Souhan: Gophers' situation calls for bold step

[thailleagle]

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.

The funny thing is the fanbase got spoiled. Mason spoiled them into winning seasons with high scoring & 500yd offenses & after a while the fans got tired of "mediocre bowls" which is hilarious to me because I remember Brewster's 2nd year the fans were at a point of "we'll take ANY bowl!" & now sit here in wonder on why we struggle against cupcakes now & a good offensive day is seeing over 350yds. The Brewster Era & so far the Kill Era has been nothing but frustration on top of frustration. I thought we got rid of Mason to do better? Why are the fans all of a sudden happy just "getting" to a bowl now? Mason was fired 8 years ago & we *STILL* haven't got back to even THAT level...

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

and that Mason could at LEAST make Minnesota Football SHINE enough to have the program off the FLOOR of the Big Ten Conference and that his wins over Michigan, tOSU, wisky, iowa, Arkansas, Alabama, Oregon, PSU, MSU, and his ability to be the only guy since Murray Warmath to turn out All-American players at the U of M were ESSENTIAL in getting TCF BANK STADIUM approved by the State Legislators: NEVER let the ba$tards get you down when they try to crap on you for having an opinion about Glen Mason that is DIFFERENT from their own.

Most of those who bash Mason the most have been around Gopher Football for LESS than 20 seasons. Some of them 15 seasons MAYBE. Some of them LESS than 10 seasons. And they bash your opinions because you don't join them in BASHING Glen Mason. Most of them don't go back to Murray's seasons at the U. They weren't around for the Stoll years....the Salem years...the hoax 1 plus season...the Gutty years or even Wacker.

No, I don't think Glen Mason would entertain the idea of returning to the University of Minnesota as a coach or even an AD. But, that's not to say he wouldn't be qualified.

Let's just hear WHAT these people who so readily try to BASH Mason think will happen with the Football Program, What if we have a zero win and 8 loss Conference season in 2013? What AFTER that? Have they seen the schedule for 2014 and 2015?

All they do is bash Mason. They have NO idea what will happen if things start getting REALLY bad.

I agree that prexy K and our now Norwood are NOT football administrators in any way, shape or form. I WORRY about the near term future. I wish Coach Kill the very best and hope he is able to hurry back. And ALWAYS remember that the Conference win/loss record is THE barometer of how well the program is competing within the conference.

Mason was the best coach since Warmath and Warmath was the best coach since Bierman.

 

[GopherDieHardDyingHard]

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.

To piggyback on your piggyback of the girlfriend analogy, I would still take the 35% of the good times thinking about the old girlfriend than think about my current girlfriend, who was really my 5th or 6th choice so I was desperate, rarely makes me happy since we got together, disappears for stretches of time so I'm left to hang out with her old friends, and constantly tells me things will get better. The only good things I can say about her is at least she's not my crazy ex-girlfriend who I was last in a relationship with and I don't want to break up with her because I'm afraid of being single again and having to look for another girlfriend.

Annnnnd I'm pretty sure my wife is reading this over my shoulder and not getting the analogy so I better stop there.

 

[thailleagle]

To piggyback on your piggyback of the girlfriend analogy, I would still take the 35% of the good times thinking about the old girlfriend than think about my current girlfriend, who was really my 5th or 6th choice so I was desperate, rarely makes me happy since we got together, disappears for stretches of time so I'm left to hang out with her old friends, and constantly tells me things will get better. The only good things I can say about her is at least she's not my crazy ex-girlfriend who I was last in a relationship with and I don't want to break up with her because I'm afraid of being single again and having to look for another girlfriend.

Annnnnd I'm pretty sure my wife is reading this over my shoulder and not getting the analogy so I better stop there.

Lol... excellent post...

 

[imthewalrus]

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.

What we get is what we deserve. To some of these people, we could finish 0-8 in the conference and these people would contend that it is far better to go winless in the conference than those 5-3 conference finishes were. IF Mason was extended, bought out and fired for not winning enough conference games, every coach we have had since him, and very likely every coach we will have going WAY into the future will need to be fired for not winning enough conference games. What we get is what we deserve. This program is in very serious trouble. The 2014 and 2015 Conference Schedules appear to be more challenging than the 2013 Conference Schedule. What we will get is what we will deserve, I fear.

We are the fans who really do believe that less is more and more is less.

But I am all for just staying with the current coach and staff IF at all pssible. You see, if we bring in a new coach and staff, we will be assured of having at least another decade of constant struggles. Prexy K and our new Norwood need to support their coach and keep the staff in place. To NOT do so would insure a new decade of "walking in the wilderness..." right in our beautiful TCF BANK STADIUM. There is NO choice other than to stay the course.

