Pirsig - ESPN Insider

Donate To GopherHole
dpodoll68

dpodoll68

Elite Poster
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
19,323
Reaction score
971
Points
113
Even though it's a couple weeks old, I just came across this quote today, and the parts that overshadowed the rest of the article (for me, at least) are bolded below:

"It's really exciting to get an offer from Ohio State," Pirsig said. "I'm honored that they felt that I'm good enough to play there. I'm just taking it all in now. Now that Ohio State has offered, it might open even more doors.

"I'm being recruited at Ohio State by [Jim] Tressel. I plan on going down there for either a visit or a camp in the summer. As far as a favorite, I really don't have one. Blue Earth is on the border of Minnesota and Iowa.

"We've had students go to Minnesota on scholarship so I've always paid attention to the Gophers but I don't have a favorite. I like all the schools that have offered. Iowa and Wisconsin do a great job with producing offensive linemen."

Pirsig plans on going to three junior days -- Wisconsin on Feb. 19, Minnesota on Feb. 20 and Michigan State on Feb. 26. His favorites at this point are Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Miami (Fla.) and Alabama.

Yeah, he gone.
 

Again sounds like a kid that is looking at all his options and has no clue where he wants to go yet. Over 11 months until signing day.
 

ya

Pretty much what I was tap dancing around yesterday in the 2012 thread. If we lose him and get 8 or 9 of the top 10 Minnesota kids...we will have had an awesome year in 2012! jmo

The key is getting those other six kids.
 

Stars in his eyes. Can't blame him. If he doesn't come here I hope he ends up at A & M.
 

60's Guy said:
Pretty much what I was tap dancing around yesterday in the 2012 thread. If we lose him and get 8 or 9 of the top 10 Minnesota kids...we will have had an awesome year in 2012! jmo

The key is getting those other six kids.
Click to expand...

I agree. Not to mention, we're pretty deep now at OL recruits, if we have to miss on one, I guess I'd prefer it be that position.
 



tikited said:
Stars in his eyes. Can't blame him. If he doesn't come here I hope he ends up at A & M.
Click to expand...

I do hope we get him, but A & M wouldn't be a bad place for him if he decides to go elsewhere. Mike Sherman is good with offensive linemen.
 

tikited said:
Stars in his eyes. Can't blame him. If he doesn't come here I hope he ends up at A & M.
Click to expand...

Pirsig has four offers and all are from the Big Ten. We'll see who else offers.

We've offered Dan Voltz from the Chicago Area and he has an offer sheet to talk about. Alabama, Auburn, Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Stanford, etc.
 




I really doubt he leaves the big ten. . Yeah it is cool to get interest from the big southern schools, but I just do not see it. tOSU, Neb, Wisky, Iowa. Worry about them
 

I think we have a 25% chance at signing him ONLY because of Kill. I think he will relate to the family once in the Living Room in Blue Earth. He is a real guy, and by comparison all the others will look like snake oil salesmen.

That said, they have two BCS level OL but do not make it to the state tourney?? I understand there are not as many players to fill in around them, but that is also the case on the other side of the ball. To take that a step further....there should not be a DL in that conference/region that can stop 600 lbs from the Left side of the OL....I'm just sayin....

He is a prospect--with upside.
 

I've seen many games in the South Central Conference over the past few years and they lack athletes.
 

THE Chitown Gopher said:
That said, they have two BCS level OL but do not make it to the state tourney?? I understand there are not as many players to fill in around them, but that is also the case on the other side of the ball. To take that a step further....there should not be a DL in that conference/region that can stop 600 lbs from the Left side of the OL....I'm just sayin....

He is a prospect--with upside.
Click to expand...

I think Maxy was on to something. From my personal experience

Let me preface by saying I came out of Minneapolis; when we played teams down that way the size on the offensive and defensive lines (and depth) were nothing short of amazing. They had natural strength that only comes from years of hard laborious work.

In the years we matched their O' and D' lines we always won a close grind out out game. The difference came to our superior Skill players (converse to those guys we always had plenty of depth at skill spots). When we couldn't match their line play, they would just pound us in a lopsided game. It seemed like this for every school no matter their record.

We would come in with 30 to 40 guys and they would have 80 (in same class schools). The outcome always seemed to hinge on how solid our O' and D' lines were.

The point in sharing the experience is that these guys face tough trench battles week in and week out. The domination part is not so easy when you are matched against similar sized guys week in week out.

