MNF at TCF a recruiting tool?

GSLgopher

Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Points
6
With all the glamor and glitz that comes with MNF and with the whole nation watching, do you think Jerry Kill can leverage this while recruiting?
 

I'm torn on the subject. It'll be nice to get more eyes on our beautiful stadium, but it's going to be absolutely freezing.
 

With all the glamor and glitz that comes with MNF and with the whole nation watching, do you think Jerry Kill can leverage this while recruiting?

Yes I do

This is a good thing for Gopher football. A very good thing
 

I hope that MNF takes a minute to interview Jerry Kill.
 

I think that it will be good. The place should be packed and the atmosphere will be great. I hope Kill is there and gets some camera time.
 


I think overall it is good but I do wish the game was in October instead of late December when temps are running so far below normal. Unless High School kids are acutely aware of the fact the weather is completely different here through the college football season, the vision of players huddled up around heaters, and wearing ski masks may be a bad thing, in an otherwise good opportunity for the U. Overall it is nice because the NFL audience is a bit different than NCAA so the exposure will be good.
 

Remember when the Gophers thought that sharing a stadium with an NFL team was the best idea evar?

JK. I know this is completely different. ;)
 

Remember when the Gophers thought that sharing a stadium with an NFL team was the best idea evar?

I don't. I remember when the U was essentially forced into the Metrodome, because the choice was remain in a Memorial Stadium that wasn't going to get rennovated or move to the Metrodome.
 

Would it be a recruiting violation to bring a kid to the game on Monday night? Does anyone know if like the U coaching staff has a box or anything where they could bring a kid? It sounds like it would probably be a violation, but it's on campus, at their stadium, etc.
 



Works for Pitt :)

Seriously though, a meaningless MNF game at a college stadium is not going to alone convince a recruit to come to MN. I don't get all the hype here. Any recruit worth a darn is already aware of the new stadium. They don't need to see it on TV (likelly for the 10th time) to understand it's newness.
 

Would it be a recruiting violation to bring a kid to the game on Monday night? Does anyone know if like the U coaching staff has a box or anything where they could bring a kid? It sounds like it would probably be a violation, but it's on campus, at their stadium, etc.

Bob, why would it be a recruiting violation to have a potential recruit make an official visit for this great and grandeur National Exposure?
 

One big thing, is that with recruits on campus, Coach Kill can show them a field and stands not covered with snow.
 

What this does in Coach Kill's and Minnesota's favor is it shows off the stadium to the rest of the country. Cold or no cold, this is a chance for MANY people across the country to see the stadium for the first time that normally wouldn't watch a Gopher game.
 



I'm hoping the U tried to get Jerry Kill in the booth with the MNF guys for a segment during the game. This is going to be a good recruiting tool, how much it helps we will never know, but I dont see how it can hurt other than maybe the cold weather. There is no such thing as too much positive exposure, and im willing to bet the the National Media will provide us with plenty regarding the stadium.
 

It's going to be to cold to be beneficial. Not many Florida kids dream of playing in the snow.
 

What this does in Coach Kill's and Minnesota's favor is it shows off the stadium to the rest of the country. Cold or no cold, this is a chance for MANY people across the country to see the stadium for the first time that normally wouldn't watch a Gopher game.

On TV the Gopher's Stadium is going to look like just another football stadium - except with players huddled around heaters on the sidelines, and fans in the stands freezing their asses off. The temperature will be approaching zero at half-time. The announcers will have a few nice things to say about the stadium but the constant refrain throughout the telecast will be how bloody cold it is in Minnesota. This game will not help Gophers recruiting and actually might hurt it. Especially since there is very little chance that the game will actually be worth watching for anybody but Vikings and Bears fans.
 

On TV the Gopher's Stadium is going to look like just another football stadium - except with players huddled around heaters on the sidelines, and fans in the stands freezing their asses off. The temperature will be approaching zero at half-time. The announcers will have a few nice things to say about the stadium but the constant refrain throughout the telecast will be how bloody cold it is in Minnesota. This game will not help Gophers recruiting and actually might hurt it. Especially since there is very little chance that the game will actually be worth watching for anybody but Vikings and Bears fans.
OMG...do you think that the "it's so cold" thing isn't already out there? If someone is going to be scared off by the cold then there are PLENTY of things that already exist in media and public perception to give them that mindset. A MNF game isn't going to add much to that. I'm sure its possible this might convince some kid not to come to MN. But if that's the case, then I'm going to bet they wouldn't have come to MN anyway. If you're that easily influenced then there is no way you were interested enough in the school to begin with. For everyone else, there will be plenty of time for our great new stadium to get highlighted. Also, if the game is as bad as you say and no one will care about it then why are you worried that it will turn off recruits? Don't they have to watch this crappy game that no one will see first? :rolleyes:

