Souhan: Gophers' situation calls for bold step

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Ole said:
You give the average sports fan too much credit.
A chimp could write gibberish and it would get read as long as the headline had the word "Vikings" in it.
A meth head could do a sports radio show......oh wait. Too soon?
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Okay, that made me laugh..it was a guilty, "I really shouldn't be laughing at this" sort of laugh..but that was damn funny.
 

station19 said:
What is this Mason interim coach bit? Do people think a school would bring in an outside person to be an interim coach? The interim coach is already in place until Kill returns or until the finish of the season. At the end of the season either Kill will return or there will be a new HC.

For the record Souhan thinks neither Teague or Kaler are capable of hiring a football coach.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDubbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy says Teague is riding Kill as long as he can because he is totally afraid of having to hire a new coach.

Zulgad said it sounds like Kill is controlling this show and the U 'should get their hands on this'.....and show they are in charge.

These guys are a real bunch of dolts today.
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Souhan is pushing the idea of bringing in Mason as an interim head coach. There's no chance of that happening, of course we already have an acting/interim head coach in Claeys. If Kill can't return (which is still a BIG if), there will be a new coach next season. If the Gophers do well under Claeys, that new coach could be Claeys. Nothing would prevent the U from hiring Mason, but there's no chance he would come here as an interim coach, there's simply no need for an interim coach.

Kaler, Teague, Kill and Claeys know more about football than Souhan does, and they know more about football than Souhan knows about writing. If Souhan is going to claim that the president of the U, the AD and the DC don't know football, he probably ought to back that up.
 

Thanks to fryguy for sparing the rest of us from having to link to this garbage.
 

diefirma said:
Souhan knows nothing about football and, moreover, doesn't care. This is the type of idea we have all had after a few beers but Souhan was able to get a column out of it.

I go to all of the open practices I can, I go to the spring game and scrimmages and the fall scrimmage. I replay the games on my TIVO watching each one several times. I spend too much money on season tickets. I think it is safe to say I have watched a lot of Gopher football and this team is CLEARLY, CLEARLY, CLEARLY better than any team in the last 10 years - the last three of Mason's, Brewster's four and the first two of Kill's.

For those of you who want to fire Kill because he doesn't have any Big10 wins so far this year, or because he has epilepsy, or both, I can only say put your big boy pants on and toughen up because this year may be a rough frigging ride. We have two freshmen QBs and a freshman left tackle. We lack an elite receiver. We lack a speed running back. The JC linebackers, while having lots of talent, still make mistakes from time to time.

BUT...

QBs and linebackers learn from their mistakes and coaching and get better. Linemen grow up. We are recruiting several running backs and I assume they are faster than the backs on the roster. I assume we are recruiting some wide receivers as well and Jones looks as if he could develop into a star.

This team has gotten better every year under coach Kill and I expect that to continue EVEN IF COACH KILL STEPS DOWN FROM BEING HEAD COACH. Why? Because there are many roles coach Kill could fill in the program without being head coach. As one example, coach Kill could just run practice and not be at the games or, as dp suggested, be in the booth during games.

So... wipe away your sniffles and hope that this team of coaches stays intact at least until a final verdict is in a few years from now

I swear some of you are Wisconsin or Iowa fans trying to sabotage the program.
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I don't know who the heck "diefirma" is, but I'm going to tie myself to his mast and go along for the ride. What is so wrong about letting this all play out with this regime until and through the 2015 season (for a total of 5 years)? These guys will not run the program into the ground by any means. Whether we will continue to improve is the ultimate question, so let's give these guys a full and fair chance to succeed and then re-evaluate half-way through the 2015 season. If the vast majority of Gopher football fans and constituents (media included) could give the regime their unconditional support throughout this time, it would likely increase the chances of a successful outcome. It's pretty tough for any human being (regardless of what they tell you) to work against a constant stream of negativism. It exacts a toll and eventually affects performance. To start by example, I'm done questioning Limegrover and play calling. I'm now simply going to be an enthusiastic Gopher fan and full supporter of the Kill and company regime. I'll talk to you mid-2015. Thanks "diefirma", and please keep us updated regularly with your observations.
 



Need we forget Mason's last 3 recruiting classes? If he wasn't fired at the end of '06, he certainly would have been after '07 because that team was so devoid of talent that it makes this group look like the '01 Hurricanes.
 

drinks at Northpoint said:
Mason would have had them playing TE and FB by their Sophmore years.
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Greg Eslinger came in as a guard. Anthony Montgomery came in as a TE/DE. Matt Spaeth came in as a linebacker. Tony Brinkhaus came in as a defensive tackle.
 

Writing about a bold step, Souhan should announce his retirement. That's Bold.
 

C'mon, don't call a 20-something kid trying his best "laughably bad". It's just cruel. What if he reads this blog. Show some class and respect.
 




