Kill's talent evaluation.

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balds

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I'm sold on Kill's ability to evaluate talent. When Kill talks about a player, said player almost always proves him right. Way before they regularly saw the field, I recall Kill singing the praises of Murray, Wells, Lauer, Cobb (sans pass protection), Bush, Maxx, Christianson, Cockran, etc.

What has me amped is the the fact that for the most part we are a young team, and we have a lot of bullets left in the chamber in guys that Kill has raved about. Laster, Dixon, Carter, Edwards, Owen S, Hinjosa, D. Travis, all the young OL (recruits too). Also, our oldest QB is a Sophomore.

The future is bright and the foundation is solid.
 

Kill and company have done more with 2 and 3 star players than their predecessors, that is for sure.
 

It helps when your QB has played almost flawlessly for a month!

Makes a coach look pretty dang good!
 


Studwell55 said:
It helps when your QB has played almost flawlessly for a month!

Makes a coach look pretty dang good!
Click to expand...

So, studmeister...does a coach make a player look good, or does a player make a coach look good?
 


It's all rolling right now. Players are performing, coaches are making good calls and have the kids engaged and believing, Injuries are down (as Kill said they would be under Klein). When Claeys told the team that they didn't know how good they were he was dead on (for both players and fans (0-8)?)
 

How many truly bad passes has Phil thrown in the past month? I can almost count them on one hand.

Limegrower looks like a genius when Phil's unconscious.

Props to the coaches for putting Phil in a position to compete.
 

Studwell55 said:
How many truly bad passes has Phil thrown in the past month? I can almost count them on one hand.

Limegrower looks like a genius when Phil's unconscious.

Props to the coaches for putting Phil in a position to succeed.
Click to expand...

FIFY, studmeister.
 

Studwell is right, Nelson deserves a lot of credit. He has been lights out. 7 TD, 3 rushing TD (I think) and 0 INT in the last 4 games. Looks in control and confident.
 



Studwell55 said:
It helps when your QB has played almost flawlessly for a month!

Makes a coach look pretty dang good!
Click to expand...

Ya, this 4 game streak has pretty much been all Nelson. He's carried us, hasn't been a team effort at all. I'm studwell55, I can't give much credit to Kill and his staff. Especially when Nelson was the first recruit he called when he got hired. The way Nelson has blocked for Cobb, played defense, and told Cobb where to run and when to cut. Why come on to a thread like this and basically piss on the subject with a comment like that? Nelson has been awesome, but the reason MN is where it is is because of Jerry Kill and his staff. Give him some credit!
 

I think the players are a huge part - but I think the mentality change is just as big and that is 100% on the coaches. In years past, the fumble yesterday would have started a snowball of lost confidence and would have led to a loss. Same goes for the penalty on the punter. Instead, this team keeps level headed and just continues to play within themselves. Another great example of this is USC - terrible under Kiffen and now they are starting to roll. At the end of the day, I will take a coaching staff that can develop players and game plan over the guy that can recruit any day of the week. I don't think I have ever posted on recruit star rankings because I think it is all about development - both physically and mentally. I don't think anyone can really project that on an 18 year old kid outside of a handful of 'can't miss' guys each year.
 

csom_1991 said:
I think the players are a huge part - but I think the mentality change is just as big and that is 100% on the coaches. In years past, the fumble yesterday would have started a snowball of lost confidence and would have led to a loss. Same goes for the penalty on the punter. Instead, this team keeps level headed and just continues to play within themselves. Another great example of this is USC - terrible under Kiffen and now they are starting to roll. At the end of the day, I will take a coaching staff that can develop players and game plan over the guy that can recruit any day of the week. I don't think I have ever posted on recruit star rankings because I think it is all about development - both physically and mentally. I don't think anyone can really project that on an 18 year old kid outside of a handful of 'can't miss' guys each year.
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This!
 

"I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones" -Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks (no idea if that one is an actual Brooksism or not)
 



balds said:
Studwell is right, Nelson deserves a lot of credit. He has been lights out. 7 TD, 3 rushing TD (I think) and 0 INT in the last 4 games. Looks in control and confident.
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Totally right, and when The Great Studwell was bitching about the offense, the offensive line was crap, receivers weren't much better, and Phil wasn't exactly lights out. This coaching staff got the players to believe in themselves, and then they've shown their trust in those players.
 

Mulligan said:
Totally right, and when The Great Studwell was bitching about the offense, the offensive line was crap, receivers weren't much better, and Phil wasn't exactly lights out. This coaching staff got the players to believe in themselves, and then they've shown their trust in those players.
Click to expand...

There is no bitching allowed on GopherHole.
 

Lets give credit where it's due... That defense is pretty dang good! The offensive line is solid as well as is Phil and the running backs. We are 1 playmaker short at receiver and we could special. Get that playmaker! I believe we are recruiting a 4 star wr from Louisiana, lets hope we get him!
 

Mulligan said:
Totally right, and when The Great Studwell was bitching about the offense, the offensive line was crap, receivers weren't much better, and Phil wasn't exactly lights out. This coaching staff got the players to believe in themselves, and then they've shown their trust in those players.
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I said--though I would quibble with "Great", since I'm right about 50% of the time.

Coaches have done a fantastic job putting the offensive players in a position to compete.

