Souhan: Tubby and Kill power coaches? Deference isn't deserved

[BleedGopher]

Portion's of Souhan's column:

In one week, Kill ducked two groups of people who couldn't frighten a first-grader: Tar Heels football players and Minnesota reporters.

What Kill and Smith have in common is this: The university allows both to operate as power coaches, even though neither has won enough at Minnesota to justify the deference with which they are treated.

It is too early in Kill's tenure to call him a disappointment. He may well return the Gophers to the level they attained under Glen Mason, when they played in minor bowls and pulled off the occasional upset. But there is little evidence on the field so far to suggest that those days are on the horizon.

Neither Kill nor Smith has produced like a power coach. Both act like one.

It is clear what the university must do. These men need oversight. The university must hire someone who can tell Smith that he is responsible for his players' actions and that any complaints he has about a practice facility must be uttered internally. The university must hire someone who can tell Kill that he can't spend $800,000 of the school's money to avoid a team he should be able to beat and that he must face questions about his health and his program like a grown man.

It is time for the University of Minnesota to become innovative and hire someone who can take charge of this mess, perhaps even direct these employees.

That's it: The athletic department needs a director. You could even call this person an "athletic director.''

It's a radical notion, but worth a try.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/174872181.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[Some Day...Is Coming!]

Portion's of Souhan's column:

In one week, Kill ducked two groups of people who couldn't frighten a first-grader: Tar Heels football players and Minnesota reporters.

What Kill and Smith have in common is this: The university allows both to operate as power coaches, even though neither has won enough at Minnesota to justify the deference with which they are treated.

It is too early in Kill's tenure to call him a disappointment. He may well return the Gophers to the level they attained under Glen Mason, when they played in minor bowls and pulled off the occasional upset. But there is little evidence on the field so far to suggest that those days are on the horizon.

Neither Kill nor Smith has produced like a power coach. Both act like one.

It is clear what the university must do. These men need oversight. The university must hire someone who can tell Smith that he is responsible for his players' actions and that any complaints he has about a practice facility must be uttered internally. The university must hire someone who can tell Kill that he can't spend $800,000 of the school's money to avoid a team he should be able to beat and that he must face questions about his health and his program like a grown man.

It is time for the University of Minnesota to become innovative and hire someone who can take charge of this mess, perhaps even direct these employees.

That's it: The athletic department needs a director. You could even call this person an "athletic director.''

It's a radical notion, but worth a try.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/174872181.html

Go Gophers!!

Yep, no one should be afraid of that North Carolina team that has a good chance to go 10-2 or 9-3 this year and should be better next year. Especially a powerhouse program like Minnesota has been over the last 40 years! Man, those Twin Cities writers are so wise! They're so good at piling on and pointing out the negative. I love it. You can tell they've played a lot of sports about the high school junior varsity in their day.

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

Souhan chimes in when he can write a hit piece. Doesn't surprise me.

 

[EG#9]

Portion's of Souhan's column:

In one week, Kill ducked two groups of people who couldn't frighten a first-grader: Tar Heels football players and Minnesota reporters.

What Kill and Smith have in common is this: The university allows both to operate as power coaches, even though neither has won enough at Minnesota to justify the deference with which they are treated.

It is too early in Kill's tenure to call him a disappointment. He may well return the Gophers to the level they attained under Glen Mason, when they played in minor bowls and pulled off the occasional upset. But there is little evidence on the field so far to suggest that those days are on the horizon.

Neither Kill nor Smith has produced like a power coach. Both act like one.

It is clear what the university must do. These men need oversight. The university must hire someone who can tell Smith that he is responsible for his players' actions and that any complaints he has about a practice facility must be uttered internally. The university must hire someone who can tell Kill that he can't spend $800,000 of the school's money to avoid a team he should be able to beat and that he must face questions about his health and his program like a grown man.

It is time for the University of Minnesota to become innovative and hire someone who can take charge of this mess, perhaps even direct these employees.