Hey, I don't know who "BreakTheGopherCurse" is either :) but I'll buy you a beer at the next home game because someone who agrees with me is obviously a genius!!!
 





station19 said:
What is this Mason interim coach bit? Do people think a school would bring in an outside person to be an interim coach? The interim coach is already in place until Kill returns or until the finish of the season. At the end of the season either Kill will return or there will be a new HC.

For the record Souhan thinks neither Teague or Kaler are capable of hiring a football coach.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDubbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy says Teague is riding Kill as long as he can because he is totally afraid of having to hire a new coach.

Zulgad said it sounds like Kill is controlling this show and the U 'should get their hands on this'.....and show they are in charge.

These guys are a real bunch of dolts today.
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All in the same family. Heaven forbid they have differing opinions, but 1500 must have them on strings..
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
Mason is the only coach in recent Gopher history that developed teams that I thought COULD win each Saturday. Not that they WOULD, but that they COULD. Of the three things I think a college football coach needs to do (recruit, develop, direct) he was a fair recruiter, a top developer, and a poor (game situation) director. I favored his firing after the TT collapse. Nevertheless, he has proven that he can develop at least a formidable offense. With a good recruiting staff and a requirement that Mason stay home on Saturdays, he could contribute. I think he'd be crazy to accept any role at the U, but I don't see that Souhan's suggestion is preposterous.

And guys, how about a little maturity and class here -- drop the name calling and personal attacks on people. Your points would be more credible without the childish disparagement.
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They also showed they could find inventive ways to lose every Saturday as well. I'll admit he wasn't blessed with the best of luck, but Mase had pretty much lost me by his last year. I thought his holding out for his new contract the year before he was let go was pretty ridiculous and if I would have been head nut at the asylum, I would have fired him then and there.

And a lot of Gopher coaches have had their highlight wins. Wacker won the Axe twice in 5 years (and Alvarez was the coach for the Badgers both times). I wrote about Salem's big win against tOSU in a thread the other day. Gutekunst beat Michigan (and finished 5-3 in the Big 10 twice during his six-year tenure). Stoll beat (actually shut out) a #1-ranked Michigan team (and was 9-5 in all non-Michigan rivalry games). I actually think Stoll is the best post-Warmath coach we've had (I don't count Holtz, who would have been had he stayed), but the game has changed a lot since the 1970s so it's difficult to compare eras.

And let's not forget that if a D-lineman doesn't get a fingernail on the attempted chip shot field goal attempt by NDSU in 2006, we lose that game and aren't bowl eligible, so we don't get the opportunity to crap all over ourselves in the 2nd half against Texas Tech.

Mason did some very good things during his time at the helm of the Gophers, but I've been on this particular merry-go-round and I think it's time to go on a different ride. Him finishing out the season would be one thing, but how's that going to work? Does he come in and stand on the sidelines and let everyone else go about their work? Heck, if it's just someone standing there, wheel Bud Grant out there.

I hope Kill gets well, because the last thing this program needs is to be thrown back into turmoil.
 

50PoundHead said:
They also showed they could find inventive ways to lose every Saturday as well. I'll admit he wasn't blessed with the best of luck, but Mase had pretty much lost me by his last year. I thought his holding out for his new contract the year before he was let go was pretty ridiculous and if I would have been head nut at the asylum, I would have fired him then and there.

And a lot of Gopher coaches have had their highlight wins. Wacker won the Axe twice in 5 years (and Alvarez was the coach for the Badgers both times). I wrote about Salem's big win against tOSU in a thread the other day. Gutekunst beat Michigan (and finished 5-3 in the Big 10 twice during his six-year tenure). Stoll beat (actually shut out) a #1-ranked Michigan team (and was 9-5 in all non-Michigan rivalry games). I actually think Stoll is the best post-Warmath coach we've had (I don't count Holtz, who would have been had he stayed), but the game has changed a lot since the 1970s so it's difficult to compare eras.

And let's not forget that if a D-lineman doesn't get a fingernail on the attempted chip shot field goal attempt by NDSU in 2006, we lose that game and aren't bowl eligible, so we don't get the opportunity to crap all over ourselves in the 2nd half against Texas Tech.

Mason did some very good things during his time at the helm of the Gophers, but I've been on this particular merry-go-round and I think it's time to go on a different ride. Him finishing out the season would be one thing, but how's that going to work? Does he come in and stand on the sidelines and let everyone else go about their work? Heck, if it's just someone standing there, wheel Bud Grant out there.

I hope Kill gets well, because the last thing this program needs is to be thrown back into turmoil.
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I really do hope my Golden Gophers can get at least one conference win, and hopefully two or more so they can win that bowl invitation. What the heck: there are six games left. Certainly the coaches will game plan one win and hopefully more. Going zero for eight would be pretty unsettling.

