Reusse: Kill follows the Mason School of Scheduling; Kill still wants out of UNC game

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mnsports1 said:
Kill just said that when the program gets towhere he wants it he will schedule those games that the fans want, but we are not there yet.
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This. Back away from the ledge, people. Dpo makes some great points in this thread, also.
 

I'm not enough of a masochist to read all the stupid posts on this topic, so I may be repeating someone else's point. Too bad. That's what happens when you get two freakishly hyperintelligent people posting on the same board.

1. The Gophers aren't very good yet, so it would be nice to let them gain experience in 'practice games' against inferior opponents. Unfortunately, we don't cobble together a schedule in August and then start playing it in September - the schedule is created years in advance, and no one knows whether the Gophers - or their opponents - will actually be any good when game time rolls around. A rational compromise would be to play one major program and three cupcakes every nonconference season.

2. The Big Ten schedule presents plenty of opportunities to play tough teams, so it isn't necessary to load up on strength-of-schedule unless you expect to be a national title contender. If we do get to that point (and I'll bet that we will once or twice before JK's career is over) then we'll be glad to have played one or two major programs in the nonconference portion of our season.

3. Reusse's article was 100% fair, included no cheapshots against coach Kill, and was interesting reading. That's par for the course; most of the time Reusse is okay. It's just the days that he wakes up on the wrong side of his maxi pads that he writes an occasional unfair article. In any case, say what you want about him, but he helps keep the profile of Gophers football higher by writing about them. Keep in mind the difference between a beat reporter and a columnist: a reporter has to write about a particular topic, but a columnist writes about what interests him or her. Some of you will gag when you read this, but Norwood Teague and Jerry Kill should be thankful that a popular columnist and radio host thinks the Gophers are worth the ink.
 

Kill made it pretty clear on his show that where this program is right now, he would rather be going the "creampuff" route right now. But he also noted that when his program has the depth and is more established, he's far more open to those "BCS" games. It seems people feel like he's just all about always being 4 creampuffs every year, mark it down, no question about it, but that's not really how he laid it out.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Using Sagarin ratings as of right now, we would be a 15-point underdog if we played @ UNC this weekend.

Deal with things as they are, not how you would like them to be.
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I would certainly expect that to be closer next year with a third year of the system here and probation there, but no guarantees.

I'll be disappointed if we cancel the series, but I'm not going to jump off any bridges. I'd like to see the Gophers play one "good" team every year, but I don't think it's necessary for them to win the B1G. Seems to me the team to the east went to a couple Rose Bowls playing Southwest Nowhere State Tech A&M four times during NC.

I was looking forward to it since my wife has a newly found relative in the area, so we could have stayed with her family. Oh well.
 

I love how so many gopherholers bitch that students don't show up or care about the football program and then defend playing *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# schools like new hampshire! If we plan on generating excitement for the fan base, we need a schedule to show the program is not only dedicated to winning but also dedicated to peaking fan interest. I hated the mason schedule and I'm pissed we are going back to it! By no means do I think we need 4 big names non conf every year, 1 major conf school for the 2nd or 3rd non conf every year will help sell tickets, bringing sdsu, ndsu, unh, etc doesnt make fans excited for gopher football!
 


wels0081 said:
Iceland12 said:
THERE'S the problem. Jerry puts North Carolina in the same category as USC and Texas! Kill thinks that even one game against a comparable BCS team destroys his chance of a Bowl Game. The problem is the only way his "weak sister" schedule works at the box office is if he can consistently go 7-1 or 6-2 in Big Ten Conference play. That would make the Gophers a big time draw and make buying Season Tickets the only way to get seats. That's happened ONCE in the last 50 years. Cal Stoll did it in 19 and seventy-three!"

.
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But couldn't the same argument be made for scheduling the UNC's of the world? Do you really think that a game against UNC is going to generate a ton more buzz than a game against Eastern Michigan at TCF?
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lakesgopher said:
I love how so many gopherholers bitch that students don't show up or care about the football program and then defend playing *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# schools like new hampshire! If we plan on generating excitement for the fan base, we need a schedule to show the program is not only dedicated to winning but also dedicated to peaking fan interest. I hated the mason schedule and I'm pissed we are going back to it! By no means do I think we need 4 big names non conf every year, 1 major conf school for the 2nd or 3rd non conf every year will help sell tickets, bringing sdsu, ndsu, unh, etc doesnt make fans excited for gopher football!
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I can see the merits in both, but I really don't think the student section gets a lot more excited for North Carolina than Western Michigan.
 

everybody knows my name said:
In any case, say what you want about him, but he helps keep the profile of Gophers football higher by writing about them.
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Ohh....so when I picked up the paper this morning and saw page one above the fold dead center a picture of Kill in a bright gold shirt with this caption (all caps as it was printed): REUSSE: KILL WANTS GOPHERS PLAYING CREAMPUFFS ....we should thank Pat and the Strib for keeping the Gophers' profile high? My bad.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I can see the merits in both, but I really don't think the student section gets a lot more excited for North Carolina than Western Michigan.
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Then let's compare attendance to western Michigan at home vs unc coming to Minneapolis! Obviously it's hypothetical but we can both agree which game will have better attendance.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
I can see the merits in both, but I really don't think the student section gets a lot more excited for North Carolina than Western Michigan.
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Well, I'd say they do if the Gophers are good and the game gets primetime buzz (blimp, Gameday, etc). I've seen the extra level of juice running through campus here in Madison for those types of games. But that sort of scenario is even farther off than the rest of the discussion is right now.
 

lakesgopher said:
If we plan on generating excitement for the fan base, we need a schedule to show the program is not only dedicated to winning but also dedicated to peaking fan interest.
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New Mexico State drew more fans than the Iowa and Illinois games.

