Phil Steele's take on the Gophers!

[JoeDirt]

This morning I called into the Phil Steele hour on the Bill King show on Sirius college sports radio. I asked him about the Gophers and this was his take. (I'm not near as good as DL65 at this)

-He first mentioned that Gopher fans are probably longing for the Glen Mason days.
-Phil is very excited about our O and D lines, they are huge and athletic and should be able to be very successful if they can stay healthy.
-Mentioned Hageman by name and told how he is 311 lbs and athletic and has the ability to play his way into the first round of the draft and be an absolute game changer.
-Thought the success of our lines will determine the success of the team.
-Mentioned Phil Nelson and how he completed less than 50% of his passes last year but should be much better this year because of experience. Should take a big step up.
-Talked about the first four games and then iowa at home, If we can beat iowa and start 5-0 we'll only need one more win to get bowl eligible. We'll probably be underdogs in our final seven games but Jerry Kill is a great coach gameplaning and is good for an upset or two, already has a couple in his first years.
-Then he mentioned that Gopher program is in a good place and he is excited about the Gophers team and potential.

Anyways just thought I'd share the opinions of Steele. He is about as good as they get in my opinion.
FYI his magazine officially comes out June 18th but you could see it in stores as early as June 3rd in some markets.

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

Nice post and thanks for the summary.

 

[Norsk_Gopher]

We'll probably be underdogs in our final seven games but Jerry Kill is a great coach gameplaning and is good for an upset or two, already has a couple in his first years.
-Then he mentioned that Gopher program is in a good place and he is excited about the Gophers team and potential.

He thinks we will be underdog's to Indiana? I'm sure he just forgot about that (non-local media people have too many teams to keep track of. Glad he has a positive outlook on Kill and his program.

 

[jaymil]

He thinks we will be underdog's to Indiana? I'm sure he just forgot about that (non-local media people have too many teams to keep track of. Glad he has a positive outlook on Kill and his program.

I'm pretty worried about the Indiana game. They are improving like us and can really move the ball. We'll have to score quite a bit to win, and our offensive firepower was lacking last year.

 

[JoeDirt]

A caller actually asked about Indiana just before I called in and Phil talked about all the yards and points that Indiana put up last year and thought they will exceed that this year. The big problem is their defense, it was putrid and must get alot better.

I know we can beat Indiana but it won't be easy especially there on homecoming.

 

[imthewalrus]

Respect every opponent...and then show up for the games.

I'm pretty worried about the Indiana game. They are improving like us and can really move the ball. We'll have to score quite a bit to win, and our offensive firepower was lacking last year.

2013 NEEDS to be a year for the Gophers to compete within the conference and to win enough B1G Games to combine with their OOC wins to be invited to a bowl game for the second season in succession. This is the ONLY way to improve the fortunes of this Football Program. The offensive line will be the key for the current and for future success levels of this team...this program.. these players and this Coaching Staff...All need another Bowl bid and this Fan Base also needs another bowl invitation in 2013. The fan base needs another bowl invitation to have a chance to prove that they can be better about attending bowl games than they have been in the past! The Coach and the players have got to get this done again in 2013! That will mean playing down in Bloomington with a vengeance, with an attitude and with a passion that will not quit. I don't know if the Gophers will beat Indiana...but they have got to be in that game to win it and they have got to outwork, out hit, out think and out hustle that Hoosier team. That game will be a crucial game for our Golden Gopher Football team during the 2013 season. CRUCIAL... Point to that game. Circle that game. SHOW UP for that game. It will possibly be the most important game for the Gophers in a very long time!


The offensive line can win that game for the Gophers. The offensive line will be the KEY! Run the ball. Stop the run. Play Big Ten Football!

; 0 )

 

[kisarazu]

Indiana's 2012 - not exactly a stellar defense.


Sat, Sep 1 Indiana State W 24-17 --
Sat, Sep 8 at Massachusetts W 45-6 --
Sat, Sep 15 Ball State L 39-41 --
Sat, Sep 29 at Northwestern L 29-44 --
Sat, Oct 6 Michigan State L 27-31 --
Sat, Oct 13 Ohio State L 49-52 --
Sat, Oct 20 at Navy L 30-31 --
Sat, Oct 27 at Illinois W 31-17 --
Sat, Nov 3 Iowa W 24-21 --
Sat, Nov 10 Wisconsin L 14-62 --
Sat, Nov 17 at Penn State L 22-45 --
Sat, Nov 24 at Purdue L 35-56

 

[67frosh]

Found a copy of Lindy's SEC yearbook down here in FL today - FWIW: The Gophers are rated #70 in the nation and #10 in the B1G, ahead of only Purdue and Illinois, and just behind Indiana and Iowa - the Iowa and Indiana games may well determine how successful Coach Kill and the team will be this year...