I don't think change for the sake of change will do much. The coaches will have to dig deeply, coach as they have probably never coached before and the lads will need to dig deeply, focus and find ways to make things happen.

I recall that Stoll Era very well. It was pretty much tOSU and Michigan (the Woody/Bo show era) with MSU and Duffy D showing quite a bit of strength. It was not quite the Fry era at iowa and wisky was not much back in those days. Occasionally Purdue came up with something. Minnesota was probably the fourth or fifth most consistent team during those days. But, games still ended in ties. There was no overtime winning...OR...losing. It was unbelievable how often at least four teams in the conference finished behind tOSU and Michigan ( with MSU creeping in there some times) with a four way tie at 4-4 Sometimes when you looked at the overall records, there would be five or six Big Ten teams with the same overall record. Talk about parity of the "little 8" and dominance by the "Big Two..." Stoll made some noise his second year at 6-2 in Conference Play. And then the Larry Powell "French Polio" tragedy took this young and very promising star away from the Gophers. Tony Dungy was qb-ing. It would have been a fantastic time to make a run at the Big Two...but really, only MSU managed to make noise in a number of those seasons.

There were more log-jams than one could imagine in places four through seven or eight most of Cal's seasons. As I stated, Minnesota fared probably about 5th in conference play during his years at Minnesota. He was an EXCELLENT coach...It was just tough to "rise above..." MSU and Duffy D.
 

You know what sucks about this thread?

I've come to the conclusion that wren is a better writer than Souhan.
 

50PoundHead said:
They also showed they could find inventive ways to lose every Saturday as well. I'll admit he wasn't blessed with the best of luck, but Mase had pretty much lost me by his last year. I thought his holding out for his new contract the year before he was let go was pretty ridiculous and if I would have been head nut at the asylum, I would have fired him then and there.

And a lot of Gopher coaches have had their highlight wins. Wacker won the Axe twice in 5 years (and Alvarez was the coach for the Badgers both times). I wrote about Salem's big win against tOSU in a thread the other day. Gutekunst beat Michigan (and finished 5-3 in the Big 10 twice during his six-year tenure). Stoll beat (actually shut out) a #1-ranked Michigan team (and was 9-5 in all non-Michigan rivalry games). I actually think Stoll is the best post-Warmath coach we've had (I don't count Holtz, who would have been had he stayed), but the game has changed a lot since the 1970s so it's difficult to compare eras.

And let's not forget that if a D-lineman doesn't get a fingernail on the attempted chip shot field goal attempt by NDSU in 2006, we lose that game and aren't bowl eligible, so we don't get the opportunity to crap all over ourselves in the 2nd half against Texas Tech.

Mason did some very good things during his time at the helm of the Gophers, but I've been on this particular merry-go-round and I think it's time to go on a different ride. Him finishing out the season would be one thing, but how's that going to work? Does he come in and stand on the sidelines and let everyone else go about their work? Heck, if it's just someone standing there, wheel Bud Grant out there.

I hope Kill gets well, because the last thing this program needs is to be thrown back into turmoil.
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+1 to all that.
 


I really, really don't understand the bring back Mason camp. Does this happen with the Vikings? Denny and Chilly both took the Vikes as far as they've gone in 20 something years, yet I never, ever hear anyone pining for either one of those guys to return.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
I really, really don't understand the bring back Mason camp. Does this happen with the Vikings? Denny and Chilly both took the Vikes as far as they've gone in 20 something years, yet I never, ever hear anyone pining for either one of those guys to return.
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I think it is because no one can think of anyone else that would even consider coming here.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
Glen Mason. OMG. Do we have to get into this again? Somebody post the list. I'll get it started:

Texas Tech - bowl game
Purdue - 19 seconds left
Wisconsin - dropped punt
Indiana - 56(?) points
Michigan - Friday night
Big ten win-loss record
2013 non-conference schedule every year

to piggy-back on the old-girlfriend analogy, your remembering the 35% of the time that was good and romanticizing it, and forgetting the other 65% of the time that was miserable.
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Plus

Beat osu one saturday and get destroyed by indiana the next with everything on the line.

Flirting with every college opening-if the phone rings I'm going to answer it.

Laughing in the locker room after blowing the game to texas tech.

Closing the borders? I don't think so.

and some people want him back?
 

howeda7 said:
We fired Mason because after getting us to the precipice of where we wanted to go but falling panifully short, he seemed to lose the desire to keep rolling boulder up the hill, right? If he somehow has that desire back, it would not be that bad an idea. I have to admit that watching Bill Snyder almost instantly bring Kansas State back to where it was when he left, I've wondered if it couldn't be done here. And unlike Snyder, Mason is not 70 years old. Bottom-line is it that unrealistic that after 6 years off, might we get 1999-2003 Mason instead of 2004-2006 Mason?
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Snyder is amazing. How does he do it? Also, though contacted more than once, he had no interest in Minnesota.
 