That's it: The athletic department needs a director. You could even call this person an "athletic director.''

It's a radical notion, but worth a try.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/174872181.html

Go Gophers!!

Wouldn't the bolded be a disappointment? As for the larger issue of "power coaches", any established coach (like a Tubby Smith) is going to be able to push around the athletic director a bit...that's not a Minnesota thing, that's a major college football/basketball thing. I also don't think it's fair to say Kill is spending 800 K of the school's money to avoid UNC, because I don't believe he has the power to do that. For better or worse, someone at the University (Teague, Kaler) agreed to go along with Kill's desire to back out of the UNC deal. It's what Kill wanted, but he certainly didn't have the cache to just make it happen on his own.

 

[Halsey Hall]

Soupcan is a first class jackass moron. He makes Reusse look like Sid on steroids

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

This is exactly why the rips on Kill and Teague about North Carolina bother me.

I think it is a real and honest issue that Gopher fans could disagree upon (UNC game). I don't think it's being less of a fan for ripping Kill for getting out of that game. What irks me are the non-fans who only chime in at these moments. Why would someone who is obviously NOT a Gopher fan care if they played UNC or New Mexico State? I can understand how GopherDude1001 or the guy who sits next to me at the game could be bothered by the rescheduling, but why Souhan?

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Soupcan is a first class jackass moron. He makes Reusse look like Sid on steroids

If Kill or Tubby is upset with Souhan's assessment, I can think of one good way for them both to shut him up.

 

[mplsbadger]

Souhan chimes in when he can write a hit piece. Doesn't surprise me.

The sports columnists in this town are on just as bad a losing streak as the Gophers. I've lived in LA and Chicago and Reussie, Barriero, and Souhan are terrible compared to guys like Jim Murray and Bernie Lincicome. When those guys wrote an occasional critical column it was witty and entertaining rather than cold hearted and cynical. It used to be worse with Doug Grow. I don't count Sid and Shooter because they are doing something very different.

Our writers are the Indiana Hoosiers of sports columnists. They are in no position to criticize the Gophers based on their own poor standing among their peers.

 

[Dr.Don]

Soupcan is no dummy. He wrote that critical article so that people would turn their anger to him, which will result in less heat placed on Tubby, Kill, and even Teague. He did this to take the heat off the U because he is such a staunch supporter of Gopher Athletics. (sarcasm intended)

 

[station19]

Soupcan is no dummy. He wrote that critical article so that people would turn their anger to him, which will result in less heat placed on Tubby, Kill, and even Teague. He did this to take the heat off the U because he is such a staunch supporter of Gopher Athletics. (sarcasm intended)

So Doc, what do you think about other poster's comments on this subject?

 

[Dr.Don]

So Doc, what do you think about other poster's comments on this subject?

To be honest, 19, I have read enough bitching and moaning the last few days to last me the rest of my life...same old redundant comments, over and over ad nauseum, that I decided to try find an old Mad Magazine that is pushing to elect Alfred E. Neuman for President.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

You knew the article was coming. If you took a poll of season ticket holders, my guess they would about split on the UNC issue. I don't see us losing a vast amount of season ticket holders. I just think the fans/ season tickets holders that disagree are perplexed and frustrated. I pu myself in that category, but what the hell, I love the Gopher's and will probably have my ass on a airplane to
New Mexico next year....."Fiesta"!!!!!

 

[akgopher]

I'm still onboard with Coach Kill, but skeptical of this move. The way I see it, the three non-conference are $5 tickets, thus making my conference tickets $67.50 per seat. I will have to decide if they are worth that price given there isn't an increase next year. I predict people will renew at a 90% rate next year regardless of the outcome of the remainder of the season and the UNC disappointment. The conference schedule is that good next year. All bets are off for 2014 if the team doesn't find a way to win 7-8 games. The new Vikings stadium, Parise/Suter, Rubio/Love, and Target Field is still Target Field.

