting disappointments or mistakes.

There's know way you can no about Minnesota's recruiting in the past 40 years, the advent of the Internet has greatly changed the number of prospects that are evaluated on a national stage. Where are you getting the idea that this is the most competent/successful staff that Minnesota has attracted in 40 years? I would wager that Lou Holtz and staff might have been just a tad bit more successful. There might be a few people on this board who are really concerned with stars, but I believe the majority of those concerned are concerned about offers. The most recent recruit went to two MAC camps prior to coming to Minnesota, yet still did not have an offer. Somehow he comes to a Big Ten school and gets his first offer? My issue with most of what you are saying is that you are assigning abstract qualities to Kill and his recruits that cannot be proven. I can say I am concerned that with where recruiting appears to be headed by pointing to facts like lack of offers, rankings, etc. Those who are not concerned either claim that Kill is bringing in hard working teetoalers or kids that the recruiting services have simply missed. I think either scenario is extremely unlikely, while the first is borderline offensive. In either scenario, these are just theories that people are coming up with that cannot be proven. I'd love to look back in 3-4 years and say that we had Brad Banks, Bob Sanders, Robert Gallery, and Dallas Clark come on to campus in this class and completely turn around Minnesota football. I'd love to be able to say, "man, I was an idiot when I questioned Jerry Kill's recruiting". I'd feel much better about the prospects for a Jerry Kill regime if the Gophers were landing prospects who had other BCS offers.

 

[EG#9]

Oh btowngopher on Raymond Cottman- He was a JUCO, who had played one year at an Arizona JC. Their was a belief that he was eligible out of high school and thus could sign with the Gophers and come on to campus with 4 to play 3. It was soon discovered that Cottman was not eligible to play and the staff lost interest. He was never a Gopher.

"Sam Rohr decommits to go to Northern Iowa" I think everyone is capable of reading between the lines there.

 

[btowngopher]

For those that are worried about the recruiting, well I think it's fair to ask you guys which recruits do you have serious concerns about?

 

[Unregistered User]

I find that very funny. I took a position that is not popular and I get the chair delivered to the head by Baron Von Raschke, whom I wrote in for Student President. Imagine my surprise that the U students voted him student body president by popular acclaim, but was declared ineligible. What a loss. But I digress...

...and lost any chance at credibility with that tangent.

 

[4four4]

For those that are worried about the recruiting, well I think it's fair to ask you guys which recruits do you have serious concerns about?

Most people have never watched any of the players more than two times. In fact they probably only have seen them on Youtube. What strikes me as odd why do people already have a problem with Kill's recruits when he has not even started his first season coaching the Gophers?

 

[Mustang Mountain Man]

...and lost any chance at credibility with that tangent.

At least I helped pull off one of the funnier college pranks of its day. And, what did you ever do to make life more enjoyable at the U? Campus Carni? Homecoming? Student Association? I did all of them, plus ROTC, hall representative, hall social committee, etc. So much to do.

 

[Mustang Mountain Man]

Most people have never watched any of the players more than two times. In fact they probably only have seen them on Youtube. What strikes me as odd why do people already have a problem with Kill's recruits when he has not even started his first season coaching the Gophers?

He is on the payroll. He has grabbed all the low hanging recruiting fruit and seems satisfied with taking only the passed over fruit. Not satisfactory at all. Half the new class is in and East Chickasaw State wouldn't take these guys.

 

[BBShopGo4]

Absolutely unbelievable...or maybe not...

Most people have never watched any of the players more than two times. In fact they probably only have seen them on Youtube. What strikes me as odd why do people already have a problem with Kill's recruits when he has not even started his first season coaching the Gophers?

Right on target, 4four4!

I find it comical that so many feel that they are better talent evaluators than the professionals. If you're all so good at knowing whether HS kids will succeed as college players, why aren't you earning your living doing that?

Given the state of our program, it is unrealistic to think that we can beat out top programs for the top recruits as a rule. If you bet the farm on that approach just to win recruiting rankings, you take a big risk ending up with the leftovers.

At this point, all we can do is trust that Coach Kill and his experienced staff know what they are doing. Hopefully they are working harder and looking in places that the big colleges don't have to and finding overlooked talent that they believe they can win with. In the end, the sane among us will judge this staff on the results, wins and losses, not recruiting rankings.

 

[NewEngland_Gold]

Recruiting: What's Kill evaluating?