It's similar argument to the BCS conferece v Non BCS schedule every week. However, the same point is why I am excited about this kid. From all accounts he's a beast that is athletic; teach him technique and then run a kid from Florida off his hip.
 



Let's not moan about him leaving already. Let Kill and crew get in there and get to know the family, and see how it pans out. I don't care about perceived depth, or current recruiting victories along the 0-Line. I want every single kid from Minnesota to wear Maroon and Gold and then go around the country (or 300 mile radius) and get who you need to get us to the Rose Bowl.

There is nothing like watching a home-grown player dominate a game, no matter the position.
 

I'm not putting limits on what Kill might possibly be able to do. Just because something was, doesn't mean it is going forward. The Nelson commitment should show that some. So far, I've been very impressed with what he has done, in all aspects really. Just waiting for the actual football to begin and hopefully, he'll continue to impress me then.
 

Obviously hope Kill can get this guy but if he can't I hope he goes some where outside of the Big Ten. There's nothing worse than seeing Minnesota kids play some where else in the Big Ten.
 

Its disappointing

that the top player in the state almost always has stars in his eyes. So nice that the Olsen men dont fall prey to that. If you google it--its called the Henderson-Floyd Syndrome---a serious disease.
 

atsgopher said:
I think Maxy was on to something. From my personal experience

Let me preface by saying I came out of Minneapolis; when we played teams down that way the size on the offensive and defensive lines (and depth) were nothing short of amazing. They had natural strength that only comes from years of hard laborious work.

In the years we matched their O' and D' lines we always won a close grind out out game. The difference came to our superior Skill players (converse to those guys we always had plenty of depth at skill spots). When we couldn't match their line play, they would just pound us in a lopsided game. It seemed like this for every school no matter their record.

We would come in with 30 to 40 guys and they would have 80 (in same class schools). The outcome always seemed to hinge on how solid our O' and D' lines were.

The point in sharing the experience is that these guys face tough trench battles week in and week out. The domination part is not so easy when you are matched against similar sized guys week in week out.

It's similar argument to the BCS conferece v Non BCS schedule every week. However, the same point is why I am excited about this kid. From all accounts he's a beast that is athletic; teach him technique and then run a kid from Florida off his hip.
Click to expand...

Numbers are way down. South Central Conference schools are lucky to get 40 kids in 10-12 out for football. Early in the 90's these teams had 50-60 just Jr's and Sr's, in the mid 90's teams started dressing Sophomores. Now they dress 10-12 and some 9th graders to get 40 kids.

Soccer has hurt a lot of smaller 4A and larger 3A football numbers. Also kids work instead of play sports.

Add to it this.
 

Doc1001 said:
that the top player in the state almost always has stars in his eyes. So nice that the Olsen men dont fall prey to that. If you google it--its called the Henderson-Floyd Syndrome---a serious disease.
Click to expand...

It's not a disease. Its reality. As a young kid in this state you learn about pro football first. The media treats the Gophers like red-headed stepchildren, mocking them and making them seem like 2nd class citizens. Therefore as you grow up you have no pride to stay at home and want to be a Gopher. That is why the Floyds and Hendersons of the world are gone as soon as a sexy offer from a big time program comes along - they want to be a part of the limelight in college football and get to the pros - and they don't think that opportunity is there at Minnesota.

We can keep the higher profile kids with family ties to the U, but pretty much that is going to be it until we start winning 10+ games/yr. consistently.
 


josh087 said:
It's not a disease. Its reality. As a young kid in this state you learn about pro football first. The media treats the Gophers like red-headed stepchildren, mocking them and making them seem like 2nd class citizens. Therefore as you grow up you have no pride to stay at home and want to be a Gopher. That is why the Floyds and Hendersons of the world are gone as soon as a sexy offer from a big time program comes along - they want to be a part of the limelight in college football and get to the pros - and they don't think that opportunity is there at Minnesota.

We can keep the higher profile kids with family ties to the U, but pretty much that is going to be it until we start winning 10+ games/yr. consistently.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with your underlying points but to pretend that keeping Minnesota's number 1 recruit is only a problem here just isn't true. Recruiting is a national game and just because a player is from state X doesn't mean he's necessarily going there, more likely maybe. I'm too lazy to look up examples but I'm confident they are out there...
 