 

[Norsk_Gopher]

I know we can beat Indiana but it won't be easy especially there on homecoming.

I don't we should overlook them in anyway and it could be a tough battle, but I would either call it even or with Minnesota as the favorites right now. The game is a long way's off and I'm not saying we will be favored when we get to that point, just at this moment in time (it being at Indiana is a decent reason to call them the favorites, but......).

 

[Norsk_Gopher]

Found a copy of Lindy's SEC yearbook down here in FL today - FWIW: The Gophers are rated #70 in the nation and #10 in the B1G, ahead of only Purdue and Illinois, and just behind Indiana and Iowa - the Iowa and Indiana games may well determine how successful Coach Kill and the team will be this year...

The relative rankings of those 3 teams is very much on a source by source basis. It will be an interesting season.

 

[exiledinduluth]

This morning I called into the Phil Steele hour on the Bill King show on Sirius college sports radio. I asked him about the Gophers and this was his take. (I'm not near as good as DL65 at this)

-He first mentioned that Gopher fans are probably longing for the Glen Mason days.

yes, longing for that patented blank clueless look that Mason has in the middle of a late game meltdown. Looks like a guy to frozen in fear and disbelief as the train runs him over

 

[Killjoy]

This morning I called into the Phil Steele hour on the Bill King show on Sirius college sports radio. I asked him about the Gophers and this was his take. (I'm not near as good as DL65 at this)

-He first mentioned that Gopher fans are probably longing for the Glen Mason days.

yes, longing for that patented blank clueless look that Mason has in the middle of a late game meltdown. Looks like a guy to frozen in fear and disbelief as the train runs him over

Yes, those were the good old days. I miss those blank clueless looks of Mason but I still have the fond memories.

 

[Sparlimb]

yes, longing for that patented blank clueless look that Mason has in the middle of a late game meltdown. Looks like a guy to frozen in fear and disbelief as the train runs him over

I'll take it to losing to NDSU by 20 and giving up 50+ to everyone else by BrewCrew.

 

[Killjoy]

I'll take it to losing to NDSU by 20 and giving up 50+ to everyone else by BrewCrew.

I will take option K.

 

[imthewalrus]

This morning I called into the Phil Steele hour on the Bill King show on Sirius college sports radio. I asked him about the Gophers and this was his take. (I'm not near as good as DL65 at this)

-He first mentioned that Gopher fans are probably longing for the Glen Mason days.

yes, longing for that patented blank clueless look that Mason has in the middle of a late game meltdown. Looks like a guy to frozen in fear and disbelief as the train runs him over

Once again, the masses wish to discuss the "Glen Mason Era of Golden Gopher Football..." exiled in Duluth wishes to extend the discussion with his pithy little Mason comment!


I say Steele is very much correct. I look for the days when Coach Kill can return the football team to the level of play we used to enjoy in wins over Oregon, PSU, Michigan, the Ohio State, MSU, wisky, Arkansas, Alabama, Baylor...you know...all that kind of stuff. It would be nice to watch some All-Americans...some All-Big Ten level players and all that jazz. I saw NO fun in that 1-11, 0-8 brewball stuff. And the way that brewball stuff ended was incredibly painful to watch.

Now, all agree that Coach Kill needs more time to try to rebuild the program to the level of those Mason years. Even though we have TCF BANK STADIUM, the student section is made up of empty seats. Maybe Coach Mason had the right idea in poking a little good, clean fun at the student section back in the days when there used to be 8,000 to 10,000 of them who would journey over to the dome to watch Barber, Maroney, Tepeh, and some of the other Gopher backs have 1000 yard rushing seasons. I'd like to see the team progress to the point of making me forget the Mason Days...the Stoll Days...the Warmath Days. I'd like that more than anything you might be able to imagine exiled in Duluth...