Has Souhan called for Gardy's head yet? Has he commented on the brain trust over at Target Field? If he wants someone to be replaced due to a 3 year performance, let's see him go after Gardy or Terry Ryan.
 

tap said:
Plus

Beat osu one saturday and get destroyed by indiana the next with everything on the line.

Flirting with every college opening-if the phone rings I'm going to answer it.

Laughing in the locker room after blowing the game to texas tech.

Closing the borders? I don't think so.

and some people want him back?
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This reminds me of something. Mason, who has since becoming best buds with Barrerio, despite the fact that the latter made a living on ripping Mason and his epic collapses, was on the show Thursday. When the 2003 Michigan game was mentioned, Mason laughingly said, "I left before the 4th quarter, I thought the game was over." If that game, which certainly had the potential to change direction of the football program, was my responsibility, I would be as sorry and contrite as possible. I'd admit how badly I screwed up and what I'd change. To him it's a big joke. He's so arrogant that he doesn't care. And that, Dubay, Zulgad, Soupcan and the rest of the 1500 pissers and moaners, is why I never want him in charge of this program again.
 

I wouldn't take Mason back but I hate how you people sh*t on him time & time again like he didn't give you some of the best Saturday's you had seen in a LOOOOOOONG time & we haven't been sh*t since. Say what you want about his lack of recruiting, his grin, collapses & his horrible Defenses but he gave us a lot of fun wins...

We haven't been much of a football team since no matter how "mediocre" you think his Gopher teams were...
 

thailleagle said:
I wouldn't take Mason back but I hate how you people sh*t on him time & time again like he didn't give you some of the best Saturday's you had seen in a LOOOOOOONG time & we haven't been sh*t since. Say what you want about his lack of recruiting, his grin, collapses & his horrible Defenses but he gave us a lot of fun wins...

We haven't been much of a football team since no matter how "mediocre" you think his Gopher teams were...
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Well said. Since Cal Stoll, he is the only coach who had a team good enough to break our hearts.

If you didn't live through Smoking Joe and 84-13, you haven't really suffered...
 

thailleagle said:
I wouldn't take Mason back but I hate how you people sh*t on him time & time again like he didn't give you some of the best Saturday's you had seen in a LOOOOOOONG time & we haven't been sh*t since. Say what you want about his lack of recruiting, his grin, collapses & his horrible Defenses but he gave us a lot of fun wins...

We haven't been much of a football team since no matter how "mediocre" you think his Gopher teams were...
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Totally agree with this...it's like everyone forgets that he took us to our first bowl game in 13 years only two years after inheriting a program that had been run into the ground by Wacker. Good Lord, I was so excited about a bowl game that I celebrated New Year's Y2K in freaking El Paso! Also remember that he raised our expectations enough that we could actually be disappointed about a loss against Michigan...instead of us being told how optimistic we should be that we "only" lost by 29 this year. I'm also with you saying that the past should remain in the past...but maybe it's time we stop pissing and moaning about what a "terrible" job Mason did.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
Glen Mason. OMG. Do we have to get into this again? Somebody post the list. I'll get it started: Texas Tech - bowl game Purdue - 19 seconds left Wisconsin - dropped punt Indiana - 56(?) points Michigan - Friday night Big ten win-loss record 2013 non-conference schedule every year to piggy-back on the old-girlfriend analogy, your remembering the 35% of the time that was good and romanticizing it, and forgetting the other 65% of the time that was miserable.
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You left out wins against Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Oregon, and Arkansas.

Or said differently, Ferentz, Alvarez, Paterno, Cooper, Carr, Shula, Belotti, and Nutt.

In the 6 1/2 years since he left we've lost games to the following coaches:

Greg Brandon
Jim Tressel
Bill Lynch
Ron Zook
Mark Mangino
Jeff Tedford
Ed Mierekort
Lane Kiffin
Danny Hope
Rich Rodriguez

See if you can guess what they have in common.
 

thailleagle said:
I wouldn't take Mason back but I hate how you people sh*t on him time & time again like he didn't give you some of the best Saturday's you had seen in a LOOOOOOONG time & we haven't been sh*t since. Say what you want about his lack of recruiting, his grin, collapses & his horrible Defenses but he gave us a lot of fun wins...

We haven't been much of a football team since no matter how "mediocre" you think his Gopher teams were...
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Agreed. I also hear all the time about how lazy he was, yet have never seen proof that he was on the golf course or napping when he should have been recruiting. Poor recruiting results is not proof of being lazy either. If that is what people use as proof of how hard a coach works, then Kill is lazy as well.
 

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