Serious question about Patrick Reusse

[Maximus]

And one thing his listeners and readers can always rely upon is that he will rip coaches, general managers, and AD's who don't speak with complete honesty and candor about their teams and who don't make excuses for them. Jerry Kill does not meet that standard for Reusse. Not by a long shot.

For the first two years of Kill's reign in Minnesota he constantly whined that he couldn't win with the players Brewster recruited. It was disgusting.

Do you want him to be honest or not?

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

For the first two years of Kill's reign in Minnesota he constantly whined that he couldn't win with the players Brewster recruited. It was disgusting.

Got any quotes on that?

Jerry rarely knocks any specific players aside from the general "did not play well".

And despite Brewster's recruiting ranks, Brewster didn't win with them either.... not sure Jerry not winning with them means much.

 

[Ski U Mah 55]

Do you want him to be honest or not?

Nothing Kill (or any coach) has ever said in a press conference/interview is 100% honest. Kill is one of the better ones at putting on a show for the media. Part of the job, nothing wrong with it, but don't take anything you hear from them at face value. Everyone has an agenda: coaches, media, AD, etc.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Nothing Kill (or any coach) has ever said in a press conference/interview is 100% honest. Kill is one of the better ones at putting on a show for the media. Part of the job, nothing wrong with it, but don't take anything you hear from them at face value. Everyone has an agenda: coaches, media, AD, etc.

If we need an example. When Brewster was coaching here visiting coaches would do the usual "he's doing a great job" spiel..... I mean about Brewster....

 

[Maximus]

Nothing Kill (or any coach) has ever said in a press conference/interview is 100% honest. Kill is one of the better ones at putting on a show for the media. Part of the job, nothing wrong with it, but don't take anything you hear from them at face value. Everyone has an agenda: coaches, media, AD, etc.

Thank you so much for teaching me.

 

[Ski U Mah 55]

Thank you so much for teaching me.

You're welcome?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Do you want him to be honest or not?

I was thinking the same thing when reading these posts. So Kill is being criticized for not being honest and then being criticized for being honest about needing better recruits/players? Kinda a no win situation there.

Also, why does everyone keep saying he is whining? When I think of whining, I think of someone saying things like "this isn't fair" or "why us?". I can see people saying he is making excuses.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I was thinking the same thing when reading these posts. So Kill is being criticized for not being honest and then being criticized for being honest about needing better recruits/players? Kinda a no win situation there.

Also, why does everyone keep saying he is whining? When I think of whining, I think of someone saying things like "this isn't fair" or "why us?". I can see people saying he is making excuses.

I just don't know why Kill can't tell me the game plan for Michigan..... you know the plays, signals, etc...

 

[UpnorthGo4]

Got any quotes on that?

Jerry rarely knocks any specific players aside from the general "did not play well".

And despite Brewster's recruiting ranks, Brewster didn't win with them either.... not sure Jerry not winning with them means much.

You either weren't a Gopher fan then or you weren't paying attention when Kill took over. Kill complained about the athletic ability of his players almost every chance he got. He never mentioned specific players. His complaints were always directed at the players he inherited as a whole.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

I was thinking the same thing when reading these posts. So Kill is being criticized for not being honest and then being criticized for being honest about needing better recruits/players? Kinda a no win situation there.

Also, why does everyone keep saying he is whining? When I think of whining, I think of someone saying things like "this isn't fair" or "why us?". I can see people saying he is making excuses.

Let me spell it out to you. A coach being honest does NOT include saying that you can't win with the players you inherited from the previous coach. That is throwing your players under the bus and being a first class A-Hole. That was Jerry Kill in his first two years in Minnesota. Just ask any of Brewster's recruits who were on the team then.

 

[scher215]

You either weren't a Gopher fan then or you weren't paying attention when Kill took over. Kill complained about the athletic ability of his players almost every chance he got. He never mentioned specific players. His complaints were always directed at the players he inherited as a whole.

I think in general you are right here. Most people ignored it and/or agreed with it since they hated Brewster so much. I just remember reading a lot of Royston's dad's posts about how the Brewster players felt and it did seem tough for some of them. As well as how posters here attacked him for it and that he was just a "kill hater". Kill needed to lower expectations when he got here so he had to down talk his players, 7-8 year rebuild, tons of problems here, toughest job yet, etc. some of it sure may have been true, but it was also Kill pushing an agenda.

