Kristian Williams Commits to Minnesota...

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I'm guessing this will be a trend for many of those guys who aren't in the enroll early group. They will play the waiting game to see what the best offer is after the initial signing date.
 


bonin21 said:
Compare the Oregon Nike contract to ours lol
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How much is their contract worth?? And you're saying it is those dollars exactly that proves they're a top 10 program .... even though they have a 50k stadium, and are a smallish school (relative to some in P5), in a smallish state (that has two flagships), with a fanbase that I'm guessing is similarly sized?

Minnesota gets how many millions from the Big Ten, more than Oregon gets from the PAC?? That more than offsets whatever their Nike deal is worth.

I don't think you understand the discussion here.
 

Gophers_4life said:
How much is their contract worth?? And you're saying it is those dollars exactly that proves they're a top 10 program .... even though they have a 50k stadium, and are a smallish school (relative to some in P5), in a smallish state (that has two flagships), with a fanbase that I'm guessing is similarly sized?

Minnesota gets how many millions from the Big Ten, more than Oregon gets from the PAC?? That more than offsets whatever their Nike deal is worth.

I don't think you understand the discussion here.
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Phil Knight did commit to give more than 2 billion to the University of Oregon if that counts for anything. Nike gives Oregon 2 to 2.5 mill a year in cash and over 5 mill in apparel. They give the U 2.2 mill a year
 


Gophers_4life said:
How much is their contract worth?? And you're saying it is those dollars exactly that proves they're a top 10 program .... even though they have a 50k stadium, and are a smallish school (relative to some in P5), in a smallish state (that has two flagships), with a fanbase that I'm guessing is similarly sized?

Minnesota gets how many millions from the Big Ten, more than Oregon gets from the PAC?? That more than offsets whatever their Nike deal is worth.

I don't think you understand the discussion here.
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Number 6 recruiting class in the land
 

Gophers_4life said:
How much is their contract worth?? And you're saying it is those dollars exactly that proves they're a top 10 program .... even though they have a 50k stadium, and are a smallish school (relative to some in P5), in a smallish state (that has two flagships), with a fanbase that I'm guessing is similarly sized?

Minnesota gets how many millions from the Big Ten, more than Oregon gets from the PAC?? That more than offsets whatever their Nike deal is worth.

I don't think you understand the discussion here.
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Oregon has what most consider, including myself, the nicest facility in the country.
 


die hard gopher said:
Oregon has what most consider, including myself, the nicest facility in the country.
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... come on.

Why? Is each seat a heated chairback that massage your rump? It's just a 50k stadium. Nothing special about it.

EDIT: you probably meant the practice facility. OK, yes I have seen videos/pictures of it, sure it's flashy. But that's not what makes the *public* think of a college football program as top 10. I doubt it.
 



Gophers_4life said:
... come on.

Why? Is each seat a heated chairback that massage your rump? It's just a 50k stadium. Nothing special about it.
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I'm talking about the practice facility complex, not the stadium.

They have the nicest football performance center in the nation.

Also Nike's Phil Knight was the primary donor for this.

 
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GringaGopher said:
Agree we probably do not get him but I hope eventually we can compete for recruits with 5,000 uniform combinations, 0 national titles OR.
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We do and have before.

Seth Green and Demetrious Douglas were both Oregon commits that weren't pushed out. Oregon changed their plans for Seth from QB to an athlete/TE but they still had a spot for him. Also Oregon pursued better CB's but Demetrious still could have remained committed had he wanted to.

And Oregon was in Coughlin's top three and he made a visit there. That was when they were in the national championship too.
 

Gophers_4life said:
... come on.

Why? Is each seat a heated chairback that massage your rump? It's just a 50k stadium. Nothing special about it.

EDIT: you probably meant the practice facility. OK, yes I have seen videos/pictures of it, sure it's flashy. But that's not what makes the *public* think of a college football program as top 10. I doubt it.
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How old are you? Among people in their late teens/20s to early 30s Oregon is a highly thought of program because they were good (for a time) and had Nike (and thus cool uniforms, technology, were promoted all over on stuff all over the country in sporting goods stores). I would bet from a name recognition standpoint that the vast majority of people in that age bracket that are casual fans would list them as a top 20 (or even top 10) program purely due to this. To younger fans, history is whatever. If it was, MN would be one of the most followed programs in the country due to the number of national titles but it's what have you done for me lately society and Oregon definitely fits the bill to a way higher degree than MN
 

Last I checked he didn't decommit he just didn't sign during the early signing window. While he may end up going somewhere else eventually I would still rather be in a battle for in demand guys like this as opposed to settling for the under the radar guys.
 



I wonder if Solomon's transfer from Michigan to Tennessee closes the door there for Kristian
 

upnorthkid said:
How old are you? Among people in their late teens/20s to early 30s Oregon is a highly thought of program because they were good (for a time) and had Nike (and thus cool uniforms, technology, were promoted all over on stuff all over the country in sporting goods stores). I would bet from a name recognition standpoint that the vast majority of people in that age bracket that are casual fans would list them as a top 20 (or even top 10) program purely due to this. To younger fans, history is whatever. If it was, MN would be one of the most followed programs in the country due to the number of national titles but it's what have you done for me lately society and Oregon definitely fits the bill to a way higher degree than MN
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Well stated. Some in this group just don’t understand the value some kids would put on the flash of Nike with new uniforms, special limited edition shoes, and apparel given WEEKLY.
 


