I respect Maturi.

[GoBigGold]

When i send him an email he responds in a timely manner. That is the type of customer service/integrity i can support! Ski-U-Mah!

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

I agree.
Maturi takes quite a beating on this board, but I think that the University's athletic (and academic) performance has been much better with Maturi than with any other AD in the past 25 years.

I have also emailed him in the past and received very quick responses and when I've seen him at events, he always takes the time to talk to fans.

There are a list of decisions people like to be critical of. Among those is his decision to extend Monson and then let him go mid-contract. But looking back at it, this timing all led to the hiring of Tubby. If he'd have fired Monson any sooner or later, then Tubby would not be here.
Brewster was a roll of the dice. The fact is, we can't afford a Bob Stoops type. So, given the choice of offering to some "up and comer" who would use us as a stepping stone or some tried and true coach that has found themselves in a less than ideal situation (like Frank Solich), I think Maturi took a calculated risk on an unknown quantity. It is a grand experiment and I'm anxious to see how it works out. Either way, I think it was a chance worth taking.

Some day in the future, fans will look back at Maturi and recognize how great his contributions to the U were. Lets appreciate him while we have him.

 

[amateurdwarftosser]

I have been pretty happy with Maturi. He responded to my e-mail quickly and i was a little surprised to get something back from him. I do agree that he takes a beating here and he probably shouldnt.

 

[grunkiejr]

I think Maturi has done an excellent job at Minnesota. Obviously you had the problems with Mason & Monson contract extensions and that is the one black mark on his record. However, when you look at the success of the athletic dept. as a whole, Maturi has clearly done a very good job. Everybody focuses on the revenue producing sports but he is just as accountable to every other team on campus. Did you realize that every single Gopher athletics team (spring excluded because they haven't started yet) has been ranked in the top 25 during the course of this year? Last I looked the Gophers were in the top 10 for the Sears cup. To me that is a pretty impressive job by the athletic director.

The academic acheivements definitely seem to have improved and it was a nice change of pace to see the Gopher football team tied with OSU & Northwestern for the lead in Academic All Conference (or whatever the title of the award was) and only one player having academic problems this season. Gopher basketball graduated 100% of it's seniors last year and I don't know the academic credentials of this year's seniors but I would expect that trend to continue.

Maturi made a great hire in Tubby and the Brewster hire still has to play out but I'm encouraged by the early progress. At the time I wanted Lane Kiffin but considering how much of an *ss Kiffin is making of himself at Tennessee my feelings on that subject have changed. If nothing else, Brewster has shown a coach can recruit to Minnesota and even if he doesn't work out we'll have a team full of talent which means the next coach can win right away.

 

[GoBigGold]

Glad to hear others have been treated well when corresponding with Joel Maturi.

Re: the Tubby/Brewster thing.

If Maturi had gone ahead and hired a Tubby equivilent for Golden Gopher Football any guesses on who that might have been? Who was available who had an NC under his belt in football? Dennis Erickson? Barry Switzer? Jimmie Johnson?

 

[grunkiejr]

Glad to hear others have been treated well when corresponding with Joel Maturi.

Re: the Tubby/Brewster thing.

If Maturi had gone ahead and hired a Tubby equivilent for Golden Gopher Football any guesses on who that might have been? Who was available who had an NC under his belt in football? Dennis Erickson? Barry Switzer? Jimmie Johnson?

Dennis Erickson is the most likely name on that list. I couldn't see Switzer or Johnson going back to coach college football.

I think the economics for hiring Tubby were more reasonable than the economics of hiring a similar caliber of football coach. As far as revenue production potential goes I would guess that our basketball program is on par with most other programs in the country. However, our football program (even with a new stadium) is at a huge disadvantage versus the elite programs in the country. Many of the top programs bring in 100,000 fans per game and places like Ohio State do that and charge more per ticket than Minnesota does. The elite programs didn't build up to it overnight so even if we went out and were able to hire a Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, or Nick Saban we still wouldn't be matching the revenue production of USC, Florida, or Alabama in a 50,000 seat stadium.

 

[GoBigGold]

Good points, I overlooked the economic differences. it is apples and oranges.

 

[WAGopher]

If Maturi had gone ahead and hired a Tubby equivilent for Golden Gopher Football any guesses on who that might have been? Who was available who had an NC under his belt in football? Dennis Erickson? Barry Switzer? Jimmie Johnson?

Dennis Erickson was my early favorite to replace Mason. I remember others here brought up the allegations at when he was at Miami, but the guy can flat out coach and he proves it every where he goes. The only place he really didn't get going was with the 49ers, and that was an ownership issue more than anything else. I admit, my opinion is somewhat biased from living in his hometown and knowing some of the guys he played high school sports with.

While Brewster still has to prove himself, I like what he's doing for the program and how he's proceeded to rebuild not only on the field, but also the fan base. I think Maturi deserves credit for realizing the type of coach we need to move the entire program forward. Certainly others could have done it with a different style, but Brewster's work ethic and positive outlook shouldn't be overlooked as the key to him being successful at Minnesota.

 

[calminnfan]

I think Maturi has done an excellent job at Minnesota. Obviously you had the problems with Mason & Monson contract extensions and that is the one black mark on his record. However, when you look at the success of the athletic dept. as a whole, Maturi has clearly done a very good job. Everybody focuses on the revenue producing sports but he is just as accountable to every other team on campus. Did you realize that every single Gopher athletics team (spring excluded because they haven't started yet) has been ranked in the top 25 during the course of this year? Last I looked the Gophers were in the top 10 for the Sears cup. To me that is a pretty impressive job by the athletic director.

The academic acheivements definitely seem to have improved and it was a nice change of pace to see the Gopher football team tied with OSU & Northwestern for the lead in Academic All Conference (or whatever the title of the award was) and only one player having academic problems this season. Gopher basketball graduated 100% of it's seniors last year and I don't know the academic credentials of this year's seniors but I would expect that trend to continue.

Maturi made a great hire in Tubby and the Brewster hire still has to play out but I'm encouraged by the early progress. At the time I wanted Lane Kiffin but considering how much of an *ss Kiffin is making of himself at Tennessee my feelings on that subject have changed. If nothing else, Brewster has shown a coach can recruit to Minnesota and even if he doesn't work out we'll have a team full of talent which means the next coach can win right away.

Though there were certain positives that went into re-signing them I am sure, at the same time we do not know the behind closed door influences either. In Monson's case some of it may have been navigated through the trouble of his first few years. The UofM president may have encouraged it as well and maybe certain boosters. Who knows, though I am sure Maturi is was in agreement!

As for their firing, when things go south and seems no changing direction, I guess you just have to cut your losses. At the time of re-signing it seemed like the thing to do. It did not work out!