Rutgers has named Athan Kaliakmanis the starting QB. Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt, who started 18 games the last two years announces he's transferring

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Be interesting too see what AK can do with a competent OC rather than a TE coach and a WR coach pretending to be co-OCs.

If AK fails in 2024 he can only blame himself.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
schemes matter. If the athlete doesn't fit the scheme, the coach has two choices - change the scheme to fit the athlete, or try to change the athlete to fit the scheme. in my experience, a majority of coaches will try to change the athlete because they don't want to accept that their scheme doesn't work.

so I will not be surprised if AK does in fact look better or more comfortable in a different system.

to me, the real issue is this: when you are recruiting an athlete, you have to be pretty damn sure that the athlete is a good fit for your scheme. otherwise, you're just creating a potential problem.
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I’ve never coached football. Is it a simple matter to switch schemes during a season?
 

RememberMurray said:
I’ve never coached football. Is it a simple matter to switch schemes during a season?
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I'm talking about before the season. there's spring ball and Fall camp. that's plenty of time to evaluate and - at least - tweak some things in the scheme.

for me, the bottom line is this: if your QB doesn't do something well, then don't ask him to do it. Find what he does well and have him do that. if that means adjusting schemes, then so be it.
If there are pass routes he doesn't throw well, don't call those routes. If he has trouble working through progressions, then cut down on his reads to make things simpler.

but, if the QB does not do something well, don't say "you have to do that because it's part of my system." in my book, that's bad coaching.
 

Stuff said:
Be interesting too see what AK can do with a competent OC rather than a TE coach and a WR coach pretending to be co-OCs.
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This take is always funny. Ciarrocca played defensive back in college and was a WR coach before he was ever a QB coach or OC.

Our current O-coordinators actually played QB/WR in college and have worked their ways up the ladder, like pretty much every coordinator does.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I'm talking about before the season. there's spring ball and Fall camp. that's plenty of time to evaluate and - at least - tweak some things in the scheme.

for me, the bottom line is this: if your QB doesn't do something well, then don't ask him to do it. Find what he does well and have him do that. if that means adjusting schemes, then so be it.
If there are pass routes he doesn't throw well, don't call those routes. If he has trouble working through progressions, then cut down on his reads to make things simpler.

but, if the QB does not do something well, don't say "you have to do that because it's part of my system." in my book, that's bad coaching.
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I'm not really sure what he did well.
 



If only Fleck had given Kaliakmanis a real chance, a fair chance…
 

RememberMurray said:
Well, he’s TALL.

He has a BIG ARM.

He’s athletic and can run.

Isn’t that pretty much all there is to playing QB?
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I'd add vision, quick release, touch and confidence. And receivers that get timely separation.
 

The implications of this change will either be hilarious or devastating... I was honestly hoping we wouldn't have to see how it goes.
 



99Gopher said:
I wish Athan all the best with Rutgers. However, coming out of MN Spring practice last year we were hearing all these glowing reports about Athan and his progress and the sky was the limit. However, this picture says it all. This is Spring practice and you are wearing the green jersey with no contact. I think I'll reserve judgment until teams are throwing blitz packages at him or loading up the line to make him pass to beat them. Six months from now we will have all the answers.
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Nobody that watched Minnesota's spring game last year thought that Athan looked good.

***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS GOPHERS SPRING GAME IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

It’s Gopher football game day!!!!!! Oh how I’ve missed thee, even us vs us has me fired up! Offense looks good, ugh the D looks bad. D gets a sack, ugh o line broke down. But that’s ok!! Have fun, STAY HEALTHY, and let’s do this! GET ‘ER DONE FLECK!!!!!!!!!!!
gopherhole.com gopherhole.com
 

Crosby said:
I swear... if he lights us up for 400 yards passing with 3 TDs or something like that, I am just going to give up college football.
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Or our QB coaching is a bit suspect.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
This take is always funny. Ciarrocca played defensive back in college and was a WR coach before he was ever a QB coach or OC.

Our current O-coordinators actually played QB/WR in college and have worked their ways up the ladder, like pretty much every coordinator does.
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Ya but that's not it either...some guys shouldn't be coaches even if they know what they are doing because they are horrible teachers. Some coaches and players are not personality fits.
Different players are sensitive...if you say something that makes them lose trust in you...it isn't going to work.
Not always easy to discern if it's the player or the coach.
Not that many whisperers but it seems there are a lot of screamers...doesn't work with most players.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
This take is always funny. Ciarrocca played defensive back in college and was a WR coach before he was ever a QB coach or OC.

Our current O-coordinators actually played QB/WR in college and have worked their ways up the ladder, like pretty much every coordinator does.
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Ciarrocca had approximately 13 years of OC experience before he was ever a Gopher's OC.