I HOPE that Coach Kill will be given enough time to begin to bring the program back to the level of having invitations to bowl games most seasons...and even to the point of winning a bowl game or two. THAT would be a start, any way.

Yes, I hope very much to see Coach Kill and his team continue to be invited to a bowl game following the 2013 season. Why, I even hope to see the Gophers win a bowl game in 2013 if they are invited. Then, I would know that Coach Kill was beginning to make headway in bringing the program at least back to the Coach Mason Level. Then, you might see Steele say something like: "...Gopher Fans are overjoyed to see Coach Kill succeed to the point of making them forget the Mason years..."

Just ask Coach Kill if he would like to start turning out some All-Americans...playing Michigan and the Ohio State close enough to even blow a lead...and every once in a while winning a bowl game, not to mention being able to beat some of the teams Coach Mason's teams defeated.

You can't have it both ways exiled in Duluth. IF you are going to bash Mason for some games his teams lost...you have GOT to praise Mason for some games his teams won.

Believe me, I am rooting for Coach Kill to start winning BIG. But, before his teams start winning BIG, they have got to at least start winning "MASON_LEVEL..." numbers of games. And, when they start becoming better, they will probably come close in some games that they will blow some leads in.

When you play the game the way you want to play...you are going to have to acknowledge the good AND the bad...If you want to dwell on some losses...you are going to have to swallow the fact that there were some GREAT wins during the Mason Years too. And that's the way the record book will ALWAYS recall the Mason years.

I hope Coach Kill gets us back to at least those levels soon. And, then I hope he takes us WAY above and beyond the Mason years...
So, how many years are you boys and girls going to give Coach Kill to do that?

; 0 )

 

[bemidjigopher]

Wren are you by chance Mrs. Glen Mason? Or one of the college chicks he was known to hit on in Dinkytown

 

[Maximus]

Even though we have TCF BANK STADIUM, the student section is made up of empty seats. Maybe Coach Mason had the right idea in poking a little good, clean fun at the student section back in the days when there used to be 8,000 to 10,000 of them who would journey over to the dome to watch Barber, Maroney, Tepeh......

; 0 )

It's a shame he trashed the students in 2006. He might still be coaching.

 

[gophernut]

while I respect the coaching job Glen Mason did he was never going to get us to the level that a wisonsin or even an Iowa - he was good enough for the occasional third or fourth place finish. We were never going to win a big ten title - lack of talent, recruiting and game day coaching can only get you so far. We don't miss Mason - we just got killed by the Brewster hire.

 

[imthewalrus]

It's a shame he trashed the students in 2006. He might still be coaching.

maximus: So what the heck did Coach Kill do to the students? They are no where to be seen...

; 0 )

 

[imthewalrus]

while I respect the coaching job Glen Mason did he was never going to get us to the level that a wisonsin or even an Iowa - he was good enough for the occasional third or fourth place finish. We were never going to win a big ten title - lack of talent, recruiting and game day coaching can only get you so far. We don't miss Mason - we just got killed by the Brewster hire.

So, the last Big Ten title was in 1967. Seems as though the problem was much greater than Mason. I miss beating some of the programs that Mason managed to beat. I miss that a LOT. When are we going to get some of those kinds of wins again? Will Coach Kill ever win us a Big Ten Title? When was our last occasional tie for third place...fourth place?

As far as I am concerned, until I see something better than what Coach Mason showed, those wins that he got us and those All-American Players and All_Big Ten Players and bowl game wins were pretty darn nice! I'm very anxiously waiting to be shown better than what Mason did...but...until it happens, I am not going to pretend that all these losses are better than some darn nice wins every once in a while.

I wish Coach Kill the very best. I only hope he is able to hold out until he can win some big games and get enough bowl invitations and some bowl wins. The new norwood's football history at the Big Ten level doesn't go back very far. Who knows if he will pull the trigger...when he will cut the cord...why he might make a move. I think Coach Kill needs some big wins to put a safety net between him and the new norwood hire...and...sometimes fans change their tunes on a dime too.

I hope Coach Kill can blow Coach Mason's tenure here out of the water...BUT...I am going to have to see the results put into the record books and I will need to see wins against programs like the Ohio State University, Michigan, Penn State, wisky, Arkansas, Oregon, Alabama, and a bunch of other B1G programs such as MSU, Nebraska, et al before I quit missing some of Mason's wins. I just can't pretend and guess into the future that it is going to happen. I have got to SEE those wins with my own eyes until they will be real to me, gophernut.