 

[JerryKillFan]

I said this the night Jerry Kill was hired and I'll say it again - anybody thinking we were going to make a big jump in the Big 10 before year four of his tenure is walking around blind without a cane.

The words "stay the course" have been written several times in this thread and that's the best course of action.

Kill and his staff will be fair game if significant improvement is not shown next year or 2015.

 

[Spoofin]

I would take Glenn Mason back in a heart beat.

9. That is the number of posts it took for someone to be pro Mason. O/U was 6. Yes - nothing better than being satisfied with 10 years of below average football. #Yawn

 

[GopherDieHardDyingHard]

9. That is the number of posts it took for someone to be pro Mason. O/U was 6. Yes - nothing better than being satisfied with 10 years of below average football. #Yawn

I wouldn't say below average...Just average? Sure. But I would take "just" average in a heartbeat over the product on the field we've had to put up with in the past 7 years. For the record, I'm not saying we should bring back Mason...but things like calling his teams "below average" doesn't stack up to his record at the U.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I wouldn't say below average...Just average? Sure. But I would take "just" average in a heartbeat over the product on the field we've had to put up with in the past 7 years. For the record, I'm not saying we should bring back Mason...but things like calling his teams "below average" doesn't stack up to his record at the U.

Just depends on how you look at it. His teams went 32-48 in the Big Ten and, if I remember correctly, Mason's teams only won two games against teams that finished ranked. But we did have a few very good years and good wins, and it is the best this program has seen in a long time (not that it takes much).

I am assuming this article was done "tongue in cheek" but you never know. Of course it is never as easy as reporters or many casual fans think it is.

1. To assume a guy who hasn't coached at all in a long time and who doesn't know any of the players could just come in and take over mid season is just stupid.
2. I don't know how anyone can think this guy would come in going at it 100 mph. He hasn't coached for a long time, and has shown no desire to coach (at least it appears that way). The perception was that he got really lazy in the last few years with the program. Why would that change now?
3. Mason did some very good things at the U and he should be commended for them but part of me wishes he stuck around another year so he would have been a part of the disaster that he was partly responsible for the next season.
4. I refuse to think what Mason did is the best we can see as a program. Just because we haven't had great success doesn't mean it can't happen. There are countless examples of schools that were terrible that are doing great now (Stanford, NW, Wisconsin). I mean honestly, only one coach has been given a realistic chance since Mason left.
5. Everyone wants a quick fix (especially in a pro city), and it just isn't going to happen all the time. Every situation is different.

 

[imthewalrus]

Just depends on how you look at it. His teams went 32-48 in the Big Ten and, if I remember correctly, Mason's teams only won two games against teams that finished ranked. But we did have a few very good years and good wins, and it is the best this program has seen in a long time (not that it takes much).

I am assuming this article was done "tongue in cheek" but you never know. Of course it is never as easy as reporters or many casual fans think it is.

1. To assume a guy who hasn't coached at all in a long time and who doesn't know any of the players could just come in and take over mid season is just stupid.
2. I don't know how anyone can think this guy would come in going at it 100 mph. He hasn't coached for a long time, and has shown no desire to coach (at least it appears that way). The perception was that he got really lazy in the last few years with the program. Why would that change now?
3. Mason did some very good things at the U and he should be commended for them but part of me wishes he stuck around another year so he would have been a part of the disaster that he was partly responsible for the next season.
4. I refuse to think what Mason did is the best we can see as a program. Just because we haven't had great success doesn't mean it can't happen. There are countless examples of schools that were terrible that are doing great now (Stanford, NW, Wisconsin). I mean honestly, only one coach has been given a realistic chance since Mason left.
5. Everyone wants a quick fix (especially in a pro city), and it just isn't going to happen all the time. Every situation is different.

Hey liveiniowaperson: You are just another one of those "Less is more...More is less" fools. And, that is why you HAVE to, need to, ought to, are destined to live in stinking iowa... NO coach for a long time before Mason and NO coach since Mason has done nearly as well. Beating Michigan is beating Michigan. Beating tOSU is beating tOSU. Beating Arkansas is beating Arknasas. Beating Oregon is beating Oregon. Getting to bowl games is better than NOT getting to bowl games.

NOBODY in stinking iowa had better try to diminish ANY win my Golden Gopher Football Team EARNED on the playing fields across this Nation. A WIN is a WIN and every win...ESPECIALLY every Big Ten Conference win is something to be valued and held in the highest esteem.

Now, go hang out with your buddy in iowa...that eg9 character...

 

[Deleted_User]

You know what sucks about this thread?

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

It comes with practice.

 

[hyaluronic]

Yeah, but Souhan is more fit.