Teague is going to be in an uncomfortable situation if his hoops team is playing in the NIT and the Kill crew is scuffling to 5-6 wins with a sloppy non-conference schedule. For that reason, Souhan is spot on and is speaking for ticket buyers like me by holding the university accountable on this one.

 

[Shielder]

Nothing new from Souhan, same old shtick. He's a drama queen.

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

So if Tubby was a power coach, you think he would have had the power to not have Mbakwe and White benched for an entire season, right?

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

Wow Souhan, you never cease to scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to writing about the Gophers.

We've got a new and energetic AD who is less than 6 months on the job, and calls him out on his handling of coaches he didn't hire. None of us are happy with Kill's abandonment of the UNC series (but at least some of us realize that the sky is not falling on this). But the guy is still in his infancy as head coach. Tubby has been largely responsible for his players (Royce White never played a minute on this team because of Tubby being responsible). If Trevor gets a severe sentence for his misdeeds, you can bet he'll likely never step on the court at Williams Arena again either.

What did The U ever do to deserve these columnists?

 

[Deleted_User]

Souhan chimes in when he can write a hit piece. Doesn't surprise me.

Only when it counts. Like Gopher Hole readers/self contributors, it happens when there is reason to suspect that somebody needs a tabloid tongue lashing.

 

[e.bigelow]

My response to this article........Meh. Typical Souhan. Don't care what his opinions on Gopher athletics are any more.

 

[Shielder]

It's funny he's not writing about Delmon Young this morning.

 

[wait!what?]

So, the local media is trying to beat down Kill. Ok, Brewster got fired, most coaches do, but the media also beat Brewster down....I am noticing a pattern.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

Let's not be so thin skinned here. This move deserves some criticism. I am ready to move on and cheer for the team on Saturday and continue supporting this team and staff. That is not Souhan's job though.

 

[stevedave23]

I find Souhan's calling for a micro manager funny given the fact the U just put one out to pasture named Joel Maturi.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

It's funny he's not writing about Delmon Young this morning.

Agree. I felt like Delmon Young winning the ALCS MVP was tantamount to me spitting his eye. But then you'll note he typically reserves his most heavy criticism for the Gophs, and not any Twins related stuff. He bagged on Delmon a number of times on Twitter this year, but was dead silent on the topic last night.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Let's not be so thin skinned here. This move deserves some criticism. I am ready to move on and cheer for the team on Saturday and continue supporting this team and staff. That is not Souhan's job though.

I think the move deserves some critcism / debate. However, people will have an issue with someone like Souhan because he ONLY chimes in when he has an opportunity to bash the U.

Also, his larger point is just wrong.

If he thinks Kill and Tubby are treated like "power coaches", he has absolutely no idea how those people are treated.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

I agree that I can't remember the last time he wrote something positive about a Gopher bball or fball game! That is pretty crazy.

I don't know how the coaches are treated either, but from the outside, it looks like Teague agreed to Kill's wish without thinking enough about how it would sit with the fans/media.

Once there are more positive things to write about, I think they will be written. If not, then there really is a bias.

On a positive note, the writer who covers the Badgers for the Milwaukee paper had some really nice things to say about Coach Kill and he believes the U made the right hire.

 

[stevedave23]

Actually, Souhan attended Kill's hiring press conference and generally had good things to say about him. Apparently he expects more out of Kill after 1.25 years of rebuilding. I don't. I would like the gophers to be better right now but I didn't expect them to be.

The Gophers were 1-5 in their first six games last year. They're 4-2 this year.

 

[stevedave23]

"He may well return the Gophers to the level they attained under Glen Mason, when they played in minor bowls and pulled off the occasional upset. But there is little evidence on the field so far to suggest that those days are on the horizon."

Glen Mason's record at Minnesota
Year 1: 3-9
Year 2: 5-6
Year 3: 8-4

Jerry Kill's record at Minnesota
Year 1: 3-9
Year 2: 4-2
Year 3: ??

No, I don't see any evidence either.