You're going to get multiple blimp shots of the gorgeous new stadium (side note: I'm uber excited for this b/c I've always wanted to see that and b/c it'll be neat to see MINNESOTA spelled out on the plaza from the blimp). You're going to get Monday Night Countdown at TCF for an hour and a half before the game with live post game analysis running during SportsCenter. All of this will be with TCF in the background. You know the locker room will get some love since it's the most "NFL" part of the stadium. If the U is lucky, there will be short segment about the stadium or a segment on all the players the U has put into the NFL in recent years. Even if neither happens, ESPN will put a great spotlight on the U just by being there.
 

What this does in Coach Kill's and Minnesota's favor is it shows off the stadium to the rest of the country. Cold or no cold, this is a chance for MANY people across the country to see the stadium for the first time that normally wouldn't watch a Gopher game.

Exactly. Any mention of "the University of Minnesota" on MNF is one more than probably rest of this year's games combined.

You can't buy positive exposure like this -- the novelty of it all is fantastic.

Coach Kill better get some air time or position the U of M to get some air time. The game will probably be ugly anyway, why not?
 

On TV the Gopher's Stadium is going to look like just another football stadium - except with players huddled around heaters on the sidelines, and fans in the stands freezing their asses off. The temperature will be approaching zero at half-time. The announcers will have a few nice things to say about the stadium but the constant refrain throughout the telecast will be how bloody cold it is in Minnesota. This game will not help Gophers recruiting and actually might hurt it. Especially since there is very little chance that the game will actually be worth watching for anybody but Vikings and Bears fans.

Anyone who has ever heard of Minnesota knows that it's cold up here, so them seeing cold weather shouldn't come as a surprise. The strong majority of people who will be watching the game will be from the Midwest, working in our favor.
 


I am just trying to inject a dose of reality into the discussion. Gopher fans love our new stadium - especially me. I have great seats and I will never give them up. I am trying to figure out how I can write my will so my kids will not be able to give them up either. For me, the design is an absolute home run especially in the way the history of Gophers football was incorporated everywhere. But I have learned the hard way that the kinds of things that are important to me mean almost nothing to a high school age student. For many recruits weather is going to be a huge factor. If some of them are watching the game on Monday night they are probably not going to like what the see. Downplay it all you want but I think you are ignoring the way a 17 year old thinks. Gopher fans are going to love it, but I think this game will do NOTHING to help the football program.
 

I am just trying to inject a dose of reality into the discussion. Gopher fans love our new stadium - especially me. I have great seats and I will never give them up. I am trying to figure out how I can write my will so my kids will not be able to give them up either. For me the design is an absolute home run especially in the way the history of Gophers football was incorporated everywhere. But I have learned the hard way that the kinds of things that are important to me mean almost nothing to a high school recruit. For many recruits weather is going to be a huge factor. If some of them are watching the game on Monday night they are probably not going to like what the see. Downplay it all you want but I think you are ignoring the way a 17 year old thinks. I think this game will do NOTHING to help the Gopher football program.

And I think you're overestimating the effect. I don't think that seeing the stadium is going to swing many if any recruits. Frankly, we don't want a kid who is so fickle seeing a game on TV can make up his mind for him. And that holds true for the weather too.

IMO, this whole thing is a net positive. Any kid who would not come to the U because he sees how cold it can be is not coming here anyway. I can't say that enough. Throughout his recruitment, he will have plenty of chances to see how cold it is. And we all know the other coaches recruiting him will be reminding him every time there is a cold spell or blizzard. Why a single broadcast would weigh more heavily than anything else...well, I don't see how that is true. And if it is true then again, THE KID WASN'T COMING HERE ANYWAY. What this does do is put the U and the football team front and center in a national broadcast. Again, I don't think this gets recruits lining up at the door. But for some this might be exposure to the U that they hadn't had before. And that's not a negative.

And its about more than recruits. There are going to be fans in MN and fans in the midwest who haven't seen TCF. And this is likely going to be a great highlight package for the stadium. Plus its just good PR in the state of MN.

In the end I think it ends up being a wash. But I also think the potential for good things far outweighs the potential for anything negative.
 




Top Bottom