Souhan: Gophers' situation calls for bold step

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I read that in the actual paper this morning when I got to work and quit when I got to two words. GLEN MASON. PUKE.
 


Someone who already has the story open should copy paste it. I don't want to read it, but it'll prevent the paper from getting clicks.
 

Not much to see here. More of the same blathering from Soupcan that should be expected. Basically, the premise is everybody at the U is incompetent when it comes to football so they should admit how stupid they are and hire Glen Mason, who would then become the interim coach, or (wink, wink), the permanent head coach. Really, it's just Soupcan spinning another way to get Kill canned without appearing to be a jackass. Unfortunately for him, the truth is already out in that regard.
 


I didn't read it or give him a click but if it's indeed Souhan calling for Mason to be hired, just wow. He really needs to stop writing about the Gopher football program for a while.
 

Here is full article to minimize Soupcan clicks


There is nothing self- sustaining about a college football program. Any college football program.

When David Shula coached Alabama, the Crimson Tide became a joke. When Lane Kiffin coached USC, the Trojans became a joke. With Mack Brown grasping a lifeline at Texas, the Longhorns have become a punch line.

Those are perhaps the three most esteemed jobs in college football. With the wrong person in charge, the programs withered, costing their universities millions of dollars and much esteem.

When the 2013 football season began, the University of Minnesota boasted these leaders at crucial positions in the football hierarchy:


• President Eric Kaler. Hired from Stony Brook, he has no idea what it takes to run a Division I football program.

• Athletic director Norwood Teague. Hired from Virginia Commonwealth University, he has no idea what it takes to run a Division I football program. Even when it came to his expertise, college basketball, he wound up hiring what may have been his fifth or sixth choice to replace Tubby Smith.

• Football coach Jerry Kill. While he has generated much support for his personality, and empathy because of his struggles with epilepsy, he is 4-14 in the Big Ten, a winning percentage that gets almost every other college football coach fired.

• Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys. Forced to be the acting head coach when Kill is unavailable, he never has been considered a head coaching candidate in Division I, even if that is the job he is currently filling.

Of the four, only one can claim to have a working understanding of what it takes to win in Division I football. With Kill unavailable, the University of Minnesota may have the weakest football brain trust in the country — and in the pitiful history of Minnesota football.

Kaler and Teague can’t be trusted to manage this difficult situation or to make a strong hire if Kill walks away at the end of the season. There is only one person in town who knows what it takes to win — or to lose less — at Minnesota, and he is available.


Kaler and Teague should admit their shortcomings and hire Glen Mason as their football czar.

Maybe Mason becomes the interim head coach. Maybe he becomes the long-term coach. Maybe he becomes the U’s football athletic director. Maybe he becomes a one-man search committee for Kill’s replacement.

They should leave it up to him. He’s far more qualified to handle any of those jobs than they are.

Since Lou Holtz teased Gopher fans with his cameo, Minnesota has tried every variety of football coach.

They tried hiring internally, allowing defensive coordinator John Gutekunst to succeed Holtz. Gutey won 39 percent of his Big Ten games — and was fired.

They tried hiring a trendy national candidate in Jim Wacker. Wacker won 20 percent of his Big Ten games — and was fired.

They tried hiring the best coach available: Mason. He won 40 percent of his Big Ten games — and was fired.

They tried hiring an enthusiastic recruiter and promoter. Tim Brewster created the notion of Gopher Nation, won 22 percent of his Big Ten games — and was fired.

They tried hiring virtually every available coach in the country, watched Joel Maturi strike out and settled for a solid coach in Kill. He has won 22 percent of his Big Ten games, might be facing a winless Big Ten season this year and may not be able to continue as head coach.

Mason is the best coach the Gophers have had since they were silly enough to think Holtz might stick around longer than a head cold. He’s hanging out in Minneapolis, working for the Big Ten Network and playing golf with guys such as John Randle. He wouldn’t take any job, but he would take this job if the U made the right offer.

