Jay Johnson

[beatles]

Every win is memorable. Point out where I said that it doesn't matter who you beat. Thanks in advance.

Very weak reply. Every win is memorable? There's a difference between beating Rutgers at home or winning at Michigan or at Nebraska or destroying a rival like we did in 2014. A big difference. Honest question, what is your favorite moment of the 2016 regular season?

 

[Johnnyboy18]

Very weak reply. Every win is memorable? There's a difference between beating Rutgers at home or winning at Michigan or at Nebraska or destroying a rival like we did in 2014. A big difference. Honest question, what is your favorite moment of the 2016 regular season?

Being up at halftime vs Wisconsin, Penn State, and Nebraska were a lot of fun!

 

[KGF]

Fundraising isn't the coach's job. He plays a role, but that's way, way down the list of his roles and responsibilities. Promoting the program isn't his job, either. His job is to win football games and run a clean program with strong academics.

Jerry Kill spent a lot of time pitching the need for facility upgrades to the fat cats. Kill had experience being the face of a football program. TC admittedly didn't even own a suit when he took the job. I don't want to get into personal insults, but he is generally an inarticulate guy. He may be a very good man, but that doesn't give him charisma. Kill had a regular folk charisma that he used to charm people and it worked for him.
TC looked more like a deer in the headlights outside of the Xs and Os.

 

[lmh839]

Very weak reply. Every win is memorable? There's a difference between beating Rutgers at home or winning at Michigan or at Nebraska or destroying a rival like we did in 2014. A big difference. Honest question, what is your favorite moment of the 2016 regular season?

I completely agree! That's why casual fans might see 2016 as more successful than 2014 based on the # of wins, but most who follow Gopher football will view the 8-win 2014 season as more successful than the 9-win 2016 season. Why? Because they had wins over Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan in 2014. They may have lost to Illinois in 2014, but they still were able to get the Jug and Floyd as well as win in Lincoln. That is what college football fans care about.

What memorable wins from 2016? The Bowl game victory was pretty impressive, but what memorable wins are from the conference schedule? Northwestern in front of 10,000 fans? Rutgers homecoming with a half-empty stadium?

 

[KGF]

I completely agree! That's why casual fans might see 2016 as more successful than 2014 based on the # of wins, but most who follow Gopher football will view the 8-win 2014 season as more successful than the 9-win 2016 season. Why? Because they had wins over Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan in 2014. They may have lost to Illinois in 2014, but they still were able to get the Jug and Floyd as well as win in Lincoln. That is what college football fans care about.

What memorable wins from 2016? The Bowl game victory was pretty impressive, but what memorable wins are from the conference schedule? Northwestern in front of 10,000 fans? Rutgers homecoming with a half-empty stadium?

And BTW, the failure to finish the 2014 season with a bowl win was on the Defense more than the Offense. Mitch and Maxx had a great game and moved the ball. The Run Defense failed miserably and cost the Gophers the game.

 

[dpodoll68]

Very weak reply. Every win is memorable?

Yes, absolutely. There are varying levels of memorability.

There's a difference between beating Rutgers at home or winning at Michigan or at Nebraska or destroying a rival like we did in 2014. A big difference.

Where did I say otherwise?

Honest question, what is your favorite moment of the 2016 regular season?

Taking a depleted roster and kicking the sh1t out of a team in the bowl game that we were supposed to lose to by double digits. You didn't find that memorable and enjoyable? Are you even a Gopher fan?

 

[dpodoll68]

TC admittedly didn't even own a suit when he took the job. I don't want to get into personal insults, but he is generally an inarticulate guy. He may be a very good man, but that doesn't give him charisma. Kill had a regular folk charisma that he used to charm people and it worked for him.
TC looked more like a deer in the headlights outside of the Xs and Os.

This is what it's really all about for you haters. He's fat and inarticulate and you don't like him. Just be honest instead of trying to pretend that the results weren't there to justify your hatred.

 

[KGF]

This is what it's really all about for you haters. He's fat and inarticulate and you don't like him. Just be honest instead of trying to pretend that the results weren't there to justify your hatred.

