Rittenberg: It's not unreasonable at all to expect the Gophers to get back to a bowl

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Misplaced Gopher from Fargo, N.D., writes: Adam, last year Minnesota football fans were presented a laundry list of reasons why the Gophers couldn't win in Jerry Kill's first year: physically unfit personnel, academic nonperformance, poorly chosen recruits (blaming the previous regime), personnel mismatched to the incoming system, lack of opportunity to coach. This year, coach Kill is making no attempt to keep expectations down. He is praising the players effusively, bragging about the incoming recruits, and he says that this year he's getting to coach the players instead of spending all his time teaching them how to hustle, how to behave, and how to play. Coach Kill seems to be building up the expectations of the 2012 Gophers. Why do you think he's doing this, and how much better can Minnesotans expect our team to be this year?

Adam Rittenberg: Two questions from North Dakota in the same mailblog -- nice! I don't know if Kill is inflating the expectations too much, Gopher. I think at times last season he talked too much about the problems with the previous regime and the uphill climb he faced. While much of what he said is true, his statements sounded like excuses after a while. Kill clearly is more comfortable after going through a full offseason, but he also has addressed the odd roster makeup, which still includes small senior and junior classes (not counting the juco arrivals). But it's natural for coaches to feel more comfortable after they're established, and after they bring in more of their own players. What should Minnesota fans expect this season? Definitely more than three or four wins. It's not unreasonable at all to expect the Gophers to get back to a bowl.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/47177/big-ten-mailblog-154

Go Gophers!!
 

fire BB, AR is the only voice I respect out of espns B1G blog.
 


How far down has sports journalism spiraled. I could grow a tail while reading the sports section and come up with this. (byline- Kohler) Duh! Where are the NW or Q grads? This is who espn pays for big ten coverage? Where's my resume.
 



I'm as optimistic as most that Kill is going to right the ship, but let's temper expectations for next year. We have 1 upperclassmen on the O-line who has ever logged significant minutes, no running back that has ever gained more than 200 yards in a season at the D-1 level, and no receiver or TE who has ever caught more than 20 passes. Our QB also struggled mightily for most of last year and hasn't proven that he can be consistently accurate. And I haven't even discussed the defense. Patience everyone...
 

John Galt said:
We have 1 upperclassmen on the O-line who has ever logged significant minutes
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Depends on your definition of "significant", I guess, but Mottla is a Jr. who played quite a bit last year.

Your overall point is correct, though...patience. Patience.
 


John Galt said:
I'm as optimistic as most that Kill is going to right the ship, but let's temper expectations for next year. We have 1 upperclassmen on the O-line who has ever logged significant minutes, no running back that has ever gained more than 200 yards in a season at the D-1 level, and no receiver or TE who has ever caught more than 20 passes. Our QB also struggled mightily for most of last year and hasn't proven that he can be consistently accurate. And I haven't even discussed the defense. Patience everyone...
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while I agree patience is probably the best policy, he did say that its not "unreasonable" to expect a bowl appearance. It might not be smart/correct/whatever other word you want, but it is at least reasonable :D
 



t-docious said:
fire BB, AR is the only voice I respect out of espns B1G blog.
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The sad part is BB probably thinks he's way smarter than AR because he destroyed him in the fantasy league and in picking games this year.
 

upnorthkid said:
while I agree patience is probably the best policy, he did say that its not "unreasonable" to expect a bowl appearance. It might not be smart/correct/whatever other word you want, but it is at least reasonable :D
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If the team really comes together, it's definitely possible. It would show that the players have greatly improved, and would also show that the staff has added some really good pieces with the freshmen and JC players. My concern is that if people are expecting 6-7 wins and bowl game this year, there's a good chance they'll be disappointed. I can already see people on this board questioning the staff if we drop one of the non-conference games.
 


There are four very winnable out of conference games and four games against teams with big question marks. Northwestern, Purdue, Iowa and Illinois are the B10 teams we play that have major issues. I don't think expecting 6 wins is unreasonable, it will come down to, which coaching staffs do the best job of finding answers.
 



Sorry but their is no reason that if Kill is the guy to lead us to good things in football that it can't start next year. He has had the program for over a year and is heading into his second season as a coach and is getting more of his players into the game plan. The team is entering its second season in the same offenses and defenses which should mean more good things. I can see winning 5 games and just missing a bowl game but winning 6 games shouldnt be that much to ask especially with the schedule. I dont see the Big Ten outside of the top couple of teams as being unbeatable teams. Throw in some teams are having to break in new QBs winning 6 games shouldnt be that crazy of an idea.
 

I guess it's not completely unreasonable to think the Gophers could be bowling this year. I wasn't attentive to the program in 2008, but hell, even Brewster had a winning season in his second year.
 

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