Questions for coach Kill via Dave Mona - Sports Huddle

[DL65]

It's been awhile since I asked GopherHolers to submit questions for 'CCOs Sports Huddle and Dave Mona. I'd think you'd have a specific question or two that you like to be raised on Sunday's show. So, here's your chance. Dave visits this board and maybe he'll consider your question.


Go Gophers!!

 

[Killjoy]

Questions for coach Kill: (This may be a little early but I need a Gopher football fix.) What are the dates for spring practice and the spring game? Are you also going to allow fans to attend practice this year like you have in past years. Lastly, last year you talked about maybe making some changes to the spring game. What are your thoughts about this now?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Of all this year's freshman, who do you think will take the biggest step forward next season?

 

[RochesterGopher]

Norwood has mentioned how he wants to enhance game day atmosphere. What steps do you see being taken in the future to achieve this?

 

[nc2mn]

Tell us about the freshmen who red-shirted this year. Especially the Leidner/Nelson competition.

 

[nsmike]

When you decide you need to recruit a JUCO player for a position of need what do you look for? I would think that after ability being available for spring practice is important. Could you talk about the process a little?

 

[gophergrad]

I'd be curious where the staff is going this off season. Usually the staff visits another school and vice versa. It might also be cool to know if there are any schools visiting Minnesota.

 

[matt]

Will any of the current safeties be moving to cornerback next year? If so, who?

 

[DL65]

1) We hear sports/trainiing facilities are a major factor in attracting top recruits and necessary for a team to be competitive on the field. What's the current status of upgrading football training facilities at Minnesota? Is there a defined plan in place, and is there a time frame for said upgrades? What's the estimated cost for the football facilities? How will the upgrades be paid for (private donations, public expenditures, combination of both)? Will revenue streams from the Vikings playing at TCF Bank Stadium be used to update and improve the football team's training facilities?

2) How many recruits do you anticipate will sign Letters of Intent on Signing Day (Minnesota's allotment this year)? How many preferred walkons do you expect to sign on with the Gophers? Do you try to have preferred walkons meet specific team needs or is it the best possible candidate/athlete available regardless of position?

3) Now that fall semester finals have been competed, how did the team do in their academic work? Was there continued progress in their student studies from last spring?


Go Gophers!!

 

[supadupafly]

1) We hear sports/trainiing facilities are a major factor in attracting top recruits and necessary for a team to be competitive on the field. What's the current status of upgrading football training facilities at Minnesota? Is there a defined plan in place, and is there a time frame for said upgrades? What's the estimated cost for the football facilities? How will the upgrades be paid for (private donations, public expenditures, combination of both)? Will revenue streams from the Vikings playing at TCF Bank Stadium be used to update and improve the football team's training facilities?

2) How many recruits do you anticipate will sign Letters of Intent on Signing Day (Minnesota's allotment this year)? How many preferred walkons do you expect to sign on with the Gophers? Do you try to have preferred walkons meet specific team needs or is it the best possible candidate/athlete available regardless of position?

3) Now that fall semester finals have been competed, how did the team do in their academic work? Was there continued progress in their student studies from last spring?


Go Gophers!!

can argue with any of these. all things i would like to know more about too.

 

[elohrehpog]

Will any of the available scholarships be awared to walk-ons who've become regular starters this season (i.e. Caleb Bak who started 15 of the last 17 games and who, according to ESPN 1500, appears to be Limegrovers go-forward choice at right guard)?

 

[Killjoy]

Unfortunately scholarship on walk-ons is not always made public. As has been stated here by others earlier, walk on scholarships are often awarded after they find out exactly how many scholarship players qualify and show up.

 

[elohrehpog]

Unfortunately scholarship on walk-ons is not always made public. As been stated here by others they are also often awarded after they find out how many scholarship players are actually show up or are admitted.

Those are good points. But, I've heard Sid and Dave ask this question before on several occasions. On one or two such occasions Kill did reference Botticelli by name. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask again. I'm particularly curious about o-linemen like Bak, Christensen and Mottla. Thanks.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Question: ideally, how many quarterbacks would you like to have on the roster in a given year? Is there a preferred spread in terms of age, i.e. 1 Sr, 1 Jr, etc?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Those are good points. But, I've heard Sid and Dave ask this question before on several occasions. On one or two such occasions Kill did reference Botticelli by name. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask again. I'm particularly curious about o-linemen like Bak, Christensen and Mottla. Thanks.

The Botticelli scenario was a little different from how they are usually awarded. Botticelli was sort of like Rallis in that he was essentially made into a scholarship player going forward. A lot more walk-ons get scholarships than guys in those situations because scholarships always open up post-signing day. Those guys (the majority of walk-ons on scholarship) often are not reported because they aren't really renewed. It's a situation like "we'd like to award you a scholarship for THIS year". If it opens up again the next year...they can be up again.

The guys who are in the Rallis/Botticelli category are usually guys that they can tell after a year that they are going to be a 3 year starter type of player. It's usually not fringe starters or backups who get a lot of reps (those guys usually are the type that get awarded post-signing day).

 

[everybody knows my name]

How much effort are you asked or expected to contribute to fundraising? Has this changed with the transition from Joel Maturi to Nordwood Teague?

 

[everybody knows my name]

Of the other coaches at the U, who do you like the best? Who is the biggest dooshbag?

(I know I spelled it wrong, but the forum blocked it when I spelled it right!)

 

[elohrehpog]

The Botticelli scenario was a little different from how they are usually awarded. Botticelli was sort of like Rallis in that he was essentially made into a scholarship player going forward. A lot more walk-ons get scholarships than guys in those situations because scholarships always open up post-signing day. Those guys (the majority of walk-ons on scholarship) often are not reported because they aren't really renewed. It's a situation like "we'd like to award you a scholarship for THIS year". If it opens up again the next year...they can be up again.

The guys who are in the Rallis/Botticelli category are usually guys that they can tell after a year that they are going to be a 3 year starter type of player. It's usually not fringe starters or backups who get a lot of reps (those guys usually are the type that get awarded post-signing day).

Sure, your point seems reasonable to me. Although how do you know there isn't a current walk-on who fits that '3 year starter type of player'? Maybe it's Bak (ESPN seemingly alludes to that). Maybe it's someone else. Maybe it's no one. I wouldn't know. That's why I'm asking. Not the most important question, maybe. But it's one that's been asked before and sometimes with interesting results. I'm hoping it will be asked again. It could yield a dead-end answer this time. But you never know until you try. Thanks .

 

[Killjoy]

Sure, your point seems reasonable to me. Although how do you know there isn't a current walk-on who fits that '3 year starter type of player'? Maybe it's Bak (ESPN seemingly alludes to that). Maybe it's someone else. Maybe it's no one. I wouldn't know. That's why I'm asking. Not the most important question, maybe. But it's one that's been asked before and sometimes with interesting results. I'm hoping it will be asked again. It could yield a dead-end answer this time. But you never know until you try. Thanks .

I agree. You need to ask the question. You never know what will happen. Also thanks for your persistence in trying to get answers to your questions. There is a lot of beliefs here about how scholarships are granted but I have feeling there is more to it than we know.