Believe me, I want Coach Kill to succeed in the biggest way possible. It's just that I need to see the results happen before I can push my memories of the last BIG wins I saw out of my mind...

; 0 )

 

[die hard gopher]

the indiana defense will look a lot better with Bielema no longer in the picture

 

[Buck_Buchanan]

He thinks we will be underdog's to Indiana? I'm sure he just forgot about that (non-local media people have too many teams to keep track of. Glad he has a positive outlook on Kill and his program.

If one looks at the track record of our team vs Indiana (@Indiana), I think he has us the Gophers as an underdog. I believe the Gophers have won in Bloomington 4 times since the early / mid 1960s. Their high octane offense, our history in Bloomington, etc. should have our team as an underdog. Having said that, I will be cheering our team on, hoping they win, and knowing (talent wise) we should win. But the simple matter of fact is the Gophers rarely win in Bloomington and it could be a "land mine" game. I sincerely hope I am wrong but history suggests otherwise. Go Gophers!

Buck

 

[Killjoy]

Wren are you by chance Mrs. Glen Mason? Or one of the college chicks he was known to hit on in Dinkytown

Actually wren was in charge of carrying Glen's suit case or him. Since Glen allowed him to do that he has been in seventh heaven.

 

[imthewalrus]

The Indiana game combined with the Northwestern game will dictate the fate of the...

If one looks at the track record of our team vs Indiana (@Indiana), I think he has us the Gophers as an underdog. I believe the Gophers have won in Bloomington 4 times since the early / mid 1960s. Their high octane offense, our history in Bloomington, etc. should have our team as an underdog. Having said that, I will be cheering our team on, hoping they win, and knowing (talent wise) we should win. But the simple matter of fact is the Gophers rarely win in Bloomington and it could be a "land mine" game. I sincerely hope I am wrong but history suggests otherwise. Go Gophers!

Buck

2013 B1G Season for our Gophers. I had been planning on a road trip to Evanston this fall and I think I am just going to have to make the trip to Bloomington as well! These will be tough road games, HOWEVER, they are the types of games that the Gophers can win with great effort, heart and by executing well. Coach Kill has got to have his team competing with Indiana and Northwestern to continue the improvement we saw from the 2012 season...

These two games will be so important in determining if the Gophers will win a bowl game invitation in 2013.

It looks as though the trips to Evanston and Bloomington will need to be "can't miss" trips for this old Golden Gopher Football Fan. These two destinations will provide much insight into the progress that Coach Kill and his staff are making with our Golden Gopher Football Program!

; 0 )

 

[Deleted_User]

I like how our defense is being recruited by Kill and Co. As the team has taken a large leap forward last year, and I expect more of the same this year, I like how the balance is going affect the teams overall performance. 2 more wins this season and a better bowl.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

If one looks at the track record of our team vs Indiana (@Indiana), I think he has us the Gophers as an underdog. I believe the Gophers have won in Bloomington 4 times since the early / mid 1960s. Their high octane offense, our history in Bloomington, etc. should have our team as an underdog. Having said that, I will be cheering our team on, hoping they win, and knowing (talent wise) we should win. But the simple matter of fact is the Gophers rarely win in Bloomington and it could be a "land mine" game. I sincerely hope I am wrong but history suggests otherwise. Go Gophers!

Buck

There are a lot of national people buying into Kevin Wilson. He's had some nice recruiting numbers and the offense was capable last year, so there is some reason. We'll see if it lasts...

I don't know who will be favored going into that game. OOC, both should be 3-1 or 4-0 in theory (we'll see what really happens). In conference, both teams will likely be underdogs in all their previous games: IU plays PSU, MSU and MI before MN; MN plays IA, MI, NW, and NE. I can see scenarios where IU is favored, but I can also see several where MN is favored.

 

[wait!what?]

amazed that any goph fan
still pencils in a no loss non con record.

 

[dpodoll68]

amazed that any goph fan
still pencils in a no loss non con record.

Worst haiku ever.

 

[RodentRampage]

amazed that any goph fan
still pencils in a no loss non con record.

Imagine going 4-0 in non-conference, when has that ever happened?