GH:Adam Kelly Responds to Criticism, Kill Hiring and Reaching out to Temple and Leach

[station19]

My favorite question to Kelley was, and I paraphrase, "Are you friends with Leach?" Kelley - "Yes", "How long have you known him?", Kelley - "We've talked on the phone for about 3-4 weeks."

Hahahahaha. I can't believe this guy. He's friends with Leach after talking to him on the phone for 3-4 weaks? Gimmeabreak Adam!

At least he didn't say 'close personal friend'.

 

[Gopher in Dixie]

Dear Lord... Adam Kelly you are the consumate A-Hole. Please go and "support" some other school. What an idiot.

 

[maxwellsmart]

I think the first sentence "The former players deserved a say in the process" kinda says it all. I agree with 97 on this. The interview sounds like someone full of his own self importance. It is one thing to have an opinion, and I can see where Maturi needs to be accountable, but "deserve a say" is not the same thing as controlling who is hired.

Leach has a whole lot of baggage that Kelly just blows off because they are friends. Maturi has one on Kelly then because Kelly would not hire Chryst for that very reason. There is a whole lot more to the coaching search then hiring a friend and who is to say Maturi was all that unethical. Search firms do their work and agents do theirs. And maybe the school did give permission. For a school to say they did may create unrest with the team so they want to hide that.

Yeah, they deserve a say just like when a bunch of them insisted we needed Gutey to be their head coach after Holtz left. This former punter says he's only in this for the good of Gopher football. Yes and my banker exists only to provide a necessary service to his community.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

He's not even close to the only one, this happens all the time, Maturi was just sloppy about it lol.

I wonder if Kelly is the one who pushed Leach to go all public about wanting the U job, knowing that he isn't a candidate for any job, really. It really put Maturi in a bad spot, and plus, gives Leach more ammo for his lawsuit.

Yes Kelly & SGF are the ones who pushed Leach (Which also helps explain why he got no consideration) & put out the false Petersen rumors so the Kill hire would be a big let down.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Adam Kelly & SGF win the 2010 Gordy Shaw award for classlessness during a coaching change.

 

[Rosemountian]

I wonder if in 25 years Dan Orseke(spelling?) will go public in his dislike of the hiring process.

 

[centerofmn]

Adam Kelly sounds like a real winner.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Here's the thing....we all knew Maturi was an idiot, that's not news. What we found out now is the former players comprising SGF are idiots AND malcontents. To intentionally sabotage the hiring process in order to make Maturi look bad (as if he needed any help) is the opposite of being a supporter of the program. SGF emailed prospective coaches & AD's warning them not to take the job, WTF!!!??? They intentionally pushed Leach as a candidate knowing he wouldn't be hired in order to make the new hire seem underwhelming! They did that ON PURPOSE!! Then they released the false rumors about Chris Petersen to make the Kill hire seem underwhelming as well. SGF & Adam Kelly did the unthinkable.....they have me defending & sympathetic towards Joel Maturi!!!

 

[46Gophers]

Nice shank Adam!

 

[Tarver's Mustache Comb]

The president emails me regularly. Yeah, we're friends.

 

[gold82]

I do not agree with what Adam Kelly did at all. However, I wanted to provide a little insight into what I think he was trying to do, even if he may have gone about it the wrong way.

Adam was a teammate of mine during the Salem and Holtz years. He worked himself into one the best Punters in the Big Ten. He was a quirky kicker as they all are, but a decent guy overall. He may have been just a Punter, but he worked hard at it and put up with some of the most unrelenting ripping from Holtz for any tiny error. Holtz disliked kickers.

Adam also did something very commendable back in 2008. He helped spearhead a reunion of the early 80's Gopher teams to celebrate the end of the Metrordome Era. Former players from all over the country attended. It also helped one of our teammates, Rene Capo, who was dying of cancer at the time. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-07-07-2152177637_x.htm

We ended up raising several thousand dollars for him and his family.


Once again I do not agree with what Adam did specifically in this case. But Alumni and former players being involved in the search and hiring process is nothing new in College Sports, with or without the University’s permission. I remember Harvey MacKay(UofM Alumni) was essentially responsible getting Holtz in 1984. MacKay and some other M men contacted Holtz near his impending termination at Arkansas. They flew Holtz in, asked him what he needed to be the next Gopher Head Coach. They took the deal to the AD Paul Giel and got his sign off.

As far as Ex-players being involved in choosing a coach that is probably rare unless they are still involved in football as coaches at the high school level or above. Or huge boosters.

The best support ex-players and fans can offer to the programs is to offer support though attending games and offering the opportunity for current Gopher players to take part in legitimate internships and other summer jobs. This breeds loyalty and a very strong Alumni Base which breeds financial support and donations. I continue to get letters from the M club administration claiming that the U’s M club financial support for all sports is some of the poorest financial support of all Big Ten Schools. Other than that Go-Gophers!

 

[mplsbadger]

I don't like Maturi. But Kelly comes off as a hypocritical ass in this interview. Someone should remind him that he wasn't a football player either...he was a punter.

Are you sure? He seems like more of a DB.