There seems to be a great deal of concern on this thread about Kill's ability to identify, evaluate and offer athletes capable of contributing to a B1G revival at Minnesota.

Most of it seems to be around the lack of stars accepting his offers.

We do know that Kill has evaluated his current talent and has found it lacking in several areas, notably speed and depth/experience. Further, he knows the measureables of his current team and that these players had enough horsepower to defeat two pretty good bowl teams late last year: IL, IA. So, presumably, he wants measureables better than the averages of his current squad for various positions.

In his public statements, he has said that he looks at the following factors (priority unknown):

> capable of handling U academics;
> family support;
> a strong desire to be at Minnesota;
> determined work ethic;
> solid character traits, especially loyalty to the team and team rules;
> speed consistent with playing fast;
> above average B1G athleticism (judgment call);
> size approriate for the position;
> growth and development potential;
> agility and flexibility;
> learning capacity/coachability
> passing his "eye-ball test" as a D1 player.

There are probably more others can add.

Kill has said he makes his offers based on visits with athletes, families, coaches and school administrators, camp performance and measureables, intensive review of video tape submitted and camp video tape plus the input of over 25 years in the business of evaluating athletes.

Overall, Kill's evaluation methods have resulted in winning results at every stop in his career.

Now that he's at a B1G post, will these recruiting techniques fall short and yield disappointing results? At NIU, he demonstrated that his teams were able to defeat Minnesota and Purdue plus give WI a very competitive game.

Yes, there are concerns here that he will never win big at Minnesota without the upper-tier stars.
Maybe, but his past record suggests that at least for now, he is on the right track in a multi-year rebuilding process.

 

[Killjoy]

Absolutely unbelievable...or maybe not (Part 2)...

Right on target, 4four4!

I find it comical that so many feel that they are better talent evaluators than the professionals. If you're all so good at knowing whether HS kids will succeed as college players, why aren't you earning your living doing that?

Given the state of our program, it is unrealistic to think that we can beat out top programs for the top recruits as a rule. If you bet the farm on that approach just to win recruiting rankings, you take a big risk ending up with the leftovers.

At this point, all we can do is trust that Coach Kill and his experienced staff know what they are doing. Hopefully they are working harder and looking in places that the big colleges don't have to and finding overlooked talent that they believe they can win with. In the end, the sane among us will judge this staff on the results, wins and losses, not recruiting rankings.

Right on target, BBShopGo4!

The other part people seem to be missing is that the style of football Kill plays requires speed and athleticism. All you have to do is look at the 40 numbers of our verbals and you realize that this will be the fastest recruiting class that Minnesota has ever had. Kill said we need to get faster and be more athletic and that exactly what he is doing. Our star gazers are fixated on the ratings and have totally dismissed what Kill has done in the past. I trust the latter numbers far more as a predictor of what Kill is likely to do here.

What is even more amazing is that the star gazers are upset because we are not upset. They remind me of a story about a chicken who gets hit on the head and begins yelling "The sky is fallling!" That is what seems to be happening here.

 

[46Gophers]

In 2010 Wisconsin's class was ranked 2nd to last, in 2009 Iowa's class was ranked 2nd to last and 4th to last in 2008, NW has never finished better then 4th from last since 2002. Nebraska is included in these rankings. If you want to abandon hope based on recruiting rankings alone, much less half a year of recruiting rankings, then that's your prerogative.

+1000
Exactly what I was thinking about as examples. Recruiting players who fit their system and recognizing their potential and doing what is needed to help them reach their potential. With success, recruiting higher ranked prospects will become easier since you will now have something else to sell to the recruit - a consistent successful program. Right now Kill and Company don't have that to sell and can only sell what they have done at other non-BCS, FCS, and D2 programs which to highly rated recruits is likely not as appealing. Give it time people. It's those consistently successful programs that usually get those 4 and 5* prospects to verbal earlier on whereas programs like Minnesota have to work a little harder to sign them.

 

[Killjoy]

NewEngland_Gold

Every once in a while somebody posts something that is extraordinarily well written and thought out. With your 11:04 am post you accomplished this. While several of us may have been trying to communicate what you said we didn’t hit the mark as you did. Well done!

P.S. - I was going to give you five stars but I realized that would definitely miss the mark.

 

[corcoran1]

He is on the payroll. He has grabbed all the low hanging recruiting fruit and seems satisfied with taking only the passed over fruit. Not satisfactory at all. Half the new class is in and East Chickasaw State wouldn't take these guys.

