Mike Sanford hire is a big win for Minnesota

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hungan1

hungan1

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IMHO, losing Kirk Ciarrocca was hard to see happen. With his family circumstances and being a Pennsylavania guy, I am happy for him and thankful for what he has done for the Gopher Offense.

An even bigger deal is the hiring of Mike Sanford who who brings in quite a body of work and experience that can that can only bolster the Gophers Offense. He also has a reputation for being a good recruiter. Mike Loy of GI opined on the hire.

One man's opinion: Mike Sanford hire is a big win for Minnesota
By Tom Loy, Gopher Illustrated, Jan. 8, 2020
 
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I'll judge the hire on how many times we have to burn a TO early in the 1st or 3rd quarter.

Seriously though, that is a good read and I hope he can improve on what KC did with the offense
 


Like the hire, but seems like the author was trying to hard sell something... Some context on his statements.


On the recruiting trail, Sanford is also highly regarded. While at Notre Dame, the Irish landed back-to-back Top 15 recruiting classes.

Sanford was there for 2016 and 2017 recruiting classes. Recruiting was in line with what you would expect year to year from a blue blood like Notre Dame.

2013: 5th
2014: 11th
2015: 13th
2016: 15th
2017: 10th
2018: 10th


During his time at Boise State, the Broncos had the top-rated class in the Mountain West.

Sanford was there for 2015 class, which was tops in MW, as has been every other class recently.

2013: 1st
2014: 1st
2015: 1st
2016: 1st
2017: 1st
2018: 1st


Additionally, he helped secure back-to-back Top 20 classes while at Stanford.

He recruited 2012-14 classes so back-to-back comment is odd since it goes 7th, 52nd, 13th. That stretch represents the extreme peak and valley of recent Stanford recruiting.

2010: 25th
2011: 22nd
2012: 7th
2013: 52nd
2014: 13th
2015: 24th
2016: 16th
 



Utah State went from 47.5 points in 2018 to 29.2 in 2019
Who knows? Different head coaches, different players, same QB though. Although I don't think he was the QB coach at Utah State. We will see. Also, he's co OC, correct?
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Utah State went from 47.5 points in 2018 to 29.2 in 2019
Who knows? Different head coaches, different players, same QB though. Although I don't think he was the QB coach at Utah State. We will see. Also, he's co OC, correct?
Click to expand...

It depends on how gutted the system was after the head coach got hired away, and whether he got there in at the valley of talent when key seniors graduated before he got there. It is hard to judge.

As for WKU, he got fired on his first gig. I don't know the circumstances and he may not be ready just yet. There is a lot of learning in failures.

He will flourish under PJ Fleck and will become a good head coach someday.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Utah State went from 47.5 points in 2018 to 29.2 in 2019
Who knows? Different head coaches, different players, same QB though. Although I don't think he was the QB coach at Utah State. We will see. Also, he's co OC, correct?
Click to expand...
USU lost 4 OL from 2018 and had to rebuild that unit. Also worth noting, IMO was their 2018 Defense had 32 takeaways and 6 Defensive TDs.
 




Wierd article. When you have to persuade people to get excited about something that usually speaks volumes and suggests it went over like a lead balloon in some quarters. Oregon is going after Joe Moorhead, a hire that had it occurred here probably would have got some corpuscles jumping.

While Sanford wasn’t the OC at WKU he brought in a first timer OC receivers coach Junior Adams from Boise and therefore presumedly was heavily involved in the offense. Of some concern is Brohm’s 9th ranked offense in 2016 fell to 88th in year 1 (2017) and 120th in year 2. There are probably some mitigating factors with injuries and graduation losses but that is flat out terrible and at minimum has to be a yellow flag. Read Connelly’s WKU previews below for a little more insight. Mentions changes for sake of change, a pass rate that exceeds Mike Leach’s Air Raid.

At Utah State looks like offense stats were decent although he was more of a tempo than ball control guy and there was a drop off from prior year. I don’t know how a team only runs 36 plays for 128 yards vs Air Force. Overall the resume probably raises more questions than it answers for me. Sorry. All I ask is he doesn’t come in like a bull in a china shop. The offense is nearly perfect asking for only a few finishing touches here and there...


2017 WKU Bill Connelly preview
www.sbnation.com

WKU has towered over its peers. Will 2017 close the gap?

A new coach and roster turnover mean the rest of C-USA has a shot.
www.sbnation.com www.sbnation.com

2018
www.sbnation.com

WKU had a surprise stumble. Bounceback start in 2018?

Mike Sanford dealt with more adversity than expected in his first year in Bowling Green, and now he’s got a youth movement to deal with.
www.sbnation.com www.sbnation.com


2019
www.sbnation.com

WKU’s re-rebuild has a pretty good chance ... eventually

The Mike Sanford era in Bowling Green ended as soon as it began, but Tyson Helton doesn’t inherit a destitute two-deep.
www.sbnation.com www.sbnation.com
 
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fan of Ray Williams said:
Utah State went from 47.5 points in 2018 to 29.2 in 2019
Who knows? Different head coaches, different players, same QB though. Although I don't think he was the QB coach at Utah State. We will see. Also, he's co OC, correct?
Click to expand...
According to the coaches roster, Sanford is OC and Simon is the co-OC.
 

