Perhaps I'm too excited about this, but...

[cncmin]

...the Gophers, after all their turmoil last year, after all the problems, the losses, the player discontent, fan discontent, coaching discontent, and a long time waiting for a new coach, we are actually rated #38 in the recruiting rankings by Rivals for 2011. Are you kidding me? #38 is better, I believe, than every Mason class except one (the Maroney class, which was about equivalent), is close to every Brewster class except one, and this is on a late start with head coach recruiting, and with no 4* or blue chip players (and, thus, no prima donnas). In essence, Jerry Kill and staff (including a few still-familiar faces) have kept almost everything intact - the current players have almost all stayed (notable exception Bryant Allen) and almost all of the previous recruits have been retained.

It's possible that Jerry Kill is building this squad like Ferentz built Iowa - solidly but not exceptionally or flamboyantly. That's perfectly fine with me. I'm not convinced that we'll be a bowl team next year, but I think we have a fair chance. And with two games left this year, there are very few fans that would have believed that.

We may not remain top-40 on the final list, but given the situation, I'm impressed in early January 2011.

Finally, we should give some credit where some credit is due - Tim Brewster and staff continued to support the team's future even when it was obvious they wouldn't be with the team in the future.

 

[gophmeister]

Brewster built a pretty solid foundation to this class, but Kill seems to be recruiting as well as Brewster in the last two years. If he gets Bishop Sankey and Arlington Jenkins to commit then I would be totally blown away.

 

[GopherFan75]

Don't worry about talent, we just need to coach them up.

 

[Gold Rush]

This class is shaping up to be pretty good (on paper of course.) A huge benefit was hiring Kill fairly quickly after the season ended. Brewster's first class was ruined because he did not have enough time to put a class together and I think Maturi didn't want that to happen again. On a side note, remember when Lou Holtz came here in late December after he was named coach here and he asked how many commitments did they have and after he was told zero he asked well how many names are on the recruiting list and I think there were like four. hahaha. He said after I recovered from almost having a heart attack I knew we had better get busy. haha - fun times in 1983!!!

Also, you have to give Brewster credit for putting a lot of the legwork in and getting a lot of early commitments. He gave a pretty good headstart on this class but Kill has done a good job of keeping many of the commitments as well as landing several other players who could help us. Overall, I think we will weather this coaching transition fairly well on the recruiting front and it doesn't look we will have a "throw away" class this year. That's very good news for Gopher fans!

 

[FreakyDeke]

Don't worry about talent, we just need to coach them up.

Sarcasm?

 

[MaxyJR1]

I don't want to split hairs but I think Hammock probably should be getting most of the credit for the recruiting gap being closed between staffs.

 

[gophmeister]

I don't want to split hairs but I think Hammock probably should be getting most of the credit for the recruiting gap being closed between staffs.

Of course, but Kill gets credit for keeping him.

 

[CP Gopher]

I'm excited, too.
Can't wait to see the new product.
I love Gopher Football, even when things on the field don't go so well.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Of course, but Kill gets credit for keeping him.

I was thinking more then Brewster. I agree Kill deserves credit.

 

[JackiO]

Sarcasm?

Hopefully not, because brewster took a shi.t on his talent.

 

[Ole]

This class is solid. What I'm excited about is to see how all the pieces fit together in the spring and summer once everything has settled out. Who's back/not, who signed/qualified, who's changed positions, etc.

I can also kinda see what types of players Kill is focusing on and how he might fit them into his schemes, to me that's exciting.

I'm still waiting for a pass rusher to be signed, and a runningback/slotback or two to run Kill's jet sweeps and fly sweeps. I don't see anyone on the roster except Stoudemire that can fill that role right now and he's on D.

I'd also love to see a long list of solid preferred walk-ons. To me that would signify an ability of Kill to get guys/locals to play for him and his staff away from the Big Ten name/scholarship Minnesota brings to the table with recruits.

 

[FreakyDeke]

Hopefully not, because brewster took a shi.t on his talent.

I assumed he was being sarcastic, because:

1. "Don't worry about talent" - really?
2. "you just have to coach them up" - duh, and if I hear that phrase again I'm going to puke.

We know coaching is important. His post contributed nothing and made it seem like he was saying a great coach can win with a team assembled of gopherholers.

I assumed he was being sarcastic about the whole "coach 'em up!" crowd.

 

[mnsports1]

and made it seem like he was saying a great coach can win with a team assembled of gopherholers.

.

I bet their is a heck of an o-line on here! Skilled positions would be much tougher to come by.

 

[Clark W. Griswold]

I bet their is a heck of an o-line on here! Skilled positions would be much tougher to come by.

I bet that it would have the appearance of an o-line, but getting into a 3-point stance would be a rare occurance.

 

[everybody knows my name]

Don't worry about talent, we just need to coach them up.

This joke got old quick.

 

[pharmacygopher]

This joke got old quick.

Yeah it did. But so did people saying it in all seriousness. I bet I saw 'coach em up' in like 30 threads. When everyone thought Kill was bringing in 2 star recruits this class, 'coach em up' was the line. Now that our class is looking pretty damn good, it's become more of a joke. Both are annoying, since we know recruiting and coaching are both important.

 

[gophmeister]

This joke got old quick.

Yet he seems to repeat on each and every thread as of late.

 

[Triple D]

I'll placekick, can't be too much worse than what we had last year.

Go Hawthorne!!

 

[JackiO]

I assumed he was being sarcastic, because:

1. "Don't worry about talent" - really?
2. "you just have to coach them up" - duh, and if I hear that phrase again I'm going to puke.