I want him to commit here and play for the Gophers.
That said, if he doesn't want to be here, C ya bye!!!
 


I am really hoping he sticks with us. As a former DT/OT I appreciate good line play on both sides of the ball.

Going back to the previous argument about Oregon, I’m 38 and for probably the last 20 years Oregon has been extremely popular. They had a stretch where they were very, very good. That along with there uniform and helmet combos have been very popular. I can’t remember the poster that said the population or fan base between them and us would be about the same, but it’s not even close. Oregon does a fantastic job marketing its program and their fan base is huge.

They will be stiff competition and I hope we can hold on to him.
 

With the early signing period over, the stage is larger for those who choose to wait. ESPN will be all over the February signing day.
 

Anyone know Iowa's actual scholarship count? According to 247, they need to make a lot of room to get the 20 2019 commits in under 85. They are ranked right behind Gophs. I assume Fleck will add a couple more, so I don't think Iowa passes Gophs.
 

paulser21 said:
for probably the last 20 years Oregon has been extremely popular.
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They were extremely popular across the nation in 1998?? Based on what? I doubt that.

10 years I could more likely buy.

paulser21 said:
their fan base is huge.
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Because you say so?

This just gets into a very interesting philosophical debate about what is fandom in the first place. If you sent a survey to every person in the US who considered themselves a college football fan, and asked them to select only the one school they most consider to be fans of ... how many would reply with Oregon? How many Minnesota? How many Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, etc?

And then you can get into, just because someone says "yeah sure, I'm a fan of ____", does that really make them a fan? Is that good enough? What is the threshold.

Etc.


But then you can come at it from the angle of: who are the most likely people to be fans of a school? The easy answer for schools like Oregon and Minnesota are, residents of the state or otherwise proximal populations, and alumni or people with 1st degree connections to alumni or those proximal/residents. With that said, there should be no reason for Oregon's "true" fan base to be larger than Minnesota's.

Of course, of someone living in Florida can watch Oregon on TV one or two times, see some flashy uniforms, and see them win a game ... then decide "that's cool, I'm a fan of Oregon" ... well then everything is out the window.
 

The NY Times did an article on this and found Oregon to be on of the most “Liked” teams in the nation. It came from Facebook but in reality I’m not sure how one could truly test a “fan base” for popularity.

You do bring up a point with how to define a “fan” as is it someone who likes or follows a program compared to a die hard fan that if they could pick just one team would pick them.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...egion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&abt=0002&abg=0

https://www.google.com/amp/s/articl...sf/2014/10/the_oregon_ducks_--_americas_f.amp
 
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Gophers_4life said:
They were extremely popular across the nation in 1998?? Based on what? I doubt that.

10 years I could more likely buy.



Because you say so?
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20 was a ballpark figure. But 15-18 is probably closer. I remember Joey Harrington playing for them in 2000-2001 and their popularity grew from that point forward.
 

paulser21 said:
20 was a ballpark figure. But 15-18 is probably closer. I remember Joey Harrington playing for them in 2000-2001 and their popularity grew from that point forward.
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Oregon has actually been pretty good since they made the Rose Bowl in 1994 against Penn State -- even more than 20 years ago. I'm not sure "popular" was the right word choice but they have been consistently successful now for a quarter century.
 

I travel constantly and see Oregon garb everywhere. In Los Angeles, Chicago etc.. Sure there are stats on who sells the most apparel. Way more of a national brand than Minnesota.
 

builtbadgers said:
I travel constantly and see Oregon garb everywhere. In Los Angeles, Chicago etc.. Sure there are stats on who sells the most apparel. Way more of a national brand than Minnesota.
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I can’t recall ever seeing Oregon gear anywhere I’ve traveled.
 



Oregon really blew up, at least on the west coast around the time of the 2003 Sun Bowl game., but Oregon was getting real strong before under Mike Bellotti. No one really noticed Oregon before Bellotti outside the Pac 10, other even though they were OK under Rich Broods before that.

Post Bellotti, when Chip Kelly became coach they really started getting a lot of attention, mainly due to the continued Nike funded flow of crazy uniforms, the wins vs. the traditional PAC Ten powers, but mainly due to the fast paced spread offense. Recruiting really picked up under Kelly as well, as USC declined.

I never bought into the whole idea that Oregon was some sort of massive national brand, but they did rise from being like Purdue or Illinois to being a huge national player, despite their backwater state location and small stadium.

Nike/ Phil Knight and the ability of the HC to draw California talent that previously had been going to UCLA, USC, Washington, or east to Eugene had a lot to do with it. The post Kelly regime (Hellfrect?) could not sustain the high level of success, and Taggert bailed after one year, so the jury is out on what will happen at Oregon, especially with UW and WSU on the rise under Peterson and Leach.

I think Oregon is looking at some leaner years, despite all the Phil Knight cash they have.
 
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