Judd Zulgad column wonders if Kill will be around long enough to clean up this mess

[Portlandgopher]

#1 This post is complete Hogwash. Brew inherited much more talent than he claimed. If there was so little talent, how do you explain him playing a majority of mason's players in year 3, especially on the defensive side?

Two words: Desi Steib

 

[wdgold]

Kill will be given more rope then Brewster. He isn't a snake oil salesman. He's no sure thing however and 3 one win seasons could seal his fate. We best be hitting 6 wins no later than year 4 if he wants an extension. We look a long way from competing, but then again Clemson is undefeated with several true freshman playing huge roles...

If we're beating the FCS teams by year 3 I will be thrilled!

 

[Formo]

The media market in this town is just not college sport savy. I'm not ripping on them for it, but I think since it's a pro sports town they tend to use similar standards.

For instance, I was listening to the Gopher show on KFAN on friday evening with Sludge and JG. I actually kind of like the show despite it being hosted by a Hawkeyes fan (only our market would have a fan of our rival host the show). I actually think he tries to hide his bias and I don't mind JG and I like Sludge. However, Sludge was saying he was a student at the U from 1998 - 2003 and he didn't follow the football team because there was nothing to follow.

1999 we were a top 20 team, beat the #1 team in the country. By most school's standard, that season would be a win. It would definitely be something to follow.

2002 we went 8-5
2003 we were a top 20 team in the country and won 10 games.

Those are good seasons for just about any school outside of the best of the best programs in the country. My point is that in college football, that standard, this town should have been abuzz.

Sludge, while maybe a good on-air talent for the morning show, is a hack when it comes to college football. Then you go and enlighten me that he said that? I can no longer take what that punk says seriously any longer.

He's EXACTLY the type of guy who was like the retarded Gopher 'fans' that sat next to us this past Saturday. Only showing up for a big time opponent, acting completely classless (reminded me of a bunch of drunk scUM/Iowa/Wisky/Puker fans) and leaving the game early to get more booze.

 

[John Galt]

I disagree with Zulgad's speculation, but it is interesting that the same people who are complaining about it are already speculating how many games we're going to win next year and making statements that we have an easy schedule.

For those playing this game, did anyone predict the Gophers to open the season 1-3? If so, by all means let us know how many games we can expect to win in 2012 and 2013.

 

[soneillumn]

The media market in this town is just not college sport savy. I'm not ripping on them for it, but I think since it's a pro sports town they tend to use similar standards.

For instance, I was listening to the Gopher show on KFAN on friday evening with Sludge and JG. I actually kind of like the show despite it being hosted by a Hawkeyes fan (only our market would have a fan of our rival host the show). I actually think he tries to hide his bias and I don't mind JG and I like Sludge. However, Sludge was saying he was a student at the U from 1998 - 2003 and he didn't follow the football team because there was nothing to follow.

1999 we were a top 20 team, beat the #1 team in the country. By most school's standard, that season would be a win. It would definitely be something to follow.

2002 we went 8-5
2003 we were a top 20 team in the country and won 10 games.

Those are good seasons for just about any school outside of the best of the best programs in the country. My point is that in college football, that standard, this town should have been abuzz.

That's why I have no problem with JG's involvement...he cares about college football, and despite what some of you think, I think he actually cares about Gopher football (at the very least, he cares about the paycheck). Sludge, however, is like a lot of people we know...U alum, interested in sports, that can't be bothered to care about Gopher football. That is the problem.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Kill brought in JUCOs to balance out the classes. Brewster did it simply to win.

How could you possibly know this? Brew actualy inherited fewer scholarship players so there would be MORE need to bring in JuCo players to balance out the classes.

Brew's attempts at balancing the classes failed because we lost a considerable amount of HS recruits to attrition, not because of the JuCos.

Brew and Kill both brought in JuCo players at positions of desperate need to play right away and also to balance the roster. They both wanted to improve their team immedietly while also balancing their roster.

Brew ultimately failed because he wasn't able to keep kids on the team.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

#1 This post is complete Hogwash. Brew inherited much more talent than he claimed. If there was so little talent, how do you explain him playing a majority of mason's players in year 3, especially on the defensive side?
.

Because the timing of his firing, in Brew's 3rd season, his 1st class was only in their second year.

In Kill's third season, I would expect to STILL see quite a bit of Ed Olson, Jimmy Gjere, Tom Olson, Ben Perry, Brock Vereen, Lenkiawicz, Lamonte Edwards, Kirkwood, Botticell and quite a few others.

This isn't because Brew left Kill with much to work with, it's because in college football, upper classmen have to play quite a bit.

