Rossi >>> Claeys???

[Bob_Loblaw]

It's in large part Claeys own fault if he had less talented outfits to work with.

This statement is true if you think of Claeys and Kill as one entity (not ripping on that thought, it wasn't like a new staff).

Claeys only class is really good. Again, I'm not naive enough to think that would have been standard Claeys classes going forward, I'm just pointing out that a lot of the talent out there today was from Claeys only class.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

It's pretty simple. As a fan, you compare different teams. Especially on a message board. Fans ask questions like "Was this year's team better than last year's team?" Or the 2016 team? Was Mason a better coach than Kill? What's the best season we've had in the last decade? Why wasn't Brewster successful? Etc, etc

Claeys and the Washington St win have been immortalized by many. I'm stating my opinion and putting context around the amazing defensive performances that we've seen to end the season. The last 4 games have been the best 4 consecutive defensive performances I've seen from the Gophers in my lifetime.

That's why you posted it today? Again, your transparent and obsessed.

No one has immortalized them. You were the ONLY person who decided to bring it up today.

You need to move on.

 

[Schnauzer]

This topic is apples and oranges, or in this case I should say bananas and grapefruit.

Claeys was and is a very good defensive mind and he has proven this over a long career as a defensive coordinator. He continued to prove it this season.

Rossi did a very good job as the D coordinator since being elevated to the position and has shown promise for the future. Happy to have him.

 

[Urbandale]

This is not a Claeys/Rossi response, because I loved Claeys as a DC but he's no longer here. (However, he's in a fascinating matchup against Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl. My neighbor is already in San Antonio for the game, and he asked me to bring in his mail for him, which has given me an excellent opportunity to help myself to some select brews from his beer fridge.)

I'm most impressed that the three offenses we shut down - Purdue, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech - have three completely different offensive schemes. That indicates to me that Rossi just might be a creative and flexible defensive mind.

 

[MNVCGUY]

This is not a Claeys/Rossi response, because I loved Claeys as a DC but he's no longer here. (However, he's in a fascinating matchup against Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl. My neighbor is already in San Antonio for the game, and he asked me to bring in his mail for him, which has given me an excellent opportunity to help myself to some select brews from his beer fridge.)

I'm most impressed that the three offenses we shut down - Purdue, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech - have three completely different offensive schemes. That indicates to me that Rossi just might be a creative and flexible defensive mind.[/QUOTE]

This is what gives me hope as well that what we have seen out of Rossi is not a fluke because we faced some very different offenses and looked good against all of them on defense. He will have most of the same pieces to work with again next season with some other highly regarded talent coming in.

If the defensive play we saw over the last 4 game continues this team could be very good next year because I don't see any way the offense doesn't take a step forward.

 

[MennoSota]

Seriously, what does Claeys have on Rossi? Rossi's defense just held Georgia Tech to 10 points without 4 starters - Winfield, Cashman, Smith, and Martin. Plus no Jamal Teague, who may have started this game if healthy. We were also with Antonio Shenault, who started several games this year. Tell me how this defensive performance wasn't as good as Washington St.

The 2016 Washington St offense averaged 38 points/game. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/washington-state/2016.html

The Georgia Tech offense averaged 36 points/game. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/georgia-tech/2018.html

Couple this with giving up 14 points in Camp Randall (7 of which were on a garbage time TD) and 10 points against a very good Purdue offense. The final 4 games were better defensively than anything the previous staff did in 6 years. The future is bright...

Washington State's offense came in being much more prolific. Yes, the option isn't used as much as it once was, but WSU is much harder to prepare for.
That doesn't take away from a wonderful defensive performance yesterday, but the circumstances were so vastly different than 2016.

 

[60's Guy]

The win over Georgia Tech definitely was remindful of the Washington St win. Both very fun. Both excellent innovative defenses. Rossi has been phenomenal! His history wouldn't predict these results. Let's hope we can play defense like versus Purdue, Wisconsin and GT all next year! How cool would that be?
I think the offense will continue to improve next year. PJ has a sound philosophy with his time of possession, emphasis on no offensive turnovers and discipline to eliminate penalties and coaches it well
We should be able to replace those departing and add some exciting new guys. What have we got...11-13 guys coming in January? That's a nice bump to go with the bowl practices. Nice schedule coming up...gotta be optimistic for 2019!