To the point of Pat, I'm pretty sure he wrote the same whining article about Tubby at least 15 times. His thing is a schtick and it's not all the appealing to me at least.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

You either weren't a Gopher fan then or you weren't paying attention when Kill took over. Kill complained about the athletic ability of his players almost every chance he got. He never mentioned specific players. His complaints were always directed at the players he inherited as a whole.

Got any quotes on that?

I'd really like to hear them.

Not sure why everyone in this forum is so snippy about this stuff. Just honestly asking. You can't even ask a question around here.

 

[gopherfannnn]

Got any quotes on that?

I'd really like to hear them.

Not sure why everyone in this forum is so snippy about this stuff. Just honestly asking. You can't even ask a question around here.

Here's one from 2011 after Michigan whomping:

Still sour Tuesday after last week's 58-0 beatdown by Michigan, Gophers football coach Jerry Kill questioned the mental toughness, talent and discipline on and off the field of the players he inherited in his first season.

"That's not (former Minnesota coach Tim) Brewster's fault," Kill said. "I'm not blaming anybody. I'm just saying the facts are the facts."

When told that, Brewster disputed those facts.

"All I know is this: I believe in the players that I recruited at the University of Minnesota," Brewster, now a Fox college football and NFL analyst, said Tuesday. "I believe in them. It's a great group of young men that are committed to making the University of Minnesota the best it can be on the football field."

But Kill isn't sure how committed some of his players are after the Gophers' 1-4 start and worst Big Ten loss in program history last week. He made lineup changes against Michigan to find players who wouldn't quit and would do what they're told - and he'll continue to do so in Saturday's game at Purdue (2-2).

"When things get bad, you either look it in the eye and work hard and don't blame things, or you do what a lot of people do in life," Kill said. "When adversity hits, a lot of people turn to things they shouldn't do. I did tell our players this: 'If you do that, you won't be here.' I'm not going to put up with some of the things that go on. I'm just not going to do it."

 

[Vandy]

Bit or not, it is the same schtick, over and over.... The picking of a scab that never heals. It gets old, it gets tiresome... The "Country Jer" moniker he initiated really pisses me off. It is disrespectful..... I mean, Reusse uses his "Fulda Rube" routine when it benefits him, and apparently he is OK with that...

I used to look forward to the sports section for entertainment, game recaps, and true insight.... It actually took some time to read and digest the material.

I don't enjoy it much anymore, and it typically only takes a single digit number of minutes to finish with the section. I am close to giving it up altogether.

 

[gopher7]

I was thinking the same thing when reading these posts. So Kill is being criticized for not being honest and then being criticized for being honest about needing better recruits/players? Kinda a no win situation there.

Also, why does everyone keep saying he is whining? When I think of whining, I think of someone saying things like "this isn't fair" or "why us?". I can see people saying he is making excuses.

I would argue he was extremely whiny about having to play TCU.

 

[supadupafly]

Bit or not, it is the same schtick, over and over.... The picking of a scab that never heals. It gets old, it gets tiresome... The "Country Jer" moniker he initiated really pisses me off. It is disrespectful..... I mean, Reusse uses his "Fulda Rube" routine when it benefits him, and apparently he is OK with that...

I used to look forward to the sports section for entertainment, game recaps, and true insight.... It actually took some time to read and digest the material.

I don't enjoy it much anymore, and it typically only takes a single digit number of minutes to finish with the section. I am close to giving it up altogether.

Exactly. I have often thought the same thing. Reusse playing his own Country Hick from Fulda, MN routine all the time and then turning around and trying to create this odd caricature of Coach Kill as old "Country Jer" = Hypocrisy at it's finest. Talk about the pot calling he kettle black when it comes to Reusse and his lame and tired "Country Jer" schtick.

 

[gopher7]

Got any quotes on that?

Jerry rarely knocks any specific players aside from the general "did not play well".

And despite Brewster's recruiting ranks, Brewster didn't win with them either.... not sure Jerry not winning with them means much.

Here is an article from earlier in his tenure. I don't know if I'd considering this whining, but it seems to me he was trying to set the bar as low as possible for himself. He definitely would never speak this way about his players now.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/23/AR2011032304332.html

 

[Maximus]

Here is an article from earlier in his tenure. I don't know if I'd considering this whining, but it seems to me he was trying to set the bar as low as possible for himself. He definitely would never speak this way about his players now.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/23/AR2011032304332.html

Brewster set the bar high and was fired in year 4. Kill set the bar low and was Big Ten coach of the year in year 4.