Mason is the only qualified head coach or football decisionmaker Kaler and Teague have any hopes of luring to the U. They should hire him and get out of the way.
 

He wouldn’t take any job, but he would take this job if the U made the right offer.
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If Souhan is close enough to Mason to know this, it is certainly one more reason to not hire him.
 

I would take Glenn Mason back in a heart beat.
 



mnsports1 said:
If Souhan is close enough to Mason to know this, it is certainly one more reason to not hire him.
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Amen. Sometimes we're judged by the company we keep. At least Souhan hasn't backed down since getting thumped by Kill's support. He's a little less reckless with his analogies, but it appears more aggressive in attacking. I wonder what Killer did to make Souhan so hostile towards him?
 

It's unbelievable that someone as ill informed as Souhan can be given a major sports writing job.
He literally has nothing to offer, yet somehow has had a job for a long time.
It's mind boggling.
AND he's on sports radio, again, as ignorant and ill informed as any sports media member could possibly be.

I suppose his going to tell the Vikings to sign Fran Tarkenton or Brett Farve to solve their QB problems.
 







afurry91 said:
It was the best it's been in 50 years.
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And still not good enough. We fired Tubby Smith for allegedly not being "good enough", and now we're going to hire back Glen Mason when we already know his best wasn't good enough?
 


I am continually amazed that Souhan still has a job. Continually.
 

dpodoll68 said:
And still not good enough. We fired Tubby Smith for allegedly not being "good enough", and now we're going to hire back Glen Mason when we already know his best wasn't good enough?
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Our basketball program is not on the same level as our football program. Neither are great, but our basketball team is 5 steps ahead. "Good enough" is relative, and I would say 6-7 wins for this football program is "good enough" at this point if it came to Kill stepping down.
 

afurry91 said:
It was the best it's been in 50 years.
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That's the problem. Taking him back would basically say, as Soupcan states, "we want to lose less" than "win more." If you want him back, fine. But even if that did happen (it won't), you'd need to keep your expectations and hopes right where they are now.
 

MRJ said:
That's the problem. Taking him back would basically say, as Soupcan states, "we want to lose less" than "win more." If you want him back, fine. But even if that did happen (it won't), you'd need to keep your expectations and hopes right where they are now.
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My hopes are that we won't be touchdown+ underdogs in our final 6 remaining conference games. The Big 10 was a better football conference 10 years ago and Mason brought you far better than that.

You know he actually won the axe a time or two too.
 

afurry91 said:
My hopes are that we won't be touchdown+ underdogs in our final 6 remaining conference games. The Big 10 was a better football conference 10 years ago and Mason brought you far better than that.

You know he actually won the axe a time or two too.
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"A time or two" in 10 years is acceptable to you? Talk about a loser mentality.
 

afurry91 said:
I would take Glenn Mason back in a heart beat.
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I can totally understand why some would think this way. We were a top 15 team at times during his tenure. We had some really good wins. There were moments of happiness, moments of......dare I say....dominance? It's only fair someone may want to at least return to something resembling that. There was a lot to like about Mason.

Here's my problem. The guy got a couple things done, but then acted like he was the greatest thing ever, got lazy, and things were quite toxic by his last year, especially when you need a blocked FG to beat NDSU, were 3-6, despite a senior heavy roster with a decent senior QB. The rally was nice to get to the bowl game, credit to them not quitting, but the air didn't smell right, that program was declining. And I don't care what anyone says, I fail to see more than 4 wins out of that team in '07. Now, I will give you, that it's not just his fault. Maturi's handling of his contract couldn't have possibly helped recruiting in any way. But even so, things were falling off, that's just the reality.

I also just don't like the idea of running back into the arms of your old girlfriend just cause she was solid and now you're been through a couple rocky relationships so she looks better to you now. I'd rather just keep looking for the right one, then settling for one that I know cause I don't like where I am right now.

