John Feinstein: Teague might have most difficult job in college athletics right now

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BleedGopher

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per Feinstein of the Washington Post:

Teague might have the most difficult job in college athletics right now. He has been at Minnesota only since June 2012. He has a football coach who he believes is doing the right things to try to rebuild a program but may not be healthy enough to finish the job. Now he may face a decision that is far more complicated than deciding a coach’s fate based on wins and losses.

If Kill had no health problems, his future at Minnesota probably would not be in doubt — at least not this season. The Gophers won three more games last season, Kill’s second, than in his first. But they have won a total of four Big Ten games since his arrival, and after Saturday’s 42-13 loss to Michigan, they are 13-18 overall under Kill. If they were to finish the season with a losing record — which looks entirely possible at the moment — there might be some pressure on Teague to make a change.

Clearly, Teague isn’t thinking that way. “I think he’s an amazing coach,” he said. “He knows what has to be done for us to have success. Most of his staff has been with him forever, and when these health issues happen they’re almost seamless in the way they deal with it. His players love him. We all want him to coach here for a long time.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...2f96c8-2d32-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Tony Dungy. with or without his white horse is about to come riding in for the 2nd greatest turnaround in college football history...which began in 1993.
 

wait!what? said:
Tony Dungy. with or without his white horse is about to come riding in for the 2nd greatest turnaround in college football history...which began in 1993.
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Nope, now they've got him going to USC..
 

The full story is worth a read. Nothing ground breaking but interesting to see outside takes on the situation as I think people in here tend to get blinded by their loyalty to coach Kill and can't see the whole picture.
 

What's so difficult about it? All he has to do is to make decisions based on the results. Teague isn't under heavy pressure from fans to make a change.

The article attempts to whitewash Souhan's article by claiming "Souhan was buried in negative e-mails and tweets after the column, many from people involved in epilepsy-awareness programs. While his pointed language may have been insensitive, the points he raised about whether Kill could continue to do the job were legitimate ones — points that will be raised anew this week." Whether Kill could be an effective coach was only part of Souhan's article, and not the part that got him in the most trouble. The other parts was Souhan "expert medical diagnosis" and his claim "No one who buys a ticket to TCF Bank Stadium should be rewarded with the sight of a middle-aged man writhing on the ground."

The first comment to the story is "As a Big10 fan I have been following this story and as someone who has witnessed people suffering from a seizure, I can’t help but doubt the wisdom of his continuing in this capacity. These episodes are very disturbing to watch and drains the emotions. Not the type of thing that helps your players to perform in practice or in the game. He is well liked and successful, but it isn’t helpful for the students he coaches for him to continue."

So what if you're disturbed. Grow up. Why should we simply assume that players will be harmed by seeing someone with a seizure? The article seems to take it for granted that the Gophers will have a losing season, but the season is still young.
 



FireDaveLee said:
Just to show Dungy that he's serious, Pat Haden is going to offer a 10-year contract worth $20.1 million....
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If I were Dungy, I'd laugh at that when you look at what some coaches are making. (Ferentz almost 3.9 million; Les Miles 3.75 million, Bert in Arkansas 2.95 million)
 

Norwood Teague is, or perhaps very soon will be, in a very tight spot, as Feinstein has accurately pointed out.

Teague already showed some cojones when he fired nationally respected Tubby Smith, a decision that by and large was panned nationally, if not locally. What's going on with Kill right now, multiply that by at least 2 for Teague, especially if the Gophers finish with no more than a couple Big Ten wins this season and continue to be uncompetitive (so far 2 double-digit losses) in conference games. I'd venture to say Teague is pretty much approaching "no win" territory, no matter how he (and the U) end up handling the current predicament.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Norwood Teague is, or perhaps very soon will be, in a very tight spot, as Feinstein has accurately pointed out.

Teague already showed some cojones when he fired nationally respected Tubby Smith, a decision that by and large was panned nationally, if not locally. What's going on with Kill right now, multiply that by at least 2 for Teague, especially if the Gophers finish with no more than a couple Big Ten wins this season and continue to be uncompetitive (so far 2 double-digit losses) in conference games. I'd venture to say Teague is pretty much approaching "no win" territory, no matter how he (and the U) end up handling the current predicament.
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I think you nailed it SS. Even if Kill voluntarily steps down people will say he was pushed out.
 