Northern Illinois game had more fans than Penn State or Ohio State.

What happened. That's right...winning is all that matters.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
wels0081 said:
But couldn't the same argument be made for scheduling the UNC's of the world? Do you really think that a game against UNC is going to generate a ton more buzz than a game against Eastern Michigan at TCF?
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Sure do Bob. The problem is the people not going to the game, the bandwagon or "entertain" me fans. Say North Carolina or Eastern Michigan and it would be North Carolina hands down. Now they may be thinking "basketball" not football but it doesn't matter. One's a "name" the other isn't. There are legions of those people around here, hard to believe that you couldn't fool a few thousand of them to head over to TCF.

Besides, reading the posts on here a College Football, Gopher Football site, makes you believe that UNC is one of the major powers of the sport. If they believe that seeing let alone beating the Tar Heels is that big a deal then fooling the "great unwashed" might be easier then you think!:)
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KFAN followed up with a shot about Kill’s tardiness to shows and piled on about the scheduling. Does this also help our program?

Take the last four years at NIU, they picked at least one Big Ten team every year. I am O.K., if Kill doesn’t think we are there yet. We are turning around a dysfunctional program the way he deems necessary.

I just think cream puffs are a weakness of R.O.U.S.e's, not Kill's.
 

Maximus said:
Ohh....so when I picked up the paper this morning and saw page one above the fold dead center a picture of Kill in a bright gold shirt with this caption (all caps as it was printed): REUSSE: KILL WANTS GOPHERS PLAYING CREAMPUFFS ....we should thank Pat and the Strib for keeping the Gophers' profile high? My bad.
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If the choices are (1) Twin Cities media ignore the Gophers and pretend they don't exist or (2) Twin Cities media criticize the coach, then YES, we should be glad that they're at least paying attention.
 

Oh and with local media's knowledge of College Football, or lack there of, they'd be far more jazzed about North Carolina too!
 

Reusse has earned more Porta potty points, and is in danger of having his image plasterd on the porta johns in the tailgate lots again.
Patrick Reusse memorial Pota Potty's for bringing up the same subject for three consecutive decades. Why does Reusse keep bringing this up other than to tweak Gopher fans and coaches.
Funny thing is I think Patrick is a Gopher fan at heart.
Would be nice to have a tailgating game where you pin the tail on the Reusse in his honor. I think he would feel privledged.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Deal with things as they are, not how you would like them to be.
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Does this also apply to Kill? Should he just deal with the fact that UNC is on the schedule and go beat them (how things are), or should he complain that he'd like the schedule to be easier (how he would like them to be)?
 

SonOfTheVarsity said:
Does this also apply to Kill? Should he just deal with the fact that UNC is on the schedule and go beat them (how things are), or should he complain that he'd like the schedule to be easier (how he would like them to be)?
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Part of dealing with things as they are is that contracts are negotiable.
 

I'm to lazy too read all of the threads so maybe someone has already pointed this out. Wisconsin has been really successful with this cup cake early model.

Folks will complain regardless of what you do...so win early and get your team confidence up early against the cup cakes. Lose to the best teams in the conference. Beat the bad teams in the conference and hope for a split against the conference teams with the same ability. Your team will always be above 500. In a average year you make a bowl game in Arizona, in a good year you're nationally ranked. In a great year you get the privillage to be destroyed by an SEC team.
 

SonOfTheVarsity said:
Does this also apply to Kill? Should he just deal with the fact that UNC is on the schedule and go beat them (how things are), or should he complain that he'd like the schedule to be easier (how he would like them to be)?
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The difference is in the ability to actually change things. Kill is free to complain about the play of his players, the schedule, the coaching of his staff, etc., etc. because he actually has some level of control over, and responsibility for, those things. As fans, we can sit and piss and moan about how we wish the Gophers were better, but NOTHING we do can make them be better. We can help by cheering loudly, donating money, etc., but it's ultimately on the players and coaches to perform. Bitching about things you have no control over does nothing but leave you frustrated.
 

mngolf makes an excellent point about Florida and I will make the point with the 2011-2012 National Champions: Alabama. Here's Alabama's 2011 NC schedule: vs Kent St, @Penn St, vs N Texas, vs Georgia Southern. Even the top schools only play 1 other BCS team per year. There just is not much of a reward for doing so. Alabama still skated into the BCS title game with their weak NC schedule, and just about every other program could too. So there's just not much upside to schedule BCS teams in the NC. About the only exception to this rule is USC.

