Kill was the best amongst those truly interested

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Kill- solid hire

I think Kill is a solid hire. I think Maturi made a huge mistake by not managing expectations. He was promising a Tubby Smith hire and that turned out to simply be unrealistic. The landscape of college coaching has changed. You really don't see a lot of coaches jumping from job to job anymore. I think the buy out clauses have really had an effect on that. A lot of AD's are having trouble even balancing their budgets...let alone shelling out huge money just to hire an experienced head coach. Also, all of these coaches have agents who are just trying to jack up the salary of the experienced ones. It was hard to tell who was truly interested in an open job and who is just having their agent drive up salaries. We won't know truth from rumor in this coaching search. It seems that almost all of the rumors were entirely false. Who knows how many rumors were placed out there by agents? The bottom line is that Kill has experience building up programs. He has a system in place. People say that Kill has not run a big time program. However, there are tons of really good coaches that came out of smaller schools. Ohio State seems to like their guy. I think there is reason for optimism here. We have an experienced head coach and the cupboard is not bare. Hell, we just beat Iowa and we are on a 2 game winning streak!
 

In my view,

Wheaton said:
I just don't understand overpaying for a guy like Mullen. He is a mediocre SEC coach. Now I understand the SEC is a lot better than the MAC, but you would be shelling out more than most schools in America for a TWO YEAR HEAD COACH!

I don't like that idea at all. If he came at the right price, heck I'd even say 2 million a year that is ok, but not what he wanted.
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we will never know who was really interested and who was not. Most of the announcements of the coaches you list read like they were told that the U was not going forward with their candidacy and so they did the face saving "I am not interested" thing. Some of the more clever ones probably parlayed it into a raise. I would bet if we could get them alone, they would tell us that had the offer been made, they would have been here. No way Kill was the best or only choice.

Also, Mullen is the real deal. MSU is the Siberia of the SEC. To take that program and have a winning record in two years is beyond unbelievable. I am not sure he would come here if he sensed other openings at more attractive programs, but do not doubt that he would have been worth the money if somehow we could have persuaded him to take it.
 

glovedgopher said:
I large number of people on this board believe that the Twin Cities is such a great place to live that these advantages shouldn't mean a thing. I try to point out that winning sometimes trumps weekends up at the cabin but get blank stares back. How many coaches have been fired from here and never coached again?
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Nine of the last Ten have never been HC's again, although Gutekunst is currently an assistant at Columbia. This includes all coaches since 1932. Holtz was only exception. That's 78 years, folks.
 

Maybe Maturi didn't misspeak at all.

Tubby Smith and Jerry Kill share many of the same characteristics as coaches.:cool:
 

Regarding Mullen, I recall an incorrect ESPN report that he was the guy the night before we hired Brew. If we were going to get a guy like him, that's probably when we needed to do it. We needed to be his Miss. St. Anyway, that is water under the bridge. Hopefully Coach Kill is our Coach Tiller or our Football version of Tulsa Tubby Smith.
 


Minnesota just not that good of a coaching place

I think Kill is going to be a good coach for the Gophers. I think Mason was great for getting us at least being respected in the Big10. The problem with Mason is he thought us being in the middle of the pack was ok. The expectations of this program should be higher.

We are now back to square one. We have a great facility and a great area to recruit, but a Tubby Smith type of coach would not come to the Twin Cities at least now:

We are in a brutal division to make the championship game. I know we all thought it was a home run to be in this division and Wisconsin got screwed over. I still think we have one of the toughest divisions of all FBS football to get to a conference championship game. Knowing this, if you are a good coach - this is a HUGE task for a coach taking over a good program to succeed. Add to that a program that is at the bottom or near bottom of the conference, this looks like suicide if you are a quality up and coming coach or great coach that will tarnish your legacy.