 

[GeorgiaGopher]

For those of you getting all butt hurt over Zulgad's comments about Minnesota football get over it. He is merely stating how bad both the Gophers and Vikings are playing right now. The Gopher's have not been decent since the Mason firing and are so bad that maybe Kill is not the right coach for this situation. Then again maybe he is based on his successes at SIU and NIU. If there is no marked improvement over the next two years expect Kill to leave one way or another. Zero appreciable improvement throughout a season is not good coaching and grasping at a good play here or a good play there only aids in fooling yourself into believing it is an improvement.

I have written off this year in the hopes that playing all of these young players will result in an improved team next year. If the same stupid mistakes and level of play continues early next season then I will start to believe that Kill and his staff are not the answer and Kill is not a big time college football coach.

 

[supadupafly]

The media market in this town is just not college sport savy. I'm not ripping on them for it, but I think since it's a pro sports town they tend to use similar standards.

For instance, I was listening to the Gopher show on KFAN on friday evening with Sludge and JG. I actually kind of like the show despite it being hosted by a Hawkeyes fan (only our market would have a fan of our rival host the show). I actually think he tries to hide his bias and I don't mind JG and I like Sludge. However, Sludge was saying he was a student at the U from 1998 - 2003 and he didn't follow the football team because there was nothing to follow.

1999 we were a top 20 team, beat the #1 team in the country. By most school's standard, that season would be a win. It would definitely be something to follow.

2002 we went 8-5
2003 we were a top 20 team in the country and won 10 games.

Those are good seasons for just about any school outside of the best of the best programs in the country. My point is that in college football, that standard, this town should have been abuzz.

you just said it all. cory cove (i.e. sludge) is an idiot on a lot of topics. nothing to follow? really. i was in college around the same time as him and there were certainly some great seasons and teams to follow between 1998-2003. what a retard. get a clue sludge or just shut up and don't say anything. what a dolt.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

I disagree with Zulgad's speculation, but it is interesting that the same people who are complaining about it are already speculating how many games we're going to win next year and making statements that we have an easy schedule.

For those playing this game, did anyone predict the Gophers to open the season 1-3? If so, by all means let us know how many games we can expect to win in 2012 and 2013.

Gait-

@UNLV
New Hampshire
Western Michigan
Syracuse

That is not exacly murders row in the non-conference. I was simply encouraging a more broad, big-picture view of the program and what lies ahead. I think we can all agree that it will be better next year. It HAS to be. In addition, there are still 5 games left this year. Did anyone see the Illinois and Iowa games coming last year. My original point was that this was a stupid, lazy article from Zulgad. I normally like Judd, but this was a terrible piece.

I am frustrated. I want to see improvement. I want to see a competent performance for an entire game. I want to get a win for Royston, Tinsley and Kirksey. Those guys are playing their @sses off with nothing to show for it.

I regards to the penalties, sure we only had 5 last game, but they were particularly costly, including the first one (offsides which nullified the sack). Like I stated previoulsy, my expectations for the season have been lowered to the point where I want to see a clean game with no impactful penalties and no turnovers and see what happens. Hopefully it happens this week and we can shock the Hawkeyes who are 0-2 on the road with losses to ISU and PSU (they scored 3 points that game.) James Vandenberg has never won a road game as the Hawkeye QB. I just am looking at the glass as half full right now, which is difficult considering I was sitting in my seats at halftime wondering why I have them, why I invest the time and money and I could have been golfing on a wonderful fall afternoon.

Sorry about the rambling rant. Go Gophers.

 

[GoAUpher]

#1 This post is complete Hogwash. Brew inherited much more talent than he claimed. If there was so little talent, how do you explain him playing a majority of mason's players in year 3, especially on the defensive side?

I don't know if he inherited more talent, but he certainly inherited talent that had been better coached by the previous staff.

 

[RodentRampage]

So, now Coach Kill is "poison" to the team? Halfway through year one, and you're already calling for a new coach? Syracuse's turnaround *IS* an anomaly. It is not usual for a team to turn things around that quickly. If Kill had blown smoke at us and told us how great the talent was on this team, you would be complaining about that too. For the most part, the allegations of Kill throwing the players under the bus are a grossly exaggerated fantasy. What Kill says and what some people say Kill says seem to be two quite different things.

 

[dpodoll68]

The use of Syracuse is a terrible analogy. It is much easier to rebound when you play in a relatively terrible conference. Vanderbilt is a much better comparable, as both teams play in very strong conferences and have been at or near the bottom of their respective conferences for most of the past several decades. Vanderbilt is blossoming under a new, young coach, and they are at the point where they are winning the games they should and losing the ones they should. That was my expectation for year 1 of the Kill regime. Had we done just that, we would be 3-4 rather than 1-6 right now. I am not prone to envy, but I will admit that I am very envious of Vanderbilt's recruiting and on-field success, given that they have been even worse than us over the past few decades, play in an even tougher conference, and have a limited recruiting pool to draw from because of their rigorous academic standards.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

A little perspective is in order.