I think your ability to identify a coach that can recruit here, not at Alabama, but here, is probably not as good good as your social skills. I think your efforts on the campus carni would be time better spent than sharing your deep thoughts about this staff's recruiting ability, at least until you have spent more than three minutes thinking about anything but star ratings.

 

[corcoran1]

Every once in a while somebody posts something that is extraordinarily well written and thought out. With your 11:04 am post you accomplished this. While several of us may have been trying to communicate what you said we didn’t hit the mark as you did. Well done!

P.S. - I was going to give you five stars but I realized that would definitely miss the mark.

+1. It really is worded well and is very efficiently said, however I do not believe the folks who believe you can't rebuild without getting guys OSU recruits will never be satisfied. That is okay, that is their right. But if I really believed that I could only be a fan of one of about 20 college teams, because they dominate the 4&5 star recruiting. Nobody else should have a chance, including Iowa and Wisconsin, but they do have a chance, so my view is so do we.

Brewster proved their strategy will not work here, so I am waiting for them to articulate their formula for success based on something that is actually possible here, not at OSU or Michigan.
I am still waiting.

 

[btowngopher]

I talked to Northern Illinois fans about Kill quite a bit and many of them seemed to be pretty underwhelmed with his recruiting too. 13, 7, and 4 are what his Northern Illinois classes ranked in consecutive years within the MAC according to rivals. BUT, he still made a bowl game every year.

 

[BisonGopher]

There seems to be a great deal of concern on this thread about Kill's ability to identify, evaluate and offer athletes capable of contributing to a B1G revival at Minnesota.

Most of it seems to be around the lack of stars accepting his offers.

We do know that Kill has evaluated his current talent and has found it lacking in several areas, notably speed and depth/experience. Further, he knows the measureables of his current team and that these players had enough horsepower to defeat two pretty good bowl teams late last year: IL, IA. So, presumably, he wants measureables better than the averages of his current squad for various positions.

In his public statements, he has said that he looks at the following factors (priority unknown):

> capable of handling U academics;
> family support;
> a strong desire to be at Minnesota;
> determined work ethic;
> solid character traits, especially loyalty to the team and team rules;
> speed consistent with playing fast;
> above average B1G athleticism (judgment call);
> size approriate for the position;
> growth and development potential;
> agility and flexibility;
> learning capacity/coachability
> passing his "eye-ball test" as a D1 player.

There are probably more others can add.

Kill has said he makes his offers based on visits with athletes, families, coaches and school administrators, camp performance and measureables, intensive review of video tape submitted and camp video tape plus the input of over 25 years in the business of evaluating athletes.

Overall, Kill's evaluation methods have resulted in winning results at every stop in his career.

Now that he's at a B1G post, will these recruiting techniques fall short and yield disappointing results? At NIU, he demonstrated that his teams were able to defeat Minnesota and Purdue plus give WI a very competitive game.

Yes, there are concerns here that he will never win big at Minnesota without the upper-tier stars.
Maybe, but his past record suggests that at least for now, he is on the right track in a multi-year rebuilding process.

> a strong desire to be at Minnesota;

Consider that any 4/5 star player who comes to Minneapolis to play will have been given other offers to play at other BCS schools. It's a given.

Makes me wonder: just how loyal to Minnesota will an 18 year old kid be when everyone around him as been telling him that he's a "superstate talent" and destined for greatness in college and then the NFL? For a lot of these kids coming to Minnesota would be seen as "settling" for a lower program.

Even worse is that a lot of these high star rated players are not from the upper midwest and have never experienced how bitter the winters are here. Again - I question their loyal to the state and team when it's -20 out, howling wind, they haven't played football in a year (redshirted) and are a 1000 miles from their family and high school friends when they could've played for a school closer to home.


On the other hand, you get these midwestern 2/3 star players who already know the culture and weather here and they're genuinely honored and awestruck to receive an offer from a Big Ten school when they were settling in to pick from a MAC of DI-AA school. You know they're going to give it their all to prove themselves.

 

[Rosemountian]

It's funny the any northern Illinois fan would be underwhelmed by a guy jumping from the bottom of the Mac in standings to the top.

Recruiting got progressively better under kill at northern Illinois and was in the top 1/3rd of the conference by the time he left. To be underwhelmed by that means you have too high of expectations.

 

[Killjoy]

Another Facor

The following is a quote from NewEngland_Gold on the factors Kill looks at in recruiting players.