We are not the biggest show in the area. I'm not saying the Vikings handicap the Gophers for getting fans. I think a coach who wants to take over the program wants to be THE GUY in the area. We are talking about sponsorships, media recognition, etc. Yes, we had Lou, but since then the media is so focused on Vikings/Twins that college sports get the attention on Saturday or regelated to the bottom of Page 1. That's the environment. I think college coaches can make a ton of money by being the guy, that even with the pay at a competitive level, they are not going to get the money from outside the university that another large football school could get. Miami is similar to us, but the south is more about college football than the NFL.

The administration. Enough has been said, but again, Maturi is on thin ice, the U president is leaving...who knows.

Finally, the effects of Haskins. I think the oversight that is still in place from this scandal scares away coaches who may want to win, but do not want to have the administration looking over everything they do. Going back to the ego portion, I am sure most coaches skirt the rules somewhat according to the NCAA rulebook. Here, we have to follow the letter of the law. With the size of the roster - it makes a slip up easy to happen.

So in the end, I think we got who we could get. Am I happy we have to settle for Coach Kill? No. I hate that we are in this position while Wisconsin and Iowa continue to have success year after year. I think we need to have a coach who will instill a system that we can follow every year and find the recruits who fit our system. I hope Coach Kill is that person. I have a feeling he will give us his 100% like us Gopherholers do to this team year after year.
 

Wheaton said:
I believe the fans have the right to be upset with how Maturi conducted the search by getting everyone's hopes up for a big name.

However, take that out on Maturi. Kill is our guy and a good coach.

I forgot to mention one guy
17.) Kevin Sumlin - According to Doogie did not have enough interest in Minnesota. Probably wont be going anywhere this year anyway as he clearly didn't have any interest in Colorado.
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How did Maturi get our hopes up for a big name? He said from the start that the goal was to get a "tubby like hire". Its was a goal not a promise. Maturi and the University promised we would get the best fit in the end. The end was Kill.
 

All we know is that a Joel Maturi lead search offering a 1 million dolllar salary lead to Jerry Kill. We certainly know he wasn't the best of those interested (Leach) and we certainly know that a search run by an A.D. other than Simple Joel would have ended with a better result.
 

axe2grind said:
I think Kill is going to be a good coach for the Gophers. I think Mason was great for getting us at least being respected in the Big10. The problem with Mason is he thought us being in the middle of the pack was ok. The expectations of this program should be higher.

We are now back to square one. We have a great facility and a great area to recruit, but a Tubby Smith type of coach would not come to the Twin Cities at least now:

We are in a brutal division to make the championship game. I know we all thought it was a home run to be in this division and Wisconsin got screwed over. I still think we have one of the toughest divisions of all FBS football to get to a conference championship game. Knowing this, if you are a good coach - this is a HUGE task for a coach taking over a good program to succeed. Add to that a program that is at the bottom or near bottom of the conference, this looks like suicide if you are a quality up and coming coach or great coach that will tarnish your legacy.

We are not the biggest show in the area. I'm not saying the Vikings handicap the Gophers for getting fans. I think a coach who wants to take over the program wants to be THE GUY in the area. We are talking about sponsorships, media recognition, etc. Yes, we had Lou, but since then the media is so focused on Vikings/Twins that college sports get the attention on Saturday or regelated to the bottom of Page 1. That's the environment. I think college coaches can make a ton of money by being the guy, that even with the pay at a competitive level, they are not going to get the money from outside the university that another large football school could get. Miami is similar to us, but the south is more about college football than the NFL.

The administration. Enough has been said, but again, Maturi is on thin ice, the U president is leaving...who knows.

Finally, the effects of Haskins. I think the oversight that is still in place from this scandal scares away coaches who may want to win, but do not want to have the administration looking over everything they do. Going back to the ego portion, I am sure most coaches skirt the rules somewhat according to the NCAA rulebook. Here, we have to follow the letter of the law. With the size of the roster - it makes a slip up easy to happen.

So in the end, I think we got who we could get. Am I happy we have to settle for Coach Kill? No. I hate that we are in this position while Wisconsin and Iowa continue to have success year after year. I think we need to have a coach who will instill a system that we can follow every year and find the recruits who fit our system. I hope Coach Kill is that person. I have a feeling he will give us his 100% like us Gopherholers do to this team year after year.
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You should post more:clap:
 



Nice Thread!