A few things I've learned along the way; (1) Things are almost never as bad as they seem; (2) Things are almost never as good as they seem. If you don't think that's the case, you don't have to look back much further than a few seasons; Last year, fans were saying the Gophers were the worst team in D-1, and they won the last two games against bowl-bound teams. Two years before, they started 7-1 before being exposed down the stretch. Bottom line; the chasm between really good and really bad just isn't nearly as wide as some seem to think.

They're playing a ton of young players right now and getting just what you would expect; young players are young and stupid and prone to mistakes, and young players are not as physically mature as their competition. It's not a lot more complicated than that.

If there were even just a LITTLE more certainty surrounding the QB position right now and going into next year (which there may well be by the end of this season), I think 4-6 wins next year is a given. Why? Second year in the system, knowing what to expect in practice and what's expected of you, and the fact that there will be letter-winners returning at virtually every single position.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Syracuse is a good look at a program that has turned things around after years in the cellar. Hired one of their own. He hired good coaches. The first year 4-8, which is much better than 1 and ????????? Then 8-4. Now they are 5-2.

It didn't take 3 or 4 years at Syracuse. It shouldn't here either. Why do we have to wait 4 years where elsewhere it has taken less. Well, it will take longer here because Jerry says it will. Well, bust my bubble! I guess in other cities where expectations are higher than the floor can and do get it done before 4 years.

2 years is a reasonable time frame. Syracuse is not an anomaly. They are the model. They didn't do it be saying the team was pathetic and slow. They didn't whine about the lack of talent. That is the speech pattern of a coach who never wanted to be here and is only going through the motions to get to success. I don't care if Jerry Kill is a different man in practice or not. I don't care if he tells the players to their face that he can coach them to success. The damage was done long ago and will not heal this year. Next year, his credibility as a sound coach will be lost to the veterans of this years campaign. He is poison to the program. For that alone, a new AD must be hired, a new coach hired, and an apology given to the team from the school administration, who let them down. Great coaches are great from the get go. It is evident in how their teams perform on the field. It does not take them 2 quarters to get going, or 3. They know how to get results within 2 series and their teams do not continuously get scored on first. I realize that has been a problem longer than this season. But, it is something that would be fixed right away. So, back to Syracuse, they went from one of the worst defenses to the 27th best in one year. ONE YEAR. Not 4 years. I want that to sink in. Digest that. Mull that over. This isn't the impossible dream.

Yep, never mind the fact that there are countless examples of where it took longer than one or two years. Because one program did it, everyone should be able to do it.

 

[JackiO]

Next years schedule is very favorable for 4-6 wins even if we are still struggling like this year. If we go 3-1 in NC, we have NW and PU at home with NW coming after the bye week. We should at worst start next season 4-3 in our first seven. At best we are bowl eligible after 7 games.

That's what gopher fans say every year.

 

[Oneoldgopher]

Yep, never mind the fact that there are countless examples of where it took longer than one or two years. Because one program did it, everyone should be able to do it.

I could reference more. On the opposite side, Bernie Bierman had his worst season in his first year taking a 6-0-2 team and going 4-0-4. But, he then went 8-0. I guess he was just getting used to the size of his shoes and not really rebuilding the program.

My point is not the probability of it happening, but the possibility. And, Syracuse is just one example. A bad example would be Greg Schiano of Rutgers. Took him 6 years to get to 11-2 and from that peak has been sliding downhill for the last 4 seasons. He has never been able to move consistently forward. His overall record is 55-55 and it doesn't look good for him in the near future.

 

[jovs]

The use of Syracuse is a terrible analogy. It is much easier to rebound when you play in a relatively terrible conference. Vanderbilt is a much better comparable, as both teams play in very strong conferences and have been at or near the bottom of their respective conferences for most of the past several decades. Vanderbilt is blossoming under a new, young coach, and they are at the point where they are winning the games they should and losing the ones they should. That was my expectation for year 1 of the Kill regime. Had we done just that, we would be 3-4 rather than 1-6 right now. I am not prone to envy, but I will admit that I am very envious of Vanderbilt's recruiting and on-field success, given that they have been even worse than us over the past few decades, play in an even tougher conference, and have a limited recruiting pool to draw from because of their rigorous academic standards.

I think you stated this very well. The other thing that is frustrating is the way the are losing. I don't expect them to win any Big Ten games this year but I in no way envisioned the complete blowouts that have been happening. How they lose in the last five games will indicate to me alot about what to expect next year.

 

[Parski1]

How does a 7 year deal look Zulgad???