BleedGopher
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per Kent:
“It was the biggest hire in the recent history of the program,” said Dave Mona who hosts “The Sports Huddle” with Hartman on WCCO Radio. “Especially in terms of getting a name. I remember the shock value of it. When the news broke, people were like, ‘No way.’ They’d never seen anyone like it. Magic tricks, enthusiasm, name-dropping. He was a national sports coach. ”
Season ticket sales passed 50,000, with 25,000-plus watching the spring game.
Holtz got to work, getting a South Carolina quarterback named Rickey Foggie to come north to play. In 1984, a team that had lost 18 of its past 19 went 4-7. The Gophers won Big Ten games over Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
And then, 1985: The Gophers started 2-0, then hosted No. 2-ranked Oklahoma, losing just 13-7. The Gophers then beat Purdue, Northwestern and Indiana, rising to No. 20 in the polls, before losing 23-19 to ninth-ranked Ohio State. The Gophers ended up 6-5 and got a bid to the Independence Bowl.
But by the time that game was played, Holtz was gone to Notre Dame. It was a difficult divorce, at least on this end.
But what if it hadn’t happened?
“Minnesota would have been a Big Ten power," Mona said. “If he could have maintained it for five years, the likelihood of it lingering longer would have been better. I think he would have been very successful.”
Mackay — still good friends with Holtz — took it a step further.
“I love my wife,’’ he said. “I love my kids. I love my business. I’d put ’em all on the line that he would have been, absolutely, year-after-year, fighting for a national championship.”
It was a bit harder back then, in the sense that in the Big Ten, other teams had to play traditional powers Michigan and Ohio State every year. Holtz’s assistant, John Gutekunst, took over and went 6-6, losing in the Liberty Bowl. By the time he left after the 1991 season he was 29-37-2. Jim Wacker took over after that and, well, we all know how that turned out.
Mona said Holtz had recruited another South Carolina QB named Tony Rice, who then followed Holtz to Notre Dame, where he led the team to the national title in 1988.
So, what if?
“It’s almost impossible not to think about it,” Mackay said.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
“It was the biggest hire in the recent history of the program,” said Dave Mona who hosts “The Sports Huddle” with Hartman on WCCO Radio. “Especially in terms of getting a name. I remember the shock value of it. When the news broke, people were like, ‘No way.’ They’d never seen anyone like it. Magic tricks, enthusiasm, name-dropping. He was a national sports coach. ”
Season ticket sales passed 50,000, with 25,000-plus watching the spring game.
Holtz got to work, getting a South Carolina quarterback named Rickey Foggie to come north to play. In 1984, a team that had lost 18 of its past 19 went 4-7. The Gophers won Big Ten games over Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
And then, 1985: The Gophers started 2-0, then hosted No. 2-ranked Oklahoma, losing just 13-7. The Gophers then beat Purdue, Northwestern and Indiana, rising to No. 20 in the polls, before losing 23-19 to ninth-ranked Ohio State. The Gophers ended up 6-5 and got a bid to the Independence Bowl.
But by the time that game was played, Holtz was gone to Notre Dame. It was a difficult divorce, at least on this end.
But what if it hadn’t happened?
“Minnesota would have been a Big Ten power," Mona said. “If he could have maintained it for five years, the likelihood of it lingering longer would have been better. I think he would have been very successful.”
Mackay — still good friends with Holtz — took it a step further.
“I love my wife,’’ he said. “I love my kids. I love my business. I’d put ’em all on the line that he would have been, absolutely, year-after-year, fighting for a national championship.”
It was a bit harder back then, in the sense that in the Big Ten, other teams had to play traditional powers Michigan and Ohio State every year. Holtz’s assistant, John Gutekunst, took over and went 6-6, losing in the Liberty Bowl. By the time he left after the 1991 season he was 29-37-2. Jim Wacker took over after that and, well, we all know how that turned out.
Mona said Holtz had recruited another South Carolina QB named Tony Rice, who then followed Holtz to Notre Dame, where he led the team to the national title in 1988.
So, what if?
“It’s almost impossible not to think about it,” Mackay said.
Coach Lou Holtz was building Gophers into a football power. What if he never left?
The fifth in our week-long series on what would have happened if game-changing and franchise-altering moments hadn't taken place in Minnesota sports. Today: Lou Holtz's brief stopover with the Gophers.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