In his public statements, he has said that he looks at the following factors (priority unknown):

> capable of handling U academics;
> family support;
> a strong desire to be at Minnesota;
> determined work ethic;
> solid character traits, especially loyalty to the team and team rules;
> speed consistent with playing fast;
> above average B1G athleticism (judgment call);
> size approriate for the position;
> growth and development potential;
> agility and flexibility;
> learning capacity/coachability
> passing his "eye-ball test" as a D1 player.

There are probably more others can add.

Even though this list touches on this I would also add being a team player. Coach Kill has often described football as being the ultimate team game. He talks about wanted to make sure that a player won't let his team down in the fourth quarter.

That is why he said that he is going to be watching at fall camp to see which players quit and which ones don’t. That is also why his “Loafer” t-shirts say “I let my team mates down.” Football is a tough game and the mental part is extremely important. To overcome this coach Kill is looking for team players. It is also one of the reasons why stars don't mean that much to coach Kill. Too many stars can mean big egos which can be a problem in the ultimate team game.

I wouldn’t be surprised it some recruits with big egos are turned off by coach Kill’s philosophy and don’t buy into this. They most likely decide to go elsewhere.

Hey! I just saw the sun! Time to do some lawn and yard work.

 

[Mustang Mountain Man]

Disinformation

Propagandistic disinformation takes many forms: rumors, leaked documents, press campaigns, agents of influence, radio and television campaigns. Any communication channel can be used to disseminate disinformation, including the internet. Since the purpose is to trigger a chain reaction, choice of the best media for surfacing a story of particular interest. In making this choice, Gopher Hole can be quite influential. More importantly, it offers easier surfacing of ideas and orchestrating opinion. Watch for two things on GH regarding Kill -- the tone of public discussion (WTF, delusional, etc.) and whether the message forces a target audience to change (buy more tix).

What makes the source credible and acceptable even if the source is anonymous and unreliable? Clearly, disinformation works on pre-existing stereotypes, prejudice and bias. Without a healthy degree of tolerance and skepticism, the target audience will even accept bizarre accusations (unrated players fit the system better than even modestly higher rated players and will prove that Kill knows what he is doing by winning on the field two and three years down the line).

We know that statistically, Kill does not win more than 50% of his games with lesser talent. When we rank below the mode in every category, are we to believe that 2-3 years from now that we will then see Coach Kill achieve a better than 50% lifetime average of victories against more talented opponents? That is what we are being led to believe by a small and very vocal cabal of the disinformation mill on GH.

I'm not so certain that some of the most fanatical supporters of Gopher football are not in fact media relations employees of other schools. Who else would have you believe that rating services and other coaches can't evaluate talent as well as Coach Kill. When the offer sheets are bare and the ratings low, can everybody be so wrong! Yet, the misinformants would have you believe otherwise. The diamonds in the rough theory suggests that they are common as grass and there is an zone where all other programs don't explore and evaluate. That these kids are there to be discovered uniquely by the U. Don't believe it for a nanosecond. There is no truth to the rumors that these kids are the undiscovered gems. Remember people, don't question the facts or be skeptical of the claims. Believe what you are told by the anonymous rabble. Become one with the party line.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

As I've said before - it all comes down to coaching.

Schools that get the 4* and 5* players can be successful just on sheer athletic ability - without having to be brilliant X & O coaches. (Mack Brown?)

But schools that don't get the 4* and 5* players, like Boise State, need to do a better job of coaching, and also need to recruit kids that fit specifically into their system.

The hope for Kill and his staff is that they can take lower-ranked recruits and "coach them up" to compete with other schools. As we all painfully discovered, this is something that Brewster and his revolving-door staff could not accomplish. There's not a lot of room for error - if an Ohio State or Texas misses on a recruit, they've got other recruits of that caliber to step in. The Gophs will not have that luxury - if they swing and miss on just a few recruits, the talent level on the rest of the team may not be be good enough to compensate.

Right now, without the Gophs having played a game, we have to hope and accept on faith that Kill and his staff know what they're doing, and they have a plan.

The big question for some is - will this plan work as well at a BCS school as it did at 1-AA and lower-level 1-A schools? Can Kill make the transition to the bigger stage, and bigger pressure of an AQ conference? That is the ultimate question - and no one will know the answer for at least a year or 2, or maybe 3.

 

[btowngopher]

I don't think most people are saying that Kill can recruit in the basement and win consistently...although NW has been able to do that. What people are saying is that 1 class near the bottom, which is far from being finalized, isn't going to destroy a program, as Iowa and Wisconsin have proven.