I'll take Kill's approach. He said from day one everything had to change....AD support, Prez support, academics, strength training, facilities, work ethic....most applauded. Now it's whining, making excuses, setting bar low. Because a traditional non-power program took a step back after four years of progress.

(And looks like we're still looking for quotes.)

 

[Ruggers]

My Reusse comment and highly opinionated analysis of his current work was (properly) deleted by the administrator but I'm assuming by all the very smart and witty folks on this board, that you can probably guess what it said

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Feel free to move this thread. I post because of his ridiculous Gopher Football articles. Does he actually believe what he writes or is it a bit

Pat stirs the pot, but contrary to what many believe, it's not because he hates the Gophers, rather because he loves them. Pat is a fan.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Got any quotes on that?

Jerry rarely knocks any specific players aside from the general "did not play well".

And despite Brewster's recruiting ranks, Brewster didn't win with them either.... not sure Jerry not winning with them means much.

Kill never mentioned specific players, but he absolutely talked about how the players he inherited weren't very good, weren't very fast, weren't doing well in the classroom, etc. It went on for quite a while and it became a frequent topic for flame wars here on GH with one side asking why he has to throw the players under the bus, with the other side saying "Well he's just being honest". It may have been that he was trying to motivate those players or it may have been that he was creating an excuse for not winning right away, I never could tell? Kill is a shrewd man. A poker player of sorts. His "Country Jer" routine reminds me a lot of Lou Holtz's "Ah shucks" routine. He's doing a great job and hopefully will be here for a long time, but I think he underachieved with the talent he was given that first year. He didn't have much depth at all, but he had some decent talent to work with, especially compared to what Brew inherited from Mason.

 

[scher215]

Kill never mentioned specific players, but he absolutely talked about how the players he inherited weren't very good, weren't very fast, weren't doing well in the classroom, etc. It went on for quite a while and it became a frequent topic for flame wars here on GH with one side asking why he has to throw the players under the bus, with the other side saying "Well he's just being honest". It may have been that he was trying to motivate those players or it may have been that he was creating an excuse for not winning right away, I never could tell? Kill is a shrewd man. A poker player of sorts. His "Country Jer" routine reminds me a lot of Lou Holtz's "Ah shucks" routine. He's doing a great job and hopefully will be here for a long time, but I think he underachieved with the talent he was given that first year. He didn't have much depth at all, but he had some decent talent to work with, especially compared to what Brew inherited from Mason.

I don't think I could have put this any better. Very well said.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Let me spell it out to you. A coach being honest does NOT include saying that you can't win with the players you inherited from the previous coach. That is throwing your players under the bus and being a first class A-Hole. That was Jerry Kill in his first two years in Minnesota. Just ask any of Brewster's recruits who were on the team then.

I would think guys like Epping, Gray, Vereen, and Hageman would have different opinions on Coach Kill, at least, they should.

 

[wait!what?]

Pat stirs the pot, but contrary to what many believe, it's not because he hates the Gophers, rather because he loves them. Pat is a fan.

yep. like many gopher fans he has hated the 50 yr decimation of a national football program. Minny thought they were above sports and missed the ascent.

 

[Vandy]

Pat stirs the pot, but contrary to what many believe, it's not because he hates the Gophers, rather because he loves them. Pat is a fan.

I guess I can give Pat a bit of a break..for now.... your opinion, along with those often posted by GopherInIowa are often the most even handed and insightful on GH.

 

[Rescooter]

Pat stirs the pot, but contrary to what many believe, it's not because he hates the Gophers, rather because he loves them. Pat is a fan.

One thing I'd like to know (if Pat is such a fan); has he ever donated money to the U of M?

 

[saintpaulguy]

One thing I'd like to know (if Pat is such a fan); has he ever donated money to the U of M?

If he did, he'd be ineligible to talk to any possible recruit. Unlikely. He's already banned from U of Wyoming recruits.

 

[Maximus]

One thing I'd like to know (if Pat is such a fan); has he ever donated money to the U of M?

Doubt he would be allowed to by his current employer in Minneapolis or his former employer in St. Paul.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

I guess I can give Pat a bit of a break..for now.... your opinion, along with those often posted by GopherInIowa are often the most even handed and insightful on GH.

Kind words, thanks.