Interview was just posted with Sanford and he is impressive to listen to. Between him, Rossi, and Fleck we have to have one of they most well spoken young coaching staffs out there right now. Who knows how he will do as the OC but after this interview I am excited to see what he can do.

 




A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I will cheer for Mike.

I'm still nervous.

Kirk put together the best offense in recent memory.

O the surface Mike's resume to me reads as pretty thin for a P5 OC.
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Mike’s resume is a lot thicker than Kirk’s was when he joined. Or Rossi.
That said, Kirk won’t be easily replaced.
 


Thanks MNVCGUY.

Wow, just wow. PJ Fleck in addition to recruiting players, he is constantly networking and recruiting coaches. I like the comment about PJ reaching out to Sanford in his previous coaching gigs to give him encouragement and keep in touch with him. I wish they can bottle his boundless energy and passion.

Sanford's dad was a HS head coach and WR coach. I like that he reached out immediately to current and future players. He certainly sounds articulate and detail oriented.

Let's see how the Gophers can improve with him as the OC. I firmly agree with building up the Offensive Line and using ball control with running to open up passing. They are going to be aggressive and physical as demonstrated in the beat down of Auburn. They won't be holding anything back.

I like his comment about the first time in a while that he has an intact O-Line to work with.

The one thing that we will see is the Gophers OL will improve even more with recruiting. At least I hope so.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Interview was just posted with Sanford and he is impressive to listen to. Between him, Rossi, and Fleck we have to have one of they most well spoken young coaching staffs out there right now. Who knows how he will do as the OC but after this interview I am excited to see what he can do.

Click to expand...

He’s impressive to listen to. I can see why he‘s been viewed as a rising star. He has head coach written all over him. If he pans out, and sticks around, I could easily imagine him being considered for the HC job when PJ leaves for Notre Dame. ;)

Also...it’s pretty clear he didn’t come here to reinvent the wheel. He came here to learn PJ’s offense.
 




PitinoFan said:
He’s impressive to listen to. I can see why he‘s been viewed as a rising star. He has head coach written all over him. If he pans out, and sticks around, I could easily imagine him being considered for the HC job when PJ leaves for Notre Dame. ;)

Also...it’s pretty clear he didn’t come here to reinvent the wheel. He came here to learn PJ’s offense.
Click to expand...

He definitely comes across as someone who will be back in the role of head coach again here at some point in the future.

One thing that is clear is that he will be active in recruiting in a way that I don't think KC was. KC struck me as the old school model of a coach that wants to just grind all day and be left alone as much as possible. He always seemed uncomfortable in front of the media. But he was also clearly a very talented OC.

I also agree Sanford doesn't seem to be in any hurry to reinvent the wheel which makes sense because there is no way Fleck was going to hire someone that would tear down what we have built on offense over the past few seasons as that would just be stupid.

Will be fun to see what new wrinkles he brings to things though. For as good as our offense has been, I don't think it has reached its peak yet. As the players become upper-classmen, especially along the line, we could hit a whole new level and maybe even challenge Ohio State for the best offense in the conference.
 


MNVCGUY said:
He definitely comes across as someone who will be back in the role of head coach again here at some point in the future.

One thing that is clear is that he will be active in recruiting in a way that I don't think KC was. KC struck me as the old school model of a coach that wants to just grind all day and be left alone as much as possible. He always seemed uncomfortable in front of the media. But he was also clearly a very talented OC.

I also agree Sanford doesn't seem to be in any hurry to reinvent the wheel which makes sense because there is no way Fleck was going to hire someone that would tear down what we have built on offense over the past few seasons as that would just be stupid.

Will be fun to see what new wrinkles he brings to things though. For as good as our offense has been, I don't think it has reached its peak yet. As the players become upper-classmen, especially along the line, we could hit a whole new level and maybe even challenge Ohio State for the best offense in the conference.
Click to expand...

My understanding is KC only recruited QB's
 





hungan1 said:
Thanks MNVCGUY.

Wow, just wow. PJ Fleck in addition to recruiting players, he is constantly networking and recruiting coaches. I like the comment about PJ reaching out to Sanford in his previous coaching gigs to give him encouragement and keep in touch with him. I wish they can bottle his boundless energy and passion.

Sanford's dad was a HS head coach and WR coach. I like that he reached out immediately to current and future players. He certainly sounds articulate and detail oriented.

Let's see how the Gophers can improve with him as the OC. I firmly agree with building up the Offensive Line and using ball control with running to open up passing. They are going to be aggressive and physical as demonstrated in the beat down of Auburn. They won't be holding anything back.

I like his comment about the first time in a while that he has an intact O-Line to work with.

The one thing that we will see is the Gophers OL will improve even more with recruiting. At least I hope so.
Click to expand...
Reads like an instant man crush. How about we let him coach in a few games first...
 


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