Andy Reid is fat too, but he's a great coach. So no, that's not it. And being inarticulate (or fat) is nothing to hate people about, but being articulate is really helpful to being the face of a program.

 

[Johnnyboy18]

Yes, absolutely. There are varying levels of memorability.



Where did I say otherwise?



Taking a depleted roster and kicking the sh1t out of a team in the bowl game that we were supposed to lose to by double digits. You didn't find that memorable and enjoyable? Are you even a Gopher fan?

He said regular season catch up dpodoll

 

[beatles]

Yes, absolutely. There are varying levels of memorability.



Where did I say otherwise?



Taking a depleted roster and kicking the sh1t out of a team in the bowl game that we were supposed to lose to by double digits. You didn't find that memorable and enjoyable? Are you even a Gopher fan?

I said regular season.

 

[dpodoll68]

I said regular season.

Right you did - my bad. Beating Maryland on the road by 3 touchdowns was my favorite moment of many.

Why did you limit it to the regular season?

 

[dpodoll68]

And being inarticulate (or fat) is nothing to hate people about

I couldn't agree more. So why do so many of you hate him for those things? And why can't you be honest about it? Do you desperately try to make it about the performance because you realize the truth is so superficial and makes you look like an awful person?

 

[Johnnyboy18]

Right you did - my bad. Beating Maryland on the road by 3 touchdowns was my favorite moment of many.

Why did you limit it to the regular season?

That was a good one! Mine was being up at halftime against Wisconsin and Penn State!

 

[KGF]

I couldn't agree more. So why do so many of you hate him for those things? And why can't you be honest about it? Do you desperately try to make it about the performance because you realize the truth is so superficial and makes you look like an awful person?

That's pretty amazing and offensive. You bring up the fact that TC is fat, as I didn't include that in any of my comments, and then attribute that comment to my beliefs. And you accuse those that didn't feel TC was a good head coach of making baseless claims?
Yes, being articulate is really, really important to being a head coach. But I don't know how wanting a head coach to be articulate and having some charisma is hating him for being fat.
I think you owe me an apology for suggesting that I'm superficial, a liar, and an awful person.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Let's see - what was this thread about - oh, year - Jay Johnson.

On the "Bad play-calling" front, here's two plays:

Matt Limegrover calls RUTM - David Cobb breaks run for 15 yards. Great play-call.
Jay Johnson calls RUTM - Rodney Smith tackled for 1-yard gain. Bad play call........EXCEPT they called the same play. What was the difference......Execution.

Any play can be a good play if the team executes. Any play can be a bad play if the team doesn't execute. when the Packers were the best team in pro FB in the 60's, everyone knew they were going to run the end sweep. And nobody could stop it consistently, because the Packers had Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston blocking for Paul Hornung. Execution.

 

[OddStack]

And BTW, the failure to finish the 2014 season with a bowl win was on the Defense more than the Offense. Mitch and Maxx had a great game and moved the ball. The Run Defense failed miserably and cost the Gophers the game.

I'd put that game more on the special teams than the D!!!!

 

[short ornery norwegian]

As far as the side argument, I can see both sides.

By historical Gopher Standards, 9 wins is a good season.
But, there were disappointing moments (IA, WI, etc.)

Still - the fact that we are talking about a 9-win season having disappointing moments does show the improvement the program has made. A few years ago, the Gophers were struggling to win 6 games, and fans were struggling to find any highlights.

On the attendance issue - being bluntly honest, the only times the Gophs come close to a home sellout is when they're playing IA, WI or NEB, and the visiting fans are taking up a significant % of the seats. The Gophers' hard-core fan base is about 25,000 to 30,000 fans, plus the students. Anything more than that is made up of visiting fans and band-wagon jumpers. It's been that way for decades under multiple coaches - so blaming the coach is missing the point.

Now, the eternal question rises again - can this program/will this program take the "next step" and seriously challenge for a Division title or a Conference title?