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

The win over Georgia Tech definitely was remindful of the Washington St win. Both very fun. Both excellent innovative defenses. Rossi has been phenomenal! His history wouldn't predict these results. Let's hope we can play defense like versus Purdue, Wisconsin and GT all next year! How cool would that be?
I think the offense will continue to improve next year. PJ has a sound philosophy with his time of possession, emphasis on no offensive turnovers and discipline to eliminate penalties and coaches it well
We should be able to replace those departing and add some exciting new guys. What have we got...11-13 guys coming in January? That's a nice bump to go with the bowl practices. Nice schedule coming up...gotta be optimistic for 2019!

Agree with all you said.

 

[John Galt]

That's why you posted it today? Again, your transparent and obsessed.

No one has immortalized them. You were the ONLY person who decided to bring it up today.

You need to move on.

Bob, you didn't have to click on the thread. Or respond. You were obviously interested as were many posters. Someone else posted a thread about was it right to fire Glen Mason 12 years ago. But I'll bet you didn't tell that guy that he needs to move on despite his thread being completely irrelevant. I'm comparing the dominant defense we just saw the last 4 games with any in recent memory.


And yes, Claeys and the WSU win have been immortalized by many.

 

[XMan]

Rossi looks good so far. Claeys was awesome as a DC for many years. Time will tell

 

[John Galt]

1961 Gophers gave up 42 points in their last 5 games. 23 of them were in an upset loss to Wisconsin, but they went 4-1 and won the Rose Bowl.

You add a lot of information here, JG, but seems like you're sort of trolling here.

(And, yes, I do remember that defense though I had to look up the scores)

Thanks Mulligan. I wasn't born yet in 1961, but I'll take your word for it. It's pretty remarkable that we went from terrible to the best 4 game stretch in 57 years during the same season...

 

[John Galt]

John Galt, I think Rossi at this point has a more talented defensive outfit than Claeys ever got to work with, and I'm not convinced that the D would have stopped improving under DC Claeys. So I don't agree with the premise of the question, but I enjoy the discussion regardless.

NFL players that Claeys had:

Rashede Hageman
Damien Wilson
De'Vondre Campbell
Eric Murray
Jalen Myrick
Damarius Travis

I'm not sure this year's team had a d-linemen as good as Hageman. I think Wilson and Campbell were as good as the LBs who played yesterday. And I think the 3 DBs would have to be considered similar to our DBs this year.

 

[John Galt]

Rossi looks awesome so far. Claeys was good as a DC for many years. Time will tell

FIFY

 

[alchemy2u]

That's why you posted it today? Again, your transparent and obsessed.

No one has immortalized them. You were the ONLY person who decided to bring it up today.

You need to move on.

You are being disingenuous about this. He did use a little creative license in his description the of the Washington State game, but it has been used repeatedly, along with the 9 wins, to attack why PJ isn’t as good as Claeys.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[alchemy2u]

The win over Georgia Tech definitely was remindful of the Washington St win. Both very fun. Both excellent innovative defenses. Rossi has been phenomenal! His history wouldn't predict these results. Let's hope we can play defense like versus Purdue, Wisconsin and GT all next year! How cool would that be?
I think the offense will continue to improve next year. PJ has a sound philosophy with his time of possession, emphasis on no offensive turnovers and discipline to eliminate penalties and coaches it well
We should be able to replace those departing and add some exciting new guys. What have we got...11-13 guys coming in January? That's a nice bump to go with the bowl practices. Nice schedule coming up...gotta be optimistic for 2019!

Reload! And as PJ says, his objective is to recruit better player every year. His players objective is to get better every year so they don’t get passed over.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dano564]

The Washington State team averaged 40.3 points
GT averaged 35.6 points per game

WSU scored 12 against us.
GT scored 10.

 

[PMWinSTP]

That's why you posted it today? Again, your transparent and obsessed.

No one has immortalized them. You were the ONLY person who decided to bring it up today.

You need to move on.

JG's latched on to my comment right after the Wash/WSU game where I stated the obvious...due to the rainy, snowy, sloppy weather conditions, the team able run the ball was going to win. Wash could, WSU could not. WSU was ranked 128/129 in rushing offense. JG pivoted that into me defending TC.

 

[GFBfan]

Bob, you didn't have to click on the thread. Or respond. You were obviously interested as were many posters. Someone else posted a thread about was it right to fire Glen Mason 12 years ago. But I'll bet you didn't tell that guy that he needs to move on despite his thread being completely irrelevant. I'm comparing the dominant defense we just saw the last 4 games with any in recent memory.