SelectionSunday said:
Norwood Teague is, or perhaps very soon will be, in a very tight spot, as Feinstein has accurately pointed out.

Teague already showed some cojones when he fired nationally respected Tubby Smith, a decision that by and large was panned nationally, if not locally. What's going on with Kill right now, multiply that by at least 2 for Teague, especially if the Gophers finish with no more than a couple Big Ten wins this season and continue to be uncompetitive (so far 2 double-digit losses) in conference games. I'd venture to say Teague is pretty much approaching "no win" territory, no matter how he (and the U) end up handling the current predicament.
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I think most fans that follow the program would have thought that was pretty close to best case scenario coming into the season (maybe a 3rd win in there). All one had to do was look at our Jr. and Sr. classes to conclude this.
 

mnsports1 said:
I think most fans that follow the program would have thought that was pretty close to best case scenario coming into the season (maybe a 3rd win in there).
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Fair point. I was on record before the season that 7-5, 3-5 would have to be considered a successful season.
 

Teague is really in a no-win situation. If Kill doesn't want to leave voluntarily, and Teague wants to make a change, he'll be accused of "forcing Kill out' because of his health.

About the only way Teague can fire Kill without a huge backlash is if the team just goes completely in the tank - 4-8 this season, and 3-9 next season, or something like that. (NOTE - I am NOT predicting that is what the record will be - just speculating about how bad it would have to get to provide Teague with cover in case he wants to change coaches.)
 

OddStack said:
If I were Dungy, I'd laugh at that when you look at what some coaches are making. (Ferentz almost 3.9 million; Les Miles 3.75 million, Bert in Arkansas 2.95 million)
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fire dave lee was being sarcastic as the 10 year $20 million dollar deal is reportedly what our own joel maturi came after dungy with.
 



Go4 said:
fire dave lee was being sarcastic as the 10 year $20 million dollar deal is reportedly what our own joel maturi came after dungy with.
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Reel me in! I was unaware of that. I never followed the Dungy talk because I never gave it any credibility. I think when he retired from coaching it was forever.
 


Kill at worst *SHOULD* get 4 years...

What coach would want to come here knowing you won't get a full 5? I understand we live in the internet fake outrage generation that pressures people into reactionary actions but this is still a legitimate concern for job security...
 

thailleagle said:
Kill at worst *SHOULD* get 4 years...

What coach would want to come here knowing you won't get a full 5? I understand we live in the internet fake outrage generation that pressures people into reactionary actions but this is still a legitimate concern for job security...
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Kill definitely should and will get to go beyond this season.
 

The situation (while on the surface certainly less directly life-threatening) is reminding me a bit of Terry Hoeppner at Indiana. Hoeppner was also a good coach who some thought had the Hoosiers moving up. Then he has a resurfacing of his brain cancer and he's dead in less than a year. I want to stress that I don't think Kill's issues are as serious as Hoeppner's, but it certainly doesn't help us with the casual fan.

RodentRampage, Teague isn't under pressure from the fan base because our fan base isn't as rabid as other programs'.

I agree with MNVCGUY and Selection Sunday on their points.

For the record, I have no problem with Kill continuing if he can do his job. I think he's a really good coach.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Teague is really in a no-win situation. If Kill doesn't want to leave voluntarily, and Teague wants to make a change, he'll be accused of "forcing Kill out' because of his health.

About the only way Teague can fire Kill without a huge backlash is if the team just goes completely in the tank - 4-8 this season, and 3-9 next season, or something like that. (NOTE - I am NOT predicting that is what the record will be - just speculating about how bad it would have to get to provide Teague with cover in case he wants to change coaches.)
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I think if we end 4-8 Kill either steps down or is fired.
 

Like with Tubby, Teague will look at the full body of work after the completion of year 4.

Let's face it, Minnesota is a tough place to win and not many top tier coaches would want this job right now.

Hope and pray that Coach Kill's health is under control, and a huge turn around does occur. This is the best chance we have in a long time to fill up the cupboard and have stabillity, and no matter who will be the coach after year four we will be left in a better situation than where Brewster left it.
 

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