Secondly, I agree with Bob Loblaw - the hardcore fans like those of us on this board get a bit more intrigued by North Carolina than Eastern Illinois, but the casual fans don't. So it doesn't make sense to schedule them from an attendance standpoint either.

If we start dominating the creampuffs, then lets move back to 1 BCS school per year.

Incidentally, anybody look at the 2014 schedule? 4 home games to start: E Ill, MidTennSt, NoCarolina, SanJoseSt
 



dpodoll68 said:
The difference is in the ability to actually change things. Kill is free to complain about the play of his players, the schedule, the coaching of his staff, etc., etc. because he actually has some level of control over, and responsibility for, those things. As fans, we can sit and piss and moan about how we wish the Gophers were better, but NOTHING we do can make them be better. We can help by cheering loudly, donating money, etc., but it's ultimately on the players and coaches to perform. Bitching about things you have no control over does nothing but leave you frustrated.
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Dpodoll there are a lot of people here who don't know this. What you just did is a lot like telling a young child that there is no Santa Clause. I don't think they are ready for this. I hope you realize that.
 

Non conference scheduling

In reading Reusse's column about nc scheduling, I believe that playing a balanced schedule is the best option. What Kill appears to be looking for are games with teams that are FCS teams and really low FBS teams. One of the things I like about Jerry Kill is how well he reaches out to the community. However, I think this kind of scheduling works against those efforts. If the team is not playing a relevant game until October, there will be much less interest in the team at the start of the season. In this market, especially with the Vikings building a new stadium, it will be difficult to get a foothold in the public's interest. And it will be even more challenging if the Twins rebound and are competitive in the fall.
 

lakesgopher said:
Did we have to pay unc to drop this game?
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This is probably more about letteing UNC buyout of their game at TCF :(
It is way too late to cancel the visit to Chapel Hill.

The benefits of playing UNC far outweigh costs (especially as Kill percieves them). USC and Texas are one thing; Oregon State, Colorado State, UNC and Syracuse are another.
 

dpodoll68 said:
The difference is in the ability to actually change things. Kill is free to complain about the play of his players, the schedule, the coaching of his staff, etc., etc. because he actually has some level of control over, and responsibility for, those things. As fans, we can sit and piss and moan about how we wish the Gophers were better, but NOTHING we do can make them be better. We can help by cheering loudly, donating money, etc., but it's ultimately on the players and coaches to perform. Bitching about things you have no control over does nothing but leave you frustrated.
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I didn't mean it in the sense of the respective ability of Kill versus fans to act on/rectify complaints. I meant it from the stance of whether it is the right thing to do to try to remove a game that is already scheduled for being too challenging.

I think Kill should just deal with the fact that we're scheduled to visit Chapel Hill. He didn't schedule the game, and he wouldn't if he had the choice. But, if you're Kill, I think you have to just sack up and play the games on your schedule, even if you'd personally prefer to play a cupcake at home.

As fans, we can (and have) discussed at length the relative merits of playing all cupcakes versus scheduling a name school while building a program. The difference here is that the game is already scheduled. How does dropping a scheduled game for being too difficult help develop a winning mentality?

Kill is essentially telling us and, more importantly, his players, that he doesn't think the team can handle the challenge of playing a middle-tier ACC squad on probation. How does essentially trying to wuss out foster a winning attitude? "Here's a tough game, let's try to remove it from the schedule." What happened to sisu? Was it all talk, with no force behind it? We already had a coach who could do that.

When Lane Kiffin ranked USC #1, he said something to the effect that he can't coach his team if he thinks some other team is better. A little brash, but as a coach, you need a bit of that mentality. For Kill to complain and try to remove the UNC game from the schedule is, frankly, gutless, and it shows no confidence in this team or the direction it's headed.

I can't picture Kill allowing, say, an O-Lineman to check himself out of the game because he thinks the opponent's DT is too good, too much of a challenge at this phase in his career. But that's essentially what Kill is doing. I'm honestly disappointed that Kill's reaction is to complain about it and try to remove it, rather than thinking, "let's go down to Chapel Hill and beat the piss out of UNC." Also, can somebody rationalize how trying to back down from a challenge (and not even a significant challenge--it's UNC football) helps create a winning environment?
 

I have no problem scheduling these low-level teams as we try to get back on our feet. The conference schedule is always tough so I think that creates some balance.
I do take issue with continuing to do it after a string of winning seasons, which is what happened with Mason. This was why I dropped my season tickets quite a few years ago. I just got tired of watching the Buffalos and Florida Atlantics come to the Metrodome and get pounded for a paycheck, especially when it was nice outside.
I'm happy with the way things are now. Enjoying being a season ticket holder again and am really looking forward to the next few years. We have the potential for an exciting team.
 

SonOfTheVarsity said:
Kill is essentially telling us and, more importantly, his players, that he doesn't think the team can handle the challenge of playing a middle-tier ACC squad on probation.
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Actually, I'm going to guess Kill would argue that he doesn't think his team will be as fresh for the B1G season after playing this level of competition. That's how he's been selling it. Is that all of it? Prob not, but that's still the public face he puts on it.
 

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