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btowngopher

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I know a lot on here think highly of what Bert has done at Illinois, but he did inherit what turned into basically an NFL secondary and Chase Brown. Throw out the star system with those four players especially Witherspoon, unrated out of high school to fifth pick in the draft. The other 2 dbs were fringe top 1500 players to top 100 picks in the draft.
 

btowngopher said:
I know a lot on here think highly of what Bert has done at Illinois, but he did inherit what turned into basically an NFL secondary and Chase Brown. Throw out the star system with those four players especially Witherspoon, unrated out of high school to fifth pick in the draft. The other 2 dbs were fringe top 1500 players to top 100 picks in the draft.
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This is why the Bielema hype is way too much.

He is losing a ton. I want to see him without this group of players.
 
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kg21 said:
This is why the Bielema hype is way to much.

He is losing a ton. I want to see him without this group of players.
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Lost his transfer-in QB also, who was a perfect fit for his passing system.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Lost his transfer-in QB also, who was a perfect fit for his passing system.
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Yep, I want to see it without all of what he had.

His defensive line coming back is damn good though.
 

They still have that guy who punched Tanner Morgan in the side of he helmet and wasn’t ejected.
 




fmlizard said:
Who knew that between Colorado and Illinois the 2021 Gophers faced an entire future NFL DB room? 2 1sts, 1 2nd, and 2 3rd round picks.
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Costly gamble by the Gophers' coaching staff on the Bowling Green game.
 




btowngopher said:
I know a lot on here think highly of what Bert has done at Illinois, but he did inherit what turned into basically an NFL secondary and Chase Brown. Throw out the star system with those four players especially Witherspoon, unrated out of high school to fifth pick in the draft. The other 2 dbs were fringe top 1500 players to top 100 picks in the draft.
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If Illinois hadn’t been good it is quite possible they would have been not good.
 


I wonder if Illinois might be the key to the Gophers' winning the West in 2023. Illinois has always worried me, since Bielema took over. We'll see.

Purdue will likely take a step back.

Nebraska will also be adjusting to a new coach.

Wisconsin, same. New coach, new philosophy. Probably looking at a transitional phase.

Iowa lost some crucial players on defense. And I think the Gophers are due to finally beat them this year. The Ferentz era appears to be winding down, growing ever older.

Northwestern seems to have fallen into a permanent rut.

----

I do sense a lot energy, enthusiasm and excitement here in Minnesota.
 

Until I have more data I've dropped calling him "Bert" and refer to him as "Coach Bielema."

So far he has taken Illinois out of the automatic "L" column to "You'd better game plan and execute well" against the Illini.

As each season is it's own brand of Year Zero, and every game is a championship game, we'll get some more data in 2023 season to see where the trend line goes to a year from now.

Chief Illiniwek would be hooping it up for sure if still around and on the sidelines..
 
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btowngopher said:
I know a lot on here think highly of what Bert has done at Illinois, but he did inherit what turned into basically an NFL secondary and Chase Brown. Throw out the star system with those four players especially Witherspoon, unrated out of high school to fifth pick in the draft. The other 2 dbs were fringe top 1500 players to top 100 picks in the draft.
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I hate Bert and this isn't a rip on Fleck, but PJ inherited Winfield, Johnson, Coughlin, Olson, Martin, Barber, Durr, Renner, Winston, Rodney Smith.

There is a skill in putting those pieces together.
 

RememberMurray said:
I wonder if Illinois might be the key to the Gophers' winning the West in 2023. Illinois has always worried me, since Bielema took over. We'll see.

Purdue will likely take a step back.

Nebraska will also be adjusting to a new coach.

Wisconsin, same. New coach, new philosophy. Probably looking at a transitional phase.

Iowa lost some crucial players on defense. And I think the Gophers are due to finally beat them this year. The Ferentz era appears to be winding down, growing ever older.

Northwestern seems to have fallen into a permanent rut.

----

I do sense a lot energy, enthusiasm and excitement here in Minnesota.
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If only it were possible to win the West just based on record against other West teams.

Alas, we play both Ohio State and Michigan, likely two L's, no matter how well we do against West teams. And Michigan State, which as a program is similar to Wisc/Iowa level, but who knows how good they'll be next seasons.
 

Agree with those tending towards the side of that Bert has had an immediate, positive impact on Illinois and if the West were going to continue, would have been a concern for the Gophers.

Starting in 2024, however, I suspect we'll only play them every other year (for whatever "relief" that's worth).
 

RememberMurray said:
I wonder if Illinois might be the key to the Gophers' winning the West in 2023. Illinois has always worried me, since Bielema took over. We'll see.

Purdue will likely take a step back.

Nebraska will also be adjusting to a new coach.

Wisconsin, same. New coach, new philosophy. Probably looking at a transitional phase.

Iowa lost some crucial players on defense. And I think the Gophers are due to finally beat them this year. The Ferentz era appears to be winding down, growing ever older.

Northwestern seems to have fallen into a permanent rut.

----

I do sense a lot energy, enthusiasm and excitement here in Minnesota.
Click to expand...
I think the predicted demise of Purdue being decent may be too soon. They might have the best transfer QB in the West, and the skill of the coaching staff is a mystery.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I hate Bert and this isn't a rip on Fleck, but PJ inherited Winfield, Johnson, Coughlin, Olson, Martin, Barber, Durr, Renner, Winston, Rodney Smith.

There is a skill in putting those pieces together.
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Sure and there is some development with what you inherit no doubt, but these Illinois dbs were a little higher level. Only Winfield was drafted in a similar range and that was after three years. I think the case could be made that Illinois underachieved last year. They had no business losing to Indiana and Mich St.
 

btowngopher said:
I think the predicted demise of Purdue being decent may be too soon. They might have the best transfer QB in the West, and the skill of the coaching staff is a mystery.
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I don't know who predicted their demise, but I know it wasn't me.

I said they'd likely take a step back. That's not the same as predicting their demise. (Demise = dying, expiring).

I do think it's unlikely Purdue will repeat as West champs. Too much change. Plus they didn't exactly dominate the division last year.
 

Gophers_4life said:
If only it were possible to win the West just based on record against other West teams.

Alas, we play both Ohio State and Michigan, likely two L's, no matter how well we do against West teams. And Michigan State, which as a program is similar to Wisc/Iowa level, but who knows how good they'll be next seasons.
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Purdue won the West with a 6-3 conference record last season.

I don't think the 2023 West winner will need to be too much better than that.
 

RememberMurray said:
Purdue won the West with a 6-3 conference record last season.

I don't think the 2023 West winner will need to be too much better than that.
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Sounds good to me!

As has been talked about before, our schedule will actually be similar to Iowa's in 2022, and they came very close to winning the division as well.

That's kind of like how I think our season will have to go to win it. If they had beaten Neb, then like you said 6-3. I'd take that for sure
 

Gophers_4life said:
Sounds good to me!

As has been talked about before, our schedule will actually be similar to Iowa's in 2022, and they came very close to winning the division as well.

That's kind of like how I think our season will have to go to win it. If they had beaten Neb, then like you said 6-3. I'd take that for sure
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Iowa's SOS was 32 last year according to Sagarin. I bet ours will be higher.
 

RememberMurray said:
I don't know who predicted their demise, but I know it wasn't me.

I said they'd likely take a step back. That's not the same as predicting their demise. (Demise = dying, expiring).

I do think it's unlikely Purdue will repeat as West champs. Too much change. Plus they didn't exactly dominate the division last year.
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I dunno, seems to be a general feeling that Wisconsin, Illinois, and Nebraska are all ascending past them.
 


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