We know coaching is important. His post contributed nothing and made it seem like he was saying a great coach can win with a team assembled of gopherholers.

I assumed he was being sarcastic about the whole "coach 'em up!" crowd.

I'm sorry but the whole "coach 'em up crowd" has a lot of merit to it. Playing with sparse talent, Kill went 2-3 against the big ten, while narrowly losing to Wisconsin via a last second field goal last year. Kill though, has already proven he won't have to rely heavily on coaching them up as I am pleasantly surprised by his recruiting prowess so far.

 

[GopherFan75]

FreakyDeke it was a joke and I also hate hearing that phrase because everyone needs talent to win.

 

[JackiO]

FreakyDeke it was a joke and I also hate hearing that phrase because everyone needs talent to win.

How do you judge talent, by way of rivals and scout? If so, Wisconsin should not have been nearly as good as they were. Sometimes, believe it or not, coaching can overcome lack of talent. Minnesota has never been overly talent laden and probably never will be when it comes to rivals ratings because we simply do not have the talent in the area to rely on.

 

[dpodoll68]

I also hate hearing that phrase because everyone needs talent to win.

Why do you assume that "coaching 'em up" means you're working from a baseline of zero talent? If you take a player whose theoretical ceiling is "solid starter" and make him into an all-conference player, is that not "coaching 'em up"?

Your issue with the phrase is that, for some reason, you are making it into an issue of raw talent vs. improvement, when the reality is that there is some mixture of both for every athlete in every sport at every level on the planet. How is it a bad thing to add more of the "potential improvement" ingredient into the "football player stew"?

 

[Rouser4eVA]

Gag reflex...

Maybe I listen to too much football analysis, but in the hierarchy of annoying football cliches, "coaching em' up" pales in comparison to being a "physical football team".

Show me a not-so-physical football team, and I'll show you Manchester United!

Go Gophers!

 

[RodentRampage]

Where are these people who think you don't need talent, and that all you have to do is to coach them up? I haven't seen any of them.

No one is claiming that you don't need talent. But you will get better results with good coaching and poor recruits than with poor coaching and good recruits. Obviously, you want to have good coaching and good recruits. It's part of a coaches job to push players to improve. Winning is the best recruiter of all.

The problem isn't with the alleged "coach them up" crowd, it is with the people who insisted that Kill could not recuit.

 

[4four4]

Maybe I listen to too much football analysis, but in the hierarchy of annoying football cliches, "coaching em' up" pales in comparison to being a "physical football team".

Show me a not-so-physical football team, and I'll show you Manchester United!

Go Gophers!

The English Premier League is a rather physcial league. A better example might be tennis or golf.

 

[imthewalrus]

I suppose some may whoop it up, high five, pound their chests...

and make signs saying: "...we're number 38...we're number 38..." in the woozy, crazy world of college football fantasy recruiting. Knock yourselves out!

I much prefer to wait to see what the Big Ten standings will tell us about our recruits in terms of Big Ten wins minus Big Ten losses in 2011.

I think the number 38 rating could most certainly be debated, but, how could you possibly debate something as subjective as a number 38 rating on January 13, 2011? Who among you is to say that the Gophers aren't number 33...or 48...or 72?

Quite frankly, I'd advise any one and every one to keep it kind of quiet IF you think the ranking number really is only #38. I think that number 38 is not so much to write home about. You probably shouldn't try to get in a rivals face by taunting him/her and boasting about a "number 38" fantasy recruiting ranking.

 

[dpodoll68]

Forgot to take your evening dose of meds again, eh Wayne?

Don't forget, there's also a call button for the nurse on the remote control tethered to your bed if you don't feel like getting out of bed to holler down the hallway.

 

[GoAUpher]

I heard this crazy rumor. Apparently Big Ten wins are important. Weird! Gonna try to wrap my head around that one...

 

[RodentRampage]

Please forgive me for not talking your advice. Being #38 is not bad at all, especially when many people had doubts about Kill's ability to recruit. It of course not a guarantee of results on the field, but it is by no means "fantasy" either. Calling it fantasy implies that it is impossible to evaluate recruits. There are some highly regarded recruits who are busts, and some talent does slip through the cracks, but there is a correlation between recruit rankings and success on the field.

Coaches certainly think they can evaluate talent, if it is all fantasy, then coaches are engaging in fantasy too. It it is all fantasy, and if it is impossible to evaluate talent, then coaches should just have tryouts with random students.

And besides, this is the time of year that we talk about recruiting. We'll talk about the actual games in the fall.

 

[fryguy22]

and make signs saying: "...we're number 38...we're number 38..." in the woozy, crazy world of college football fantasy recruiting. Knock yourselves out!

I much prefer to wait to see what the Big Ten standings will tell us about our recruits in terms of Big Ten wins minus Big Ten losses in 2011.

I think the number 38 rating could most certainly be debated, but, how could you possibly debate something as subjective as a number 38 rating on January 13, 2011? Who among you is to say that the Gophers aren't number 33...or 48...or 72?

Quite frankly, I'd advise any one and every one to keep it kind of quiet IF you think the ranking number really is only #38. I think that number 38 is not so much to write home about. You probably shouldn't try to get in a rivals face by taunting him/her and boasting about a "number 38" fantasy recruiting ranking.

Ok, Wren. Anyone else who plans on judging this year's (2011) recruiting class by our 2011 record when most of these kids will be RSing or true freshmen, raise your hand.....