 

[50PoundHead]

Just depends on how you look at it. His teams went 32-48 in the Big Ten and, if I remember correctly, Mason's teams only won two games against teams that finished ranked. But we did have a few very good years and good wins, and it is the best this program has seen in a long time (not that it takes much).

I am assuming this article was done "tongue in cheek" but you never know. Of course it is never as easy as reporters or many casual fans think it is.

1. To assume a guy who hasn't coached at all in a long time and who doesn't know any of the players could just come in and take over mid season is just stupid.
2. I don't know how anyone can think this guy would come in going at it 100 mph. He hasn't coached for a long time, and has shown no desire to coach (at least it appears that way). The perception was that he got really lazy in the last few years with the program. Why would that change now?
3. Mason did some very good things at the U and he should be commended for them but part of me wishes he stuck around another year so he would have been a part of the disaster that he was partly responsible for the next season.
4. I refuse to think what Mason did is the best we can see as a program. Just because we haven't had great success doesn't mean it can't happen. There are countless examples of schools that were terrible that are doing great now (Stanford, NW, Wisconsin). I mean honestly, only one coach has been given a realistic chance since Mason left.
5. Everyone wants a quick fix (especially in a pro city), and it just isn't going to happen all the time. Every situation is different.

Pretty much agree with everything here.

wren, thanks for mentioning Larry Powell in your response to my earlier post. What a promising career he may have had if he had avoided that unfortunate disease. I had forgotten all about that.

One of the things I find so hilarious about the recent Mason discussion is how he has been rehabilitated in the eyes of the press. Sure, we have stunk since he left, but I never thought the media would ever change their mind about him given the chilly nature of their relationship with him when he was coach. Now they all want to spoon with the guy.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

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.

No but up until a couple years ago you had guys like Sansevere still writing "Bring back Bud" columns.

 

[Gopher028]

I would take Glenn Mason back in a heart beat.

You're of the few with a brain here. We've never been more successful for 40 years, than we were with Mason. If Kill CAN'T continue,
Glen Mason is my choice to come back. Now he has TCF to recruit to rather than the humphrey dump and if the maturi-less U pays
for coordinators, specifically defensive coordinator, we'd have a good football program.

Remember, the Gophers were literally a defense away from TWO rose bowls under Mason.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

9. That is the number of posts it took for someone to be pro Mason. O/U was 6. Yes - nothing better than being satisfied with 10 years of below average football. #Yawn

Yawn? Those are the last 50 years of Gopher Football. Mason brought you the only meaningful years.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Yawn? Those are the last 50 years of Gopher Football. Mason brought you the only meaningful years.

Meaningful is subjective. I loved the first Sun Bowl. After that, it lost its luster. Bragging about beating a 6-6 Alabama team? Is that what makes a fanbase satisfied? I want a Rose Bowl. Glen Mason can't deliver that. Jerry Kill probably can't either, but I'll keep throwing my chips into the pot until I'm busted.

 

[thailleagle]

Until someone outdoes Mason he is the best coach the Gophers have had in nearly 30 years...

We've been bottom barrel since... we slowly become the new Indiana...

This is one of the most ungrateful fanbases in the Big Ten. Just remember everytime you're in beautiful TCF Bank Stadium that if it weren't for Mason we'd still be in the dome because Gopher football was a joke until he came along & made us respectable again... some of you are so unnapreciative it's disgusting...

 

[bigticket1]

Remember, the Gophers were literally a defense away from TWO rose bowls under Mason.

That's like saying Roseanne Barr could have been Miss America if she had a better body and a cuter face.

 

[thailleagle]

That's like saying Roseanne Barr could have been Miss America if she had a better body and a cuter face.

Well unfortunately we've been stuck with Precious since Mason left... not pretty at all is it?

 

[tikited]

Meaningful is subjective. I loved the first Sun Bowl. After that, it lost its luster. Bragging about beating a 6-6 Alabama team? Is that what makes a fanbase satisfied? I want a Rose Bowl. Glen Mason can't deliver that. Jerry Kill probably can't either, but I'll keep throwing my chips into the pot until I'm busted.

I shed zero tears when Mason was fired, but wasn't thrilled with the Brew or Kill hires. Does anyone out there really think Kill can get us to a point where we are actually better than the Mason years or are people just hoping to be as good?

 

[imthewalrus]

Meaningful is subjective. I loved the first Sun Bowl. After that, it lost its luster. Bragging about beating a 6-6 Alabama team? Is that what makes a fanbase satisfied? I want a Rose Bowl. Glen Mason can't deliver that. Jerry Kill probably can't either, but I'll keep throwing my chips into the pot until I'm busted.

