The sky is falling


Vikings starting out strong.
They will fall down too. They are similar to the Gophers in that they started strong versus bad teams and then play good teams and get killed.

Face it. Both of these teams stink and Fleck should be fired ASAP. They are not getting better recruits, the offense and defense stink, special teams stink, and it’s only going to get worse next year and beyond. I’m just a curse and Joe Btfsplk. Always have been and always will be especially for the Gophers and Gophers football. 😣😔😢😭
 





No power conference school embraces utter mediocrity in their revenue sports like Minnesota. It's so engrained and fully acceptable that it might as well become one of their marketing slogans: "Golden Gopher athletics: Where excellence isn't a thing."
 

No power conference school embraces utter mediocrity in their revenue sports like Minnesota. It's so engrained and fully acceptable that it might as well become one of their marketing slogans: "Golden Gopher athletics: Where excellence isn't a thing."
I agree from 1968 through 1996. Not now.

Unlike the 70s, most of the 80s, and the early 90s, revenue sports are a priority for the current Prez, AD, and Regents. There is no comparison to now and when the Billds arrived in Minneapolis in 1989. For this we can be grateful. I am sure President Gabel and AD Coyle were unhappy with today as much as any GHer. Keller hated sports and Nils Hasselmo did not care about sports either prior to Yudof taking over in 1997.

Obviously not there yet. As for Illinois, they too represent a sleeping giant that Coach Bielema is taking good 'cruts and actually making them tough SOBs to beat. At the rate they are going I wouldn't be surprised if they were the ones to take the West. They have Nebbie, Purdue, and Northwestern left in the West. If they pull that off then it will be before the Gophers, which absolutely bites...
 

It was a fun 4 weeks. Not too often you get a season where Wisconsin and Iowa are both butts. So we could beat them both. I find it hard to care as a consolation prize at this point. Another wasted opportunity.
 





I agree from 1968 through 1996. Not now.

Unlike the 70s, most of the 80s, and the early 90s, revenue sports are a priority for the current Prez, AD, and Regents. There is no comparison to now and when the Billds arrived in Minneapolis in 1989. For this we can be grateful. I am sure President Gabel and AD Coyle were unhappy with today as much as any GHer. Keller hated sports and Nils Hasselmo did not care about sports either prior to Yudof taking over in 1997.

Obviously not there yet. As for Illinois, they too represent a sleeping giant that Coach Bielema is taking good 'cruts and actually making them tough SOBs to beat. At the rate they are going I wouldn't be surprised if they were the ones to take the West. They have Nebbie, Purdue, and Northwestern left in the West. If they pull that off then it will be before the Gophers, which absolutely bites...
I'm not so sure. Some of Coyle's hiring decisions are questionable at best, especially on the basketball side. I think he's really trying with Fleck, but at this point, PJ is proving himself to fall in line with the mediocrity of Gopher football of decades past. As to the other revenue sports, Coyle waited WAY too long to usher Don Lucia out of the hockey door and basketball hasn't been close to relevant in more than two decades. I'd love to agree with you, but I just don't see it. Please excuse the tangent of discussing other athletic programs on the football board, but I still see a whole lot of the past in the department as a whole.
 

I'm not so sure. Some of Coyle's hiring decisions are questionable at best, especially on the basketball side. I think he's really trying with Fleck, but at this point, PJ is proving himself to fall in line with the mediocrity of Gopher football of decades past. As to the other revenue sports, Coyle waited WAY too long to usher Don Lucia out of the hockey door and basketball hasn't been close to relevant in more than two decades. I'd love to agree with you, but I just don't see it. Please excuse the tangent of discussing other athletic programs on the football board, but I still see a whole lot of the past in the department as a whole.
Are saying most schools with a similar history would have fired Fleck by now?
 

The thing with Fleck is I don't if we are recruiting that well. I thought we'd finish with top 25 classes with Fleck on a continual basis. Look at these rankings and you are very average if you give them any credence. This is using rivals rankings.

2017 we were 60th and 12th in the Big Ten

2018 we were 38th and 7th

2019 we were 49th and 10th

2020 we were 39th and 9th

2021 we were 39th and 8th

2022 we were 53rd and 14th
 



Sky is not falling. Its actual reality setting in. MN is a middle of the road team with average at best talent. Nothing more nothing less. The 4-0 start got everyone excited. They are most likely a 7-8 win team and will probably win a game you dont think they will this year.
Fleck said today, "It's all about the talent of the players on the field." And the last 2 weeks proved the talent is "average" for the B10 west.
 

Are saying most schools with a similar history would have fired Fleck by now
No. I'm simply saying Fleck looks an awful lot like coaches of the past (recent past, ie...Mason). And considering the utter malaise of Gopher football for six decades, the pattern of mediocrity is so inherent and it's become expected to the point of inevitability.
 