I'm really not sure in the end Kill won't be able to at least match with the 6, 7 win seasons on a consistent basis given a little more time. People are very reactionary right now, but this really does need more time. 2 1/2 seasons is not even close to enough to make any kind of determinations.
 

afurry91 said:
My hopes are that we won't be touchdown+ underdogs in our final 6 remaining conference games. The Big 10 was a better football conference 10 years ago and Mason brought you far better than that.
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If that's your definition of improvement, then feel free. It would be a very very minor step up from where we currently are (which in recent years, has included scratching and clawing for minor bowl game bids). That is exactly where Mason had the program before he was let go. There were definitely some good moments during the Mason years as well. But overall, his performance was nothing special and decidedly average in terms of achievement.
 

afurry91 said:
Neither are great, but our basketball team is 5 steps ahead.
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On the basis of what? One Tournament win in 23 years? Zero conference championships in 31 years?

Gopher fans want to pretend that the basketball team is so much better than the football team, when it has no basis in reality. The Gopher football team was once elite, and the Gopher basketball team has never been. At present, neither are even close to contending. If you want to re-hire Glen Mason, there is no way to simultaneously think that firing Tubby Smith was a good idea. Both are the best coach their respective teams had in decades. The difference is that Smith's best season at Minnesota was his last, while Mason's was 3 years before he got fired, which is not coincidentally the same time that he gave up and quit recruiting.
 

Monty519 said:
I also just don't like the idea of running back into the arms of your old girlfriend just cause she was solid and now you're been through a couple rocky relationships so she looks better to you now. I'd rather just keep looking for the right one, then settling for one that I know cause I don't like where I am right now.
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Absolutely perfect analogy. Anyone who's ever drunk-dialed a crazy ex when they're lonely and bored can attest to this. Glen Mason is the crazy ex-girlfriend.
 

dpodoll68 said:
On the basis of what? One Tournament win in 23 years? Zero conference championships in 31 years?

Gopher fans want to pretend that the basketball team is so much better than the football team, when it has no basis in reality. The Gopher football team was once elite, and the Gopher basketball team has never been. At present, neither are even close to contending. If you want to re-hire Glen Mason, there is no way to simultaneously think that firing Tubby Smith was a good idea. Both are the best coach their respective teams had in decades. The difference is that Smith's best season at Minnesota was his last, while Mason's was 3 years before he got fired, which is not coincidentally the same time that he gave up and quit recruiting.
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One word: Perception

The basketball program is respected within the conference and nationally, heaven forbid, the program is even respected locally for the most part. The football program is not.
 

dpodoll68 said:
On the basis of what? One Tournament win in 23 years? Zero conference championships in 31 years?

Gopher fans want to pretend that the basketball team is so much better than the football team, when it has no basis in reality. The Gopher football team was once elite, and the Gopher basketball team has never been. At present, neither are even close to contending. If you want to re-hire Glen Mason, there is no way to simultaneously think that firing Tubby Smith was a good idea. Both are the best coach their respective teams had in decades. The difference is that Smith's best season at Minnesota was his last, while Mason's was 3 years before he got fired, which is not coincidentally the same time that he gave up and quit recruiting.
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+1. Yes, yes, and yes. All of this is spot on.
 

I too would take Glen Mason back if he were a younger guy.

However, Souhan's premise is idiotic. He refers to Kaler/Teague/Kill/Claeys as the "football braintrust". Does he really think that, outside of head coaching hires, Kaler & Teague have any more impact on the success of the team than an assistant professor of anthropology? The "braintrust" is the coaching staff in it's entirety, no more no less.
 

afurry91 said:
My hopes are that we won't be touchdown+ underdogs in our final 6 remaining conference games. The Big 10 was a better football conference 10 years ago and Mason brought you far better than that.

You know he actually won the axe a time or two too.
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And he had to recruit with Metrodome as our home stadium. Some of the Mason haters tend to forget that.
 

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