Consider yourself busted you old broken plane. Bragging about beating a 6-6 Alabama team that brought at least 30,000 plus fans to Nashvile: you are DAMN RIGHT that was a way cool Gopher win. Those Alabama Fans were "into that game..." That is a program that ALWAYS has a LOVE for it's team, a REAL sense of pride, A STRONG desire to be willing to support their team and TRADITION and a sense of LOYALTY to their program. They fully expected to beat the Gophers. And they DID their research on the Minnesota Program...it's recent struggles...it's past greatness and they were PUMPED to play a Big Ten Team. The SAME thing happened in Nashville when the Gophers BEAT Arknasas there.

Too many Minnesota "fans" are just like you broken plane dude/dudette, which ever your case may be.

Those days were a START. I learned from talking to Oregon fans when we played them a couple of times that the Oregon program had been built by going to bowl games most every year dating back quite a ways. And then, they gathered up some steam and now they are quite a program.

Some Gopher fans....like you refuse to go to the bowl games we did get and just trashed our program fro even getting invited.

So we get EXACTLY what we deserve. We do NOT support our program. We are pretty much horse crap type fans who are put to shame by fans of other teams. When we beat that 6-6 Alabama team now THAT was really something! When we beat a 6-6 iowa team THAT was REALLY something! IF we ever beat wisky...Michigan..OSU, MSU, Penn State.or a few other B1G Programs...THAT will really be something. EVERY win my Golden Gopher team gets over a conferfence team...an SEC team...or any other major conference member team in a bowl game is REALLY SOMETHING!

 

[ruppertflywheel]

" Bring back Mason.....bring back Mason! I feel a ground swelling of support! Bring back Gordie Shaw!
Best zone blocking in the country! Mitch Browning as OC. Greg Hudson as DC. Six crack recruiters as
ass't coaches. Move Kill to special ass't to the AD in charge of football operations. I smell the Roses !!! You don't think it ain't ....Mason, 5 years at 2.5 a year. Am I nuts, am I crazy?

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

" Bring back Mason.....bring back Mason! I feel a ground swelling of support! Bring back Gordie Shaw!
Best zone blocking in the country! Mitch Browning as OC. Greg Hudson as DC. Six crack recruiters as
ass't coaches. Move Kill to special ass't to the AD in charge of football operations. I smell the Roses !!! You don't think it ain't ....Mason, 5 years at 2.5 a year. Am I nuts, am I crazy?

I have the St Peter Psychiatric Hospital holding on line 1 for you.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

I can see it now: Mason comes back and two years from now when Urban Meyer steps down due to stress issues, Mase will wait anxiously for that phone call from Columbus only to be snubbed by a sweater vest wearing FCS coach who preaches moral values while participating in shady recruiting schemes. It's as clear as the nose on my face.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Hey liveiniowaperson: You are just another one of those "Less is more...More is less" fools. And, that is why you HAVE to, need to, ought to, are destined to live in stinking iowa... NO coach for a long time before Mason and NO coach since Mason has done nearly as well. Beating Michigan is beating Michigan. Beating tOSU is beating tOSU. Beating Arkansas is beating Arknasas. Beating Oregon is beating Oregon. Getting to bowl games is better than NOT getting to bowl games.

NOBODY in stinking iowa had better try to diminish ANY win my Golden Gopher Football Team EARNED on the playing fields across this Nation. A WIN is a WIN and every win...ESPECIALLY every Big Ten Conference win is something to be valued and held in the highest esteem.

Now, go hang out with your buddy in iowa...that eg9 character...

Yep, this is about right. You don't like my opinion so attack where I live; the place that gave me way more opportunities in my profession so I could support my family.

Your point bolded actually helped my argument because as you must know, Mason went 32-48 in the Big Ten. So if BT wins is ultimately what matters as you say, then I don't know how you could say he was anything but below average.

Of course if you would have actually read my post, I pointed out that he did some good things and has been more successful than any coach in awhile. That doesn't mean he should be the head coach again.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Bring back Mason...
Bring back Shaw
Bring back Browning
Bring back Hudson
Bring em back, and the students return!!!

 

[Coolew01]

Bring back Mason...
Bring back Shaw
Bring back Browning
Bring back Hudson
Bring em back, and the students return!!!

Why aim so low, why not bring back senile Holtz?

 

[station19]

I often wonder why more schools, with struggling football programs, don't bring back former coaches whom they fired and have been out of coachng for 6 or 7 years.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Why aim so low, why not bring back senile Holtz?

Holtz would be run out of town on a rail. Mason was fired. Of note: Kill and Mason have become very good friends. Just saying....Mason as coach. Kill as SPECIAL ASS'T to the AD as Director of Football Operations. A win, win situation. If Kill can't go, Get on the phone Woody!!!