Arguing about what Claeys might have done this year is pointless. he's gone. Speculating about what Fleck might do this year is also pointless - we don't know what Fleck will do, and we won't know for months.

 

[MNgradinWI]

He predicted 8 to 10 wins. Remind me how many we won again?

"Struggling" through wins is another stupid agenda-pushing nonsense topic. You don't get 1.5 wins for winning by 40 and 0.5 wins for winning by 1. You get one win either way. Does wisconsin have to apologize because they should've lost to Georgia St. on their home field?

It does matter in the national polls. 11 teams with 4 losses and 4 with 5 losses finished higher than us in the final AP poll despite 4 B1G teams in the top ten. Why? I can tell you, no OSU or Michigan and barely beating crappy teams.

 

[beatles]

It does matter in the national polls. 11 teams with 4 losses and 4 with 5 losses finished higher than us in the final AP poll despite 4 B1G teams in the top ten. Why? I can tell you, no OSU or Michigan and barely beating crappy teams.

These are great points. There's a reason we didn't finish ranked and it's because we had zero impressive wins until the bowl game.

 

[GopherHomer]

At the University of Minnesota there is never a reason to apologize for a 9 win season. That being said, I believe the coaching change was made for the future. This can obviously never be proven, but I think the next 4 years with Fleck will be substantially more successful than the next 4 years with Claeys would have been. I have probably already been labeled as Fleck-ite but I was also a Kill/Claeys fanatic and probably could be quoted at some point raging against the negatives saying that Kill/Claeys were a godsend. With the Big Ten continuing to improve in overall talent, I honestly believe that the Claeys regime would have steadily declined and would have been left in the dust. We sold high as a program. I may be a Fleck supporter (because I am a University of Minnesota supporter) but that is not a guarantee that this will work. We will see, but even if Fleck only wins 7-8 games/year over the next 4 years I think that is a significant upgrade over what Claeys would have done. Anything else is gravy.

Basically - I support the change, but maintain my view that any season that results in 8 wins is a season worth celebrating. Something, something Jay Johnson...

 

[KGF]

Let's see - what was this thread about - oh, year - Jay Johnson.

On the "Bad play-calling" front, here's two plays:

Matt Limegrover calls RUTM - David Cobb breaks run for 15 yards. Great play-call.
Jay Johnson calls RUTM - Rodney Smith tackled for 1-yard gain. Bad play call........EXCEPT they called the same play. What was the difference......Execution.

Any play can be a good play if the team executes. Any play can be a bad play if the team doesn't execute. when the Packers were the best team in pro FB in the 60's, everyone knew they were going to run the end sweep. And nobody could stop it consistently, because the Packers had Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston blocking for Paul Hornung. Execution.

Are you saying that execution is the only thing, b/c that's just not true. There's talent, scheme vs scheme matchups, the breadth and depth of an Offense, in-game adjustments in response to the Defense's apparent game plan, when and what plays a coach decides to use in response to down & distance and field position, etc. It all matters.
That said, I think most of the complaints have been about production rather than just play calling.

 

[GFBfan]

At the University of Minnesota there is never a reason to apologize for a 9 win season. That being said, I believe the coaching change was made for the future.

Fully agree with this statement

This can obviously never be proven, but I think the next 4 years with Fleck will be substantially more successful than the next 4 years with Claeys would have been.

You're right this can never be proven one way or the other. My belief is that TC learned a hell of a lot as a first year head coach, he was very smart, the players played hard for him all year, he got them to believe in themselves for that impressive bowl game victory. Because of all that, I believe he would have been a successful head coach here at the U. He wasn't a salesman for the program and he showed a calm presence on the sideline. Both of which he was ridiculed for. I believe he would have become a better salesman for the program as he became more comfortable with the HC role. I also thought his sideline demeanor was a positive for his players. He remained calm and didn't go off on people on the sideline.

Fleck is the polar opposite. We will see over the next few years if his style will work. I certainly hope so and will support the program. Just like I supported Claeys and Kill before him.

Don't believe Claeys deserves all the scorn from some posters. He did a nice job stepping into a no win situation and left the program in great shape for Fleck.