Agree that Jerry Kill was likely the best of those coaches truely interested in the Gophers head coaching job. When I was at TCF earlier this year for the Northern Illinois game, I was very impressed with how Kill and his team basically "beat the sh#t" out of a Brewster coached Minnesota team with his version of organization, coaching, basic fundamentals, positioning, strategy, field position, special teams, etc., etc., etc.

This may turn out to be a "brilliant" sneaky type of hire by Maturi within a couple of years? If Kill and his staff (following him to Minnesota) have the Gophers in a New Years Day type of Bowl by the end of next fall, then what will everyone think? What happens if he brings a Big Ten Football Championship to the lowly football U of M? All of the Gopherhole naysayers regarding Coach Kill will be patting themselves on the back trying to convince their friends and other fans how much they agreed with the hire when it was announced he was getting the job!

Too bad there was no one from Gopherhole at the airport to meet Coach Kill's plane and entrance into the Twin Cities? I would have thought the "football geniuses" on this board would have had that scenario covered.
 

Wheaton said:
Its simple, you don't win you lose your job. Any idea how hard it is to get another shot at a HC job once you've been fired?

Edsall for instance, can stay in the Big East, beat no teams in the top 25 and make it to a BCS bowl game.

He comes to Minnesota he has to beat Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and now Nebraska to try and simply become bowl eligable. Kill is a brave man if you ask me.
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When you really stand back and look at what's going on in coach hiring these days (many excellent points in posts above), and you consider how the Big 10 is going from tough to tougher with Nebraska added, there's no doubt:
Kill is a brave man!
And I'm glad he is!
 

Minnesota not that bad...

GopherFB said:
Why?

#1- You are a gutter program in the Big Ten. If you want to see major bowl games you have to go through, Wisconsin, Ohio St., Michigan,Iowa, Michigan St. and Penn St. Now you also have to deal with Nebraska. It's really hard to post a 0-2 loss season in the Big Ten.

#2- The program has been garbage most of it's recent history. There is almost no tradition here.

#3- AD isn't committed to paying the big bucks.

#4- Why go to a basement dwelling program and have to fight your way through 4-5 tough teams when you can stay in a BCS conference that really shouldn't be one and get an easy road to a BCS game?
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Mason made seven bowls in ten years and had eight All-Americans, including big deal trophy winners (Outland, Thorpe, etc.); even Brewster went to two bowls. Many pro players are recently from Minnesota and the Gophers had running backs with over 1,000 yards apiece in multiple seasons. The present team has some top talent - they just need a coach, as was evident in winning the last two against bowl teams.
 

I like that Kill is meeting with the current staff and open to keeping a few guys. I'd like to see the following position coaches get a good look: OL, TE, RBs and I'm undecided about strength and conditioning guys. Hope the LB coach is not considered after I heard he went out and got hammered in a Dinky bar after the Iowa game. That level of maturity is not helpful.
 



MNRideorDieChick said:
I like that Kill is meeting with the current staff and open to keeping a few guys. I'd like to see the following position coaches get a good look: OL, TE, RBs and I'm undecided about strength and conditioning guys. Hope the LB coach is not considered after I heard he went out and got hammered in a Dinky bar after the Iowa game. That level of maturity is not helpful.
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Damn, what bar was that? Coaches always say that they will meet with the current staff but rarely keep any of them. Right Gordy?
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Mason made seven bowls in ten years and had eight All-Americans, including big deal trophy winners (Outland, Thorpe, etc.); even Brewster went to two bowls. Many pro players are recently from Minnesota and the Gophers had running backs with over 1,000 yards apiece in multiple seasons. The present team has some top talent - they just need a coach, as was evident in winning the last two against bowl teams.
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Something to think about. Mason and Brew went to as many bowls as Indiana has in their entire history. We are not the doormat of the Big 10.
 

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