No. I'm simply saying Fleck looks an awful lot like coaches of the past (recent past, ie...Mason). And considering the utter malaise of Gopher football for six decades, the pattern of mediocrity is so inherent and it's become expected to the point of inevitability.
I’m just trying to understand what you meant by the university accepting mediocrity more than anyone else. I’m failing to see how that applies here if you don’t think he should have been fired already.
 

I'm not so sure. Some of Coyle's hiring decisions are questionable at best, especially on the basketball side. I think he's really trying with Fleck, but at this point, PJ is proving himself to fall in line with the mediocrity of Gopher football of decades past. As to the other revenue sports, Coyle waited WAY too long to usher Don Lucia out of the hockey door and basketball hasn't been close to relevant in more than two decades. I'd love to agree with you, but I just don't see it. Please excuse the tangent of discussing other athletic programs on the football board, but I still see a whole lot of the past in the department as a whole.
Since you mentioned BB and Coyle; Coyle should have cut the cord with Pitino the moment he was hired. Pitino was hired at MN having 1 year head coaching experience and ended with an abysmal B10 record during his 8-year tenure while "earning" millions. Next, B Johnson is hired with zero head coaching experience and was also part of Pitino's losing tradition.
 
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No power conference school embraces utter mediocrity in their revenue sports like Minnesota. It's so engrained and fully acceptable that it might as well become one of their marketing slogans: "Golden Gopher athletics: Where excellence isn't a thing."
And anything more is unexpected.
 

I’m just trying to understand what you meant by the university accepting mediocrity more than anyone else. I’m failing to see how that applies here if you don’t think he should have been fired already.
What I'm saying is that regardless of the coach, Gopher sports almost always fail to excel. I'm not advocating for Fleck being fired. And even if I did, it's not up to me. It comes down to Coyle and the administration to put expectations on the revenue sports to succeed. And for the most part, they've shown a tendency to accept the status quo of six-plus decades of not much.
 

The thing with Fleck is I don't if we are recruiting that well. I thought we'd finish with top 25 classes with Fleck on a continual basis. Look at these rankings and you are very average if you give them any credence. This is using rivals rankings.

2017 we were 60th and 12th in the Big Ten

2018 we were 38th and 7th

2019 we were 49th and 10th

2020 we were 39th and 9th

2021 we were 39th and 8th

2022 we were 53rd and 14th
RNC makes sense ✊🏽
 

Since you mentioned BB and Coyle; Coyle should have cut the cord with Pitino the moment he was hired. Pitino was hired at MN having 1 year head coaching experience and ended with an abysmal B10 record during his 8-year tenure while "earning" millions. Next, B Johnson is hired with zero head coaching experience and was also part of Pitino's losing tradition.
Exactly. And also waits to make a change to men's hockey until the program becomes completely irrelevant on the national level before he convinces Lucia to "retire." As a follow up, he then hires Whalen to coach women's hoops (without ANY coaching experience at ANY level), and the results have been poor at best. It's a pattern, and not just with revenue sports, but across the board.
 

Feel free to post here so I can just avoid this thread rather than watching the board be filled with ridiculous takes
The Gophers replaced both guards and tackles this year. We should have seen this coming and it will get better. That said, I have no idea what they are going to do about Center next year.
 

No power conference school embraces utter mediocrity in their revenue sports like Minnesota. It's so engrained and fully acceptable that it might as well become one of their marketing slogans: "Golden Gopher athletics: Where excellence isn't a thing."
So put your money where your mouth is and support the program via season tickets and NIL via Dinkytown Athletes
 


It used to be buy tickets and they will win now it's support NIL and buy season tickets...what next?
PhiloVance you know the LowDown (not sure if your moniker is an REM reference), but the NIL arrangement has made it harder for Minnesota and it’s frugal fan base to compete.
 


The thing with Fleck is I don't if we are recruiting that well. I thought we'd finish with top 25 classes with Fleck on a continual basis. Look at these rankings and you are very average if you give them any credence. This is using rivals rankings.

2017 we were 60th and 12th in the Big Ten

2018 we were 38th and 7th

2019 we were 49th and 10th

2020 we were 39th and 9th

2021 we were 39th and 8th

2022 we were 53rd and 14th
The recruit ranking numbers don't show any separation from the Big Ten West, but the Gophers won more games in recent history.

If we follow his famous graph chart that Zig-zags, we are in a Zig year.

Good grief, we all need live savers until we can catch the next rescue boat to get up to the next Zag.
 

PhiloVance you know the LowDown (not sure if your moniker is an REM reference), but the NIL arrangement has made it harder for Minnesota and it’s frugal fan base to compete.
If it isn't one excuse it would be another.
 

If I wasn’t already an eternal pessimist, I think I am now. This season was supposed to be different.

But here I am trying to rationalize 9 wins still so maybe I’ll never learn.
 




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