Jay Johnson did some good and not so good things as our OC. Hope he is able to land somewhere.

 

[Hates Monikers]

No, fans should accept losing every rivalry game and blowing leads at halftime. They should accept losing to teams that were playing terrible in Nebraska and Penn State. This was the best Gopher season in over 50 years and anyone else that says otherwise is an idiot! I mean why would anyone want a better win than Northwestern during the regular season? Fire Coyle now what an idiot no way he could ever get a big name coach to come here. All the players will transfer and the recruiting class will be 7 players. Set the program back 50+ years by firing the greatest coach of all time Claeys!

What on earth are you talking about? You have the ability to sound reasonable, but you are spiraling into insanity. Nobody is saying any of this.

In my opinion, 8-4 was disappointing; definitely a missed opportunity. Before the season, I suggested that Claeys could be fired with seven wins and I was ridiculed. He was fired with nine. Nobody is suggesting that we're firing Nick Saban, or that this was the best season in our history ... or even the past three years.

However, we are now at a point where nine wins by a first-year coach can be considered a disappointment. That is significant. The Flecksters are already giving all kinds of excuses for why Fleck won't win nine games in his first season without giving Claeys the least amount of credit for winning nine games in his first.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

However, we are now at a point where nine wins by a first-year coach can be considered a disappointment. That is significant. The Flecksters are already giving all kinds of excuses for why Fleck won't win nine games in his first season without giving Claeys the least amount of credit for winning nine games in his first.

Different teams + different schedules + 100% of the coaching staff in their 1st year at MN vs the majority of the coaching staff in their 6th year at MN including the head coach = different first year expectations. It's pretty simple.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Different teams + different schedules + 100% of the coaching staff in their 1st year at MN vs the majority of the coaching staff in their 6th year at MN including the head coach = different first year expectations. It's pretty simple.

Boooo at these crazy thoughts!

BOOOOOOO!

 

[die hard gopher]

However, we are now at a point where nine wins by a first-year coach can be considered a disappointment.

No we aren't.

 

[Hates Monikers]

Different teams + different schedules + 100% of the coaching staff in their 1st year at MN vs the majority of the coaching staff in their 6th year at MN including the head coach = different first year expectations. It's pretty simple.

See what I mean?

 

[Johnnyboy18]

See what I mean?

Not at all actually

 

[Calm Down]

Different teams + different schedules + 100% of the coaching staff in their 1st year at MN vs the majority of the coaching staff in their 6th year at MN including the head coach = different first year expectations. It's pretty simple.

Stop, just stop. Admit you are holding Fleck to a lower standard and move on with it. We had an entirely new offense staff and a DC who was in his first year of ever being a DC. Also, no, the schedules really are not that different, we swap Michigan and Michigan State for Penn State and Rutgers. This maybe slightly more difficult than last year but not by much. This is what really upsets me about this GopherHole. You hold a first year head coach who won nine games to a ridiculously high standard, replace him and say: "Hey if he wins six games that's fine" Somehow people see this as raising expectations for the program?

 

[dpodoll68]

the majority of the coaching staff in their 6th year at MN including the head coach

Claeys - 1st year as head coach, 6th year overall
Johnson - 1st year as offensive coordinator, 1st year overall
Miller - 1st year as OL coach, 1st year overall
Poore - 3rd year as RB coach, 6th year overall
Anderson - 3rd year as RB coach, 6th year overall
Reeves - 6th year as TE/H-Back coach, 6th year overall
Sawvel - 1st year as DC, 6th year overall
Phelps - 6th year as DL coach, 6th year overall
Sherels - 3rd year as LB coach, 3rd year overall
O'Brien - 1st year as SC/asst DB coach, 1st year overall

So of the 10 coaches, you have 2 (20%) in their 6th year in their role, and 5 (50%) in their 1st year in their role. There were 3 (30%) in their 3rd year in their role. These are the facts, regardless of your spin. You don't get to judge a 1st-year coach by 6th-year coach standards. That's not the way the world works in football or in anything else in life. Stop it.