And yes, Claeys and the WSU win have been immortalized by many.

Shouldn't it be?
That game the defense was exceptional. The offense didn't do much all game, but the D kept getting stop after stop after stop, until the game was put away by RS on a late TD that was set up by an INT that was almost a pick 6. Nobody gave us a chance in that game.
Yesterdays game was also great, but in a different way as the offense did more to help the D by sustaining drives and getting points.
Claeys def. game plan and what he had to work with > Rossis def. game plan and what he had to work with.
The Johnson offense led by Mitch < The Ciarocca offense led by Tanner.

 

[MennoSota]

Shouldn't it be?
That game the defense was exceptional. The offense didn't do much all game, but the D kept getting stop after stop after stop, until the game was put away by RS on a late TD that was set up by an INT that was almost a pick 6. Nobody gave us a chance in that game.
Yesterdays game was also great, but in a different way as the offense did more to help the D by sustaining drives and getting points.
Claeys def. game plan and what he had to work with > Rossis def. game plan and what he had to work with.
The Johnson offense led by Mitch < The Ciarocca offense led by Tanner.

This is a good take. Thanks for posting.

 

[Tully55]

For the correct answer to the question, "Rossi>>>Claeys???" call 1-800-who cares

 

[WoodburyTim]

This is right in the sweet spot for a Galt post. It is nice to be able to set your watch by something. If he ever put anything insightful or intelligent up it would ruin the whole bit.

Great Gopher win, let's enjoy it.

 

[Spoofin]

I’m wondering if anyone knows whether Rossi has hit his ceiling or not? I hope not, but don’t know? Some can just tell those things.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Spoofin]

For the correct answer to the question, "Rossi>>>Claeys???" call 1-800-who cares

I’m getting quite tired of the “who cares” posts on here. They seem to be very popular right now.

If you don’t care about a thread then there is an easy solution. That solution isn’t to take the time to open, read, and post in the thread you care so little about.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[short ornery norwegian]

to put in perspective.

The Gophers had built up a rep as a team that played decent or good on offense, but stunk on defense, outside of a few individual talents.

For many of the long-suffering fans, the Kill/Claeys era was some of the best defense we've seen in years - even decades. That is why Kill and Claeys are looked at fondly by at least some Gopher fans.

It is not a zero sum game. if I liked Claeys as a defensive coach, that does NOT mean I can't appreciate what Rossi did.

At the same time, I do want to see what Rossi does over a full season. If he can keep the Gophers playing at a level even close to the GT game, then this defensive unit has a chance to be one of the best at the U of MN in a long time. But the test will be longevity. Can they play that way for a full season - or even for most of a full season?

 

[Rolling with Gophers]

Nice try
The defense was very disciplined today. They played extremely well and executed the game plan Rossi put together to perfection.
Our offense also helped out tremendously by going on long drives and putting up points early and taking GT out of their comfort zone.

Having just watched the WSU game on BTN an hour before the start, I couldn't help but feel the D today was playing in a similar manner as that game in that they were completely frustrating the opponent. Great way to end the season by the team.

Just quit with the trying to compare or say Rossi is better.

And watching that Gopher offense against WSU was painful...

 

[John Galt]

This is right in the sweet spot for a Galt post. It is nice to be able to set your watch by something. If he ever put anything insightful or intelligent up it would ruin the whole bit.

Great Gopher win, let's enjoy it.

Please let us know when you post something of interest. Thanks in advance.

 

[John Galt]

Shouldn't it be?
That game the defense was exceptional. The offense didn't do much all game, but the D kept getting stop after stop after stop, until the game was put away by RS on a late TD that was set up by an INT that was almost a pick 6. Nobody gave us a chance in that game.
Yesterdays game was also great, but in a different way as the offense did more to help the D by sustaining drives and getting points.
Claeys def. game plan and what he had to work with > Rossis def. game plan and what he had to work with.
The Johnson offense led by Mitch < The Ciarocca offense led by Tanner.

Thanks for stating that the game has been immortalized by some fans. I’m not sure why some would refuse to acknowledge that. It was a very impressive performance, no doubt about it. The Georgia Tech defensive performance was similar in terms of how we dominated while missing 4-5 starters.