Ciarrocca before being hired in 2017 was coming off of a MAC championship where his WMU offense led the MAC in ppg with 41.6 which was 9th in the entire country.

Harbaugh had 0 OC experience and was a WR coach at WMU the previous year.

Simon had 0 before becoming Co-OC in 2020 during the Sanford years, but some how Simon was able to keep his job while Sanford was "let go".

If Simon and Harbaugh have a great 2024 I will absolutely consider them competent OCs, until then they are pretenders.
 
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Stuff said:
Ciarrocca had approximately 13 years of OC experience before he was ever a Gopher's OC.

Ciarrocca before being hired in 2017 was coming off of a MAC championship where his WMU offense led the MAC in ppg with 41.6 which was 9th in the entire country.

Harbaugh had 0 OC experience and was a WR coach at WMU the previous year.

Simon had 0 before becoming Co-OC in 2020 during the Sanford years, but some how Simon was able to keep his job while Sanford was "let go".

If Simon and Harbaugh have a great 2024 I will absolutely consider them competent OCs, until then they are pretenders.
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Were you overly impressed with KC’s return tour here compared to the first year of the co-OCs who were relying on an inexperienced qb and walk on rbs?
 

Better them than us! I think it will be fascinating to see how the kid plays this year.
 

#2Gopher said:
AK may be the better quarterback, but is there a need to announce now who the starting quarterback is going to be this fall? What if he gets injured over the summer, or something happens?
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I know, right? Like other Minnesota-to-Rutgers QBs that lingered out on the street after the bar closed.
 

btowngopher said:
Were you overly impressed with KC’s return tour here compared to the first year of the co-OCs who were relying on an inexperienced qb and walk on rbs?
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Not overly impressed, but still better than Simon & Garfunkle.

But, yes you cherrypicked his worst year outside of his first year.

I don't hate them, I'm just saying they are unproven at this point. They could very well turn it around.
 
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Stuff said:
Not overly impressed, but still better than Simon & Garfunkle.

But, yes you cherrypicked his worst year outside of his first year.

I don't hate them, I'm just saying they are unproven at this point. They could very well turn it around.
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I didn’t cherry pick, I compared one year to the following year to minimize roster variation.
 

Hopefully Rutgers has a bunch of 9+ foot tall receivers as well as a couple under four.
 

Stuff said:
Be interesting too see what AK can do with a competent OC rather than a TE coach and a WR coach pretending to be co-OCs.

If AK fails in 2024 he can only blame himself.
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If he ever learns the RP option and how it works he might succeed. If he keeps telegraphing it on every play, maybe not.
 

How many games before AK enters the transfer portal? Once a quitter always a quitter.
 




akgo4 said:
Athan and PJ weren't going to work together anymore. That Athan was able to win the Rutgers job..... Best wished to him. Hopefully best for both programs. The issue to Minnesota fans is "does our system have the ability to be QB friendly". Athan looked terrible last year - just not sure this needed to happen the way it did.
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This seems more like who you know more than what you can do. I think Nathan got the job do to history with the OC. On the surface, both QBs are not gunslingers. Wimsatt had better rushing numbers, but other than that, there's not much difference.
 


Stuff said:
Ciarrocca had approximately 13 years of OC experience before he was ever a Gopher's OC.

Ciarrocca before being hired in 2017 was coming off of a MAC championship where his WMU offense led the MAC in ppg with 41.6 which was 9th in the entire country.

Harbaugh had 0 OC experience and was a WR coach at WMU the previous year.

Simon had 0 before becoming Co-OC in 2020 during the Sanford years, but some how Simon was able to keep his job while Sanford was "let go".

If Simon and Harbaugh have a great 2024 I will absolutely consider them competent OCs, until then they are pretenders.
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Ciarrocca was nothing until he became the OC under Fleck at WMU. He's also not been a good OC at Penn St or Rutgers so far either. Joe Rossi was nothing until he became the D coordinator under Fleck here. Turned out alright.

AK was terrible last year, and our RBs couldn't stay healthy. I'm not going to write off Harbaugh after one year of that.
 

99Gopher said:
I wish Athan all the best with Rutgers. However, coming out of MN Spring practice last year we were hearing all these glowing reports about Athan and his progress and the sky was the limit. However, this picture says it all. This is Spring practice and you are wearing the green jersey with no contact. I think I'll reserve judgment until teams are throwing blitz packages at him or loading up the line to make him pass to beat them. Six months from now we will have all the answers.
Click to expand...
 

He's going to get what he asked for so I don't wish him the best, whatever that is. He controls his path wherever that goes. Pass or fail.
 

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