From day one I bitched about (1) the fact that they didn't let Phil throw the @*#@ ball, (2) that Cobb didn't get most every carry.

So I am happy now! And also feeling maybe just a bit vindicated!

Do you want me to complain about other things? I suppose I could. We are soft up the middle on defense and have been all year. How about that? But don't take my word for it: watch the game in two weeks and pray for improvement!!!

SKI U MAH!

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM REFRAINING FROM EVER POINTING OUT THAT I SAID JERRY KILL SHOULD MOVE TO THE BOX
 

Kill does a really good job of finding guys who fit his system, that will often trump chasing the higher rated/star guys and then trying to fit them into your system.
 

Kill and his staff are outstanding evaluators of talent. There's a handful of players recruited by the previous coaches staff that play meaningful minutes and contribute regularly. Look at some of the kids that Kill's staff brought in and contribute. P. Nelson, D. Jones, D. Wilson, D. Campbell, M. Williams. We're getting better talent and better depth of that talent. Which we need to compete at a high level.
 

Studwell55 said:
Pretty much what I said--though I would quibble with "Great", since I'm right about 50% of the time.

Coaches have done a fantastic job putting the offensive players in a position to compete.

From day one I bitched about (1) the fact that they didn't let Phil throw the @*#@ ball, (2) that Cobb didn't get most every carry.

So I am happy now! And also feeling maybe just a bit vindicated!

Do you want me to complain about other things? I suppose I could. We are soft up the middle on defense and have been all year. How about that? But don't take my word for it: watch the game in two weeks and pray for improvement!!!

SKI U MAH!

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM REFRAINING FROM EVER POINTING OUT THAT I SAID JERRY KILL SHOULD MOVE TO THE BOX
Click to expand...

You also said we should be happy with 5 wins.
 


Studwell55 said:
How many truly bad passes has Phil thrown in the past month? I can almost count them on one hand.

Limegrower looks like a genius when Phil's unconscious.

Props to the coaches for putting Phil in a position to compete.
Click to expand...

I think Limegrover has done a fine job all year. He called the right plays, it was more an issue of QB's overthrowing wide open receivers.
 

Studwell55 said:
It helps when your QB has played almost flawlessly for a month!

Makes a coach look pretty dang good!
Click to expand...

To be fair Kill said he needed a stud QB who could run his offense in order to succeed. He targeted Nelson early on as that guy & to his credit brought him back from the dark side (Wisconsin) to be a Gopher.
 

The more formations and motion we use, the better we play.

It would appear that took us a while to get installed.

The first 4-5 games, we lined up and plowed straight ahead.
 


Oregon Gopher said:
And that has nothing to do with coaching?
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I don't think Studwell meant to dig on the coaches. Yes, the coaches have put him in a position to succeed, but Phil has made some cold-blooded throws during the winning streak.

The TD to Engel on 4th down vs. Nebraska was probably the key play in the game - very tough throw.
The 3rd down conversion on a deep out to D. Jones right before the GW TD to Maxx - not an easy throw.

These are just a couple of examples. He's also not made any horrific throws for picks, and he's making good decisions on when to run vs. throw on roll-outs.

You need your players to make plays when given the chance to make them, and that is exactly what Nelson has been doing.
 

Let's review, Stud:

Yesterday--
Is it possible that we could still finish in next-to-last place in our division?
We match up horribly against Wisconsin. We are so soft up the middle.
I like being up 14 at half. But man are we soft up the middle this year.
Absolutely hideous.

Earlier--
Not trying to sound like a downer, but I think we should be happy with one more win and (therefore) an almost certain trip to Texas.
To me, we were basically unprepared for the tempo. We stopped them in the first half because a lot of incomplete passes slowed them down. Once they got rolling, we were powerless. We dodged a bullet.

You are hard to be around. Your perception is...no you are wrong. Most of the time. Negative and un-insightful. Sorry, but the truth hurts. You are a prototypical bandwagon hanger.
 

I like Kills evaluation of talent and recruitment for HIS system. Ill take two and three star guys who will claw out a victory rather than a four or five star who can barely fit his head through the door. There is certainly an aspect of recruiting that I think Kill gets more so than people probably realize and that is the evaluation as a person. Grades are up, Wins are up. Hell, kill is just producing great people for society in general and I think that that most of all is where i am most proud of my team.
 

t-docious said:
I like Kills evaluation of talent and recruitment for HIS system. Ill take two and three star guys who will claw out a victory rather than a four or five star who can barely fit his head through the door. There is certainly an aspect of recruiting that I think Kill gets more so than people probably realize and that is the evaluation as a person. Grades are up, Wins are up. Hell, kill is just producing great people for society in general and I think that that most of all is where i am most proud of my team.
Click to expand...

I think Kill's honesty and sincerity in general, but especially in recruiting, should not be overlooked. I think he is looking for speed and now that he has a couple years of implementation -- and some validation of his system with wins -- he probably would take a chance on some borderline kids with talent, believing his vets can acclimate newcomers in.

highwayman said:
Let's review, Stud:

You are hard to be around. Your perception is...no you AREwrong. Most of the time. (not just 50
%) Negative and un-insightful. Sorry, but the truth hurts. You are a prototypical bandwagon hanger.
Click to expand...

I've noticed lately, highwayman, that you are taking on the naysayers vociferously, leaving less work for me...more time to play with my g/f. Thanks.
 

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