 

[Killjoy]

Mustang Mountain Man

So 3M, are you saying in your conspiracy theory that Lee Harvey Oswald didn't act alone?

 

[BisonGopher]

Propagandistic disinformation takes many forms: rumors, leaked documents, press campaigns, agents of influence, radio and television campaigns. Any communication channel can be used to disseminate disinformation, including the internet. Since the purpose is to trigger a chain reaction, choice of the best media for surfacing a story of particular interest. In making this choice, Gopher Hole can be quite influential. More importantly, it offers easier surfacing of ideas and orchestrating opinion. Watch for two things on GH regarding Kill -- the tone of public discussion (WTF, delusional, etc.) and whether the message forces a target audience to change (buy more tix).

What makes the source credible and acceptable even if the source is anonymous and unreliable? Clearly, disinformation works on pre-existing stereotypes, prejudice and bias. Without a healthy degree of tolerance and skepticism, the target audience will even accept bizarre accusations (unrated players fit the system better than even modestly higher rated players and will prove that Kill knows what he is doing by winning on the field two and three years down the line).

We know that statistically, Kill does not win more than 50% of his games with lesser talent. When we rank below the mode in every category, are we to believe that 2-3 years from now that we will then see Coach Kill achieve a better than 50% lifetime average of victories against more talented opponents? That is what we are being led to believe by a small and very vocal cabal of the disinformation mill on GH.

I'm not so certain that some of the most fanatical supporters of Gopher football are not in fact media relations employees of other schools. Who else would have you believe that rating services and other coaches can't evaluate talent as well as Coach Kill. When the offer sheets are bare and the ratings low, can everybody be so wrong! Yet, the misinformants would have you believe otherwise. The diamonds in the rough theory suggests that they are common as grass and there is an zone where all other programs don't explore and evaluate. That these kids are there to be discovered uniquely by the U. Don't believe it for a nanosecond. There is no truth to the rumors that these kids are the undiscovered gems. Remember people, don't question the facts or be skeptical of the claims. Believe what you are told by the anonymous rabble. Become one with the party line.

You're just mad that you've been paying for a rivals subscription that's now completely irrelevant.

Kill is going to offer players that he wants - not the players that you want. Kill doesn't care how many stars anyone has and that's a good thing.

I hope beyond hope that Kill wins with his 2 star plays and shoves it right in your face.

 

[4four4]

Since, Jerry Kill can't recruit why has this guy been able to win 127 times and lose 73 games and been to two bowl games? I just don't get it. This guy obviously doesn't know what he is doing because the great golden gophers should be able to sign every 4 and 5 star player known to man. Look at the last 40 years all the previous coaches seem to sign the best players but not Jerry Kill. Get real.

 

[EG#9]

So many of these posts make me sad, here's a few counterpoints:

1. Brewster didn't "prove" anything could not work at Minnesota other than hiring a head coach who had never been a coordinator before and then changing offenses 3 times in 4 years. The Gophers still went to two of those "bowl" games you seem to love even with their best player getting injured both seasons.

2. If you want to talk about something that doesn't work, look at recruiting at/near the bottom of the conference under the previous coach. He had ten years to prove such a strategy would work, and most of you witnessed it.

3. You don't need to win before you can recruit better than bottom 3 of the conference. The most highly regarded class the Gophers brought in during the Internet age was done on the heels of a one win season.

4. Boise State, TCU (never mind Army and Navy) are irrelevant examples to winning at Minnesota. This is one of the nations largest universities in a major market, their is little to nothing in common with those schools. We also play a schedule that includes 9 or more games against BCS competition. What works there will not work in the Big Ten. The argument that Wisconsin and Iowa won with inferior talent is a valid point.

5. The argument is not that "stars matter", even though plenty of research shows that they do. The concern is that the Gophers are bringing in kids who do not have offers from other BCS schools. I think it is hilarious that some people want to throw grenades at those who express concern about this fact, yet these same people want us to believe that somehow Jerry Kill knows talent better than other Big Ten coaches...why? Because they say so.

6. I don't expect Jerry Kill to land a multitude of 4 star recruits out of the gate. What I expect him to do is recruit to the same level as Tim Brewster and outcoach him on the field. That means landing the vast majority of top Minnesota kids while shutting Iowa out and continuing to limit Wisconsins impact. That means having out of state recruits with offers from other BCS programs and landing the occasional big fish.