Hate to sound grumpy, but I just hate it when a Minnesota kid goes to another Big Ten school - treason to me. I can understand Notre Dame (especially for Cretin and Catholic boys) or the sunnier climes and relaxed social life of Florida or California - but not the Big Ten. I have a hunch more Minnesota kids will be staying at home after a year or two of Coach Kill's program is in the books.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Numbers are way down. South Central Conference schools are lucky to get 40 kids in 10-12 out for football. Early in the 90's these teams had 50-60 just Jr's and Sr's, in the mid 90's teams started dressing Sophomores. Now they dress 10-12 and some 9th graders to get 40 kids.

Soccer has hurt a lot of smaller 4A and larger 3A football numbers. Also kids work instead of play sports.

Add to it this.
Click to expand...

Football coaching in the South Central Conference is not good. They are smaller schools that don't have good youth football programs and they certainly don't coach well at the high school level. It reminds me of a corrupt bunch of good ol' boy coaches who play players based as much on how well they know their parents as talent. That said, a lot better athletes come out of that conference than is generally perceived by TC-area people. Problem is, they're usually unknown.
 

gophergrad said:
I don't disagree with your underlying points but to pretend that keeping Minnesota's number 1 recruit is only a problem here just isn't true. Recruiting is a national game and just because a player is from state X doesn't mean he's necessarily going there, more likely maybe. I'm too lazy to look up examples but I'm confident they are out there...
Click to expand...
It's actually more common for a kid to go out of state. I should have saved my work, but I went back and checked where Rivals #1 guy went each year, if I remember right, over two thirds of them left their home state. Harvin went from VA to FL, Adrian Peterson from Texas to Oklahoma, etc. Even places like LSU, which is clearly a big time school and the unquestioned top school in its state, lost a decent amount of top Louisiana players.
 

cncmin said:
Football coaching in the South Central Conference is not good. They are smaller schools that don't have good youth football programs and they certainly don't coach well at the high school level. It reminds me of a corrupt bunch of good ol' boy coaches who play players based as much on how well they know their parents as talent. That said, a lot better athletes come out of that conference than is generally perceived by TC-area people. Problem is, they're usually unknown.
Click to expand...

Football is definitely on a down cycle right now in the SCC.
 

I think cncmin hit on one of the key points for football in that area. There is absolutely no youth programs at all. Kids don't play any form of organized football until 7th grade and then their "games" normally consist of 10 plays on offense and 10 plays on defense usually with pretty poor coaching. If you do find a good junior high coach they normally move up pretty quickly. Their seasons are extremely short as well. The kids just never have a chance to learn the game and improve at all. There is some talent there but it is never developed.
 

USTGopher said:
I think cncmin hit on one of the key points for football in that area. There is absolutely no youth programs at all. Kids don't play any form of organized football until 7th grade and then their "games" normally consist of 10 plays on offense and 10 plays on defense usually with pretty poor coaching. If you do find a good junior high coach they normally move up pretty quickly. Their seasons are extremely short as well. The kids just never have a chance to learn the game and improve at all. There is some talent there but it is never developed.
Click to expand...

That is why I don't understand why any of these SCC teams run the spread formations and passing attacks. Seems like it would be hard to get 13-14 year olds lined up right and have a good system building toward the varsity level. They should run simple smashmouth football starting in 7th grade on up.
 

Doc1001 said:
that the top player in the state almost always has stars in his eyes. So nice that the Olsen men dont fall prey to that. If you google it--its called the Henderson-Floyd Syndrome---a serious disease.
Click to expand...

Think about this a little differently:
You are a highly rated local kid who pays attention to the gophers. You have just witnessed the career of another highly rated local kid who turned down other offers to play at home, set most of the school records for his position, by some measures is one of the most prolific players at his position in bt history, and you've watched him get ripped constantly by the fan base for years. I don't think it is unreasonable for a kid to ask what the upside of staying home is.
 

dpodoll68 said:
"It's really exciting to get an offer from Ohio State," Pirsig said. "I'm honored that they felt that I'm good enough to play there. I'm just taking it all in now. Now that Ohio State has offered, it might open even more doors.
Click to expand...

He's gone. Sounds like yet another Minnesota kid who has been conditioned since birth that true success is the opportunity to play college football at another BCS school while playing at Minnesota is "settling."
 

I agreee with others above in saying the key will be Coach Kill demonstrating some sucees on the field this fall. It may be unrealistic to see a great start against USC with new offensive and defensive schemes, but if the Gophers show significant progress as the year progresses, I think Kill will have a chance to convince Pirsig to join the Gophers. One of the key things will be to show some significant improvement in the OL play.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom